Work-family conflict, family well-being and organizational citizenship behavior: a moderated mediation model

Purpose This study aims to examine the consequences of work-family conflict and explore the mechanism by which it influences organizational citizenship behavior from the perspective of changes in and preservation of family well-being (emotional resources). Design/methodology/approach Work-family conflict has always been an important research topic in the field of organizational behavior; scholars have studied the relationship between it and organizational citizenship behavior from different perspectives. To better understand the mechanism of work-family conflict on organizational citizenship behavior, we use a longitudinal design and analyze the multi-stage matching data of 209 employees and their superiors from six cities in southern China. The authors construct a theoretical model based on the conservation of resources theory to explore the mechanism by which work-family conflict influences organizational citizenship behavior when taking employees' family well-being as a mediator and work-family segmentation preference as the boundary condition. Findings Work-family conflict has a significant negative effect on family well-being and this effect is moderated by work-home segmentation preferences. Work-family conflict also has a significant indirect effect on organizational citizenship behavior through family well-being and this indirect effect is enhanced by an increase in the level of preference for work-home segmentation. Originality/value This study enriches our knowledge of the moderating variables in the study of work-family relationships from the perspective of individual personality traits. It also provides a new perspective for the study of such relationships in the context of Chinese family culture.