Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal

Workfamily conflict in East vs Western countries

Zaiton Hassan Maureen F. Dollard Anthony H. Winefield

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Zaiton Hassan Maureen F. Dollard Anthony H. Winefield, (2010),"Work#family conflict in East vs Western
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CCM
17,1

Work-family conflict in East vs

Western countries
Zaiton Hassan

30

Faculty of Cognitive Science and Human Development,

University Malaysia Sarawak, Koto Samarahan, Malaysia, and

Maureen F. Dollard and Anthony H. Winefield

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Work and Stress Research Group, Centre for Applied Psychological Research,
School of Psychology, Social Work and Social Policy, University of South
Australia, Adelaide, Australia
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to advance the understanding of both directions of workfamily conflict (WFC), work interference with family (WIF) and family interference with work (FIW)
in an Eastern culture. Findings are compared with those of 14 other Western studies and the
relationships among WIF, FIW and job, family, community and life satisfaction are explored.
Design/methodology/approach This study is conducted in Malaysia, a country with Islam as
the official religion. Data are obtained from 506 employees in three public and three private sector
organizations. Questionnaires are distributed via human resource managers.
Findings Results show that similar to Western studies, WIF scores are higher than FIW scores.
Malaysians are significantly lower on WIF than Westerners. Nevertheless, Malaysians score
significantly higher on FIW than all Western samples. Within the Malaysian sample, FIW also has a
stronger negative relationship with all facets of satisfaction and WIF has a positive relationship with
family satisfaction.
Research limitations/implications Cross-sectional data are presented which could result in
common method bias.
Practical implications Organizations can assist in minimizing WIF and FIW by providing
family-friendly policies and parenting related programmes. The importance of family in an
individuals life in Eastern cultures is different than in Western cultures. Therefore multi-national
companies operating in Eastern settings would be well-advised to take cultural aspects such as
collectivism into consideration.
Originality/value The study provides insights into Eastern experiences of WIF and FIW compared
with Western experiences. The study expands previous studies by measuring both directions of WFC
and employing a heterogeneous sample (e.g. not just female, those married, those with children).
Keywords Malaysia, Collectivism, Employee behaviour, Job satisfaction, Family life
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
Research on the work-family interface has been of interest to organizational
psychologists for the past 20 years (Thompson et al., 2006). The main focus has been on
work-family conflict (WFC) since it has a vast impact on society, organizations, families
and individuals. As most research has emanated from Western developed countries
such as the USA, the UK and Canada, it is not surprising that literature in the field is
dominated by Western perspectives. Thus the question arises as to whether Western
assumptions and findings hold true in Eastern cultures? Is the Western phenomenon of
WFC emic (specific) or etic (general)?
Cross Cultural Management: An
International Journal
Vol. 17 No. 1, 2010
pp. 30-49
# Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1352-7606
DOI 10.1108/13527601011016899

The study was funded by Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education and Australia Research
Council International Linkage Grant. The authors would like to thank Prof. Jeffrey Hill for his
valuable suggestions on the earlier draft of the paper.

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National culture represents the underlying and indiscernible values held by a large
number of the population. As this culture is acquired in early childhood, it changes
very slowly (Hofstede, 1994). It is measured through various cultural dimensions and
values. For instance, Hofstede (1980) introduced cultural dimensions such as
individualism-collectivism, masculinity-femininity, uncertainty avoidance and power
distance. Individualist cultures tend to view the work and family domains as separate
entities, while collectivist cultures perceive these domains as integrated (Yang, 2005).
These differences are likely to influence how frequently WFC is experienced, its
antecedents and its outcomes (Aycan, 2008). To illustrate, Yang et al. (2000) reported
that work demand had a greater impact on work interference with family (WIF) in
China than in the USA, while family demand had a stronger effect on WIF in the
USA than in China, partly due to differences in individualism-collectivism cultural
dimensions. Spector et al. (2004) in a 15-country study found working hours have
a stronger relation to WFC in individualist Anglo countries but not in collectivist
countries. Generally economic development is considered a prevailing impetus in
changing the national culture, from collectivism to individualism (Hofstede, 1994).
Although there are some WFC studies in Eastern cultures, they represent Asian
countries with Confucian values (China, Hong Kong and Singapore) (e.g. Foley et al.
2005; Jones et al., 2008; Shaffer et al., 2005; Skitmore and Ahmad, 2003) or Hindu values
(India) (Aryee et al., 2005). Relatively few studies have come from Islamic countries
(Karimi, 2008); however as religion influences the thinking and behaviour of its
followers (Parboteeah et al., 2009), it may be relevant to the experience of WFC.
This study aimed to examine WFC within a non-Western context. The
southeast Asian country of Malaysia a modern, moderate Muslim nation
(PriceWaterhouseCoopers, 2006) was chosen. Malaysia, besides having Islam as its
official religion, also hosts three major ethnic groups and religions, namely Malay
(Islam), Chinese (Buddhist/Christian) and Indian (Hindu/Christian). Thus it was assumed
that WFC experiences of Malaysian employees would reflect, to a certain extent, the rich
cultural values of Islam, Christianity and Buddhism embedded in this multi-ethnic
society. To investigate further whether WFC in Malaysia has a similar influence on life
outcomes, as demonstrated by previous Western research, the relationships between
WFC and satisfaction with job, family, community and life were also examined.
This study contributes to the work-family/cross-cultural field in four ways. First, it
contributes to cross-cultural psychology by providing a non-Western perspective from
one country. Individual level analysis may offer some insight into the cultural differences,
which may then determine the applicability of Western phenomena in an Eastern
cultural context. Second, we examined both directions of conflict because although
research on WFC is abundant, there have been few studies that have assessed WFC as
bi-directional WIF and family interference with work (FIW) (Bruck et al., 2002; Lapierre
et al., 2008). Specifically, only a few studies from Eastern cultures combining both
directions of conflict could be located (e.g. Foley et al., 2005; Luk and Shaffer, 2005; Ngo
and Lau, 1998). Third, methodologically, this study was carried out on a heteregeneous
group of employees: male, female, married, single, professional and non-executive, and
was not confined to women or married employees (e.g. Ahmad, 1996; Chew Yee Gan et al.,
2001; Noor, 2006; Samad, 2006). Fourth, to our knowledge, no researchers have made
direct comparisons of WIF and FIW in Eastern and Western contexts.
Next we will discuss the background of Malaysia to set the context of the study.
This section will highlight the similarities and differences in the employment situation
and in the cultural values, between Malaysia and the West. Then, we will highlight the

