Worklife balance:

Lubna Riz V has done research on An Empirical Study On The Effectiveness Of WorkLife Balance In Banking Industry. This paper is aimed at the theme of work-life balance,
and to explain the significance of the said subject .Work-life balance is a key area for quality
concern gurus, who believes that balance between work and life is of vital importance when it
comes to performance of the workforce.The paper conducted study on effectiveness of
workforce in the banking sector in Pakistan where the aim was to find out whether the
employees are able to practice a sense of control. Does the employee stay prolific and
productive for his team, while sustaining contented vigorous family life?
Then Dr.Anshuja Tiwari and Mrs. Puneet S.Duggal have done research on Work life
Balance: A study of employee well being and performance of employees in banking
sector. The purpose of this paper is to explore the work-life practices of employees in banks
and the various problems faced by them while working in this sector. With this in mind, this
paper seeks to examine the employee wellbeing and performance in the organization.
And also Dr.R.Anitha has done research on A Study on Job Satisfaction of Paper Mill
Employees with Special Reference to Udumalpet and Palani Taluk. Job satisfaction is a
general attitude towards ones job, the difference between the amount of reward workers
receive and the amount they believe they should receive. Employee is a back bone of every
organization, without employee no work can be done. So employees satisfaction is very
important. Employees will be more satisfied if they get what they expected, job satisfaction
relates to inner feelings of workers. As Udumalpet and Palani Taluk are famous for paper
industries, the main aim of this study is to analyze the satisfaction level of paper mill
employees.

Then later on Sameer Ahmad Shalla and Dr Asif Iqbal Fazili has worked on Quality of Work
Life and Employee Job Satisfaction- a Dimensional Analysis and concluded that quality of
work life and job satisfaction is very significant for ensuring sustained commitment
andproductivity from the employees of an organisation. The sustainability of organisational
success is primarily based on the employee satisfaction and the latter is contingent upon the
nature and level of quality of work life of an organisation. This paper attempts to bring fore
the perception of employees about quality of work life and job satisfaction across gender and

nature of job. The results of the study depict a strong association between quality of work life
and job satisfaction. Furthermore, the findings also point out a strong divergence in the
perception of employees towards quality of work life and job satisfaction across gender and
nature of job. Which is remarkable as it reflects the different requirements and priorities of
employees based on their gender and the kind of job they hold.
For more precision in this research Farah Mukhtar has worked on Work life balance and job
satisfaction among faculty at Iowa State University. This research sought to determine if:
(a) work life differs by academic discipline group: (b) job satisfaction differs by academic
discipline, and (c) there is a relationship between faculty work life and job satisfaction and
whether this relationship differs by academic discipline group, and (d) if academic discipline
has a unique effect on faculty work and life balance. Results indicated that the work life
balance and job satisfaction has no significant among academic disciplines at ISU. However,
the results indicated that there is a significant relationship (r = .595) between work life and
job satisfaction. When controlling for demographic and professional experience, the result
also indicated that age and climate, and culture were significant predicators for work life
balance. The results also showed that female faculty has lower job satisfaction. The findings
of this study provide valuable insight for educators and policy makers who are interested in
factors that contribute to work life and overall job satisfaction among academic disciplines at
a large research institution in Midwest.
To overcome the limitation of the above research R.Gayathiri and Dr. Lalitha Ramakrishnan
has worked on Quality of Work Life Linkage with Job Satisfaction and Performance.
The paper states that the increased complexity of todays environment poses several
challenges to hospital management during the next decade. Trends such as changing
organizational structures, increased knowledge and specialization, interdisciplinary
collaboration, advancement of technology, new health problems and health care policy, and
sophistication in medical education have a part to play. All these affect the nursing profession
and skill requirements as well as their commitment to performance in hospitals. In view of
this, hospital management has to ensure quality of life for nurses that can provide satisfaction
and enhance job performance. In this paper, an attempt is made to review the literature on
quality of life to identify the concept and measurement variables as well its linkage with
satisfaction and performance.

Then lastly study on work of Sobia Shujat, Farooq-E-Azam Cheema and Faryal Bhutto has
been done which is base on Impact of Work Life Balance on Employee Job Satisfaction in
Private Banking Sector of Karachi. The core purpose of this study is to analyze the impact
of work life balance on employee job satisfaction in private banking sector of Karachi. The
data were collected keeping in consideration features such as gender, age, managerial position
and tenure of job. Factors involved are job satisfaction and work life balance with respect to
flexible working conditions, work life balance programs, employee intention to change/leave
job, work pressure/stress and long working hours.

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Bardoel, E.A ., Cieri, H.D., & Santos, C. (2008). A review of work-life research inAustralia
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familyenrichment among Indian managers. Psychological Studies, 54, 213-225.
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demands control model: a daily diary study of job characteristics, work family conflict and
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Carlson, D.S. (1999). Personality and role variables as predictors of three forms ofworkfamily conflict. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 55, 236-253.
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role values make a difference? Journal of Management 26 (5), 1031-1054.
Carmeli, A. (2003). The relationship between emotional intelligence and work
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Managerial Psychology, 18(8), 788-813.
Greenhaus and Beutell(1985)31 defined work-family conflict as a form of inter-role conflict
in which the role pressures from the two domains, that is work and family, are mutually noncompatible so that meeting demands in one domain makes it difficult to meet demands in the
other. That is, participation in the work role is made more difficult by virtue of participation
1

3Greenhaus J.H., Sources of conflict between work and family roles, Academy of
Management Review, Volume10, 1985, pp.76-88.

in the family and vice-versa. The major concern in this most widely used definition of workfamily conflict is that role conflicts are due to problems of role participation and emotional
intelligence.
Rice (1985)2 emphasized the relationship between work satisfaction and Quality of peoples
lives. The study contended that work experiences and outcomes can affect persons general
Quality of life, both directly and indirectly which effects on their family interactions, leisure
activities and levels of health and energy.
Galinsky et al (1991)3 discussed on work life balance policies which are the values, which
attract prospective employees and are tools for employee retention and motivation. The study
found that one should also keep in mind that new generation employees evaluate their career
progress not only in terms of lucrative job assignments but also in terms of their ability to
maintain healthy balance between their work and non-work life.
Friedman and Greenhaus (2000)4, two leaders expressed on work/life balance, and bring
forth new evidence to help us understand choices we make as employers and individuals
regarding work and family. They had studied more than 800 business professionals
considered values, work, and family lives and found that work and family, the dominant life
roles for most employed women and men in contemporary society, can either help or hurt
each other. To handle work/life balance, they emphasize that working adults learn to build
networks of support at home, at work, and in the community. Conflict between work and
family has real consequences and significantly affects quality of family life and career
attainment of both men and women. The consequences for women may include serious
constraints on career choices, limited opportunity for career advancement and success in their
work role, and the need to choose between two apparent oppositesan active and satisfying
career or marriage and children. Many men have to trade off personal and career values while
they search for ways to make dual career families work, often requiring them to embrace
family roles that are far different, and more egalitarian than those they learned as children.
2

Rice, R. W., Organizational Work and the Perceived Quality of Life towards a Conceptual
Model, Academy of Management Review, April, Vol. 10(2), 1985, pp 296-310.
3
Galinsky,E., et al The Corporate Reference Guide to Work-Family Programmes, Families and
Work Institute: New York, 1991.
4

Friedman, S. D. and Greenhaus, J. H., Work and familyAllies or enemies? What happens
when business professionals confront lifechoices, New York: Oxford University Press,2000.

