Table of Contents
Description
This measure, (Work to Family Conflict) developed by Stephens and Sommer (1996), assesses work family conflict. The measure uses 14 items to describe conflicts that origi nate in the workplace and may affect the family. The measure attempts to described these conflicts using three dimensions. These are time-based conflict resulting from the competition for an individual’s time from multi ple roles; strain-based conflict resulting from conditions where stressors in one domain induce physical or psychological strain in the individual, ham pering role fulfillment in one or both domains; and behavior-based conflict that occurs when patterns of behavior appropriate to each domain are incompatible.
Reliability
The behavior-based dimension had a coefficient alpha of .80. The time based dimension had a coefficient alpha of .74. The strain-based dimension had a coefficient alpha of .77 (Stephens & Sommer, 1996).
Validity
Stephens and Sommer (1996) examined the items with exploratory factor analysis and found three latent factors. Eight items covering both time-based and strain-based work-home conflict loaded on one factor, and the remain ing six items loaded on two factors. One of these factors contained the posi tively worded items describing strain due to behavior-based conflict, and the other contained the negatively worded behavior-based conflict items. Because negatively worded items can create dimensions associated only with the direction of the item wording, the six behavior-related items seemed to represent a single conceptual dimension factor (Stephens & Sommer, 1996). Confirmatory factor analysis in a separate sample found three factors. One factor contained the behavior-related items, the second factor contained four time-based items, and the third factor contained four strain-based items.
Source
Stephens, G. K., & Sommer, S. M. (1996). The measurement of work to fam ily conflict. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 56(3), 475-486. Copyright© 1996 by Sage Publications, Inc. Items were taken from Table 5, p484. Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications, Inc.
Items
Responses are obtained using a 7-point Likert-type scale where 1 = strongly disagree and 7 = strongly agree.
Time-based conflict items:
- My work keeps me from my family more than I would like
- My work takes up time that I feel I should spend with my family
- The time I must devote to my job does not keep me from participating equally in household responsibilities and activities
- I generally seem to have enough time to fulfill my potential both in my career and as a spouse and parent
Strain-based conflict items:
- I often feel the strain of attempting to balance my responsibilities at work and home
- Because my work is so demanding, I am often irritable at home
- The demands of my job make it difficult for me to maintain the kind of relationship with my spouse and children that I would like
- The tension of balancing my responsibilities at home and work often causes me to feel emotionally drained
Behavior-based conflict items:
- The problem-solving approaches I use in my job are effective in resolving problems at home
- The things I do that make me effective at work also help me to be a better parent and spouse
- What works for me at home seems to be effective at work as well, and vice versa
- I am not able to act the same way at home as at work
- I act differently in responding to interpersonal problems at work than I do at home
- Behavior that is effective and necessary for me at work would be counter-productive at home