Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum. 5(2): 93-101 (1997)
ISSN: 0128-7702 © Universiti Putra Malaysia Press
Work-Family Conflict and Social Support: A Study o f Female Secretaries in Malaysia AMINAH AHMAD W om en’s Studies U nit D ep artm en t o f Extension Education Faculty o f Educational Studies Universiti Putra Malaysia 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia Keywords: role conflict, work-family conflict, social support, working women ABSTRAK Terdapat semakin ramai wanita yang telah berkahwin terlibat dalam tenaga buruh dan mempunyai tanggung jawab di tempat kerja dan di rumah secara serentak. Dengan ini mereka sering mengalami konflik antara peranan kerja dan keluarga. Penyelidikan ini mengkaji intensiti konflik antara peranan kerja dan keluarga yang dialami oleh setiausaha wanita di negeri Selangor, Malaysia. Penyelidikan ini juga menganalisis sokongan sosial yang diterima di tempat kerja daripada ketua dan rakan sekerja, dan di luar tempat kerja daripada suami serta rakan-rakan dan saudara-mara. Data telah diperolehi daripada 120 setiausaha dengan menggunakan borang soal selidik yang diisi sendiri. Setiausaha dalam penyelidikan ini mengalami konflik kerja-keluarga dengan intensiti yang berbeza dalam usaha mereka untuk m em enuhi tuntutan yang bercanggah bagi peranan kerja dan keluarga. Mereka menerima sokongan sosial yang paling sedikit daripada ketua dan paling banyak daripada suami. Implikasi hasil kajian bagi wanita bekeija yang sudah berkahwin, dari segi kemudahan, perkhidmatan sokongan dan sokongan sosial dibincang. ABSTRACT As more married women participate in the labour force and occupy both work and family roles simultane ously, they tend to experience conflict between work and family roles. This study exam ined the intensity o f work-family conflict experienced by female secretaries in the state o f Selangor, Malaysia. The study also analysed the social support that the secretaries received at the workplace from supervisors and co-workers and outside their workplace from husbands, and friends and relatives. Data were gathered through self administered questionnaires from 120 secretaries. The secretaries in this study experienced work-family conflict with varying intensities as they try to fulfil the conflicting demands o f work and family roles. They received the least social support from their supervisors, and the most from their husbands. Implications o f these findings for married working women in terms o f facilities, support services and social support are discussed.
IN T R O D U C T IO N As Malaysia moves towards industrialization an d w ith g r e a t e r a c c e ss to e d u c a t io n , th e particip atio n o f w om en in the lab o u r force steadily in creases. T h e fem ale in ta k e in to institutions o f h ig h e r learn in g e x p an d ed rapidly fro m 3 8 .6 % in 1980 to 4 7 .5 % in 1993 (D e p a rtm e n t o f S tatistics, M alaysia 1995). Female labour force participation rate was 39.3% in 1980 (D epartm ent o f Statistics, Malaysia 1983) co m p ared with 46.5% in 1993 (D ep artm en t o f Statistics, Malaysia 1995). T h e lab o u r force particip atio n rate o f m arried w om en increased fro m 5 1 .2 % in 1980 to 5 8 .2 % in 1991
(D ep artm en t o f Statistics, Malaysia 1995). As m ore m arried w om en are continually en te rin g the labour force and occupying both work and family roles sim ultaneously, it is im p o rta n t to exam ine the psychological im plications. O ne o f the m ost salient o f these is work-family conflict. W ork-fam ily c o n f lic t o c c u rs w h en an individual has to perform m ultiple roles: worker, spouse and in m any cases, paren t. Each o f these roles im poses d em ands req u irin g tim e, energy an d com m itm ent. Kahn et al. (1964) d e fin e d w ork-fam ily co n flic t as a fo rm o f in terro le conflict in which the sim ultaneous
Aminah Ahmad
occu rren ce o f two (o r m ore) sets o f pressures is such th at com pliance with one would make com pliance with the o th e r m ore difficult . Based on the work o f Kahn et al. (1964), G reenhaus and Beutell (1985) conceptualized work-family conflict as a form o f interrole conflict in which the role pressures from the work and family dom ains are m utually incom patible, such that participation in one role makes it m ore difficu lt to p a rtic ip a te in th e o th e r. T hey proposed that any role characteristic th at affects a p e rso n ’s time involvement, strain o r behaviour within a role can produce conflict between that role and a n o th e r role. R e s e a rc h e rs have d o c u m e n te d th e experience o f work-family conflict am ong women, and have provided convincing evidence o f the adverse effects o f such conflict on their well being in both the work and family dom ains (G ree n h a u s a n d B eutell 1985; Pleck 1985; G reenhaus and Parasuram an 1986; Voydanoff 1987; Burke 