Work–life balance: a longitudinal evaluation of a new measure across Australia and New Zealand workers

Abstract

The work–life balance literature has recently identified the need for construct refinement. In response to these discussions, this research describes the development and validation of a concise measure of work–life balance, based on individuals' subjective perceptions of balance between their work and other aspects of their lives. The structure, reliability and validity of this unidimensional, four-item measure was confirmed in four independent heterogeneous samples of workers employed in Australia and New Zealand (N = 6983). Work–life balance was negatively associated with work demands, turnover intentions and psychological strain, and positively associated with both family and job satisfaction, confirming the research hypotheses. Evidence of these relationships over time was also demonstrated. This research confirms that this new measure of work–life balance demonstrates robust psychometric properties and predicts relevant criterion variables.

Keywords::

• longitudinal
• psychological strain
• structural equation modelling
• turnover
• work demands
• work–life balance

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the Australian Research Council Discovery Project grant scheme (DP0770109).