Abstract:
The research study investigated the roles of cultural variations, self-esteem and gender in work-family conflict. Seven hundred and thirty six (736) self selected workers drawn from six randomly selected federal institutions in three geo-political zones in Nigeria participated in the study. The institutions include: Bayero University Kano and Kaduna polytechnic (Both in North-West Nigeria), Federal University of Technology Owerri and University of Nigeria Nsukka (Both in South-East Nigeria) and University of Ibadan and University of Lagos (Both in South-West Nigeria). The participants consist of married male (n =425) and female (n=311) representatives of the three cultural groups of interest (Hausa = 188, Igbo = 314 and Yoruba = 234). Two instruments were used to measure two out of the four factors in the study. The scales included: Carlson, Kacmar and Williams’ (2000) work-family conflict scale and Hudson’s Index of self-esteem measure (1982). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test for the influence of the three main effects of cultural variations, self-esteem and gender on work-family conflict. Results revealed that cultural variation had a significant influence on work-family conflict F (2, 724) = 5.04, P<.01. Similarly, self-esteem significantly influenced work-family conflict, F (1,724) =45.00, P<.001. Gender was also shown to significantly influence work-family conflict, F (1,724) =3.93, P, < .05. A post-hoc analysis with multivariate analysis of variance test, testing the effects of the three main effects on the levels of work-family conflict, revealed a significant difference in the experience of work –family conflict of the three cultural groups only on time-based work –family conflict, F(2,724)=6.48,P<.01. The results further revealed that self-esteem groups differed on time-based, strain-based and behavior-based work-family conflict, F (1,724) =27.59, P<.0.01, F (1,724) =55.36, P<.001, respectively. Finally, the different groups of gender differed on only strain-based work-family conflict F (1,724) =8.78, P<.01. The implications of the findings were highlighted and suggestions for further research were made.
