Title: Work-family conflict among female nurses in the healthcare sector

Authors: Navaneethakrishnan Kengatharan; Sorubiga Kunatilakam

Addresses: Department of Human Resource Management, Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce, University of Jaffna, Jaffna, Sri Lanka ' Northern Central Hospital, Jaffna 40000, Sri Lanka

Abstract: The research drew on gender role ideology, conservation of resources and social identity theory to explore the relationships between work-family conflict, emotional intelligence, leader-member exchange, employee engagement and job performance. Data were collected using self-report questionnaires from 169 female nurses working in three major hospitals in Sri Lanka. The study found that work-family conflict was negatively related to employee engagement and job performance. However, the negative relationship between work-family conflict and job performance turned out to be positive at a higher level of emotional intelligence. The study further found that the negative relationship between work-family conflict and employee engagement was weaker for those reporting a higher level of leader-member exchange. The study contributes to the extant literature by unearthing theoretical relationships in the healthcare sector. The implications of the study, limitations and directions for future research are also discussed.

Keywords: emotional intelligence; employee engagement; job performance; leader-member exchange; work-family conflict.

DOI: 10.1504/IJWOE.2020.111315

International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion, 2020 Vol.11 No.3, pp.213 - 230

Received: 01 May 2020
Accepted: 06 Aug 2020
Published online: 19 Nov 2020 *

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