This research reveals a compensatory effect between two forms of psychological interference
i.e. work-to-family and family-to-work. Specifically, support from two domains (Partner and
employer) has a significant impact on one another. The impact of partner support is greater
when business professionals feel their employers are unsupportive of their lives beyond work.
Conversely, for employees with relatively unsupportive partners, the employer familyfriendliness reduces role conflicts more than partners. Thus, one source of support
compensates for the lack of the other. Looking at behavioral interference of work on family,
the picture changes. In this case, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts: the combined
impact of employer and partner support leads to a greater reduction in conflict than does
independent employer or partner support.
Hom and Kinicki (2001)5 examined that organizations take into consideration and apply
policies that manage a balance between employees work and their lives. Therefore the
organizations are giving an increased intention to adopt those policies which can reduce the
turnover of employees
Mark Tausig and Rudy Fenwick (2001)62stressed that alternate work schedules affect
perceived work-life imbalance the time bind. However, perceived control of work
schedules increases work-life balance net of family and work characteristics. The most
consistent family characteristic predicting imbalance is being a parent. The most consistent
work characteristic predicting imbalance is hours worked. Once we control for hours worked,
women and part timers are shown to perceive more imbalance. Younger and better educated
persons also perceive more work-life imbalance. However, they also report higher levels of
schedule control and since schedule control improves work-life balance, it may be more
important for unbinding time than schedule alternatives.
Roehling (2001)7 conducted an empirical research and suggested a direct relation-ship
between work life balance programs and retention which helps the employees to achieve a
meaningful balance between work and personal life, these programs may only hold benefits
5

Hom, P.W., and Kinicki, A.J., Toward a greater understanding of how dissatisfaction drives,
employee turnover, The Academy of Management Journal, Volume No.44(5), 2001, pp.975987.
6
Mark Tausig and RudyFenwic, Unbinding Time: Alternate Work Schedules Work-Life
Balance, Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Volume No.22(2), Human Sciences Press,
2001, pp.101-119
7
Roehling, P.V., and Moen, P., The relationship between work-life policies and
practices and practices and employee loyalty: A life course perspective. Journal of
Family and economic issues, 2001

for the employers rather than employees. The complexities exists in balancing work and
personal life and the importance of balance for individuals well-being should be investigated
by an organization to provide work life balance programs which are related to retention
strategies through the positive impact of these programs on individuals perceptions of
balance.
Burke (2002)8 has identified that is a gender differences regarding the work life balance that
is men feel more satisfied when they achieve more on the job even at the cost of ignoring the
family. On the other hand, women stress that work and family are both equally important and
both are the sources of their satisfaction. For them the former is more important when the
work does not permit women to take care of their family, they feel unhappy, disappointed and
frustrated.
Duxbury et al (2002)9 discussed on work-related stress consists of working conditions
involving heavy workloads, lack of participation in decision making, health and safety
hazards, job insecurity, and tight deadlines. Employees (with high levels of work-life
conflict) are three times more likely to suffer from certain heart problems, back pain and
mental health problems. They also indicated that workers are more likely to experience poor
health, experience negative impacts on relationships with children and their spouse, less
committed to the organization, less satisfied with the job, have poor quality of relationship
outside the work.
Duxbury and Higgings (2003)10 in their seminal report on work-life conflict demonstrated
that the respondents with high levels of work to family interference reported: lower levels of
job satisfaction and high levels of jobs stress the intent to turnover of the employees.

Burke, R.J., Organizational values, job experience and satisfaction among managerial and
professional women and men, Management Review, Volume No.17(5), pp.5-6.
9
Duxbury.L.,The National work-life conflict study, Final report , Public Health Agency of
Canada, 2002.
10
Duxbury, L., and Higgings, C., Work life conflict in Canada in the New Millenium: A status
report, Ottawa: Health Canada,2003

Fisher and Layte (2003)11Considered three distinct sets of measures of work life balance,
viz., proportion of free time, the over-lap of work and other dimensions of life, and the time
spent with other people helps the employees to balance both work and life.
Higgins C. (2004)12 analysed the gap between need for work-life balance and the reality in
most workplaces remains disturbingly wide. Employers across Canada do not provide
sufficient or adequate work-life balance programs for their employees. It indicates that the
factor has the association with employee commitment is managers recognition of their
employees needs for work-life balance. Hence employers need to create supportive work
place environments, as work life balance is the key to employee well-being and hence
organisations productivity.
Yasbek (2004)13 found that work life balance policies are positively associated with the job
tenure of the female employees, and moreover the practices of such policies have a great
effect on the turnover rate of employees. Work-life balance policies help in reducing the
stress and provide a good work place where, there is less chance of accidents in the working
and also provide a fair platform for every employee, ultimately enhancing productivity.
Keene and Renolds (2005)14 used the 1992 National Study on the Changing Workforce to
conclude that job characteristics are more salient than family factors for predicting the
likelihood that family will detract from job performance and for explaining the gender gap in
negative family-to-work spillover. Working in a demanding job or having little job autonomy,
the authors assert, was associated with more native family-to-work spillover regardless of
gender, while greater scheduling flexibility mitigated the gender gap

11

Fisher, K., and Layfe M., Measuring work-life balance and degrees of sociability: A focus on
the value of time use data in the assessment of quality of life, Working Paper of the European
Panel Analysis Group, Volume No.32, 2003.
12
Higgins.C, et al, Exploring the link between work-life conflict and demands on Canadas
healthcare system, Health Canada, Report 3, 2004.
13
Yasbek, P., The business case for firm-level work-life balance policies: a review of the
Literature, Labour Market Policy Group, Department of Labour, 2004
14
Keene,Jennifer Reid and John R. Renolds, The job costs of family demands:Gender
differences in negative family-to-work spillover, Journal of Family Issues, Volume
No.26(3),2005,pp.275-299

Pocock and Clarke(2005)15explored that spill -over of work into family life showed that
both men and women did not have enough time to spend with families and moreover work
pressures affected quality of the family life.
Thompson, Andreassi and Prottas (2005)16 has identified work life policies which are very
important and defined as the base level indicators of an organization, prioritizing work over
family or family over work and these policies include flexible work scheduling and leave of
employees from work.
Forsyth and PolzerDebruyne (2007)17 have studied that the organizational pay-offs for
visible work-life balance support the workers for the reduced intention of leaving the job
through increased job satisfaction and also the reduction of work pressure and also reported
about the employees that they feel organization is supportive and providing them work life
balance it enhances job satisfaction and reduces work pressure leading to reduction in
turnover intention.
Anup Kumar Singh and Richaawasthy (2009) 18discuss different causes and consequences
of Work-Life Balance, where societal, organizational and individual causes are major
responsible for Work-Life Balance. Managers have to take the challenge of work life balance
seriously as it affects their professional success and personal well-being. They also need to
hone certain skills that conducive to better work life balance. Some of these skills are: time
management, delegation, coping with stress, negotiation, caring, listening, empathy, trust etc
help in managing things both at work and in family
Bilal,Zia-ur-Rahman and Raza (2010)19 examined the significant impact of family friendly
policies on employees job satisfaction and turnover intention in the banking industry. Long
15

