IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i3p907-d315286.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Work–Life Balance: Weighing the Importance of Work–Family and Work–Health Balance

Author

Listed:
  • Andrea Gragnano

    (Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milan, Italy)

  • Silvia Simbula

    (Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milan, Italy)

  • Massimo Miglioretti

    (Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milan, Italy)

Abstract

To date, research directed at the work–life balance (WLB) has focused mainly on the work and family domains. However, the current labor force is heterogeneous, and workers may also value other nonworking domains besides the family. The aim of this study was to investigate the importance of other nonworking domains in the WLB with a particular focus on health. Moreover, the importance of the effects of the work–family balance (WFB) and the work–health balance (WHB) on job satisfaction was investigated. Finally, we explored how the effects of the WFB and the WHB on job satisfaction change according to worker characteristics (age, gender, parental status, and work ability). This study involved 318 workers who completed an online questionnaire. The importance of the nonworking domains was compared with a t -test. The effect of the WFB and the WHB on job satisfaction was investigated with multiple and moderated regression analyses. The results show that workers considered health as important as family in the WLB. The WHB explained more of the variance in job satisfaction than the WFB. Age, gender and parental status moderated the effect of the WFB on job satisfaction, and work ability moderated the effect of the WHB on job satisfaction. This study highlights the importance of the health domain in the WLB and stresses that it is crucial to consider the specificity of different groups of workers when considering the WLB.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrea Gragnano & Silvia Simbula & Massimo Miglioretti, 2020. "Work–Life Balance: Weighing the Importance of Work–Family and Work–Health Balance," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-20, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:3:p:907-:d:315286
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/3/907/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/3/907/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Landers, Richard N. & Behrend, Tara S., 2015. "An Inconvenient Truth: Arbitrary Distinctions Between Organizational, Mechanical Turk, and Other Convenience Samples," Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(2), pages 142-164, June.
    2. Oriel Sullivan, 2019. "Gender inequality in work-family balance," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 3(3), pages 201-203, March.
    3. Özbilgin, Mustafa F. & Beauregard, T. A. & Tatli, Ahu & Bell, Myrtle P., 2011. "Work-life, diversity and intersectionality: a critical review and research agenda," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 36557, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. M. Joseph Sirgy & Dong-Jin Lee, 2018. "Work-Life Balance: an Integrative Review," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 13(1), pages 229-254, March.
    5. Kalliath, Thomas & Brough, Paula, 2008. "Work–life balance: A review of the meaning of the balance construct," Journal of Management & Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(3), pages 323-327, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Inmaculada Mateo-Rodríguez & Emily Caitlin Lily Knox & Coral Oliver-Hernández & Antonio Daponte-Codina & on behalf of the esTAR Group, 2021. "Mediational Occupational Risk Factors Pertaining to Work Ability According to Age, Gender and Professional Job Type," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-10, January.
    2. David Cobos-Sanchiz & María-José Del-Pino-Espejo & Ligia Sánchez-Tovar & M. Pilar Matud, 2020. "The Importance of Work-Related Events and Changes in Psychological Distress and Life Satisfaction amongst Young Workers in Spain: A Gender Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-14, June.
    3. Hani Al-Dmour & Rima Al Hasan & Motasem Thneibat & Ra’ed Masa’deh & Wafa Alkhadra & Rand Al-Dmour & Ali Alalwan, 2023. "Integrated Model for the Factors Determining the Academic’s Remote Working Productivity and Engagement: Empirical Study," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(3), pages 21582440231, August.
    4. Kellyann Berube Kowalski & Alex Aruldoss & Bhuvaneswari Gurumurthy & Satyanarayana Parayitam, 2022. "Work-From-Home Productivity and Job Satisfaction: A Double-Layered Moderated Mediation Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-29, September.
    5. Kizza Francis Ssali, 2023. "Work Life Balance as a Determinants of Academic Staff Retention in Makerere and Kyambogo Universities in Uganda," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(10), pages 1834-1845, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kellyann Berube Kowalski & Alex Aruldoss & Bhuvaneswari Gurumurthy & Satyanarayana Parayitam, 2022. "Work-From-Home Productivity and Job Satisfaction: A Double-Layered Moderated Mediation Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-29, September.
