Job Satisfaction and Work Family Conflict in UAE

Introduction

The concept of work-family conflict could be described as a situation when a person faces difficulties with maintaining a balance between career and family life. These difficulties result from the inability to combine family responsibilities and work duties. For example, in the developed countries, women often have to work and take care of children simultaneously. The latter activity is usually time-consuming and requires a lot of energy and hence for a woman, it becomes challenging to be a mother and work simultaneously. In the present study, job satisfaction is an independent variable, and the frequency of work-family conflict is a dependent one.

There are numerous studies dedicated to the discussion of the presented topic. A lot of scholars agree that job satisfaction is closely related to work-family conflict (Boles, Howard, & Donofrio, 2001; Grandey, Cordeiro, & Crouter, 2005; Buonocore & Russo, 2013). Bruck, Allen, and Spector (2002) argue that work-family conflict is usually driven by behavior-based conflict. This means that behavior that a person practices at work is unsuitable at home and, consequently, a conflict arises. Adams, King, and King (1996) note that a work-family conflict is lower when the family members show more care and support. At the same time, Beutell and Wittig-Berman (1999) argue that job involvement, not job satisfaction, leads to conflict between family and work.

The first hypothesis of the current survey is that the higher job satisfaction is, the higher the probability of an unsurmountable work-family conflict. The second hypothesis is that spouses with high job satisfaction are more likely to divorce than spouses with low job satisfaction. The third hypothesis is that women face work-family conflict more frequently than men, and, for women, this conflict does not relate to the extent of job satisfaction.

Method

Description of the Demographics

In the study, we have various demographics, including education, marital status, nationality (Expatriate/Emirati), sector, Gender, and the tenure of working. The survey’s main topic is job satisfaction among the people in the UAE and the crucial conflict between the work-life and the family life of the people. Due to this reason, these demographics have been used in this survey and research. The employees get the highest level of job satisfaction when they draw a good amount of salary, and at the same time, they can effectively balance their work lives and family lives. Any problem in balancing these can cause severe problems in the lives of the employees. Due to this reason, these demographics have been used.

  • Education: This is important as without this getting good jobs is next to impossible.
  • Marital status: This is important as the married employees mainly face the problem like work-family conflict.
  • Nationality (Emirati/ Expatriate): This is also important as in Emirati society, the family plays a crucial role.
  • Sector: This is important as with the help of this, the employees’ condition in the question of this can be understood.
  • Gender: This is important as with the help of this, the condition of both genders can be understood.
  • Tenure: This is important as with the help of this, how long the employees are working can be understood. All of these demographics are tremendously efficient for this survey and study.

Description of the Questionnaire

The questionnaire used in this survey is very much effective and related to the topic of the study. The topic of the study is job satisfaction and the conflict between work-life and family life. All the questions used in the questionnaire are related to various aspects of this topic. Some questions are about the salaries as this is one of the critical factors for job satisfaction, the timings of the jobs and whether the employees prefer to spend extended time in jobs. Out of these, some information like the preferable timing of working can be understood. Apart from this, the chances of promotions, the measurement of the chance of promotion, the measurement of the job security, the work pressure, the nature of the works like physical work or dangerous work, the work environment, all have been discussed in the questionnaire. Moreover, the work’s effectiveness, the employee-management relationship, and the consequences of the work condition on the lives of the people have been discussed through various questions. Due to this reason, it can be said that the questionnaire is related to this topic.

Description of the Statistical Analysis

The survey has provided various statistics that are very much important in this paper. Out of the statistics, the P-value of the factors like life satisfaction and work-family conflict has been identified and this is 0.35081. Apart from this, the condition of male and female employees and the time spent by the employees of each Gender in the workplace have been identified in the statistics of this paper. Thus, it can be said that the statistics are very important for having a clear idea regarding this topic.

Results

Study Variables:

Gender. Time spent at job. Family-work conflict.
Life. satisfaction Education Level. Job satisfaction

T-test

We conducted an independent samples t-test to make a comparison between men and women in terms of how much time they want to spend in their job. The mean for male employees was 2.87 and the mean for female employees was 2.81.

The results of the independent t-test indicated that there was not a significant effect for gender, t (270) = 0.63, p >.05. There was no difference between men and women in terms of how much time they wanted to spend on their job.

Correlation Q

To understand if there is a significant relationship between family-work conflict and life satisfaction, we conducted a correlation analysis. The results indicated that the correlation between family-work conflict and life satisfaction is 0.35. This correlation is not significant because the p-value associated with this correlation equals 0.05. That means there is no significant relationship between family-work conflict and life satisfaction.

Regression Analysis

To test if education level has a significant effect on job satisfaction, we conducted regression analysis. We regressed education level on job satisfaction. The results indicate that education level does not have a significant effect on job satisfaction, B = 0.09, t (270) = 0.298, p >.05. Therefore, education has no effect on variance in job satisfaction scores, R2 =.004, F (1, 268) = 1.08, p >.05.

This result suggests that the level of education does not significantly affect the level of job satisfaction.

Discussion

After collecting the survey results our Group D carried out the following tests:

Using T-Test to answer the question: Is there a significant difference between males and females in terms of how much time they want to spend in their job?
Using Correlation to answer the question: Is there a significant relationship between family-work conflict and life satisfaction?
Using Regression to answer the question: Does education level have a significant effect on job satisfaction?

MS Excel was used with Analysis ToolPack to generate the following correlation analysis.