Pocock, B., and Clarke, J., Time, money and jobs spill over: How parentss jobs affect young
people, The Journal of Industrial Relations, Volume No.47 (1), 2005, pp.62-76.
16
50Thompson, C. A., Andreassi, J., and Prottas, D., Work-family culture: Key to reducing
workforce-workplace mismatch, Lawrence Erlbaum Publications, 2005,pp.117-132.
17
Forsyth,Stewart and Polzer-Debruyne, Andrea, The Organizational Pay-offs for Perceived
Work-life Balance Support, Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources,45(1),2007,pp.113:123.
18
AnupKumar Singh and RichaAwasthy,Work-Life Balance: causes, consequences and
interventions,NHRD Network Journal,2009,pp.59-67
19

Bilal,Muhammad,Zia-ur-Rahman,Muhammad and RazaIrfan, Impact of Family Friendly

Policies on Employees Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intention:A study on work-life balance at
workplace, Inter-disciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, Volume No.2(7),
2010, pp.378-95

and inflexible work hours are the most consistent predictor of work-life conflict among
banking employees. The evaluation provided prima facie evidence that alternative work
schedules can improve banking employees work-life balance, creating benefits for banking
employees and corporate organizations.
Divya, Suganthi and Samuel (2010) 20 illustrated the current workplace conditions and some
of the reasons causing imbalances in work and life in the IT industry in India. Their study
mainly focused on the working women in the age group 20-35 and the problems they face at
work and family life. Results obtained from using factor analysis suggest that organizations
may mitigate voluntary turnover among women belonging to IT sector and increase
workforce diversity.
Malik, Saleem and Ahmad (2010)21 examined the relationship of job satisfaction with the
concept of work-life balance, turnover intentions and burnout level of teachers in Pakistan.
The purpose of the study was to provide empirical evidence to prove the relationship. They
concluded that higher the work life balance higher will be the job satisfaction of the teachers.
Shankar and Bhatnagar (2010)22 looked at the literature of work life balance exhaustively
and accentuated the importance of broadening the narrow focus to broader one beyond work
and family. They have proposed a conceptual model of work life balance to be tested
empirically. This model focused on the work life balance construct and its relationship with
employee engagement, emotional dissonance and turnover intention and reviewed the
antecedents of Work-Family Conflict from the perspective of individual, work and family.
Findings revealed the effects of individual variables like stress influences, family variables
like family demands and spousal interactions.

The recent explosion of interest in the workfamily interface has produced a number of
concepts to explain the relation between these two dominant spheres of life: accommodation,
20

Divya D, Suganthi L. and Samuel Anand A., Work life Balance of IT Women Professionals
Belongings to the Age Group 20-35 in India, Advance in Management Volume
No.3(1),2010,pp.37-46
21
Malik,MuhammadImran,Sallem, Farida Ahmad and Mehboob,Work-life Balance and Job
Satisfaction Professionals Belongings to the Age Group 20-35 in India, Advance in
Management Volume No.3(1), 2010, pp.37-46
22

Shankar, Tara and BhatnagarJyotsna, Work-life balance, Employee, Engagement, Emotional

Consonance/ Dossonance& turnover intention, The Indian Journal of Indian Relations, Volume
No.46(1),2010,pp.74-87.

compensation, resource drain, segmentation, spillover, workfamily conflict, workfamily

enrichment, and workfamily integration (Barnett, 1998; Edwards & Rothbard, 2000;
Friedman & Greenhaus, 2000; Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985; Greenhaus & Parasuraman, 1999;
Lambert, 1990). One term widely cited in the popular press is workfamily balance.
Sometimes used as a noun (when, for example, one is encouraged to achieve balance), and
other times as a verb (to balance work and family demands) or an adjective (as in a balanced
life), workfamily balance often implies cutting back on work to spend more time with the
family. Moreover, it is thought to be in an individuals best interest to live a balanced life
(Kofodimos, 1993).
Despite the presumed virtue of workfamily balance, the concept has not undergone
extensive scrutiny. Most of the major reviews of workfamily relations either do not mention
workfamily balance or mention balance but do not explicitly define the concept. Moreover,
empirical studies that discuss balance between work and family roles generally do not
distinguish balance from other concepts in the workfamily literature (Nielson, Carlson, &
Lankau, 2001; Saltzstein, Ting, & Saltzstein, 2001; Sumer & Knight, 2001; Thompson,
Beauvais, & Lyness, 1999). For empirical research on balance to contribute to understanding
workfamily dynamics, further development of the construct is essential.
Several scholars have recently proposed definitions of balance that distinguish it from other
related concepts (Clark, 2000; Hill, Hawkins, Ferris, & Weitzman, 2001; Kirchmeyer, 2000;
Kofodimos, 1990, 1993; Marks, Huston, Johnson, & MacDermid, 2001; Marks &
MacDermid, 1996). Nevertheless, the definitions of balance are not entirely consistent with
one another, the measurement of balance is problematic, and the impact of workfamily
balance on individual well-being has not been firmly established.
The present study addressed these gaps in the literature. Specifically, the research:
(1) proposed a comprehensive definition of workfamily balance that is distinguishable from
other workfamily concepts; (2) developed a measure of workfamily balance that is
consistent with this definition; and (3) examined relations between workfamily balance and
quality of life, a prominent indicator of well-being. In subsequent sections of this article, we
discuss the concept and measurement of workfamily balance, propose relations between
workfamily balance and quality of life, and report the results of a study designed to examine
these relations.

