Title: Revisiting work-family conflict and affective commitment among healthcare professionals: mediating role of psychological safety

Authors: S.A. Mufeed; Juman Iqbal; Shameem Shagirbasha

Addresses: Department of Management Studies, University of Kashmir, Hazratbal, Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, 190006, India ' Department of Management Studies, University of Kashmir, Hazratbal, Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, 190006, India ' Great Lakes Institute of Management, Taluk, Manamai, Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu, 603102, India

Abstract: Work-family conflict has grown in importance as a study subject in organisational behaviour. The phenomenon of work-family conflict of doctors is particularly imperative as healthcare providers are exposed to high job demands. Against this backdrop, the purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the mediating role of psychological safety between work-family conflict and affective commitment among doctors in North India. Data was collected from 357 respondents and was tested by structural equation model using SPSS AMOS 21. The results indicate that work-family conflict has significant negative impact on affective commitment and psychological safety while psychological safety mediates (partially) the relationship between workfamily conflict and affective commitment. The work-family conflict and affective commitment association has been largely investigated, and is firmly established in the literature, however there is an absolute dearth of studies which has studied this association with psychological safety as a mediator, especially in healthcare sector.

Keywords: work-family conflict; WFC; affective commitment; psychological safety; doctors; hospitals; India.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBEX.2026.151660

International Journal of Business Excellence, 2026 Vol.38 No.2, pp.141 - 159

Received: 27 Oct 2021
Accepted: 09 Apr 2022
Published online: 12 Feb 2026 *

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