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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 11, No. 7
Publication Date: July 25, 2024
DOI:10.14738/assrj.117.17325.
Johari, F. S., Ahmad, S. N. A., Bashirun, S. N., Zolkapli, N. M., & Samudin, N. M. R. (2024). Flexible Work Arrangements, Job
Satisfaction and Family Satisfaction: The Spillover Effect of Work-Family Conflict. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal,
11(7). 274-287.
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
Flexible Work Arrangements, Job Satisfaction and Family
Satisfaction: The Spillover Effect of Work-Family Conflict
Farah Shazlin Johari
Faculty of Business and Management,
Universiti Teknologi MARA; Malacca
Siti Nurul Akma Ahmad
Faculty of Business and Management,
Universiti Teknologi MARA; Malacca
Siti Norashikin Bashirun
Faculty of Business and Management,
Universiti Teknologi MARA; Malacca
Nurhafizah Mohd Zolkapli
Faculty of Business and Management,
Universiti Teknologi MARA; Malacca
Nor Maslia Rasli Samudin
Faculty of Business and Management,
Universiti Teknologi MARA; Malacca
ABSTRACT
Since its beginning, the pandemic has forced many organizations to adopt new
norms, offering more flexible work arrangements. Yet, there is limited knowledge
on how these arrangements, particularly flextime, could affect the work-family
conflict (WFC) and its consequences on both job and family satisfaction. Despite
this, there has been limited research on the spillover effect of WFC, concentrating
on cross-domain effects on both job and family satisfaction in Eastern culture.
Hence, the aim of this study is to investigate the spillover effect of WFC on job and
family satisfaction among academicians from selected Malaysian public
universities. The web-based survey questionnaire was employed, and statistical
analyses were performed using SPSS software. Flextime was found to have a
significant negative association with both WIF and FIW. Furthermore, the findings
revealed that WIF has a stronger spillover effect on cross-domains, notably family
satisfaction. FIW has a greater impact on its own domain specificity, namely family
satisfaction. Thus, the study contributes to our understanding of the spillover effect
of WFC on cross-domains, particularly in Eastern contextual cultures, and helps to
provide additional insight into family-friend policies intended to reduce the
occurrence of WFC, leading to a better balance of work and personal
responsibilities.
Keywords: Flexible Work Arrangements, Work-Family Conflict, Job Satisfaction, Family
Satisfactions, Spillover Effect.
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275
Johari, F. S., Ahmad, S. N. A., Bashirun, S. N., Zolkapli, N. M., & Samudin, N. M. R. (2024). Flexible Work Arrangements, Job Satisfaction and Family
Satisfaction: The Spillover Effect of Work-Family Conflict. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 11(7). 274-287.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.117.17325
INTRODUCTION
Today, most organizations have changed their work arrangements to be more adaptable and
flexible in a competitive environment. Beginning with the Covid-19 pandemic, which has had a
significant impact on how people work, most organizations find it challenging to carry out their
routine operations, affecting a wide range of business processes [1]. The pandemic has not only
disrupted the entire operation, but it has also dramatically affected the workforce, ushering in
a new era of employment [2]. As such, most businesses are considering flexible work
arrangements (FWA) as an alternative to the new norm, leading to the shift of most jobs to
online and remote work.
Generally, FWA refers to work options that allow for flexibility in terms of “where” work is
completed (flexplace) and “when” work is completed (flextime) [3]. Some empirical evidence
consistently indicates that FWA is associated with improved work-life balance, job satisfaction,
and employee engagement [4, 5]. Furthermore, FWA is seen as an important factor in reducing
absenteeism and enhancing organizational productivity [6, 7]. Despite this, FWA, specifically
flextime, could also have a substantial impact on a higher level of work-family conflict since it
blurs the boundaries between work and family life, leading to increased interference between
these two domains [8, 9, 10].