2. The meaning of workfamily balance, we do not consider balance to be a workfamily

linking mechanism because it does not specify how conditions or experiences in one role are
causally related to conditions or experiences in the other role (Edwards & Rothbard, 2000).
Instead, workfamily balance reflects an individuals orientation across different life roles, an
interrole phenomenon (Marks & MacDermid, 1996). In contrast to the prevailing view that
individuals inevitably organize their roles in a hierarchy of prominence, Marks and
MacDermid (1996), drawing on Mead (1964), suggest that individual scanand should
demonstrate equally positive commitments to different life roles; that is, they should hold a
balanced orientation to multiple roles.
Marks and MacDermid define role balance as the tendency to become fully engaged in the
performance of every role in one_s total role system, to approach every typical role and role
partner with an attitude of attentiveness and care. Put differently, it is the practice of that
evenhanded alertness known sometimes as mindfulness (Marks & MacDermid, 1996, p.
421). However, they also note that this expression of full engagement reflects a condition of
positive role balance, in contrast to negative role balance in which individuals are fully
disengaged in every role. Although Marks and MacDermid (1996) are understandably more
concerned with positive role balance than negative role balance, they acknowledge that it is
important to distinguish the two concepts.
Other scholars have defined workfamily balance or work-life balance in a manner similar to
Marks and MacDermid_s (1996) conception of positive role balance. For example,
Kirchmeyer views living a balanced life as achieving satisfying experiences in all life
domains, and to do so requires personal resources such as energy, time, and commitment to
be well distributed across domains (Kirchmeyer, 2000, p. 81, italics added). In a similar
vein, Clark views workfamily balance as satisfaction and good functioning at work and at
home with a minimum of role conflict (Clark, 2000, p. 349). According to Kofodimos,
balance refers to a satisfying, healthy, and productive life that includes work, play, and love.
(Kofodimos, 1993; p. xiii).
These definitions of balance share a number of common elements. First is the notion of
equality, or near-equality, between experiences in the work role and experiences in the family
role. Clark (2000), Kirchmeyer (2000), and Kofodimos (1993) imply similarly high levels of
satisfaction, functioning, health, or effectiveness across multiple roles. Perhaps, Marks and
MacDermid_s (1996) notion of even handed alertness as a characteristic of positive
balance is most explicit with regard to equality of role commitments. Even negative balance,
to use Marks and MacDermid_s (1996) term, implies an evenhanded lack of alertness in

different roles. To draw an analogy from everyday life, a measuring scale is balanced when
there are equal weights on both sides of the fulcrum, whether the weights are equally heavy
or equally light.
Moreover, the definitions of workfamily balance implicitly consider two components of
equality: inputs and outcomes. The inputs are the personal resources (Kirchmeyer, 2000) that
are applied to each role. To be balanced is to approach each rolework and familywith an
approximately equal level of attention, time, involvement, or commitment. Positive balance
suggests an equally high level of attention, time, involvement, or commitment, whereas
negative balance refers to an equally low level of attention, time, involvement, or
commitment. These inputs reflect an individual_s level of role engagementin terms of time
devoted to each role or psychological involvement in each role. It is difficult to imagine a
balanced individual who is substantially more or less engaged in the work role than the
family role.
The other component of balance refers to the resultant outcomes that are experienced in work
and family roles. One outcome frequently included in definitions of balance is satisfaction
(Clark, 2000; Kirchmeyer, 2000; Kofodimos, 1993). Positive balance implies an equally high
level of satisfaction with work and family roles, and negative balance suggests an equally low
level of satisfaction with each role. Again, it is difficult to picture individuals as having
achieved workfamily balance if they are substantially more satisfied with one role than the
other. In fact, one of Marks and MacDermid_s (1996) measures of positive role balance
(discussed shortly) assesses the extent to which an individual is equally satisfied in all life
roles.
We offer the following definition of workfamily balance: the extent to which an individual
is equally engaged inand equally satisfied withhis or her work role and family role.
Consistent with Marks and MacDermid (1996), our definition is broad enough to include
positive balance and negative balance. Because role engagement can be further divided into
elements of time and psychological involvement, we propose three components of work
family balance:
Time balance: an equal amount of time devoted to work and family roles.
Involvement balance: an equal level of psychological involvement in work and family roles.
Satisfaction balance: an equal level of satisfaction with work and family roles.
Each component of workfamily balance can represent positive balance or negative balance
depending on whether the levels of time, involvement, or satisfaction are equally high or
equally low.

We view workfamily balance as a matter of degree, a continuum anchored at one end by

extensive imbalance in favor of a particular role (for example, family) through some
relatively balanced state to extensive imbalance in favor of the other role (e.g., work) as the
other anchor point. In addition, we conceptualize balance as independent of an individual_s
desires or values. Bielby and Bielby (1989) observed that married working women may
emphasize their family in balancing work and family identities (p. 786) and Lambert
(1990) discussed maintaining a particular balance between work and home (p. 252). These
researchers appear to be using the term balance to represent a range of different patterns of
commitment, rather than an equality of commitments across roles. We believe that an
individual who gives substantially more precedence to one role than the other is relatively
imbalanced even if the distribution of commitment to family and work is highly consistent
with what the individual wants or values. Whether such imbalance in favor of one role is
healthy or not is, in our opinion, an empirical question.
3. The measurement of workfamily balance Researchers has used several different
approaches to operationally define role balance, workfamily balance, or work-life balance.
For example, some studies have assessed an individuals reaction to an unspecified level of
balance. Milkie and Peltola (1999) used the item: How successful do you feel in balancing
your paid work and family life? White (1999) and Saltzstein et al. (2001) focused on
satisfaction with balance with the items Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the balance
between your job or main activity and family and home life? and I am satisfied with the
balance I have achieved between my work and life respectively. These measures are
somewhat limited because they measure perceptual or affective reactions to balance rather
than balance itself. Hill et al. (2001) developed a five-item scale to assess work-life balance.
However, three of their items (e.g., How easy or difficult is it for you to balance the
demands of your work and your personal and family life?) seem to assess perceived success
in achieving balance rather than the level of balance.
Marks and colleagues_ scales come closest to assessing balance as conceptualized in the
present research. In their first study of employed wives and mothers, Marks and MacDermid
(1996) used a single item to measure role balance: Nowadays, I seem to enjoy every part of
my life equally well. Although, as the authors acknowledged, a one-item scale is not ideal,
at least the item assessed equality among roles in enjoyment or satisfaction, one component
of workfamily balance.

In their second study, Marks and MacDermid (1996) developed a more complex 8-item scale
of role balance. Three types of items were included in the scale: (1) equal satisfaction or
enjoyment across roles (. . . I find satisfaction in everything I do.); (2) equal importance or
caring about roles (everything I do feels special to me; nothing stands out as more important
or more valuable than anything else.); and (3) equal attention or time across roles (I try to
put a lot of myself into everything I do.). Marks et al. (2001) used four items from Marks
and MacDermid_s (1996) 8-item scale, two of which reflected equal satisfaction and two of
which assessed equal time or attention. The alpha coefficients were modest for women (.64)
and men (.56), suggesting that the satisfaction and time components of balance may be
distinct constructs.
Although the items by Marks and his colleagues are faithful to their definition of role
balance, they represent respondents_ judgments of balanced satisfaction, importance, or
attention across roles. As Marks and MacDermid (1996) acknowledged, it is difficult to
interpret the meaning of a low score on their items. For example, individuals who disagree
with the item I try to put a lot of myself into everything I do might put very little into
everything they do (negative role balance) or might put much more into one role than another
(role imbalance). Therefore, Marks and Mac-Dermid (1996) encourage researchers to obtain
direct measures of positive balance, negative balance, and imbalance. One objective of this
study, as we elaborate below, was to develop direct measures of the components of work
family balance that do not depend on employees_ self-reported assessment of balance.
4. The relation between workfamily balance and quality of life Workfamily balance is
generally thought to promote well-being. Kofodimos (1993) suggests that imbalancein
particular work imbalancearouses high levels of stress, detracts from quality of life, and
ultimately reduces individuals_ effectiveness at work. Hall (1990) proposes an organizationchange approach to promoting workfamily balance, and the popular press is replete with
advice to companies and employees on how to promote greater balance in life (Cummings,
2001; Fisher, 2001; Izzo & Withers, 2001).
Why should workfamily balance enhance an individuals quality of life? First, involvement
in multiple roles protects or buffers individuals from the effects of negative experiences in
any one role (Barnett & Hyde, 2001). Beyond this buffering effect, workfamily balance is
thought to promote well-being in a more direct manner.
Marks and MacDermid (1996, p. 421), believe that balanced individuals are primed to seize
the moment when confronted with a role demand because no role is seen as less worthy of

