Personality and Work-Family Conflict: The Mediational Role of Coping Styles

Although an extensive body of literature exists on the consequences of work-family conflict (WFC), comparatively little research has examined the construct\u27s antecedents. Research on two sets of antecedent variables, personality and coping style, is particularly scarce. Thus, the present study expands the literature by examining four personality variables (conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism, and locus of control) and five coping styles (problem solving, support seeking, positive cognitive restructuring, rumination, and escape) in relation to work-interference-with-family (WIF) and family-interference-with-work (FIW) conflict. Additionally, coping style, which was assessed separately for managing work stressors and for managing family stressors, was examined as a potential mediator between personality and both directions of WFC. Two hundred and four participants, recruited from a snowball approach, completed surveys. Additionally, significant others provided ratings of conscientiousness, extraversion, and neuroticism. Of the four personality variables, only neuroticism related to WIF and FIW. Furthermore, among the hypothesized relationships between coping and WFC, only rumination and escape for work stressors related to WIF, though several cross-domain relationships were observed. Overall, the present study found little support for coping as a mediator between personality and WFC, though there was some evidence that rumination mediated the relationship between neuroticism and WIF. As a supplementary analysis, coping was examined as a moderator between personality and WFC. Theoretical and practical implications, as well as future directions, are discussed