THE EFFECTS OF WORKPLACE SOCIAL SUPPORT ON WORK-FAMILY CONFLICT (CASE STUDY: RURAL WATER AND WASTEWATER COMPANY EMPLOYEES KERMANSHAH, IRAN)

The main objective of the current study is to investigate the relationship between workplace social support and work-family conflict among employees who were married, living with a partner, or had at least one child or dependent living at home and worked a minimum of 20 h/week in Rural Water and Wastewater Company employees Kermanshah, Iran. The relation between workplace social support and work–family conflict (WFC) was examined using a two-dimensional measure of WFC and both global and summed facet measures of workplace social support (perceived coworker support and perceived supervisor support (pss). Data were gathered from 158 employees. The results indicated that workplace social support related significantly to both types of WFC, but the relation was significantly stronger to perceived coworker support than to perceived supervisor support (pss). When considering all three forms of conflict simultaneously (time-based, strain-based, and behavior-based), regression results revealed that behavior-based was the only form of conflict significantly related to workplace social support. The results underscore the importance of considering both the form and direction of WFC. The study population included 158 employees. It used the improved Leiden Quality of Work Life Questionnaire by Van der Doef and colleagues and the work-family conflict questionnaire by Kelloway and colleagues to measure participants' responses. One-way ANOVA and Pearson linear correlation coefficient were used for data analyses. Results: There was a negative relation between Workplace Social Support and work-family conflict. Respondents experienc!ed higher levels of work-to-family conflict than family-to-work conflict. There were significant negative relations between Perceived Coworker Support with work-family conflict and Perceived Supervisor Support (PSS) with work-family conflict. work-family conflict of employed women could be reduced by rearranging Workplace Social Support and conditions. JEL: A39, J81, E23, J2