one_s alertness than any other. According to this reasoning, balanced individuals experience
low levels of stress when enacting roles, presumably because they are participating in role
activities that are salient to them. In fact, Marks and MacDermid (1996) found that balanced
individuals experienced less role overload, greater role ease, and less depression than their
imbalanced counterparts. Moreover, a balanced involvement in work and family roles may
also reduce chronic workfamily conflict. Because balanced individuals are fully engaged in
both roles, they do not allow situational urgencies to hinder role performance chronically
(Marks & MacDermid, 1996). Instead, they develop routines that enable them to meet the
long-term demands of all roles, presumably avoiding extensive work family conflict. In
sum, a balanced engagement in work and family roles is expected to be associated with
individual well-being because such balance reduces work family conflict and stress, both of
which detract from well-being (Frone, Russell, & Cooper, 1992).
However, the beneficial effects of balance are based on the assumption of positive balance.
We suggested that an equally high investment of time and involvement in work and family
would reduce workfamily conflict and stress thereby enhancing an individual_s quality of
life. To determine whether there are different effects of positive balance and negative balance
on quality of life, it is necessary to distinguish individuals who exhibit a high total level of
engagement across their combined work and family roles from those who display a low total
level of engagement. For example, those individuals who devote a substantial amount of time
to their combined work and family roles and distribute this substantial time equally between
the two roles exhibit positive time balance. By contrast, those individuals who devote only a
limited amount of time to their combined work and family roles and distribute the limited
time equally between the two roles exhibit negative time balance.
Similarly, individuals who invest a substantial amount of psychological involvement in their
combined roles and distribute their substantial involvement equally between their work and
family roles exhibit positive involvement balance, whereas those who distribute their limited
involvement equally exhibit negative involvement balance.
We believe that positive balance has a more substantial positive impact on quality of life than
negative balance. When individuals invest substantial time or involvement in their combined
roles, there is more time or involvement to distribute between work and family. In this
situation, imbalance can reflect sizeable differences between work time and family time or
between work involvement and family involvement, and therefore produce extensive work
family conflict and stress that detract from quality of life. However, we expect little or no
benefit of balance when individuals invest limited time or involvement in their combined

roles. In this situation, because there is so little time or involvement to distribute, imbalance
reflects small differences between work time and family time or between work involvement
and family involvement, and arouses little or no workfamily conflict and stress that detract
from the quality of ones life. Therefore, we tested the following hypotheses.
Hypothesis 1. There is an interaction between time balance and total time devoted to work
and family roles in predicting quality of life. The relation between balance and quality of life
is stronger for individuals who devote a substantial amount of time to their combined work
and family roles than for individuals who devote a limited amount of time to their combined
work and family roles.
Hypothesis 2. There is an interaction between involvement balance and total involvement in
work and family roles in predicting quality of life. The relation between balance and quality
of life is stronger for individuals who are highly involved in their combined work and family
roles than for individuals who are relatively uninvolved in their combined work and family
roles.
Recall that the interactions are based on the notion that balanced individuals experience less
workfamily conflict and stress than imbalanced individuals only when substantial time and
psychological involvement are invested across their work and family roles. Under conditions
of more limited investment of time and involvement, there are smaller differences in the
degree of balance and hence smaller differences in workfamily conflict, stress, and
ultimately quality of life. In effect, we believe that workfamily conflict and stress explain or
mediate the effects of balance on quality of life. Therefore:
Hypothesis 3. The interaction between time balance and the total amount of time devoted to
work and family roles predicting quality of life is mediated by work family conflict and
stress.
Hypothesis 4. The interaction between involvement balance and total involvement in work
and family roles predicting quality of life is mediated by workfamily conflict and stress.
Hypotheses 14 predicted relations of time balance and involvement balance with quality of
life. Balanced satisfaction across work and family roles (Clark, 2000; Kirchmeyer, 2000;
Kofodimos, 1993) is also likely to be associated with a high quality of life. Individuals who
are highly satisfied with both roles are likely to experience a more substantial achievement of
valued goals than those who are less satisfied with one role than the other, and goal
achievement has been associated with individual well-being (Diener, Suh, Lucas, & Smith,
1999). Moreover, we expect that an imbalanced satisfaction between work and family roles

can produce extensive stress because the imbalance is a constant reminder that one is not
meeting his or her needs or values as extensively in one role as the other.
However, the relation between satisfaction balance and quality of life is likely to depend on
the total level of satisfaction across work and family roles. Under conditions of high total
satisfaction, there is more satisfaction to distribute across work and family roles. Therefore,
imbalance can produce sizeable differences between work satisfaction and family
satisfaction, a high level of stress, and therefore a low quality of life. Under conditions of low
total satisfaction, where there is not much satisfaction to distribute across roles, imbalance
produces minor differences between work satisfaction and family satisfaction, generates little
stress, and has little or no effect on quality of life.
Therefore: Hypothesis 5. There is an interaction between satisfaction balance and total
satisfaction with work and family roles in predicting quality of life. The relation between
balance and quality of life is stronger for individuals who are highly satisfied with their
combined work and family roles than for individuals who are relatively dissatisfied with their
combined work and family roles. The rationale behind Hypothesis 5 is that imbalanced
individuals experience more stress than balanced individuals only when there is a substantial
amount of satisfaction to distribute across their work and family roles. In effect, stress
explains the effect of satisfaction balance on quality of life. We do not believe that work
family conflict explains the relation between satisfaction balance and quality of life because
an imbalance in satisfaction is not likely to produce extensive workfamily conflict as an
imbalance in time or involvement is expected to produce.
Therefore Hypothesis 6, The interaction between satisfaction balance and total satisfaction
with work and family roles predicting quality of life is mediated by stress.
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Literature Review:
Work Life Balance:
Work life balance (acronym WLB) is the separation between work life and personal life of an
employee in the organization. It is the boundary that one creates between the professional
life, career advancement, personal life or any other segment that makes up the life of an
individual. Apart from the career life these segments include family, personal growth, fitness
and health, community relations and friendship. Finding the balance between career and
personal life has always been a challenge for working people.
Some widely used definitions of work-family issues or work-family balance, found in the
literature, are listed below:
Work-family conflict is defined as a form of role conflict characterized by the incongruence
between responsibilities of the home and workplace which are mutually incompatible.
(Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985)
WLB is defined as satisfaction and good functioning at work and at home with a minimum
of role conflict" (Clark, 2000)
WLB is defined as the absence of unacceptable level of conflicts between work and nonwork demands. (Greenbatt, 2002)
Work life balance as the extent to which an individual is equally engaged in and equally
satisfied with his or her work role and family role (Greenhaus et al, 2003, )
Work life balance is the extent to which an individuals effectiveness and satisfaction in
work and family roles are compatible with the individuals life priorities. (Greenhans and
Allen, 2006)
Workfamily balance is defined as accomplishment of role related expectations that are
negotiated and shared between an individual and his or her role-related partners in the work
and family domains (Grzywacz and Carlson, 2007).

