Work-Family Interface and Work Outcomes: The Moderating Roles of Proactive Personality, Collectivism and Power Distance

Abstract

Balancing the demands of work and family is a persistent challenge for many employees in the service sector, often leading to significant stress and potential conflict. Certain stressors affect mental well-being universally, and cultural factors appear to shape how individuals perceive and respond to family-work-related stress, influencing the degree to which it impacts mental health. This study investigates the relationship between Work-Family Conflict, Work-Family Enrichment and Work Engagement, Work Role Performance, and the moderating roles of proactive personality, collectivism, and power distance from the context of the service sector in Ghana. The study employed the Job-Demands Resources Theory and the Challenge Hindrance Model as its theoretical lenses. Using the quantitative research approach, questionnaires were administered to 250 employees in the service sector (banking and finance, telecommunication, and hospitality). The study found that Work-Family Conflict did not significantly predict Work Engagement. However, higher level of Family-Work Conflict was associated with a lower level of Work Engagement. While Proactive Personality was significantly related to Work Engagement, it did not significantly moderate the relationship between Work-Family Conflict/Family-Work Conflict and Work Engagement. It was further observed that Power Distance significantly moderates the relationship between WFE and all three dimensions of Work Role Performance (Task Proficiency, Task Adaptivity, and Task Proactivity). However, Power Distance was not found to moderate the relationship between Family-Work Enrichment and any of the dimensions of Work Role Performance (Task Proficiency, Task Adaptivity, and Task Proactivity). Collectivism was also found to moderate the relationship between Work-Family Enrichment and only Task Adaptivity. Collectivism does not moderate the relationship between Work-Family Enrichment and Task Proficiency, Task Adaptivity, and Task Proactivity, as well as between Family-Work Enrichment and two dimensions of Work Role Performance. The findings were discussed and recommendations made for research, organisational policy, and practice for improvement in work-life situations.