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The Exchange Relationship between Work-Family Enrichment and Affective Commitment: the Moderating Role of Gender

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 June 2015

António Manuel Marques ,
Maria José Chambel  and
Inês Pinto
António Manuel Marques*
Affiliation:
Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal (Portugal)
Maria José Chambel
Affiliation:
Universidade de Lisboa (Portugal)
Inês Pinto
Affiliation:
Universidade de Lisboa (Portugal)
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to António Manuel Marques. Professor-Coordenador. Departamento de Ciências Sociais e Humanas. Escola Superior de Saúde do Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal. Campus do IPS - Estefanilha. 2914–503. Setúbal (Portugal). E-mail: antonio.marques@ess.ips.pt
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Abstract

Workers’ perception that their job experience enriches their family life has been considered a mechanism that explains their positive attitudes toward the organization where they work. However, because women and men live their work and family differently, gender may condition this relationship between the work-family enrichment and workers’ attitudes. With a sample of 1885 workers from one Portuguese bank, with 802 women, the current study investigated the relationship between work-family enrichment and organizational affective commitment as well as the role of sex as a moderator of this relationship. The hypotheses were tested by using regression analysis. The results indicated that the perception held by workers that their work enriches their family is positively correlated with their affective commitment toward the organization. Furthermore, the data revealed that this relationship is stronger for women than for men. Study results have implications for management, particularly for human resource management, enhancing their knowledge about the relationship of work-family enrichment and workers’ affective commitment toward organization.

Keywords

work-family relationshipwork-family enrichmentaffective commitmentgender
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 18 , 2015 , E35
Copyright
Copyright © Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2015 

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