Moderating Role of Perceived Organizational Support in the Relationship Between Work-Family Conflict and Work Engagement

Abstract

The study investigated the moderating role of perceived organizational support in relationship between work-family conflict and work engagement. Two hundred and fifty-nine (259) participants comprising women between the ages of 21 to 59 (M= 41.49, SD= 8.60) were drawn using criterion sampling technique from Enugu State Judiciary (High Court and Magistrate Court). The study was a cross-sectional survey in which 17-item Perceived Organizational Support Scale (Eisenberger, Huntington & Sowa, 1986), 32-item Work-family Conflict Scale (Okonkwo, 2014) and 17-item Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2003) were administered for data collection. Moderated multiple hierarchical regression was used as statistical test for data analysis. The results indicated that time-based work-to-family conflict (β = -.17, p< .05) negatively and strain-based work-to-family conflict (β = .17, p< .05) positively predicted vigor dimension of work engagement, strain-based work-to-family conflict (β = .16, p< .05) positively predicted absorption dimension of work engagement. Time-based, strain-based and behaviour-based family-to-work conflict (β = .27, p< .001) jointly predicted all the dimensions of work engagement (vigor, dedication and absorption). Independently, only time-based family-to-work conflict positively predicted all the dimensions of work engagement (vigor; β = .19, p< .05; dedication;β = .21, p< .05; absorption; β = .18, p< .05).Perceived organizational support (β = .17, p< .01) positively predicted all the dimensions of work engagement (vigor, dedication and absorption). Perceived organizational support did not moderate the prediction of work engagement (vigor, dedication and absorption) by work-family conflict (work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict). The results of this study were discussed; the implications of the study highlighted. Finally, it has been recommended that policy makers in Nigerian Judiciary especially Enugu State Judiciary should provide their workforce especially women with adequate support in order to enhance work engagement.