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1.

Introduction

Work is important for people, and can help to contribute to workers in many ways, such as filling up ones time, providing a source of income, giving self-identity, and contributing to the acceptance of physiology as well as psychology within the community. In order to perform work adequately, workers need to be properly motivated. This particular motivation is also more commonly known as job satisfaction. Unfortunately, there are many issues in the workplace that can bring down an employees satisfaction with his or her job. One particular issue that can also lower an employee s job satisfaction is work-family conflict. Work-family conflict refers to a form of interrole conflict where role demands from the work and family domains are incompatible with ea ch other in one or more re spects. Due to how work-family conflict can undermine a workers job satisfaction which can lower his/her productivity in the workplace, as well as cause other problems for both the worker and the organization , it is important that the relationship between work -family conflict and job satisfaction is addressed. Throughout the past few years , the overall participation rate of female workers in the labour force has slightly increased, from 34.12% in 1997 to 36.05% in 2007. Furthermore, Ahmad (1997) reports that the participation rate of married women in the labour or work force have increased from 51.2% in 1980 to 58.2% in 1991 . Ahmad (2007) also further reports that this rate continued to increase to 61.8% in 1995 and to 63.9% in 2005. As more women become increasingly involved with the labour force (especially those who are married and have children) , issues of work-family conflict are bound to arise, which signals the increasing importance of researching work-family conflict on job satisfaction. In fact, many past researches have already been conducted in examining these two particular aspects. According to Netemeyer, Boles, and McMurrian (1996), work-family conflict is a form of interrole conflict in which the demands created by ones job interfere with family related responsibilities. Greenhaus and Beutell (1985) states that both directions of work family conflict, which are: (1) Work in terference with family (WIF) and (2) Family interference with work (FIW), must be taken into account to fully understand the work -family interface.

Apart from the two directions of work -family conflict, researchers have also started to view work-family conflict in three different forms (Netemeyer, Boles, & McMurrian, 1996; Stephens & Sommer, 1993) , which are: (1) Time-Based Conflict, (2) Strain -Based Conflict, and (3) Behaviour -Based Conflict. Time-based conflict occurs when time devoted to one role makes it difficult to participate in another role. Strain -based conflict refers to strain that is experienced in one role which intrudes into and interferes with participation in another role. Behaviour-based conflict occurs when specific behaviours required in o ne role are incompatible with behavioural expectation in another role (Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985). Each of these three forms also incorporates the two directions of work -family conflict mentioned earlier, bringing to a total of six particular dimensions: ( 1) Time-based work interference with family, (2) Time-based family interference with work , (3) Strain-based work interference with family, (4) Strain-based family interference with work , (5) Behaviour-based work interference with family, and (6) Behaviour -based family interference with work . By using these directions and forms of work-family conflict as a framework, many conducted researches have led to the discovery of several implications that work -family conflict has on job satisfaction. One research conducted by Kossek and Ozeki (1998) examined the relationship among work family conflict, policies, job satisfaction, and life satisfaction by reviewing past articles and studies. Regardless of the type of meta-analysis used, Kossek and Ozeki discovered a consistent negative relationship among all forms of work -family conflict (bidirectional work family conflict, work to family, family to work) and job -life satisfaction, which meant that people with high levels of conflict tend to be less satisfied with their jobs. Apart from that, Bruck, Allen, and Spectors (2002) research also examined the relation of work -family conflict and job satisfaction using a measurement of the six dimensions of work -family conflict. The research results determined that there was a significant negative relation

between work interference with family, family interference with work, as well as work -family conflict towards global job satisfaction. Judging from these findings, it can be concluded that there is indeed a negative relationship between work -family conflict and job satisfactio n. This, however, is from a general perspective. Looking deeper, there have also been other past

