The Work-Family Interface in the United States and Singapore: Conflict Across Cultures

This article examines the work family interface in a cross-cultural comparison between two nationally representative samples from the United States (n = 1,860) and Singapore (n = 1,035) with emphasis on work family conflict. Family-to-work conflict was negatively related to marital satisfaction in both Singapore and the United States, although the effect was stronger in the United States. Similarly, family-to-work conflict was positively related to job satisfaction in the United States but was negatively related in Singapore. As expected, schedule flexibility was negatively related to depression in the United States, but in Singapore the relationship was positive. These findings suggest that theoretical relationships in the work family interface developed in the more culturally individualistic West may need to be adapted when studying populations in the more collectivist East.