WFC in East
vs Western
countries
31

CCM
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32

links between WIF and FIW in Eastern cultural values, followed by the relationship
between WFC and satisfaction.
2. Background of Malaysia and Malaysian values
Malaysia is regarded as one of the most developed country in the developing world
with an average monthly gross income per household of RM 3,011 (USD 885) in 2002
(PriceWaterhouseCoopers, 2006). It is also ranked 23rd out of 55 countries on a world
competitiveness index (Malaysian Trades Union Congress, 2007). Notably, there is a
similar trend of employment with Western affluent countries, namely the increasing
number of dual-earner families and numbers of women in paid work, which have a
direct impact on work-family interface.
In Malaysia, 62.4 per cent of the work force is married which includes 44.0 per cent
of dual-earner families (Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2005). The Malaysian
female labour force participation was 45.9 per cent in 2005 (Department of Statistics
Malaysia, 2005). Although those figures are still less than in developed countries such
as the USA (69.2 per cent), New Zealand (70.8 per cent) and Australia (68.4 per cent)
(OECD Employment Outlook, 2005), participation is expected to increase because in
recent years, nearly 65 per cent of higher learning institution students have been
female (Economic Planning Unit Malaysia, 2006), and eventually it is assumed that
many of them will join the labour force. However, despite being employed, women
continue to be predominantly responsible for household matters (Noor, 2006) and
parenthood is considered to be primarily a female issue (Cousins and Tang, 2004),
reflecting the traditional gender role held by most Malaysians.
Working conditions in Malaysia also mirror those in Western countries. Average
working hours per week in 2004 was 47.4 (Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2005).
Workers reported that they had heavier workloads, increasing amounts of shift work
and did not receive a good salary. Nearly 100,000 local workers were terminated from
their jobs in 2002-2006 (Malaysian Trades Union Congress Bulletin, 2007) and evidence
shows that job insecurity is increasing. However, unlike Western developed countries,
flexible work options and childcare are not common initiatives offered by Malaysian
organizations (Hassan and Dollard, 2007). With all these changes, it comes as no surprise
that the Malaysian workforce is stressed (Edimansyah et al., 2008; Manshor et al., 2003).
In term of national cultural values, Malaysia is relatively high in collectivism, scoring
the highest in power distance (Hofstede, 1994) and ranks first in the humane orientation
in the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) study
among 18,000 managers in 62 countries (Javidan and House, 2001). Collectivism focuses
on group-oriented relationships, activities and goals. High power distance enables
employees to feel comfortable with hierarchy and the unequal distribution of power in
the workplace, whereas a humane orientation emphasizes taking care of other peoples
needs. In addition, Malaysians are also religious (Abdullah, 1996). These cultural values
have profound influences in molding the Malaysian workforces characteristics, which
are group-oriented, valuing group harmony, avoiding confrontations, and respecting the
elderly and authority (Abdullah, 1996). These cultural values may also influence how the
Malaysian workforce perceives and experiences WFC.
3. Work-family conflict
3.1 Definition
As WFC originated in studies of role conflict, it is commonly defined based on role
theory as: a form of inter role conflict, in which the demands of work and family roles