researches that have determined that there are differences in both the levels of work-family conflict and job satisfaction in association with many demographic factors. However, I have chosen to focus on only five particular demographic factors, which are (1) Gender, (2) Age, (3) Total Income, (4) Number of Children, and (5) Total Working Hours. Tthere have been several past researches which have supported the notion that working women are simply more likely to experience higher levels of work -family conflict compared to working men (Duxbury, Higgins, & Lee, 1994; Gutek, Searly, & Klepa, 1991; Simon, 1995). Simon (1995) reports that a commonl y given explanation for this difference in levels of work -family conflict is that women view family as their primary obligation and attach more meaning to their parenting role than to their work role. In addition, Hertz (1986) and Hochschild ( 1989) states that several earlier studies have also discovered that among dual -earner couples, women seem to be the ones who bear the burden of adapting to work as well as family demands on a daily basis. Drawing from these findings, it can be concluded that these marr ied women are obliged to fulfill their roles in both the work domain (as a worker or employee) and their family domain (as a wife and mother) simultaneously, thus resulting in them to likely experience interrole conflict involving incompatible de mands from both domains (Ahmad, 2007). In relation with gender on job satisfaction, there have been many inconsistent results. Several researches discovered that female workers demonstrated higher levels of job satisfaction than male workers (Jinnett & Alexander, 1999; Lambert, Hogan, Barton, & Lubbock, 2001; Loscocco, 1990; Ma & Macmillan, 1999). On the other hand, several other researches discovered that male workers exhibited higher levels of jobs satisfaction than female workers (Al -Mashaan, 2003; Zawacki, Shahan , & Carey, 1995). For the second demographic factor, which is age, there are mixed findings with work-family conflict. Grzywacz and Marks (2000) found that younger men and women experienced more work family conflict as well as family-work conflict than older men and women, which supports the previous finding. However, Frone, Russell, and Cooper (1997) reported that there were no significant associations with age and work -family conflict or family-work conflict in their research. As for age with job satisfac tion, there have been consistent findings where older

workers were more likely to experience higher levels of job satisfaction than younger workers (Belcastro & Koeske, 1996; Billingsley & Cross, 1992; Cramer, 1993; Johnson & Johnson, 2000; Larwo od, 1984; Loscocco, 1990; Saal & Knight, 1988) . The third demographic factor, which is total income , also has mixed findings with work -family conflict. Reddy (2010) states that several researches have indicated that low-income women face increased burden as they jug gle work and family responsibilities with very limited resources. On the other hand, similar to age, Frone, Russell, and Cooper (1997) reported that there were also no significant associations with income and work -family conflict in their research. For income with job satisfaction, there have been consistent findings . Bender and Heywood (n.d.) reports in their research that relative income is important, in which job satisfaction increases when income earned is greater than predicted income. The fourth demographic factor, which is the number of children a worker has, has consistent findings with work -family conflict. According to Netemeyer, Boles , & McMurrian (1996), the number of children living at home is positively related to work -to-family conflict and family-to work conflict. As for the number of children with job satisfaction, there have been very mixed and inconsistent findings. In a research by Moguerou (2002), job satisfaction was examined among United States Ph.D. graduates. Among the various variables used in the analysis of this research, the number of children variable had a significant positive effect on job satisfaction. In a more global and national approach, surveys analyzed by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (2007) determined single peopl e in Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Portugal, and Romania were to be among, if not the most , satisfied with their jobs. However, this is opposite for single people in Denmark, Italy , and the Netherlands , where they are found to be less satisfied with their jobs compared to couples or those with children. Surprisingly, national surveys from Finland and the Czech Republic even showed no significant differences in the job satisfaction of peo ple of different marital status, including those who have children or not (European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, 2007) , which contrasts the finding from Moguerou s (2002) research. The fifth demographic factor, which is the total amount of work hours, has consistent findings