WLB for any person is having the right combination of participation in paid work (defined
by hours and working conditions) and other aspects of lives. This combination will change as
people move through life and have changing responsibilities and commitments in their work
and personal lives. Frone, Russell, & Cooper, (1992). With these definitions it can be
understood that any imbalance that is formed either creates more pressure or psychological
involvement or satisfaction towards one role as compared to other role.
The origin of the research work life balance can be seen from the seminal work of rapport
and rapport (1969), the research are been that both work and family needs time and energy.
Work is an important source of income, financial stability and status. Where tow partners
come join hands together and earn and support and raise their children together.
As work and family has no direct relationship with each other so conflicts is inevitable to
arise.
Khan wolf, Quinn, snoek and Rosenthal, 1964) from their seminal studies associated work
life balance with role theory, that is conflicting expectations associated with different roles
which the male and female has to play in their day to day life.
Kanter (1977) was able to continue the research of khan (1964) proving that work and family
are not independent of each other rather have an interlink which consequently brings in
conflicts between the two. With the pioneering work of pleck (1977) there was a general
consensus formed that work and family affect each other either in a positive or negative way.
And there are various extraneous variables like time, task, attitudes, stress emotions, and
behaviors which have an influence over work life imbalance.
Another influential theory after Pleck (1977) was the theory of spill over (Piotrkowski ,
1979), based on asymmetric permeable boundaries between the work and family life
domains. The spill over theory basically talked about two type of factors job related factors
and work related factors. There was a relationship established between the two domains of
job related factors and work related factors like the influence of spill over theory over job
context more for women then for men, whereas the converse would be true for job related
factors. Further the spill over theory also invited various research scholars to identify few
more factors that influence the work family dependency like compensation, benefits, and
bonuses (Champoux, 1978).
Greenhaus & Beutell ( 1985) further segregated few more factors like time, task, attitudes,
stress emotions, and behavioral spill over work and family. They tried to maintain either
positive or negative relation between the two domains. (1988) found out that interface
between work and family is asymmetric and work tends to influence more on family than

family on work. A distinction was made between work family interface (family interfering
work) and (work interfering family) greenhouse & Brutell (1988).
Several scholars during that time concluded that interference between work and family and
the conflict arising out of it are conceptually and empirically distinct from each other. (Wiley,
1987). As explained previously the field was dominated more by role theory which was
derived from seminal studies of khan, Wolfe (1964). According to Cohen & wills (1985) role
theory and its conflicting expectations form the tow domains have detrimental affects on the
well being of male and females both. This further led to the stressors strain mode (Cohen &
wills (1985), Krasek & Theorell, 1990) with work family conflicts as stressors.
Many theoretical models were then published detailing the stressors that cause conflicts
among work and family domain (Bedeian, Bruke & Moffet, 1988). Kelly & Voydanoff, 1985)
offered a general integrative framework of work family interface. Factors which were taken
into considerations were social support, time commitment, overload (both at work and at
family) as antecedents, and work family conflict and family work conflicts and core
variables, and distress, dissatisfaction and performance as outcomes.
This mismatch between the two set of roles that is work role responsibility and family role
responsibility leads to work life imbalance ( Greenhaus et al. , 2003). The general aim of
such working time policies is to strike a balance between employment and domestic
commitments that is equitable and beneficial to both employer and employee. Greenhaus et
al, (2003) conceptualized mainly three components of work life balance. Firstly they took
time as a base and observed that if equal amount of time is devoted to work and family there
happens to be a balance between two. Secondly psychological involvement balance has to be
there in two roles of work and family and thirdly satisfaction balance which strives to keep
balance between job satisfaction and family life satisfaction.
Work-life balance is the term used in the literature to refer to policies that strive to achieve a
greater complimentary and balance between work and home responsibilities. These policies
apply to all workers, not just working parents, alone females or working parents with children
and dependents particularly in judging their own ability to combine both work and family
life.
Some of the terms used in the literature on work-life balance which were then commonly
used by various organizations are given below:
WLB: Work-life Balance also referred to as family friendly work arrangements (FFWA), and,
in international literature, as alternative work arrangements (AWA).

V-Time: this is voluntary overtime to meet production needs; extra hours are 'banked' and
taken as time off or as extra pay. It differs from flextime where starting and finishing times
are staggered, and can mean reduced or increased weekly working hours over a period of
time.
Zero hours contract: this is a flexible contract that does not specify the amount of time a
worker will spend per year on their employment, leaving it open to meet demand.
E-working: the term used to describe flexible working that can be done from any location
using technologies such as laptops, wireless internet connection and mobile phones.
Teleworking: this is where the location is flexible by using technologies to complete work this allows work to be done from home; also known as e-working.
Term-time working: this is when a parent is allowed to work only during school term times,
with all school holidays off.
Payment can be calculated either by usual payment, with no payment during holidays, or
salaries can be spread out across the year.
Other forms of flexible working conditions include: Part-time working, Job sharing,
Flexitime, Shift working, Compressed hours, Home working, and Career breaks. (Source:
Employment Act 2002, U.K., which came into force in April 2003)
Work Life Conflict:
The assumption, that involvement in one role (i.e. job) necessarily precludes attention of
another (i.e. family). Such interference between role commitments leads to WLC.
(Frone,2003) In other words individuals perceive that they have more flexibility in terms of
engaging in family commitments and responsibilities than they do for work commitments.
(Carlson and Frone , 2003).
There are basically two interfaces to work life conflict: Work to family interference (WIF)
Family to work interference (FWI) Working time of an individual is dictated by the persons
employment contract or the organization commitments whereas family time is purely
discretion of the individuals. The clash of time in these two aspects creates an imbalance in
two directions i.e. work family interference (WFI) tends to dominate the family work
interference (FWI).
Work home interference generally operates in two directions. First, work demands more time
and energy hindering activities at the family end. For example attending an early morning
meeting or marketing tours arranged by the organization leads individual to compromise on
home related activities. Researchers call this as work interference with home. Second,
responsibilities at home interfere with performance at work. For example worrying about sick

dependents, spouse or partners responsibility many a times diverts an individuals attention