For this study the variables are:

  • Gender
  • Time spent at work
  • Family-work conflict
  • Life satisfaction
  • Education
  • Job satisfaction

The T-Test Analysis Results

We conducted an independent samples t-test to make a comparison between males and females in terms of the time they want to spend on the job. The mean for males was 2.87 and the mean for females was 2.81. The difference is negligible.

In the survey 2 is More and 3 is Neither more nor less. This indicates that males and females are similar in terms of the time they want to spend on the job. Both ranked closer to “Neither more nor less”.

Table 1: T-Test: Two-Sample Assuming Equal Variances

Male time to spend Female time to spend
Mean 2.871794872 2.8125
Variance 0.996336996 0.802356021
Observations 78 192
Pooled Variance 0.858089361
Hypothesized Mean Difference 0
df 268
t Stat 0.476723882
P(T<=t) one-tail 0.316973611
t Critical one-tail 1.650559157
P(T<=t) two-tail 0.633947221
t Critical two-tail 1.968855173

The results of the independent t-test indicated that there was not a significant effect for gender, t (268) = 0.47, p > 0.05. There was no difference between males and females in terms of “Time spent at work”.

P (T<=t) two-tail is 0.6339 which is higher than 0.05. This indicates no significant difference between males and females.

The Results of Correlation Analysis

To understand if there is a significant relationship between “family-work conflict” and “life satisfaction” we prepared the following table using MS Excel.

Table 2: Correlation Analysis

Education Gender Time To Spend Job Sat Family-Work-Conflict Life Satisfaction
Education 1
Gender -0.0332 1
Time To Spend -0.0457 -0.0291 1
Job Sat 0.0635 -0.0063 0.120792 1
Family-Work-Conflict -0.0173 0.1121 -0.053281 -0.142125 1
Life Satisfaction 0.0835 0.0747 0.060600 0.560672 -0.114176 1

Weak correlation is between (+/-) 0.10 and 0.19. Moderate is between (+/-) 0.20 and 0.32. Strong is (+/-) 0.33 and 1.00. No relationship is between -0.09 and +0.09.

The results indicated that the correlation between Family-work conflict and Life satisfaction is -0.114176. This indicates a weak or low level of negative correlation.

An online calculator was used to calculate the p-value associated with the correlation. See figure below:

Online calculation for p-value
Figure 1: Online calculation for p-value

This correlation is not significant because the p-value associated with this correlation equals 0.061 which is greater than 0.05. That means there is no significant relationship between Family-work conflict and Life satisfaction.

The Results of the Regression Analysis

To test if education level has a significant effect on job satisfaction, we conducted regression analysis. We regressed education level on job satisfaction.

Table 3: Regression Analysis

Regression Analysis

The p-value for Education coefficient 0.0959 is 0.2984 – higher than 0.05 – that means Education has no significant impact on job satisfaction levels.

The results indicate that Education has no significant positive effect on job satisfaction, B = 0.0959, t (268) = 1.04, p >.05. Education has no significant proportion of variance in job satisfaction scores, R2 =.004, F (1, 268) = 1.085, p >.05.

This result suggests that employee Education levels have no impact on their satisfaction with their jobs.

Discussion of Study Limitations

Only a few select individuals were invited to participate in the survey. It was ensured that the names of respondents are kept confidential. The limited time to complete the survey and few numbers of respondents is a key limitation of this study.

Discussion of Suggestions for Future Research

Future research could look at a larger population to sample. A comparison could be made between employees from government and private organizations and between people of different nationalities.

Conclusion

In the given research, three hypotheses have been examined. According to the first hypothesis, the higher job satisfaction is, the higher the probability of an unsurmountable work-family conflict. The result of the research suggests that employee education levels have no impact on their satisfaction with their jobs.

According to the second hypothesis analyzed in the research, spouses with high job satisfaction are more likely to divorce than spouses with low job satisfaction. The results of the analysis indicated that the correlation between family-work conflict and life satisfaction is 0.35, which is not significant. It means that there is no significant relationship between family-work conflict and life satisfaction.

The third hypothesis is that women face work-family conflict more frequently than men, and, for women, this conflict does not relate to the extent of job satisfaction. According to the results of the analysis, the correlation between family-work conflict and life satisfaction is weak or demonstrates a low level of negative correlation. Thus, the results show that the family-work conflict has only a slight impact on the life satisfaction.

References

Adams, G. A., King, L. A., & King, D. W. (1996). Relationships of job and family involvement, family social support, and work–family conflict with job and life satisfaction. Journal of applied psychology, 81(4), 411-420.

Beutell, N. J., & Wittig-Berman, U. (1999). Predictors of work-family conflict and satisfaction with family, job, career, and life. Psychological Reports, 85(3), 893-903.

Boles, J. S., Howard, W. G., & Donofrio, H. H. (2001). An investigation into the inter-relationships of work-family conflict, family-work conflict and work satisfaction. Journal of managerial issues, 376-390.

Bruck, C. S., Allen, T. D., & Spector, P. E. (2002). The relation between work–family conflict and job satisfaction: A finer-grained analysis. Journal of vocational behavior, 60(3), 336-353.

Buonocore, F., & Russo, M. (2013). Reducing the effects of work–family conflict on job satisfaction: the kind of commitment matters. Human Resource Management Journal, 23(1), 91-108.

Grandey, A., Cordeiro, B., & Crouter, A. (2005). A longitudinal and multi‐source test of the work–family conflict and job satisfaction relationship. Journal of occupational and Organizational Psychology, 78(3), 305-323.

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