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Cooperation Versus Competition: How Do Helping Coworkers Affect Work–Family Conflict?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2023

Junting Lu Open the ORCID record for Junting Lu [Opens in a new window] ,
Zhe Zhang Open the ORCID record for Zhe Zhang [Opens in a new window]  and
Ming Jia
Junting Lu
Affiliation:
School of Management, Shandong University, Weihai, Shandong 264209, China
Zhe Zhang*
Affiliation:
School of Management, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710049, China
Ming Jia
Affiliation:
School of Management, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710072, China
*
Corresponding author: Zhe Zhang (zhangzhe@mail.xjtu.edu.cn)
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Abstract

Although studies pay increasing attention to how organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) affects work–family conflict, most research ignores the boundary conditions and underlying mechanisms of this relationship. Drawing on goal interdependence theory and conservation of resources theory, this research sees two types of goal interdependence as important boundary conditions of how helping behavior affects work–family conflict. We use a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to test our theoretical model. Specifically, using two-wave survey data collected from 386 employees and 90 supervisors in a manufacturing company, our quantitative study shows that the interaction of helping behavior with cooperative goal interdependence is positively associated with work–goal progress, whereas its interaction with competitive goal interdependence is negatively associated with work–goal progress. In turn, work–goal progress is negatively associated with work–family conflict. The results further reveal that the indirect effect of helping behavior on work–family conflict via work–goal progress is positive and significant only when the level of competitive (cooperative) goal interdependence is high (low). We use 196 employees from the same organization to conduct our qualitative study, the results of which further substantiate and extend the findings from our quantitative study. Finally, we discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our findings.

摘要

摘要

尽管组织公民行为（OCB）如何影响工作-家庭冲突受到越来越多的关注，但大多数研究都忽视了这种关系的边界条件和潜在机制。根据目标互依理论和资源保存理论，本研究将两种类型的目标互依视为助人行为影响工作-家庭冲突的重要边界条件。我们采用定量和定性相结合的研究方法来检验我们的理论模型。定量研究的样本来自一家制造型企业，我们通过多时段问卷调查共收集 386 名员工和 90 名领导的配对数据。结果表明，助人行为与合作目标互依性的交互作用与工作-目标进展正相关；助人行为与竞争目标互依性的交互作用与工作-目标进展负相关；工作-目标进展与工作-家庭冲突呈负相关。此外，只有当竞争（合作）目标互依性水平较高（低）时，助人行为通过工作-目标进展对工作-家庭冲突的间接效应才是正向显著的。其后，我们用来自同一组织的 196 名员工为样本展开定性研究（访谈），进一步证实和扩展了我们定量研究的结果。

Keywords

goal interdependencehelping behaviorwork–family conflictwork–goal progress助人行为目标互依性工作-目标进展工作-家庭冲突。
Type
Article
Information
Management and Organization Review , Volume 19 , Issue 5 , October 2023 , pp. 957 - 980
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The International Association for Chinese Management Research

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