    2. Rikuya Hosokawa & Toshiki Katsura, 2021. "Maternal Work–Life Balance and Children’s Social Adjustment: The Mediating Role of Perceived Stress and Parenting Practices," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-13, June.
    3. Samuel Jayaraman & Hesil Jerda George & Mariadoss Siluvaimuthu & Satyanarayana Parayitam, 2023. "Quality of Work Life as a Precursor to Work–Life Balance: Collegiality and Job Security as Moderators and Job Satisfaction as a Mediator," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-25, June.
    4. Cavapozzi, Danilo & Francesconi, Marco & Nicoletti, Cheti, 2024. "Dividing Housework between Partners: Individual Preferences and Social Norms," IZA Discussion Papers 17370, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Nitzan Peri-Rotem, 2019. "Gendered Career Pathways among Doctoral Graduates in the United Kingdom," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-14, November.
    6. Anna Anastasopoulou & Eftichia Vraimaki & Panagiotis Trivellas, 2023. "Recovery for Resilience: The Mediating Role of Work–Life Balance on the Quality of Life of Women Employees," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-18, August.
    7. Fiona Cocker & Angela Martin & Jenn Scott & Alison Venn & Kristy Sanderson, 2013. "Psychological Distress, Related Work Attendance, and Productivity Loss in Small-to-Medium Enterprise Owner/Managers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-21, October.
    8. Krukowski, Kipp A. & Pollack, Jeffrey M. & Rutherford, Matthew W., 2023. "Winning the opportunity to pitch: Piquing startup investors’ interest by sending the right signals in executive summaries," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 75-86.
    9. Fangzhi Wanga & Hua Liao & Richard S.J. Tol, 2023. "Baumol’s Climate Disease," Working Paper Series 0723, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    10. Clarke, Samuel L. & Rhodes, Eric S., 2020. "Entrepreneurial apologies: The mediating role of forgiveness on future cooperation," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 13(C).
    11. Deena A. Isom & Hunter M. Boehme & Toniqua C. Mikell & Stephen Chicoine & Marion Renner, 2021. "Status Threat, Social Concerns, and Conservative Media: A Look at White America and the Alt-Right," Societies, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-20, July.
    12. Nancy Elizabeth Doyle & Almuth McDowall, 2019. "Context matters: A review to formulate a conceptual framework for coaching as a disability accommodation," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(8), pages 1-30, August.
    13. Maria-Lavinia FLOREA & Anca BORZA, 2019. "Individual Strategies For Achieving Work-Life Balance €“ A Case Study On Romanian Workers," Proceedings of the INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE, Faculty of Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 13(1), pages 845-855, November.
    14. Muhammad Nabeel Siddiqui, 2013. "Impact Of Work Life Conflict On Employee Performance," Far East Journal of Psychology and Business, Far East Research Centre, vol. 12(3), pages 26-40, September.
    15. Allison, Thomas H. & Davis, Blakley C. & Webb, Justin W. & Short, Jeremy C., 2017. "Persuasion in crowdfunding: An elaboration likelihood model of crowdfunding performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 707-725.
    16. Wiza MUNYEKA & Ashika MAHARAJ, 2023. "All’s (or Not) Fair in Work and Life? Focus on Females in Information and Communications Technology Through the Prism of Work-Life Balance," CECCAR Business Review, Body of Expert and Licensed Accountants of Romania (CECCAR), vol. 4(8), pages 48-63, August.
    17. Siti Khadijah Zainal, 2013. "Job Characteristics as the Antecedents of Work-to-family Enrichment: A Literature Review," Journal of Social and Development Sciences, AMH International, vol. 4(8), pages 394-401.
    18. Yuhyung Shin & Won-Moo Hur, 2019. "When Do Service Employees Suffer More from Job Insecurity? The Moderating Role of Coworker and Customer Incivility," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-17, April.
    19. Dong-Jin Lee & M. Joseph Sirgy, 2018. "What Do People Do to Achieve Work–Life Balance? A Formative Conceptualization to Help Develop a Metric for Large-Scale Quality-of-Life Surveys," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 138(2), pages 771-791, July.
    20. Joon-ho Kim & Seung-hye Jung & Bong-ihn Seok & Hyun-ju Choi, 2022. "The Relationship among Four Lifestyles of Workers amid the COVID-19 Pandemic (Work–Life Balance, YOLO, Minimal Life, and Staycation) and Organizational Effectiveness: With a Focus on Four Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-31, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:3:p:907-:d:315286. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.