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are incompatible in some respect, so that participation in one role is more difficult
because of participation in the other role (Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985, p. 77). WFC can
also be viewed from the resources and demands perspective. Voydanoff (2005) argued
that WFC is a cognitive evaluation of work and family resources and demands. In line
with the scarcity hypothesis, involvement in one domain (e.g. work) limits the
participation in another domain (e.g. home).
Two directions of WFC have been highlighted, that is, work can interfere with
family and family can also interfere with family, with different antecedents and
outcomes (e.g. Frone et al., 1997, Gutek and Searle, 1991). In addition, researchers have
categorized WFC into three forms, that is, time-, strain- and behaviour based (Carlson
et al., 2000). Compared to FIW, WIF is more prevalent and has greater impact on both
work and families (Burke, 2004; Frone, 2003).
3.2 WIF and Eastern cultural aspects
WIF can differ according to culture. Some differences include how work and family
roles are divided, the meaning of work, the nature of the organization and relationships
with superiors.
Divisions of work and family roles tend to differ according to cultural values
(Trompenaars and Hampton-Turner, 1998). For instance, individualistic cultures
(mostly Western) tend to keep work and family relationships separate, whereas
collectivist cultures (mostly Eastern) usually integrate the two realms. In cultures
where work is viewed as more important for family survival, family members may be
more accepting of work being conducted in the home environment, suggesting that the
family domain is more flexible than the work domain (Gutek and Searle, 1991). Such
flexibility serves as a resource for employees (Shaffer et al., 2005).
In Eastern cultures, work also has a different meaning than it does in the West. Work
is viewed as a way of supporting the family, instead of a means of improving oneself,
such as in Western cultures. Thus, collectivists work to live. To attain a meaningful life
and happiness, family welfare is given utmost importance (Lu et al., 2006). To illustrate, it
is common among Malaysian single women to send significant amounts of their salary
to their families, to support their siblings education, to buy luxury items and to assist in
improving the familys well-being (Ariffin, 1994; Kusago and Barham, 2001). Similarly,
Noor (1999) found that the purpose of working for Malay women in Malaysia was for the
familys economic, rather than their own career progression. Therefore, work is usually
supported and encouraged by their immediate and extended family members, through
instrumental or emotional assistance. As a result, work obligations are seldom perceived
as a disturbance to family life (Aryee et al., 2005).
Workplaces in Eastern cultures play a paternalistic role (Abdullah, 1996; Javidan
and House, 2001) as opposed to the cost-benefit relationships of employers-employees
in the West (Restubog and Bordia, 2007), portraying the humane dimension in the
GLOBE study. Relationships with superiors may cover more than employer-employee
relationships. A superior in a collectivist culture is also a father or mother figure who
not only takes care of the professional issues but also the personal issues of the
employee (Abdullah, 1996). This connection also goes beyond the workplace. It is
common for the superior to be invited as a guest of honour to family gatherings or
community ceremonies, for instance, at a wedding, birth of a child, thanksgivings or
open house during religious celebrations.
However, due to social desirability, work is usually blamed more than family when
conflict between work and family roles arise (Frone et al., 1992). Therefore, across

WFC in East
vs Western
countries
33

CCM
17,1

Western and Eastern cultures, WIF is more frequently experienced than FIW (Aryee et
al., 1999; Boyar et al., 2005; Brough et al., 2005; Kinnunen et al., 2006, Ngo and Lau,
1998). Thus we predicted:
H1.

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34

WIF would be higher than FIW across cultures.

3.3 FIW and Eastern cultural values

Similarly, FIW is also influenced by cultural values. In Eastern cultures, values of
collectivism such as the importance of family, concept of filial piety and support from
extended families mould the experience of FIW.
Family is the most important in-group in collectivist cultures (Hofstede, 1994;
Triandis, 1995), and whatever happens in or to the family affects the individual.
Moreover, the family in collectivist cultures includes not only the immediate members
but also the extended members aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws and nephews.
Unlike individualistic cultures, individuals in a collectivist culture, which is group
oriented, offer social support as a duty or obligation (Triandis, 1995) rather than a
voluntary action or just as a good deed. Because of the importance of each individual
to the collectivist, there may be more opportunity for people to receive social support
(Shaffer et al., 2005). Also, apart from the extended family, it is quite common to receive
assistance from a domestic helper, for those who can afford (e.g. Fu and Shaffer, 2001;
Lan Li and Roberta, 2001; Shaffer et al., 2005).
Another important point to note is that in collectivist cultures, respect for parents
or filial piety is paramount (Triandis, 1995). Sending parents to a nursing home is
unthinkable and children who do that are considered to be very bad individuals. In
Islamic teaching it is considered a big sin for children not to treat their parents well.
Similarly filial piety respecting, taking care and not causing disgrace to parents is
also a core value embraced by the Chinese (Jones et al., 2002). As personal happiness
comes second to collectivist ideals (Abdullah, 1996), it is not surprising that caring for
family and friends are identified as the most important social aspect affecting womens
occupational health in Malaysia (Choi, 2005).
Evidence in the literature about extended family support and FIW is mixed. Aryee et
al. (2005) found that in India, parental role overload, and work and family support, and
conflict were not significantly related. Job involvement was negatively related to FIW,
that is, the more an employee was involved in his/her job, the less FIW the person
encountered, which does not make sense in an Individualistic society. However, it is
easily understood in collectivist societies such as India because job involvement is
considered critical to ensure the material well being of the family. In return, extended
families share domestic and child raising responsibilities. A similar situation could also
be found in Malaysia, where extended families and relatives still provide instrumental or
emotional support for employees (Chew Yee Gan et al., 2001; Hashim, 2005; Samad, 2006).
On the other hand, recent studies in collectivist cultures provide evidence of changes
towards in-group relationship. For instance, in the sub-Sahara, older parents and
extended family obligations are stressors to an individual (Aryee, 2005). In India, joint
living with the extended family increases the financial and social obligation burden on
individuals (Poster and Prasad, 2005). In Singapore, the husbands and mothers-in-law
to a certain extent pose barriers for female managers to climb the career ladder (Lan Li
and Roberta, 2001). In Japan, some married women join the labour force to minimize the
negative effect of living with their mother-in-law (Kumugai, in Wan He, 2005).

