Work‐role expectations and work family conflict: gender differences in emotional exhaustion

A model integrating work‐role expectations of employees, work‐family conflict, family‐work conflict, and a component of burnout was proposed and empirically tested on 163 employees, who were also part of dual‐earner couples. Gender differences were found in the proposed model. For males, work‐family conflict mediated the relationship between work‐role expectations and emotional exhaustion. Although the same indirect relationship was found for females, a direct relationship also existed between work‐role expectations and emotional exhaustion. Additionally, for females, family‐work conflict was found to be a key contributor to work‐family conflict and emotional exhaustion. Managerial implications and future research directions are discussed.