Predictors of work and family conflict among working mothers

Abstract

Zaposlene majke suočavaju se sa zahtjevima višestrukih uloga u društvu s još uvijek izraženim tradicionalnim svjetonazorom. Nesklad između uloga dovodi do konflikta, a doživljaj neusklađenosti zahtjeva uloga iz radne i obiteljske domene naziva se konflikt radne i obiteljske uloge. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je ispitati mogućnost predviđanja dva smjera konflikta radne i obiteljske uloge na temelju skupa sociodemografskih obilježja, percipirane raspodjele obiteljskih odgovornosti, dimenzija perfekcionizma, broja područja života zahvaćenih perfekcionizmom i oporavka od posla kod zaposlenih majki. Istraživanje je provedeno putem online ankete, a sudjelovalo je 488 zaposlenih majki s minimalno 6 mjeseci radnog staža na sadašnjem radnom mjestu i s minimalno 20 radnih sati tjedno. Rezultati su pokazali da izraženiji konflikt rad-obitelj doživljavaju majke koje rade više sati tjedno. Također, konflikt je izraženiji kod majki koje manje teže organizaciji i redu, a doživljavaju veći raskorak između visoko postavljenih i ostvarenih ciljeva i manje se mogu psihološki odvojiti od posla i opustiti te imaju manju kontrolu nad aktivnostima u slobodno vrijeme. Izraženiji konflikt obitelj-rad doživljavaju visokoobrazovane zaposlene majke, kod kojih je briga o djeci više njihova odgovornost, koje su manje organizirane i imaju veće neslaganje između visokih standarda i postignutog te koje manje koriste opuštanje i kontrolu kao strategije oporavka od posla, a više koriste usavršavanje vještina.Employed mothers face challenges of multiple roles in a society that still has traditional worldview. Discrepancy between the roles leads to conflict, and disharmony of the demands from work and family domain is called work-family conflict. The purpose of this research was to examine the predictors of two directions of work-family conflict based on a set of sociodemographic characteristics, perceived distribution of family responsibilities, dimensions of perfectionism, number of domains of perfectionism and recovery from work of employed mothers. The research was conducted via an online survey. The participants were 488 mothers, who were employed at their current workplace for a minimum of 6 months and worked minimally 20 hours per week. The results showed that mothers who work more hours per week experience greater work-to-family interference. Furthermore, work-to-family interference was greater for mothers who seek less organization and order, but experience greater discrepancy between perceived standards and actual performance, and who are less psychologically detached and relaxed from work and have less control of their leisure time activities. Greater family-to-work interference experience highly educated employed mothers, who perceive that it is their responsibility to take care of the children, who are less organized, have bigger discrepancy between perceived standards and actual performance and use less relaxation and control, but more skills mastery as work recovery strategies