So far, in Malaysia, no known negative impact of extended families and relatives in

WFC has been found. In her study among professional women in Malaysia, Noor (1999)
found that the number of children was not related to distress, especially for those with
high support from their husband.
As the literature is ambiguous, we cannot make a specific directional hypothesis.
Therefore, based on the evidence discussed, we propose the following research
question instead:

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RQ1.

Do Malaysian employees experience less FIW than Westerners?

3.4 WFC and satisfaction

Previous studies have shown a negative link between conflict (WIF and/or FIW) and
satisfaction. Some reported WIF related to family satisfaction while FIW was related to
job satisfaction (Ford et al., 2007; Frone et al., 1997; McElwain et al., 2005). Frequently
examined was a link with WIF and job satisfaction (Grandey et al., 2005). In a metaanalysis, the relationship between WIF and job satisfaction was strong and negative
across all samples (Kossek and Ozeki, 1999). Comparing the two directions of conflict,
WIF was less related to job satisfaction than was FIW (Mesmer-Magnus and
Viswesvaran, 2005).
With regard to family satisfaction, some found only WIF (Carlson and Kacmar,
2000; Wayne et al., 2004), and some reported only FIW (Karatepe and Baddar, 2006)
were negatively linked. Research examining WFC and community satisfaction is
rare (for exception Voydanoff, 2004). However, Toth et al. (2002) pointed out that
community satisfaction and family satisfaction were positively related, both in urban
and in rural contexts. Thus it can be inferred that factors affecting family satisfaction
may have the same effect on community satisfaction.
With regard to life satisfaction, WIF and FIW were also negatively related to it
(Aryee et al., 1999; Kossek and Ozeki, 1998). However, some found only WIF (MesmerMagnus and Viswesvaran, 2005) and some only FIW (Netemeyer et al., 1996) to be
negatively linked with life satisfaction.
Although WIF and FIW are both related to satisfaction, the relationship can differ
between Western and Eastern samples. WIF was more strongly related to job
satisfaction in individualistic than in collectivist cultures (Spector et al., 2004; Spector
et al., 2007). Aryee et al. (1999) found that life satisfaction of employees in Hong Kong
was influenced primarily by WIF, while in the USA, it was influenced primarily by
FIW. Other Western studies also highlighted the importance of FIW in determining
satisfaction. For example, among New Zealand managers, FIW showed more
consistent negative relationships with well being and satisfaction (Brough et al., 2005).
Lower FIW predicted significantly higher family and life satisfaction among
professionals in the USA (Rosin and Korabik, 2002). A higher proportion of women
than men in Scotland reported that major satisfactions in life came from their family
(Hyman et al., 2005). Therefore we expected:
H2.

WIF and FIW would be negatively related to job, family, community and
life satisfaction.

4. Method
4.1 Participants
Respondents were contacted via their human resource manager and were asked to
complete a confidential survey. Altogether, 506 employees responded which represented a

