The Mediating Role of Family and Job Satisfaction in the Relationships between Work-Family Conflict and Enrichment and Life Satisfaction of Women with Paid Work

Abstract

For women, working outside the home can both consume and generate personal resources, which in turn can have an impact in their work and family domains. In this study, direct and indirect relationships were explored between work-to-family conflict and work-to-family enrichment, job satisfaction, satisfaction with family life and satisfaction with life, in a sample of 473 women with paid work and adolescent children in Temuco, Chile. Using structural equation modelling, results showed that participants’ satisfaction with life was associated with their satisfaction in both work and family domains. Evidence was also found for underlying mechanisms explaining the relationship between work-to-family conflict and life satisfaction, and between work-to-family enrichment and life satisfaction. These findings contribute to organizational-level knowledge for designing practices and strategies to promote favourable conditions to increase women’s work-to-family enrichment.