On the other hand, WFC is often referred to as incompatible interferences between the
individual’s work and family roles [11]. Prior studies continuously addressed this notion using
two key indicators; work interference with family (WIF) and family interference with work
(FIW) [12, 13, 14]. And, WFC is not only contributing to poor job satisfaction, performance, and
well-being [15, 16] however, it also possesses the spillover effect on cross-domains such as life
and family satisfaction [17]. During the pandemic, most employees experienced great
challenges balancing work and family. Particularly, in the tertiary education sector, lectures and
tutorials have had to be moved online swiftly, resulting in most academicians shifting to new
norms in managing workloads [18]. Academicians who have been observed to work
extraordinarily long hours and late nights (including weekends and holidays) may be
negatively impacted by WFC [19, 20]. It is because, they have the inability to detach from work
[21] and have failed to fulfil both personal and professional responsibilities [22].
Therefore, our study adds three new perspectives to the existing literature. First, we contribute
to the current understanding of work-family conflict research by adding the effect of flexible
work arrangements on WFC during a pandemic outbreak, whereas prior research studied it
differently. Second, the current study investigates the spillover effect of WFC on both job
satisfaction and family satisfaction (i.e., cross-domains: work to family and family to work
domains), while previous studies have largely looked at the effect of WFC on work-related
domains exclusively. Finally, the study sheds light on perspectives from an Eastern contextual
culture where research on the spillover effect of WFC is limited, particularly among Malaysian
academicians that emphasize high collectivist and power distance values that differ from
Western individualistic and low power distance cultures [23].
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
Theoretically, we draw on boundary theory, which posits that individuals create discrete
boundaries between their work and family domains to deal with the demands of each sphere
[24]. This distinction enables individuals to maintain a sense of balance and separation
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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 11, Issue 7, July-2024
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
between the multiple roles they occupy (such as work and family roles). When there are clear
boundaries between work and family roles, flexible work arrangements (FWA) seem to offer
employees more control over their time and work environment. This situation enables
employees to better manage their responsibilities in both domains, and resulting FWA helps to
lessen work-family conflict among them. However, if not managed appropriately, FWA can
cause work to spill into family time where there are no obvious boundaries.
Furthermore, the boundary theory acknowledges that these boundaries can be permeable,
resulting in spillover effects from work to non-work domains. The spillover process outlines
how the intra-individuals transmit strains or emotions across domains [25], with transmission
occurring at work potentially spilling over to the family domains. So that, when boundaries
between work and family roles are permeable, work is more likely to interfere with family
responsibilities, and vice versa. In a nutshell, the spillover process describes how expectations
from one role frequently result in poor performance and low satisfaction in other roles.
Following the concept of cross-domain effects [26, 27], we argue that WIF is highly connected
with family-related outcomes, whereas FIW is more strongly associated with work-related
outcomes than family-related domains.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Flexible Work Arrangements and Work-Family Conflict
As changing patterns in work environments necessitate greater flexibility, the FWA is widely
acknowledged as a new norm for working arrangements, leading to favourable outcomes for
both individuals and organizations. FWA provides employees with flexibility in how, when, and
where they work, including hybrid work, telecommuting, a compressed workweek, and
flextime. A meta-analysis found that FWA is associated with fewer physical health issues, less
somatic symptoms, and reduced absenteeism, suggesting that FWA can help employees
maintain their health [28].
Despite this, some studies have extensively investigated the effect of FWA on WFC, notably in
Western literature [29, 30]. The uneven boundaries of FWA when working remotely from the
office have caused conflict among family members. Even though some scholars claim that FWA
does not directly affect WFC [8], others argue that FWA such as telecommuting, taking work
home, having flexible hours, and taking a family leave are negatively associated with WFC
among employees [31, 32]. To support this notion, FWA is more highly associated with WFC,
specifically work interference with family (WIF), than family interference with work (FIW) [13,
14]. Empirical evidence confirms that flextime has a stronger relationship with WIF [33]
compared to its FIW counterparts [12, 13].
Nevertheless, the FWA is considered uncommon in Eastern working cultures, particularly in
Malaysia. Even though some organizations sought to establish FWA, especially at the beginning
of the pandemic, flextime appears to be a more viable alternative than flexplace arrangements.
Employers may prefer flextime because it provides greater control and effective management.
To date, studies on FWA and WFC have primarily concentrated on traditional working
arrangements [33], with few studies focusing on FWA, specifically flextime, during a pandemic
outbreak involving academicians with an Eastern cultural background. Therefore, we propose
the following hypotheses: