Personality and work-home interaction among dual-earner couples in South Africa : testing an actor-partner interdependence model

Abstract: This study aimed to investigate the effect of personality on work-home interaction crossover effects among dual-earner couples in South Africa. Dual-earner couples (n = 264; 132 couples) with young children were the participants. They completed measures on work-home interaction and personality respectively. Multilevel modelling was used to analyze predictions for six personality variables and four work-home interaction outcome variables. We also examined interaction effects between husbands’ and wives’ actor effects, as well as between their partner effects. Results suggest only wives’ Extraversion, Emotional Stability and Openness positively influenced husbands’ experience of work-home interaction. Workhome personality crossover actor effects were more pronounced for wives in that an increase in Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability and Extraversion would lead to a possible increase in the experience of positive work-home and home-work interaction and decrease in negative and work-home home-work interaction, depending on the personality factor. Partner effects were stronger for husbands in that an increase in Extraversion in wives will increase husbands’ experience of positive home-work interaction. A gendered effect appears to influence work-home interaction among South Africans working couple and important for interventions for balanced work and home lives