WFC in East
vs Western
countries
35

CCM
17,1

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36

response rate of 50.6 per cent. The participants represented a diversity of industries,
including forestry (n 136), manufacturing (n 134), telecommunication (n 80) and
service (n 156) industry from public and private sectors. All four industries were not
significantly different in term of WIF, F(3, 506) 1.22, NS and FIW, F(3, 506) 0.94, NS.
Over half of the respondents were male (56.0 per cent). The majority were nonexecutives (74.0 per cent), married for an average of 15 years (78.0 per cent) with one to
nine children (74.0 per cent), and had a working spouse (50.0 per cent). A total of 44.0
per cent were Malay ethnics, 33.0 per cent were other Bumiputra ethnics (Iban,
Melanau, Orang Ulu and Bidayuh) and 22.0 per cent were Chinese ethnics. Half (50.0
per cent) were Muslim, 38.0 per cent were Christian and 9.0 per cent were Buddhist,
with 74.0 per cent reporting religion as important in their life and 72.0 per cent
perceived themselves as religious. About 32.0 per cent had 11 years of education and
20.0 per cent had a bachelor degree. About 71.0 per cent reported that they were
responsible for care of the elders and 13.2 per cent had a live-in domestic helper. In term
of living arrangement, 50.0 per cent were living with a spouse and children, and 22.0
per cent were living with extended family.
4.2 Materials
WFC was assessed with an instrument developed by Carlson et al. (2000). This 18-item
questionnaire consists of six sections, nine items for each direction of conflict and three
questions for each dimension of conflict. It measures both directions of work to family
conflict (WIF) and family to work conflict (FIW). A sample item for WIF is My work
keeps me from my family activities more than I would like and for FIW The time I
spend on family responsibilities often interferes with my work responsibilities.
These items are scored on a five-point Likert scale (1 strongly disagree,
5 strongly agree). The items are averaged, and higher scores indicate more WFC.
The scale was translated by a qualified translator into Malay. Both English (38.0 per
cent) and Malay (62.0 per cent) questionnaires were used. The internal consistency
reliability for the English versions of WIF and FIW were 0.83 and 0.87 and for the
Malay versions were WIF 0.86 and FIW 0.84, respectively. The internal reliabilities are
similar to those reported in the Western studies (see Table I), which shows that
translation to Malay language did not affect reliability.
Four aspects of satisfaction were measured on a seven-point Likert scale (1 strongly
disagree, 7 strongly agree). Higher scores indicate higher satisfaction. Job satisfaction
was measured with The Michigan Organizational Assessment Questionnaire (Cammann
et al., 1979). It consists of three items ( 0.67). Family satisfaction was assessed using
four items ( 0.84) from the satisfaction with home life scale by Clark (2001).
Community satisfaction was measured using three items adapted from Voydanoff (2004)
and one item In general I dont like my community was dropped to increase the reliability
value from 0.55 to 0.62. Two items ( 0.67) were used to assess life satisfaction. One
item was adapted from Ryff (1989) and another item was from Cammann et al. (1979).
As earlier studies have suggested links between age, gender, number of children,
marital status and WFC (e.g. Aryee et al., 1999; Carlson et al., 2000; Grandey and
Cropanzano, 1999), these variables are treated as controls to help avoid statistical
confound. Additionally, as Malaysians are religious (Abdullah, 1996) and collectivist, two
aspects of religion, importance of religion and perception of religiousness and living
arrangement also served as control variables.
To reduce response biases, two suggestions by Lapierre and Allen (2006) were
applied. First, to decrease social desirability bias, confidentiality of the respondents

Malaysia Study 2

Carlson et al. (2000), USA

Herst (2003), Australia and New

Zealand
Carlson et al. (2003), USA
Rotondo et al. (2003), USA
Golden et al. (2006), USA
Witt and Carlson (2006), USA
Boyar and Mosley (2007), USA
Lapierre et al. (2008), Australia
Lapierre et al. (2008), Canada
Lapierre et al. (2008), New Zealand
Lapierre et al. (2008), USA
Lapierre et al. (2008), Finland
Bruck et al. (2002), US
Shockley and Allen (2007) USA

1b.

2.

3.

Notes: NA not available; *p < 0.001

4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

Malaysia Study 1

1a.

2.60
2.97
2.79
2.85
3.05
2.61
2.27
3.10
2.52
2.93
3.01
2.96
2.79
2.76

247 Executives
173 employees
454 telecommuters
136 wholesale/distributors
124 nursing home/retirement facility
Business schools alumni
Business schools alumni
Business schools alumni
Business schools alumni
Business schools alumni
160 married hospital employees
230 married women, various industries

2.69

2.72

506 public and private managers and

non-executives
296 public and private managers and
non-executives
222 full-time employees. 83 male 139
female
392 full-time employees

NA
NA
1.09
NA
1.04
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
0.73
0.78

NA
NA

0.62

0.61

SD

247
173
454
136
123
491
194
452
161
255
160
230

222
392

304

506

NA
NA
0.90
NA
0.96
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
0.84
0.89

NA
NA

0.83

0.86

WIF
n


2.07
2.07
2.11
1.90
2.12
1.94
1.94
2.33
2.35
2.30
2.43
2.27
2.33
2.39

2.30*
4.51*
11.86*
4.31*
16.81*
13.69*
7.62*
7.45*
10.37*
8.55*
2.30*
1.20*

2.52

2.58

4.68*
8.92*

0.78

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FIW


0.85
0.84
NA
NA
NA
NA
0.85
NA
0.91
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
0.80
0.89

SD

0.55
0.56
NA
NA
NA
NA
0.79
NA
0.87
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
0.59
0.71

18.16*
26.61*
17.76*
25.00*
25.00*
9.31*
8.51*
10.52*
5.30*
11.72*
9.31*
6.90*

19.77*
19.77*

1.74

WFC in East
vs Western
countries
37

Means, standard
deviations, reliability
and t-values for WIF
and FIW for 15 studies

Table I.

