The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between work‐family conflict and its antecedent variables. The research's dependent variables include work interference with family (WIF) and family interference with work (FIW). Independent variables consist of work‐related (hours spent at work, role conflict, role ambiguity, supervisor support, and work shifts), family‐related (hours spent with family, marital status, spousal employment, number of children, and age of the youngest child), and demographic (gender, age, tenure, and education) variables.
In total, 333 operating room personnel in ten Iranian hospitals completed a survey questionnaire, which consisted of 38 questions administered to participants in the workplace.
Analysis of data revealed that among work‐related variables, the role conflict was positively associated with WIF. Supervisor support and working shifts were also weakly related to WIF. No significant relationships were found between family‐related variables and FIW. Among the demographic variables, only gender influenced FIW in a manner that men experienced more FIW than women.
The research findings contribute to understanding work‐family conflict in a new cultural setting. The empirical evidence of work‐family conflict in Iran, among operating room personnel, shows that experiences and antecedents of work‐family conflict vary among diverse cultures and industries. Models of work‐family conflict may need to be modified to reflect the experiences and antecedents that explain work‐family conflict in cultures similar to that of Iran.