1989; Aryee 1992; M oham ed Hashim 1993). In studies conducted on m arried working women in Malaysia, women not only experienced work-family conflict (Fatim ah 1985; A m inah 1995), b u t work-family conflict was shown to lead significantly to lower jo b satisfaction as well as life satisfaction (Aminah 1996a, b). Workfamily conflict also significantly leads to lower family satisfaction (Aminah 1996a). T he recognition o f negative psychological c o n s e q u e n c e s o f w ork-fam ily c o n flic t has d irected atten tio n towards the role o f social su p p o rt in red u cin g this conflict (MacEwen and Barling 1988; Frone et a l 1991; Parasuram an et al. 1992). Supportive relationships are also seen as critical social resources in dealing with work-family issues (G reenhaus and Parasuram an 1986; S uchet an d Barling 1986; Ray and M iller 1994). H ouse (1981) defin ed social su p p o rt as the dem o n stratio n o f em otional con cern , and the provision o f instru m en tal aid, inform ation, a n d /o r appraisal. C obb (1976) focused on in f o r m a tio n p a s s in g b e tw e e n o r a m o n g individuals, in form ation th at an individual is (1) loved, (2) esteem ed o r valued, o r (3) p art o f a g ro u p , th e m em b ers o f w hich sh are inform ation an d m utual obligations. Shum aker and Brownell (1984) d efined social su p p o rt as an exchange o f resources betw een at least two individuals perceived by the provider o r the recip ien t to be in te n d e d to en h an ce the well being o f the recipient.
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With regards to the co n ten t o f support, som e research ers have distin g u ish ed effect, affirm ation and aid as types of su p p o rt (Abbey et al. 1985). C ohen and Wills (1985) identified esteem, inform ational, social com panionship and instrum ental support; Eggert (1987) focused on em o tio n al, in stru m en ta l, in fo rm atio n a l an d appraisal support. A lthough there are certain distinctions am ong these approaches, all types of support are perceived to have an em otional com ponent. This study focused on the em otional com ponent of support in line with B eehr’s (1985) view th a t e m o tio n a l s u p p o rt involves th e provision of sympathy as well as behaviour that shows care, liking and willingness to listen. According to Caplan et al. (1975), social support can be derived from sources at the workplace and outside the workplace. At the workplace, the sources o f social support include the supervisor and co-workers, while sources o f extra-organizational support include family and friends. Several studies suggest the im portance o f supervisor su p p o rt (G anster et al. 1986; Jayaratne et al. 1988) and co-worker su p p o rt (Shinn et al. 1984; Jayaratne et al. 1988; Ray and Miller 1991). Both supervisors and co-workers are in optim al positions to provide su p p o rt because of their understanding o f the stresses in h eren t in the workplace. A nu m b er of studies found that support from family and friends can have positive effects on a w ide ra n g e o f psychological outcom es (A lbrecht and A delm an 1987; Cohen and Wills 1985). Results of research conducted by Ray and Miller (1994) indicated that the different sources o f social su p p o rt worked in unique ways to relieve the strain of work-family conflict. H ence it is recognized that social support can be derived from sources at the workplace and outside the workplace and that social support is of im portance to those experiencing work-family conflict. The literature indicates that m arried working women are vulnerable to work-family conflict and that there is evidence o f adverse effects of such conflict on workers’ well-being in both work and family dom ains. However, the lim ited empirical research on social support in relation to work-family conflict points to the n eed for such a study. This research d eterm in es the intensity o f conflict that m arried working wom en experience in trying to balance their work and family roles, and the ex tent o f social su pport that they receive at the workplace and outside
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Work-Family Conflict and Social Support: A Study o f Female Secretaries in Malaysia
