How much do you value your family and does it matter? The joint effects of family identity salience, family-interference-with-work, and gender

Using identity theory and the gender role framework, this study examined the interactive effects of family identity salience, family-interference-with-work (FIW), and gender on two outcome variables: job satisfaction and job distress. Results from a sample of 163 employees support the proposed buffering hypothesis for job distress and job satisfaction, such that individuals who experienced a high level of FIW reported more job distress and less job satisfaction only when they were low in family identity salience. Additionally, we found support for a three-way interaction, such that the two-way interactive effects of family identity salience and FIW on job satisfaction were stronger for women than for men. Theoretical and practical implications of the results, as well as directions for future research, are discussed.