with work-family conflict, where shorter working hours generally lead to higher job satisfaction. In a research by Lee and Choo (2001), they examined the work -family conflict among married Singapore women entrepreneurs. Data was gathered through questionnaires from 102 married Singapore women entrepreneurs. The researchers found that long working hours increased the entrepreneurial mothers work -family conflict. In relating total worki ng hours with job satisfaction, there have also been findings which are mixed. In Nassabs (2002) study on factors influencing job satisfaction amongst plastic surgery trainees in the United Kingdom, time pressure was strongly and positively associated with job dissatisfaction, which implies that reduction in working hours may lead to increased job satisfaction. Surveys analyzed by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (2007) also reported that part -time workers (shorter work hours) were more satisfi ed with their jobs than those working full -time (longer work hours). However, surveys from Portugal reported opposite findings, where full -time workers were more satisfied than part -time workers. From all these past findings, we can see that there are many inconsistencies among some of the five demographics factors with work -family conflict and job satisfaction. Therefore, conducting this mini research on the relationship between work-family conflict and job satisfaction in association with these demographi c factors may help to provide further insight. Conducting this mini research may also help in creating efforts to minimize the effects of work-family conflict among workers, leading to high job satisfaction, as well as productivity and output for the organizations. In general, the main purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between work-family conflict and job satisfaction among employees in the workplace. To be more specific, the purposes of this research are to examine: (1) Th e relationship between levels of work-family conflict and job satisfaction among employees, (2) The differences between levels of work-family conflict and job satisfaction among employees according to gender, (3) The differences between levels of work-family conflict and job satisfaction among employees according to age, (4) The differences between levels of work-family conflict and job

satisfaction among employees according to total income, (5) The differences between levels of work-family conflict and job satisfaction among employees according to number of children, and (6) The differences between levels of work-family conflict and job satisfaction among employees according to total working hours . Altogether, these six research purposes lead to the examining and testing of eleven particular null hypotheses that will be determined in the course of conducting the research. These eleven null hypotheses include: i) There is no significant relationship between work-family conflict and job satisfaction.

ii) There is no significant relationship between gender and work -family conflict. iii) There is no significant relationship between gender and job satisfaction. iv) There is no significant relationship between age and work-family conflict. v) There is no significant relationsh ip between age and job satisfaction. vi) There is no significant relationship between total income and work-family conflict. vii) There is no significant relationship between total income and job satisfaction. viii) There is no significant relationship between number of children and work-family conflict. ix) There is no significant relationship between number of children and job satisfaction. x) There is no significant relationship between total working hours and work-family conflict. xi) There is no significant relationship between total working hours and job satisfaction.

CHAPTER 2 METHODOLOGY 2.1 Research Design

The mini research is a survey-based research using questionnaires. The purpose of this research is to survey the relationship between work-family conflict and job satisfaction among employees at Sabah Electricity Sdn. Bhd., Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. One questionnaire set which consists of the Work-Family Conflict Scale (WFC) and the Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS) will be used to measure levels of work-family conflict and job satisfaction . The questionnaire also has another section for participants demographic information, which includes gender, age, ethnicity, marital status, religion, length of service, monthly income, number of children, total weekly working hours, and work shifts . The main variables involved in the research are levels of work-family conflict and job satisfaction. The independent variable is the level of work-family conflict, while the dependent variabl e is the level of job satisfaction. Apart from these two variables, there are another five more minor additional variables, which are five selected demographic factors from the research sample: (1) Gender, (2) Age, (3) Total Income , (4) Number of Children, and (5) Total Working Hours. These five specific demographic factors are chosen because by referring to the introduction section, there have been several inconsistent past findings between these demographics factors with work-family conflict and job satis faction. Thus, in order to test whether these demographic factors are truly significant or not with work -family conflict and job satisfaction, each one of these five demographic factors are examined individually with both levels of work -family conflict and job satisfaction. In this case, all five demographic factors here are considered as independent variables, whereas levels of work-family conflict and job satisfaction are considered to be dependant variables. hypotheses on For a better understanding, the eleven null

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at the end of the introduction section can be referred to. In

addition, the theoretical framework of this mini research can also be referred to in Figure 1:

Figure 1: Theoretical Framework

3.2

Methodology Research Design Research Subjects Research Location Research Tools Research Procedure Data Analysis

y y y y y y

3.3 3.4 3.5

Results Discussion Conclusion

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