their workplace. This research also attem pts to exam ine the relationship betw een work-family conflict and social su p p o rt received from various sources. M ETH O D O LO G Y Participants and Procedures Participants in the p resen t study were m arried women who lived with th eir husbands, had at least one child, and were full-time secretaries o r stenographers. T hese criteria were established to ensure th at the w om en in the sam ple had quite sim ilar responsibilities in term s o f work and family roles. Q uestionnaires were m ailed to 234 fem ale secretaries (including stenographers) m eeting these criteria from two selected governm ent o rg a n iz a tio n s a n d th e S e c re ta rie s ’ Society Malaysia. A total o f 120 re tu rn e d the question naires within a p erio d o f ten weeks, th at is a retu rn rate o f 51%. T h e w o m en in th is study av e ra g e d 39.3 years o f age (SD = 5 .0 9 ). E ach fam ily h a d an a v e ra g e o f 3 .0 c h i l d r e n (S D = 1 .3 1 ). A m ajo rity o f th e w o m en had c o m p le te d u p p e r se c o n d a ry (5 8 .8 % ) a n d te r tia r y (3 5 .3 % ) e d u c a tio n . T h e r e m a i n i n g 5 .9 % h a d c o m p le te d p re -u n iv e rsity o r p o st-se c o n d a ry c e rtific a te level o f e d u c a tio n . T h e w om en e a rn e d an av erag e o f RM 1532 p e r m o n th . A bout a q u a rte r o f the respo n d en ts (24.2%) re p o r te d th a t th ey se n t th e ir c h ild re n to babysitters and 13.4% had relatives to look after their children. O nly 18.3% sent their children to childcare centres and 16.7% had dom estic helpers to care for th eir children. Instrumentation Work-Family Conflict. Work-family conflict intensity was m easured using the interro le conflict scale of Pleck et al. (1980). This scale consists of eight item s based on the th ree m ost prevalent aspects o f work-family conflict, nam ely excessive work tim e, schedule conflicts, and fatigue o r irritability. Five-point scaled response options ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5) were used. T he reliability coefficient (alpha) for this work-family conflict scale was 0.84. Social Support. P ercep tio n s o f su p p o rt from supervisor, co-workers, h u sb an d , an d friends and relatives were m easured. Item s developed
by C aplan et al. (1975) were used for all four sources o f support, inserting the a p p ro p ria te source for each set o f items. T he scale of Caplan et al. (1975) was used by Greenglass et al. (1989). U nlike som e pro ced u res which m easure social su p p o rt indirectly (for exam ple, as n u m b e r o f social contacts), these sub-scales were chosen because they directly assess the re s p o n d e n t’s p e rcep tio n reg ard in g the level o f social su p p o rt received. T h ere were fo u r item s in each o f the four sub-scales. Each resp o n d e n t was req u ested to state the e x ten t o f su p p o rt received from each so u rce usin g five-point L ik ert scaled response options. T he reliability coefficient (alpha) for the fo u r social su p p o rt subscales were 0.86 for supervisor support, 0.81 co-workers support, 0.86 husb an d su pport, an d 0.89 for su p p o rt from friends an d relatives. RESULTS Table 1 indicates that 72 (63%) o f the 120 w om en w ho re s p o n d e d re p o r te d m e d iu m intensity o f conflict. Twenty-two (19%) reported high intensity o f conflict while 20 (18%) reported low intensity o f conflict. T he m ean score for work-family conflict on a five-point scale was 2.5 (SD = 0.71). T he m eans and standard deviations o f item s m easuring work-family conflict are presented in Table 2. T he m ost highly endorsed item was “After work, I com e hom e too tired to do some o f the things I ’d like to d o ” (M = 3.1, SD = 1.07) and the item that was least endorsed was “ My work schedule often conflicts with my family life”(M = 2.1, SD = 0.81). W om en received social su p p o rt from all the fo u r resources, nam ely supervisor (M = 2.6, SD = 0.96), co-workers (M = 2.8; SD = 0.78), h u sb an d (M = 4.0; SD = 0.93) and friends and relatives (M = 2.7; SD = 0.98) (Table 3). T he e x te n t o f social su p p o rt received from th e ir husbands was the greatest, while th at received from th eir supervisor was the least. T able 4 shows the m eans an d stan d ard deviations o f item s m easuring social su p p o rt from the four sources. T he m ean score o f every item for support from husband was m ore than 3.5, while th at from supervisor ranged only betw een 2.2 to 2.9. T h e re were significant differences for four pairs o f su p p o rt sources (T able 5). T h e m ean for supervisor su p p o rt d iffered significantly (p < .05) from th a t for co-workers (t = - 2.68), h u s b a n d (t = -1 3 .8 8 ). B esid es s u p e rv iso r
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Aminah Ahmad TABLE 1 D istribution o f respondents by work-family con flict intensity C onflict Intensity H igh (>3.1) M edium ( 2.0 - 3.1) Low ( < 2.0 )
Frequency
%
22 72 20
19.3 63.2 17.5
TABLE 2 Means and standard deviations o f item s m easuring work-family conflict Item M
SD
My work sched u le often conflicts with my family life
2.1
0.81
After work, I com e h om e too tired to do som e o f the things I’d like to do
3.1
1.07
O n the jo b I have so m uch work to do that it takes away time for my family interests
2.3
0.99
My family dislikes how often I am preoccup ied with my work while I am at h om e
2.8
1.99
Because my work is dem and in g, at tim es I am irritable at h om e
2.5
1.04 t
T he dem and s o f my jo b make it difficult to be relaxed all the tim e at h om e
2.4
0.95
My work takes up tim e that I’d like to spend with my family
2.5
0.97
My jo b m akes it difficult to be the kind o f spouse or parent I’d like to be
2.4
1.03
TABLE 3 M eans and standard deviations o f respondents by social support Item
96
Mean
SD
Supervisor
2.6
0.96
Co-workers
2.8
0.79
H usband
4.0
0.93
Friends and Relatives
2.7
0.98
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Work-Family Conflict and Social Support: A Study o f Female Secretaries in Malaysia TABLE 4 M eans and standard deviations o f item s m easuring social support Supervisor
Co-workers
H usband
Friends and Relatives
Item M
SD
M
SD
M
SD
M
SD
How m uch d o es each o f these p eo p le go ou t o f their way to do things to m ake life easier for you
2.4
1.05
2.5
0.92
4.1
1.02
2.8
1.04
How m uch can each o f these p eo p le be relied on w hen things get tough at work
2.9
1.12
2.8
0.92
3.6
1.25
2.3
1.04
How m uch is each o f the follow ing peop le w illing to listen to your personal problem s
2.2
1.14
2.7
1.04
4.1
1.08
2.8
1.19
How easy is it to talk with each o f the follow ing p eo p le
2.8
1.27
3.1
1.09
4.2
1.09
2.9
1.26
TABLE 5 D ifferences betw een sources o f social support Social Support Supervisor and co-workers Supervisor and husband Supervisor and friends and relatives H usband and co-workers Co-worker and friends and relatives H usband and friends and relatives
df
t
P
116 116 115 116 115 115
-2 .6 8 -1 3 .8 8 -1 .1 6 -1 2 .8 0 0.92 -1 1 .9 2
.01 .00 .25 .00 .36 .00
support, the m ean for h u sb an d su p p o rt differed significantly (p < .05) from th a t for co-workers (t = -12.80) an d friends an d relatives (t = -11.92). T here was n o significant difference betw een supervisor an d friends an d relatives su p p o rt, and co-worker and friends an d relatives su p p o rt (p < .05). C orrelatio n analyses revealed th a t workfamily conflict was related to supervisor support (r = -.186) and husband sup p o rt (r = -.156) (Table 6). T h e correlation coefficients, although small, were significant (p < .05). T h ere was no significant re la tio n sh ip betw een work-family conflict an d co-worker su p p o rt as well as from friends an d relatives.
DISCUSSION Role theory postulates that the expectations surrounding each o f the different roles a person perform s can generate interrole conflict when they involve pressures which dom inate the time o f the focal person and interfere with fulfilling the expectations associated with the o th er role (Katz and Kahn 1978). T he fact that fem ale secretaries experience work-family conflict with varying intensities as they perform different roles as wife, m other, housewife and em ployee is supportive o f the role theory. T he findings of this study and o th e r studies conducted on 86 fem ale researchers (Am inah 1995), and 100 professional w om en (Fatim ah
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Table 6 R elationships betw een work-family conflict and R elationship Supervisor support and work-family conflict Co-worker support and work-family conflict H usband Support and work family conflict Friends and relatives support and work family conflict
1985) showed th at m arried working wom en in Malaysia experience work-family conflict. T he findings also sup p o rt those o f o th e r studies conducted by Pleck et al. (1980), G reenhaus and Beutell (1985), G utek et al. (1991) and Higgins and Duxbury (1992) in the U nited States. It is evident that respondents o f this study received the m ost support from their husbands and least from their supervisors. This could possibly be due to the lim ited time available at work for helping relations in the form o f social co n tact o r co m m u n icatio n with supervisors. B e e h r (1995) stre sse d th e im p o rta n c e o f com m unication with sources o f support in o rd er to reduce jo b stress such as role conflict. C orrelations between work-family conflict and two o f the four sources o f social support, n a m e ly , h u s b a n d a n d su p e rv iso rs , w ere significant, although the correlation coefficients were low (-.156 and -.186, respectively). This indicates th at increased social support from the husbands and supervisors tend to reduce workfamily conflict. However, support from friends and relatives and co-workers does n o t relate with work-family conflict. An analysis o f eight studies on relationships between social support and jo b stressors by B eehr (1995) found that 38 o f 60 correlations were significant (p<.05). However, the m edian correlation was only -0.22. G anster et al. (1986) studied the role of social su p p o rt in work stress-strain relations am ong 326 em ployees o f a large contracting firm. T he sources o f social support studied include supervisor, co-worker and family and friends. They found that the sources from the workplace, especially supervisors, were the most im portant in affecting strains, including jo b and life d issatisfaction, som atic co m p lain ts an d
