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Acculturation and Individualism as Predictors of Work‐Family Conflict in a Diverse Workforce
Author(s) -
Olson Kristine J.,
Huffman Ann H.,
Leiva Pedro I.,
Culbertson Satoris S.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
human resource management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.888
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1099-050X
pISSN - 0090-4848
DOI - 10.1002/hrm.21559
Subject(s) - acculturation , individualism , ethnic group , social psychology , workforce , cultural diversity , psychology , diversity (politics) , work–family conflict , social identity theory , sociology , empirical research , identity (music) , affect (linguistics) , work (physics) , political science , social group , mechanical engineering , philosophy , physics , communication , epistemology , anthropology , acoustics , law , engineering
Ethnic and cultural diversity is an increasing reality in the US workplace. The current study highlights the importance of acknowledging the culturally heterogeneous nature of ethnic groups, and the need to focus on social identity characteristics such as cultural values when assessing group differences. We demonstrate that cultural values (i.e., individualism) contribute to employees' experiences of work‐family conflict beyond the effects of ethnicity. Specifically, we introduce a model informed by social identity theory that explains why acculturation is related to work‐family conflict. The model was tested with a sample of 309 employed Caucasian and Hispanic Americans. An empirical test of our model provides evidence that individualism mediates the relationship between language‐ and social‐based acculturation and work‐family conflict, even when controlling for ethnicity. Additionally, alternative models further reveal that the effects of acculturation and individualism contribute to work interfering with family. As an implication of the current study, we suggest that researchers and organizational managers should consider the cultural values of their diverse workforce when implementing policies that affect conflict between work and family. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.