Dissertation
Flexible working arrangements, work-family conflict, and culture: Multilevel effects on country-level outcomes
Washington State University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
01/2021
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000002431
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/120826
Abstract
Recent dramatic transformations in the workforce call for a better understanding of flexible working arrangements (FWA) and their implications, particularly in the context of work-family conflict (WFC). Moreover, a paucity in research has examined the way in which FWA and WFC influence country-level outcomes and whether FWA-WFC relationships differ as a function of relevant sociocultural factors. Through the lens of the personal resource allocation (PRA) and social identity theories, the present study tested a multilevel moderated 1-1-2 mediation, whereby (1) individual-level FWA predicts country-level productivity, innovation, and well-being via individual-level WFC and (2) country culture (individualism, masculinity, indulgence) moderates FWA-WFC relationships. Multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM) analysis of nationally-representative archival data (N = 46,005) across 33 countries revealed FWA do influence levels of WFC. The strength and direction of such relationships however depend upon the type of FWA (i.e., flexplace or flextime) and the directionality of work-family conflict (i.e., work interfering with family or family interfering with work) examined. Country-level variables, namely, productivity and the HDI, are significant cross-level criteria. Although the cultural dimensions did not significantly moderate FWA-WFC relationships, indulgence was a meaningful cross-level predictor of WFC. Additional research is required. Even so, the findings here prompt several avenues of further empirical inquiry and provide preliminary support for a cross-level (micro-macro), bottom-up approach. Moreover, they offer several relevant insights for practice. Such implications are important as researchers and practitioners alike respond to today’s increasingly “work-from-home economy” (Bloom, 2020, p. 1).
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Details
- Title
- Flexible working arrangements, work-family conflict, and culture: Multilevel effects on country-level outcomes
- Creators
- Erica Lynn Bettac
- Contributors
- Tahira M Probst (Advisor)Kristine M Kuhn (Committee Member)Bertha Rangel (Committee Member)Arthur W Blume (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Psychology, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 148
- Identifiers
- 99900606756901842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation