Table of Contents
Description
This measure (Work Interference With Family and Family Interference With Work) was developed by Gutek, Searle, and Klepa (1991). The origi nal measure used eight items to describe the extent to which an employee’s work demands interfere with family responsibilities (four items) and the extent to which family demands interfere with work responsibilities (four items). Two additional items were added to each of these subscales by Carlson and Perrewe (1999). The two subscales have also been combined into a composite measure of work and family interference (Carlson & Perrewe, 1999).
Reliability
Coefficient alpha values for the measure of work interference with family ranged from .71 to .87. For the measure of family interference with work, alpha values ranged from .74 to .83 (Aryee, Fields, & Luk, 1999; Gutek et al., 1991; Judge, Boudreau, & Bretz, 1994; Williams & Alliger, 1994). Coef ficient alpha values for the composite measure of work and family interfer ence ranged from .66 to .89 (Adams, King, & King, 1996; Carlson & Perrewe, 1999; Prone, Russell, & Cooper, 1996; Gutek et al., 1991).
Validity
Work interference with family correlated positively with family interference with work, hours spent in paid work, number of children at home, job con flict, family conflict, flextime, working a compressed work week, child care needs, and working at home. Work interference with family correlated nega tively with job satisfaction, life satisfaction, family satisfaction, age of an employee’s youngest child, control over hours worked, and tangible support from other family members (Aryee et al., 1999; Prone et al., 1996; Gutek et al., 1991; Judge et al., 1994).
Family interference with work correlated positively with number of children at home, work interference with family, hours spent in family work, family involvement, job conflict, flextime, working a compressed work week, child care needs, working at home, and family conflict. Family inter ference with work correlated negatively with job satisfaction, life satisfac tion, age of the youngest child, hours spent-in paid work, and control over hours worked (Adams et al., 1996; Aryee et al., 1999; Prone et al., 1996; Gutek et al., 1991; Judge et al., 1994).
Factor analyses conducted by Gutek et al. (1991) and Prone et al. (1996) showed that work interference with family was empirically distinct from family interference with work. Judge et al. (1994) examined confirmatory factor models that indicated that work-family conflict, family-work conflict, job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and job stress were empirically distinct. Structural equation models evaluated by Aryee et al. (1999) and Prone et al. (1992) also showed that work-family and family-work conflict covary, but were empirically distinct.
Sources
Original eight items: Gutek, B. A., Searle, S., & Klepa, L. (1991). Rational versus gender role explanations for work-family conflict. Journal of Applied Psychology, 76(4), 560-568. Items were taken from Table 1, p. 563. Copy right © 1991 by the American Psychological Association. Reprinted with permission.
Additional two items:
Carlson, D.S., & Perrewe, P. L. (1999). The role of so cial support in the stressor-strain relationship: An examination of work-fam ily conflict. Journal of Management, 25(4), 513-533. Items were taken from the appendix, pp. 523-524. Copyright© 1999. Reprinted with permission from Elsevier Science.
Items
Responses are obtained using a 5-point Likert-type scale where 1 = strongly agree and 5 = strongly disagree.
Work interference with family items:
- After work, I come home too tired to do some of the things I’d like to do
- On the job I have so much work to do that it takes away from my personal interests
- My family/friends dislike how often I am preoccupied with my work while I am at home
- My work takes up time that I’d like to spend with family/friends
Family interference with work items:
- I’m often too tired at work because of the things I have to do at home
- My personal demands are so great that it takes away from my work
- My superiors and peers dislike how often I am preoccupied with my personal life while at work
- My personal life takes up time that I’d like to spend at
The additional items added to the measures by Carlson and Perrewe (1999) are the following.
Additional work interference with family items:
- My job or career interferes with my responsibilities at home, such as yard work, cooking, cleaning, repairs, shopping, paying the bills, or child care
- My job or career keeps me from spending the amount of time I would like to spend with my family
Additional family interference with work items:
- My home life interferes with my responsibilities at work, such as getting to work on time, accomplishing daily tasks, or working overtime
- My home life keeps me from spending the amount of time I would like to spend on job or career-related activities