Balancing Work and Family Obligations in Pakistan and the Netherlands: A Comparative Study

Sumaiya Syed, Ghulam Ali Arain, René Schalk, Charissa Freese

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A study of 486 banking employees in Pakistan and the Netherlands investigated the effect of work-family conflict on psychological contract breach of work-family balance obligations. The results showed that 127 Dutch respondents were more likely to experience work interference with family than employees in Pakistan, despite the fact that Pakistanis have longer working hours than their Dutch counterparts. The relationship between family overload and work interference with family, however, was stronger among the 359 Pakistani study participants. In addition, the positive association between work interference with family and employees' psychological contract breach of work-family balance obligations was significant for the Pakistani respondents but not for the Dutch study participants. This analysis contributes to the work-family and psychological contract literature by observing cross-national differences in work-family overload and work-to-family conflict and their effects on psychological contract breach. It also suggests practices to address the challenge of managing the work-family interface in both developing and developed nations.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)39-52
Number of pages14
JournalGlobal Business and Organizational Excellence
Volume34
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 1 2015
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Business and International Management
  • Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

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