Considering the role of personality in the work-family experience: Relationships of the big five to work-family conflict and facilitation

Julie Holliday Wayne, Nicholas Musisca, William Fleeson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

567 Scopus citations

Abstract

Using a national, random sample (N = 2130), we investigated the relationship between each of the Big Five personality traits and conflict and facilitation between work and family roles. Extraversion was related to greater facilitation between roles but was not related to conflict, whereas neuroticism was related to greater conflict but only weakly related to facilitation. Conscientiousness was related to less conflict, presumably reflecting efficient time use and organizational skills. In general, conflict was negatively related to work-family outcomes (e.g., lower job and family effort and satisfaction) whereas facilitation was positively related to the same outcomes. Conflict and facilitation were shown, however, to be orthogonal rather than opposite constructs. Implications for work-family theory, for the understanding of personality traits, and for enhanced responsibilities of organizations are discussed.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)108-130
Number of pages23
JournalJournal of Vocational Behavior
Volume64
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2004
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Big-five
  • Job satisfaction
  • Personality
  • Work-family conflict
  • Work-family facilitation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Education
  • Applied Psychology
  • Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management
  • Life-span and Life-course Studies

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