Work–family conflict among Chinese married couples: testing spillover and crossover effects

Abstract

This study simultaneously examined the two mechanisms (i.e. spillover and crossover effects) that link work-to-family conflict and life satisfaction among Chinese married couples. Data were collected from a sample of 123 Chinese managers and their spouses. Work-to-family conflict was measured from two sources: self-reported ratings and spouse-reported ratings. The results provided support for the suggested direct spillover mechanism for both husbands and wives: work-to-family conflict to life satisfaction. In addition, we found that work-to-family conflict crossed over to life satisfaction from wives to husbands but not from husbands to wives. Practical implications and future research directions are discussed.

Keywords::

• crossover
• life satisfaction
• People's Republic of China
• spillover
• work–family conflict

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support for this research from grants by the Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos 70972023 and 71172009).