The role of personality and role engagement in work-family balance

Abstract

The relations between personality, role engagement, and a four-dimensional typology of work-family balance (WFB) were examined within a community-based sample (n = 213) derived from the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (JYLS). The typology was formed based on both work-family conflict (WFC) and enrichment (WFE) experiences. The profiles of personality and role engagement differentiated the four WFB types – Beneficial, Harmful, Active, and Passive types. The Beneficial type (low WFC, high WFE; 48.4%) was characterized by low neuroticism, high agreeableness and high conscientiousness. The opposite was observed for the Harmful type (high WFC, low WFE; 8.9%), which was also characterized by low family investment. In turn, high extraversion and high work and family investment characterized the Active type (high WFC, high WFE; 16.4%), whereas low extraversion and openness to experience as well as low work investment characterized the Passive type (low WFC, low WFE; 26.3%). Thus, rather than just being a unidimensional construct ranging from balance to imbalance, it is confirmed that WFB can also be seen as manifesting itself in multiple types, which are linked to meaningful differences in personality traits and role engagement.

Keywords

• family work balance
• role engagement
• family relations
• personality