towards work related responsibilities leading to family interfering work. ( Duxbury, Higgins,
& Lee, 1994, MacEwen & Barling 1994).
Studies distinguishing between the two directions of interference have presupposed a
positive, reciprocal relationship between work interference with home and home interference
with work, based on the assumption that if work-related problems and obligations begin to
interfere with the fulfillment of responsibilities at home, these unfulfilled home
responsibilities may then begin to interfere with ones day-to-day functioning at work, and
vice versa (Frone, Russell, & Cooper, 1992).
Combining both directions of work-family interference and family to work interference into
one construct renders it difficult to ascertain whether given antecedents are predicting work
interference with home or the vice-versa. (Erdwins, Buffardi, Casper, & OBrien, 2001; Hill,
Hawkins, Ferris, & Weitzman, 2001; Parasuraman & Simmers, 2001; Saltzstein, Ting, &
Saltzstein, 2001; Tausig & Fenwick, 2001).
Conceptual Framework:
Carlson and Frone (2003) discussed about the psychological involvement of the person in the
organization as well as on the family front. A high degree of psychological involvement with
context to role of an individual i.e. job role and family role would prioritize the individual to
be somewhat mentally preoccupied with their performance in that role, such imbalance in
performance will have significant implications on work to family and family to work
interference.
Conceptually, it seems evident that psychological involvement would have significant
implications for levels of work to family and family to work interference.
Carlson and Frone (2003) found that both psychological involvement and behavioral (time)
involvement were significant related to WIF but the reverse did not apply with FIW or family
involvement into work. Clearly more research and dynamic interplay in relationship of time
and family was required to draw conclusions.
Therefore, Frone (2003) summarized the findings from US based survey and noted that
family boundaries may be more permeable than job boundaries and hence the levels of work
to family (WFI) interference are reported higher or more intense than those of family to work
interference (FWI).
Various other researches in US and other western countries have confirmed these findings. So
finally Frone (2003) mainly concluded two main antecedents to Work Family Balance.

Work related and family related conditions in which individual work. Of the Work Related
Variables were Job demands, Working hours, Role responsibility, Organization citizenship
behavior, Work load, irregular working hours etc. Family Related Variables were Family
responsibility, Parental responsibility, Role of spouse and other family dependents
responsibility, Leisure time and other activities with family. Personal Variables included
Gender, age , marital status, no of children etc. as the most important predictor of WFC .
(Pleck, 1977, Gutek et al, 1991) observed that because of different role responsibilities of
men and women they exhibit different inter role conflict. For example men exhibit greater
interference from work to family (WFI) and women reporting more interference from family
to work (FWI). Gutek et al. (1991) proved that women reported more interference in family
than men despite spending about same number of hours in paid work as men do. Williams &
Alliger (1994) and Losocoo (1997) found that women spend more hours in family work thatn
men and reported same level of family interference. Even the spoil over theory found out that
both FWI and WFI were stronger for women than men.
Several international studies have been conducted on antecedents of WFC. One of the
prominent research programs was developed by Samuel Aryer and his colleagues in Hong
Kong (1999) they examined within Job and within family conflicts along with job
involvement as predictors of WFI & FWI. Also the results obtained from the study were
similar to Frone, Russell and Cooper (1999) in US.
In another study by Aryer, Luke et al (1999) work over load and parental over load were
considered as predictor of WFI and FWI in the city of Hong Kong. They observed that WFI
was significantly higher than FWI as especially males reported higher levels of WFI than
females experiencing FWI.
A key issue discussed in the study was impact of role stressors on both WFI and FWI. Where
in the moderating variable was considered as gender. As more work load leads to more WFC
in case of males and more parental work load leads to mare WFC among females, Aryer,
Luke et al (1999) also explored social support as potential moderator of relationship between
WFI and FWI.
The results of Frone and Carlson, (2003) about the psychological involvement with WFC
were inconsistence with the conceptual framework. That is some research have confirmed
positive relationship between the domains others have obtained either very less or no
association between the two variables.
However looking to the different jobs and equality of men and women many results have
found no gender differences as even with (FWI or WFI) (Grzwac and Marks, 2000). Studies

done by (Guay , 2001) in French Canadian Sample describe no gender difference same was
in Yant et al (2001) in China reported not much significant difference between FWI and WFI
with men or women. Other dispositional antecedents of WFC in particular are personality
factors.
Bernas&Maor (2000), Grzywacz& Marks, 2000) illustrated that huge levels of hardiness,
extraversion and self-esteem are linked with reduced WFC. Similarly Brruck& Allen (2003),
examined relationship of Type A behavior disposition, Big 5 Personality variables with both
work and family interference and family to work interference. Evidences from other US and
other European countries consistently demonstrated that work demands, work related
stressors and stain are predictors to Work to family interference whereas family responsibility
and family stressors ( conflict within the family ) contribute more towards family to work
interference ( Frone 2003,). Other influencing variables /moderators which have influence of
either WFI or FWI were social support (in both domains): support in the organization by
supervisor/peers lead to more WFI and support from the society /relatives leads to FWI.
Frone (2003) also concluded antecedents of WFI preside primarily in Job Domains and
antecedents of FWI lie mainly in Family domains.
From the US based study Grzywacz and Marks (2000) found out that social support at work
and from ones spouse were negatively related to WFC. Low levels of support at work were
strongly correlated with negative spill over from work to family interference especially for
women.
Greenhaus and beutelll (1985) initially identified various kinds of job demands affecting
work life balance or work life conflict among men and women. Basically researchers divided
job demands into time-based and behavior based. i.e. the amount of ones time that is spend
on work place and the time devoted for family activities. Similarly the kind of job
responsibility the individual is possessing in the organization. Parsuram, Godshalk and
Beutell (1996) suggested that time commitments at work place are more importantly
associated with WLC because time is a limited source. Further Frone et al. (1997) proved that
along with time based conflict also behavior (strain-based conflict) is equally the predictor of
work life balance for individuals in the organization. Such role related or strain based
predictors also lead to dissatisfaction or affect organizational performance (Greenhaus &
Beutell 1999).
Work schedule flexibility has been found to be negatively associated with work life balance /
work family conflict. The financial industry is a demanding work environment wherein

employees are supposed to work of long hours. Higher the flexibility lower is the work
family conflict Victoria, Lingard and Sublet (1996). In other words, higher the work schedule
flexibility, higher is the work life balance. Loscocoo (1997) examined how people with
considerable control over their working hours construct and experience their work to family
connections. In a study in New South Wales reported work hours to be significant predictors
of quality in the marital relationship (Aldous, Osmond & Hicks, 1979). Working hours have
consistently been linked to difficulties in balancing work and family life resulting in more the
number of hours and less the work schedule flexibility leads to work family conflict.
Role responsibility has been found to be negatively associated with work life balance or work
life conflict. Higher the responsibility of employee, the more tasks and roles one has to
perform. In other words, higher the works load, higher the imbalance between the work and
family life (Loseocoo 1997). Hill et al (2001) examined the perceived role stress on jobs and
flexibility of timings on work family balance issues. It was found that employees with job
flexibility in timings and high work load work longer hours and lead to work life conflict
issues.
Parents reported more work life conflicts than other individuals in the organization (Pleck et
al. 1980). He tried to examine the impact of long excessive hours at work, less job flexibility,
no support from organization or psychologically demanding work were associated with
experiencing work life conflicts which in turn was also related to low job satisfaction and low
commitment with life in general.
Aryee (1992) examined the impact of few such variables which have influence on family
domains. The family related variables were parental responsibility, demands from household
chores, lack of spouse support and number of dependants at the family. As against the work
related variables were task variety, job autonomy, role responsibility, working hours flexible
work schedules. Irregularity of work hours and non standard work schedules have also been
identified as the most important variables affecting dual earner couples with children specific
(white & Keith , 1992) and (Lingard & Francis, 2002)
Tausig and Fenwick (2001) report that married couples without children reported higher
levels of work life balance and the presence of children whether in single or two parent
households or dual earner is relatively low on work life balance issues. For an individual who
is not subject to high levels of family role expectations, being mentally preoccupied with a
job assignment while at home may generate only a small amount of work interference with
home. For an individual who is pressurized by friends or family to prioritize family over
work, however, the experience of work interfering with family may be more intense. Parental