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38

was assured before the completion and questionnaires were returned in sealed
envelope to the researcher through the human resource manager. Second, to reduce
consistency bias, different scales were utilized in the questionnaire.
4.3 Procedure
Western studies were found by using databases such as Science Direct and Business
Source Complete up until 4 April 2008. Keywords entered were work-family conflict
measure and Carlson. Altogether ten articles were found, and one article, Lapierre
et al. (2008) reported mean scores of WIF and FIW for five countries. A total of 14
studies were used to compare with a Malaysian study. Nine studies represented the
USA (Boyar and Mosley Jr, 2007; Bruck et al., 2002; Carlson et al., 2000, 2003; Golden
et al., 2006; Lapierre et al., 2008; Rotondo et al., 2003; Shockley and Allen, 2007; Witt and
Carlson, 2006), two from Australia and New Zealand (Herst, 2003; Lapierre et al., 2008),
one from Canada (Lapierre et al., 2008) and one from Finland (Lapierre et al., 2008).
4.4 Analyses
One sample t-tests were employed to examine the differences between WIF and FIW
scores of Malaysian sample and other Western studies. The Pearson correlation was
conducted to assess the relationship among WIF, FIW, satisfaction and control
variables. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to model the relation among
WIF, FIW and four facets of satisfaction. Model fit, analyses of path coefficients and
other analyses for the model was examined using AMOS 7.0.
Based on Martenss (2005) suggestion, we report absolute fit indexes (Tucker-Lewis
Index (TLI)) and comparative fit index (CFI) and root mean square error of
approximation (RMSEA). RMSEA is deemed to be one of the most informative criteria
in SEM (Byrne, 2001). These fit indices were chosen because they were influenced
mainly by the model misspecification rather than other factors and could be
generalized across samples rather well (Martens, 2005). 2 statistics was used as a
general index. A good fit value for TLI and CFI is above 0.95 and for RMSEA is a value
below 0.05 (Byrne, 2001).
5. Results
The means, standard deviations, reliabilities and one sample t-test results for 15
studies are presented in Table I. The main research question was to compare
Malaysians WFC with 14 other Western studies that utilized WFC Carlsons et al.
(2000) scale. The Time 1 Malaysian study was used as the benchmark for the t-tests.
H1. WIF would be higher than FIW, was supported.
In all 15 studies, the mean scores of WIF were significantly higher than FIW,
supporting previous research (Aryee et al., 1999; Boyar et al., 2005; Brough et al., 2005).
Interestingly, Malaysians WIF was significantly lower than in the 11 other studies.
RQ1.

Do Malaysian employees experience less FIW than Westerners?

Findings did not support the research question. On the contrary, the mean scores of
FIW in the Malaysian study were significantly higher than in the other 14 Western
studies (Table I).
To examine the relation between WIF, FIW, satisfaction (job, family, community
and life) and demographic variables such as age, gender, marital status, living
arrangement, importance of religion and perception of religiousness, correlational
analyses were conducted (see Table II).

WIF
FIW
Job satisfaction
Family satisfaction
Community satisfaction
Life satisfaction
Age
Gender
Marital status
Living arrangement
Importance of religion
Perception of religiousness

0.61
0.55
0.72
0.68
0.61
0.72

0.89
0.01

4.57
3.90

SD

2.72
2.58
4.90
4.80
5.06
4.87

0.82**
0.28**
0.13**
0.33**
0.20**
0.04
0.09
0.04
0.10*
0.18**
0.16**

0.32**
0.22**
0.41**
0.26**
0.07
0.11*
0.04
0.12*
0.13**
0.15**

0.24**
0.44**
0.41**
0.21**
0.10*
0.03
0.04
0.09*
0.10*

0.50**
0.49**
0.18**
0.04
0.20**
0.14**
0.15**
0.17**

0.55**
0.25**
0.07
0.15**
0.07
0.23**
0.23**

0.18**
0.03
0.12**
0.14**
0.19**
0.17**

0.32**
0.41**
0.30**
0.04
0.17**

0.03
0.11*
0.02
0.04

10

0.01
0.04

0.55**
0.01
0.11*

0.68**

11

12

Notes: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01; gender: 1 male, 2 female; marital status: 1 married, 2 single (including divorcee); living arrangement: 1 myself,
2 myself and extended family, 3 myself and spouse, 4 myself, spouse and children, 5 myself, spouse, children and extended families,
6 others; importance of religion: 1 not very important to 5 very important, perception of religiousness: 1 not very religious to 5 very
religious; n 506

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

Variable

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WFC in East
vs Western
countries
39

Means, standard
deviation and
intercorrelations for
WIF, FIW, satisfaction
and selected
demographic variables

Table II.