98
social support
r
P
-.1 8 6
.03
-.0 7 2
.23
-.1 5 6
.05
.056
.28
depression. F urtherm ore, su pport from family and friends was significantly associated with lower levels of psychological strain. Beehr (1976) rep o rted negative correlations betw een supervisor em o tio n al su p p o rt a n d psychological strain am ong samples o f employees from five different work organisations. H ouse and Wells (1978), in a study o f white m ale workers in a rubber and chem ical plant, found that supervisor support buffered the relationship between role conflict and psychological strain. LaRocco et al. (1980), in a sample o f males from 23 occupations, found buffering effects of social support on stressor-strain relationships. These studies showed that the experience of social support may serve to reduce the severity of strains during the experiences o f jo b stressors. Although these studies focused on work stressstrain relations and not on work-family stress o r conflict, it may provide some insights into the association of social support with stress. It can be sum m arized that m arried fem ale secretaries in this study experienced work-family conflict in trying to m eet the expectations of work and family roles. They received social support from all the four support sources, namely supervisor, co-workers, husband, and friends and relatives. T he extent o f social su pport received from their husbands was the greatest, while that received from their supervisors was the least. In c r e a s e d so cial s u p p o r t re c e iv e d fro m supervisors and husbands tended to reduce workfamily conflict. Several im plications can be m ade based on the results of this study. O ne o f the im plications of the prevalence o f the work-family conflict am ong m arried working wom en is that wom en need assistance in term s of facilities, education,
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Work-Family Conflict and Social Support: A Study o f Female Secretaries in Malaysia
and advisory an d su p p o rt services in trying to cope with the conflict. Supervisors should provide substantial social support to workers throu g h behaviour that shows care and willingness to listen to problem s so that stressors in h e re n t at the workplace and problem s faced by fem ale w orkers in relation to the interface o f w ork a n d family roles can be understood. This would assist w om en to reduce the conflict they ex perience in trying to balance the dem ands o f work an d family roles, and the negative effects o f the conflict. O rganizations can help reduce some am ount of work-family conflict by providing facilities such as quality on-site childcare program m es at subsidized rates an d e n h an ced m aternity and parental leave. T hese family-friendly policies can be im p lem en ted as an effort to reduce workfamily co n flict fo r em ployees an d e n h a n c e w om en’s career developm ent, b u t may also be develop ed to re ta in fem ale w orkers. The effectiveness o f these family-friendly initiatives should n o t be evaluated based largely on costeffectiveness a n d sh o rt-te rm o rg a n iz a tio n a l benefits. A ttention should be given to the perspectives o f employees and im pact on families. However the m ost w ell-intentioned o f familyresponsive policies can fail to reduce work-family load if, fo r e x a m p le , w o m en r e ta in sole responsibility for family work, and a w om an’s share o f the provider role is n o t reciprocated by the h u sb a n d ’s share o f family role. H usbands should co n tin u e to provide social su p p o rt to their working wives to h elp reduce the pressures arising from work an d family dom ains. C o n tin u in g ed u catio n p la n n e rs n e e d to consider the problem s m arried working women face in m anaging m ultiple roles when p lanning continuing education program m es. Educators in th e a re a s o f fam ily d e v e lo p m e n t a n d organizational behaviour n eed to in corporate topical areas related to the interface o f work and family roles in the courses offered. R esearch ers, in th e ir serio u s e ffo rt to prom ote w orkers’ welfare m ust recognize th at work is only o n e o f the significant dom ains o f individual functioning. T h e strain within the work dom ain may “spill over” into the family dom ain an d vice versa. To help reduce the strain, future research on social su p p o rt should focus n o t only on em otional b u t also tangible s u p p o rt su ch as in fo rm a tio n , advice a n d suggestions. Besides research on social support,
r e s e a r c h s h o u ld b e c o n d u c t e d o n o r g a n iz a tio n a l p o lic y f o r m u la t io n to r e d u c e t h e s tr a in r e s u lt in g fr o m w o r k -fa m ily c o n f lic t .
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