demands are believed to be greatest for people with infants and preschool aged children and
less for those with school aged children and even lowest for with adult children who have left
home (Parsuraman & Simmers, 2001).
Continuing further with the research (Parsuraman & Simmers, 2001) investigated the
relationship between parental responsibilities and time commitments to family and at work.
They reported the pattern that those with both the spouse working and more role
responsibility with children of infant category face with work life balance issues and have
more conflicts in managing the two domains.
Lingard (2004) examined whether or not an individual complies with family role
expectations, the pressure upon him/her over the job responsibilities would focus attention on
both domains. Wherein elements of work domain may interrupt family more prominent or it
can be vice-versa. An impending explanation for this relationship is that conforming to family
role expectations may result in role overload, generating time pressures and strain which can
spill over into the work domain, creating home interference with work.
Organizational and support from co-workers and supervisors have always been an influential
variable for the study of work life balance issues. Previous studies demonstrated that, in order
for employees to have better work life balance it is equally important that they get supportive
work environment Thompson et al, 1999, Allen, 2001;, ODriscoll et al., 2003). Further
Frances, 2003) revealed that employees who reported their organizations to be supportive of
their family commitments, they are satisfied with their job and face less work life conflicts. In
contrast, unsupportive work environments, stressful job, long working hours, negative
supervisors support leads to negative commitment on job and work life conflicts issues in
organizations.
In the work life literature review some studies has confirmed that the presence of social
support reduces the negative consequences of work related stressors and work family conflict
(Thomas & Ganster, 1995; Goff, Mount & Jamison, 1990). It is anticipated that, when
supervisors or co-workers support is high, job satisfaction and employee commitment is also
very high. This leads to a better work life balance for employees. The extent to which
favorable or unfavorable treatments perceived by the employees concerning the extent to
which the organization values their contribution and cares about their well being is termed as
Perceived Organization support Wiesenberger et al. (1986).
Casper et al. (2002) explored that employees who work in supportive or organizations are
like to experience less amount of stress and more organizational commitment. This in turn
leads to less work life conflicts and greater affective commitment towards the organization.

Supervisors play a particularly important role in the work arrangements and controlling
access over employees (Walkins 1995). Having a supportive supervisor has been reported to
reduce the negative impact of Work family Conflict (Thomas & Ganster 1995). It has been
examined that if the supervisor is supportive it leads to low level of stress, low psychological
strain and reduced work life conflicts (ODrisoll et. al). Also Barham Gotllieb, & Kelloway
(2001) reported that when the supervisor is supportive it also leads to flexi work
arrangements, gender favors, reduced employee working hours and low amount of work
responsibilities. Those with high levels of supervisor support reported less conflicts and less
psychological strain than those with unsupportive supervisor support.
In most of the studies, job satisfaction has been directly linked with work life conflict. (Boles,
Howards & Donrio, 2001). It has been observed that when there is high amount has been
observed that when work life conflict increases it creates the negative impact on job
satisfaction and the employee tends to lose interest in working in the organization. Bruke,
Allen and Spector (2002) framed the relationship between work life conflicts and job
satisfaction. The relationship was formed by using two interfaces that is work to family and
family to work and any discrepancy leads to job dissatisfaction.
When employees are not satisfied with their job and are not able to balance between the two
domains of work and family they tend to withdraw from their work related activities
Greenhaus, Parsuraman and Collins (2001). Further Greenhaus et al. discussed about the
level of stress that the employee possesses in the organization leads to work life conflict
which then lead to quitting of the job. Batt and Valcour (2003) reported work interference
with family to be significantly and positively related to turnover intentions, and employee
perceptions of control over managing work and family to be significantly negatively related
to turnover intentions. Turnover intentions are the direct outcome of work life conflict or WFI
or FWI Boyar et al. (2003).
The above literature review on work life balance or work life conflict tries to associate work
and family variables which are interlinked with each other. It tries to examine various sources
of conflict and its effect on organizational outcomes and individual level outcomes. Below
are four models explaining the relationship between variables studied which would then
further be examined empirically.
Figure

Figure 1 Relationship between Variables (Work Domain and Family Domain) on WFI/FWI
Figure.1 illustrates the relationships between work domain variables and family domain
variables with its impact on WFI and FWI. Also the model is able to explain the different
ways in which work life practices and outcomes are conceptualized and measured in the
literature.
The model tries to explain the relationship of work to family interference and family to work
interference with work life conflicts for an individual in the organization. However two
things become very clear after reviewing the literature on work life balance practices. One,
that there is some association between work domain variables and family domain variables
on WFI and FWI. Also, the effect of moderating variables can also be seen in the framework.
Two, regardless of effects on work life conflict, work life balance practices are often
associated with improved organizational outcomes and individual outcomes. The model
correlates to the concept of work life conflict and outcomes both at individual level and
organizational level.

Conclusion:
Literature on work life balance or work life conflict tires to identify various factors associated
with WFI and FWI. It tries to examine various sources of conflicts that an employee
possesses in the organization. The focus is mainly on various roles that an individual has to
perform in his personal life as well as professional life. The literature review reveals that
most of the studies done in the past were based on empirical research which tried to identify
relationship between work life conflict and its outcomes like job satisfaction, organizational
commitment , work to family interface and family to work interface. Other variables like
gender, age, marital status, no of dependents, employee role, job responsibility, parental status
etc were widely studied. The results show that all these have either negative or positive
relation with work life balance or work life conflict.
Different views of work life balance have been suggested by various research scholars in
literature review. Despite the popularity of work life conflict as a topic of research interest,
work life practices in the organization still have a long way to travel to develop a
compressive map of the antecedents and consequences of work life balance (Kersley et al. ,
2005; US Bureau of labour 2007)
Among the various theoretical models that help us to understand various relationship
constructs like job satisfaction, long working hours, stressful job, competing demands of
work and family with work life conflict or work life imbalance. In terms of organizational
level, HR policies and practices represent organizational efforts to provide employees with
supportive work place environment, increase the commitment and citizenship behavior of
employee towards the workplace.
Over the past two decades the outcomes of work life practices has been discussed by various
researchers in various disciplines (e.g. Johnson & Provan, 1995; Whitehouse & Zetlin, 1999),
family studies (e.g. Hill, Hawkins, Ferris & Weitzman, 2001; Raabe, 1996), gender studies
(e.g. Nelson, Quick, Hitt, & Moesel, 1990). The literature review tries to examine the
relationship between work life balance practices and organizational effectiveness. The paper
tires to find out from literature review various variables and constructs which affect the work
life balance policies in the organization.
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