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WIF and FIW were positively related to each other and were negatively related to all
facets of satisfaction, living arrangement, importance of religion and perception of
religiousness. The more individuals living in the house, and the more important
religion in life and more religious an employee perceives he/she is, the less WIF and
FIW they reported.
Even though it was not hypothesized, we examined gender differences in this
Malaysian study since gender is the most examined variable in work-family study (e.g. Fu
and Shaffer, 2001). An independent sample t-test was conducted to compare WIF and
FIW scores for men and women in the Malaysian sample. There was a significant
difference in WIF scores for men (M 2.65, SD 0.63) and women (M 2.78,
SD 0.59), t(497) 2.42, p < 0.05 and FIW scores for men (M 2.47, SD 0.55),
women (M 2.62, SD 0.55), t(497) 2.92, p < 0.01). However, the magnitude of the
differences in the means was very small (eta squared 0.01 for WIF and 0.01 for FIW).
In other words, only one per cent of the variance in conflict is explained by gender. It can
be concluded that gender differences in WFC in this Malaysian sample were minimal.
H2.

WIF and FIW would be negatively related to job, family, community and life
satisfaction.

Hypothesis 2 was further supported by SEM analysis (refer Figure 1). The model had a
moderate-good fit to the data 2(41) 135.39, p < 0.000; 2/df 3.22; CFI 0.96,
TLI 0.94, RMSEA 0.06). As predicted, FIW was negatively related to job, family,
community and life satisfaction. By contrast, WIF was positively associated only to
family satisfaction.
6. Discussion
The main finding from this study was that Malaysians reported higher FIW than
Westerners. FIW also predicted job, family, community and life satisfaction negatively,

Figure 1.
Structural model of WIF,
FIW and satisfaction

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as in Western studies (Brough et al., 2005; Hyman et al., 2005; Rosin and Korabik, 2002).
However, compared to WIF, FIW had a stronger relation satisfaction, contradicting
other Western findings (Burke, 2004; Frone, 2003).
The experience of high FIW may be explained by the collectivist values of
Malaysian National culture. In collectivist cultures, the family is viewed as the most
important in-group. The family also includes the extended members and as the number
of in-group members is large, many more family issues may occur (e.g. more visits to
family members, more functions to attend), which can be time and energy consuming,
and in turn may contribute to FIW. In fact, half (50.4 per cent) of the respondents in this
study reported they had more than 16 members of the extended family living within
80 km of their home, which supports this explanation.
The study also showed that taking care of others needs is important for
Malaysians, reflecting on the humane cultural dimension (Javidan and House, 2001).
Thus it is not surprising as Choi (2005) reported that caring for family and friends is
the most important social aspect affecting womens occupational health in Malaysia.
Additionally, the concept of filial piety being good and taking care of parents is
obligatory is rooted in religion. Almost three quarters of the respondents reported
that they were responsible for the care of their elderly family members. For this sample,
74.0 per cent perceived that religion was very important in their life and 72.0 per cent
perceived themselves as religious. Thus, it appeared that embracing collectivist values
and religion may lead them to taking caring responsibilities very seriously, which in
turn may also create higher FIW.
Results clearly showed that in Malaysians WIF is lower than it is Westerners. This
finding can be attributed to the paternalistic nature of the organization and relationship
between superior and subordinate in Eastern culture. As collectivists work to live and
regard family prosperity as an important mission in life, work is usually supported by
family members, through instrumental or emotional assistance. As a result, work
obligations are seldom perceived as a disturbance to family life (Aryee et al., 2005). This
may explain why less WIF was reported in this Malaysian sample.
WIF was more frequently reported than FIW as in previous studies (Boyar et al.,
2005; Kinnunen et al., 2006; Ngo and Lau, 1998), suggesting that to a certain extent, the
Western model of WFC can be generalized to Eastern cultures (etic). Higher levels of
WIF show that the family domain is more permeable than the work domain (Ngo and
Lau, 1998), whereby work activities are permitted to affect family activities.
Malaysians, however, reported less WIF than most Westerners. Contrary to
expectations and results from other studies (Carlson and Kacmar, 2000; Wayne et al.,
2004), WIF was positively related to family satisfaction.
The experience of WIF may also be reduced by the availability of family-friendly
policies in Malaysian workplaces (Hassan et al., 2007). Although family-friendly
policies also exist in Western organizations, some policies in Malaysian workplaces are
better suited to the employees need. For instance, in Malaysia, 100 per cent paid
maternity leave is given to mothers for 8.5 weeks for up to five children. In contrast,
according to the International Labour Organization in 1998, no paid maternity leave
was offered in the USA, Australia or New Zealand (Kossek and Lambert, 2005). One
week paid paternity leave is available in Malaysia (Public Service Department, 2002),
whereas no similar leave is guaranteed in the USA (Gurchiek, 2007). Additionally, paid
annual leave is guaranteed to Malaysian employees, ranging from 14 to 30 days, while
employers in the USA are not obliged to offer such leave (Gurchiek, 2007). So, to a

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certain extent, the availability of family-friendly policies may have reduced the
experience of WIF among this Malaysian workforce.
A puzzling finding is that WIF was positively related to family satisfaction, which
is different from other studies. One possible explanation is that work activities are
allowed to interrupt family life, because it is seen as a sacrifice for the family. In other
words, when employees spend more time at work or bring work home, it is done for the
family. Therefore, although WIF, it is endured, because in the end, the family will gain
and thus lead to higher family satisfaction. This is consistent with the notion that
family prosperity is the main agenda in collectivist life (Wang et al., 2004). It also
strengthens the findings that for collectivist cultures, the work and family domain are
integrated (Yang, 2005).
7. Practical implications
Although this study was conducted in Malaysia, the findings can serve as guidelines
for organizations elsewhere, specifically multi-national companies (MNC) operating
in Eastern cultures with predominantly collectivist values and with strong cultural
beliefs and values. To decrease WIF, organizations should encourage employees to
utilize family-friendly policies as it is shown that users of such policies have less
conflict than non-users (Hassan et al., 2007). Better dissemination of policy information
through internal newsletters, monthly meetings, induction and supervisor briefings
etc. will also help to ensure that the information reaches employees.
As the paternalistic nature of organizations seems to reduce WIF, if it is maintained,
it will also suit the cultural expectations of the society. However it would be at odds
with Western culture, where there is a movement to breakdown paternalistic influences
at work and in the culture. Further, caution should be exercised so that this
paternalistic nature does not interfere with work productivity.
To minimize FIW, support from government and organizations in child care and care of
the elderly should be encouraged. In addition, parents should be equipped with effective
parenting and communication skills to face todays challenges in raising a family.
Workplaces, religious or voluntary organizations should also be encouraged to
organize family and parenting-related seminars or workshops to develop effective
parental and family skills, specifically for husband and fathers. Globalization, media and
technology pose greater challenges to parenting. Fatherhood and taking care of elderly
persons should be emphasized as much as motherhood and child care. Balancing work
and family as well as stress management and relaxation should also be considered as the
number of dual career families and working women are increasing in the labour market.
8. Limitation
The study has several limitations. First, it used a self-administered questionnaire
survey from a single source and used a cross-sectional design. Other types of data
obtained via interviews or diary studies and data obtained from other sources may
increase in understanding of WFC, and a longitudinal design would better demonstrate
causal relationships.
Second, this study used scales developed in the USA. As Gelfand and Knight (2005)
argued, one problem in cross-cultural research is using a US-developed scale in other
cultures. However, in the absence of a well-validated scale based on Eastern cultures,
we felt justified in using it. At least we were able to demonstrate that it was internally
reliable for our sample and given the observed relationships as mainly predicted, a
seemingly valid measure for the Malaysian sample.

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Third, reliability for individual satisfaction measures was relatively low. Except for
family satisfaction, the reliability for community, job and life satisfaction was between
0.62 and 0.67. Future research will benefit from using satisfaction measures with
higher scale reliability.
Another limitation of the present study was the nature of the organizations
investigated. Organizations in the study were Malaysian-owned companies and the
employees were mainly Malaysian citizens. Thus, if this study had been conducted in
multi-national companies and organizations with non-Malaysian employees, it might
have yielded different results. Despite these limitations, we believe this study extends
the literature by highlighting WFC experiences of Easterners.
9. Conclusion and future research
This study presents preliminary evidence that WIF and FIW in Malaysia, an Asian
country with Islam as the official religion, is both similar and different from Western
cultures. Similar to the Western world, Malaysian respondents experienced more WIF
than FIW, although not as much. FIW was negatively related to satisfaction.
What is different from Western findings is that Malaysians reported greater FIW
than Westerners. High WIF leads to high family satisfaction. These findings underline
the greater importance of family in collectivist cultures than in individualist cultures.
Future research should also include the various dimensions of WFC, that is, time-,
strain- and behaviour-based conflict in order to understand this construct better.
Similarly, enrichment should be investigated to understand how work and family
positively influence each other. Although Eastern cultures may share the same cultural
dimensions (e.g. collectivism, traditional gender role ideology) the rate of economic
development varies between them. Such difference may affect the national social policy
on work-family balance, which in turn will influence the levels of WFC experienced.
For instance, Malaysia (Gross National Income US 6,420) and Singapore (Gross
National Income US 32,340) (World Bank, 2007) are neighbouring countries, but
Malaysia was high on the humane dimension, Singapore was low on it. While children
are expected to be obedient in Malaysia, they are raised to be independent in
Singapore, mirroring other Western developed countries (Javidan and House, 2001).
Recent Hong Kong studies on filial piety found the erosion of the extended family due to
migration and economic necessity deteriorating the strong parent-children relationship
(Ching et al., 2002). Future research could explore further similarities and differences of
WFC in Eastern cultures, so that an Asian WFC theory can be established. Only then,
Asian WFC scale could be developed. Finally, as Malaysians are religious (Abdullah,
1996), the role of religion in relation to the work-family interface should also be
examined more fully.
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Corresponding author
Zaiton Hassan can be contacted at: hzaiton@fcs.unimas.my

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