Abstract
This study examined the relationship between workplace sexual harassment as perceived by female employees and the family satisfaction of their husbands. It also considered the mediating roles of employees’ job tension and work-to-family conflict (WFC) and the moderating role of employees’ work–home segmentation preference in this relationship. The results, based on data from 210 Chinese employee–spouse dyads collected at four time points, indicated that employees’ perceptions of sexual harassment were positively related to their job tension, which in turn increased WFC. Moreover, WFC was negatively related to spouse family satisfaction. The negative relationship between sexual harassment and spouse family satisfaction was mediated by employees’ job tension and WFC. Finally, work–home segmentation preference attenuated the relationship between job tension and WFC. Our results provided insightful theoretical contributions and managerial implications for the sexual harassment and work–family literatures.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
λ = (Sqrt(α)2; σ 2 = 1 × (1 − α); α = (α 1 × α 2 + r 2)/(1 + r 2)
References
Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regressions: Testing and interpreting interactions. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE.
Ashforth, B. E., Kreiner, G. E., & Fugate, M. (2000). All in a day’s work: Boundaries and micro role transitions. Academy of Management Review, 25, 472–491.
Bentler, P. M., & Bonett, D. G. (1980). Significance tests and goodness of fit in the analysis of covariance structures. Psychological Bulletin, 88, 588–606.
Berdahl, J. L., & Aquino, K. (2009). Sexual behavior at work: Fun or folly? Journal of Applied Psychology, 94, 34–47.
Byrne, B. M. (1994). Structural equation modeling with EQS and EQS/Windows: Basic concepts, applications, and programming. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Byron, K. (2005). A meta-analytic review of work–family conflict and its antecedents. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 67, 169–198.
Carlson, D. S., Grzywacz, J. G., & Zivnuska, S. (2009). Is work–family balance more than conflict and enrichment? Human Relations, 62, 1459–1486.
Carlson, D. S., Kacmar, K. M., & Williams, L. J. (2000). Construction and initial validation of a multidimensional measure of work–family conflict. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 56, 249–276.
Casper, W. J., Eby, L. T., Bordeaux, C., Lockwood, A., & Lambert, D. (2007). A review of research methods in IO/OB work–family research. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92, 28–43.
Chisholm, R. F., Kasl, S. V., & Eskenazi, B. (1983). The nature and predictors of job related tension in a crisis situation: Reactions of nuclear workers to the Three Mile Island accident. Academy of Management Journal, 26, 385–405.
Cortina, J. M., Chen, G., & Dunlap, W. P. (2001). Testing interaction effects in LISREL: Examination and illustration of available procedures. Organizational Research Methods, 4, 324–360.
Dionisi, A. M., & Barling, J. (2015). Spillover and crossover of sex-based harassment from work to home: Supervisor gender harassment affects romantic relationship functioning via targets’ anger. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 36, 196–215.
Edwards, J. R., & Rothbard, N. P. (2000). Mechanisms linking work and family: Clarifying the relationship between work and family constructs. Academy of Management Review, 25, 178–199.
Fitzgerald, L. F., Gelfand, M. J., & Drasgow, F. (1995). Measuring sexual harassment: Theoretical and psychometric advances. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 17, 425–445.
Fitzgerald, L. F., Swan, S., & Magley, V. J. (1997). But was it really sexual harassment? Legal, behavioral, and psychological definitions of the workplace victimization of women. In W. O’Donohue (Ed.), Sexual harassment: Theory, research, and treatment (pp. 5–28). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Gettman, H. J., & Gelfand, M. J. (2007). When the customer shouldn’t be king: Antecedents and consequences of sexual harassment by clients and customers. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92, 757–770.
Greenhaus, J. H., & Beutell, N. J. (1985). Sources of conflict between work and family roles. Academy of Management Review, 10, 76–88.
Hammer, L. B., Neal, M. B., Newsom, J. T., Brockwood, K. J., & Colton, C. L. (2005). A longitudinal study of the effects of dual-earner couples’ utilization of family-friendly workplace supports on work and family outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, 799–810.
Hershcovis, M. S., & Barling, J. (2010). Comparing victim attributions and outcomes for workplace aggression and sexual harassment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95, 874–888.
Hobfoll, S. E. (1989). Conservation of resources: A new attempt at conceptualizing stress. American Psychologist, 44, 513–524.
House, R. J., & Rizzo, J. R. (1972). Toward the measurement of organizational practices: Scale development and validation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 56, 388–396.
Ilies, R., Hauserman, N., Schwochau, S., & Stibal, J. (2003). Reported incidence rates of work-related sexual harassment in the United States: Using meta-analysis to explain reported rate disparities. Personnel Psychology, 56, 607–631.
Kahn, R. L., Wolfe, D. M., Quinn, R. P., Snoek, J. D., & Rosenthal, R. A. (1964). Organizational stress: Studies in role conflict and ambiguity. New York: Wiley.
Keyton, J., & Rhodes, S. C. (1997). Sexual harassment: A matter of individual ethics, legal definitions, or organizational policy? Journal of Business Ethics, 16, 129–146.
Kopelman, R. E., Greenhaus, J. H., & Connolly, T. F. (1983). A model of work, family, and interrole conflict: A construct validation study. Organizational Behavior and Human Processes, 32, 198–215.
Kossek, E. E. (2006). Work and family in America: Growing tensions between employment policy and a transformed workforce. In E. Lawler & J. O’Toole (Eds.), America at work: Choices and challenges (pp. 53–72). NY: Palgrave MacMillan.
Kreiner, G. E. (2006). Consequences of work–home segmentation or integration: A person-environment fit perspective. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27, 485–507.
Lance, C. E., Vandenberg, R. J., & Self, R. M. (2000). Latent growth models of individual change: The case of newcomer adjustment. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 83, 107–140.
Liao, Y., Liu, X.-Y., Kwan, H. K., & Li, J. (2015). Work–family effects of ethical leadership. Journal of Business Ethics, 128, 535–545.
Liu, X.-Y., Kwan, H. K., & Chiu, R. K. (2014). Customer sexual harassment and frontline employees’ service performance in China. Human Relations, 67, 333–356.
Liu, J., Kwan, H. K., Lee, C., & Hui, C. (2013). Work-to-family spillover effects of workplace ostracism: The role of work–home segmentation preferences. Human Resource Management, 52, 75–94.
Lu, L., Cooper, C. L., Kao, S.-F., Chang, T.-T., Allen, T. D., Lapierre, L. M., et al. (2010). Cross-cultural differences on work-to-family conflict and role satisfaction: A Taiwanese-British comparison. Human Resource Management, 49, 67–85.
Macan, T. H. (1994). Time management: Test of a process model. Journal of Applied Psychology, 79, 381–391.
Mesmer-Magnus, J. R., & Viswesvaran, C. (2005). Convergence between measures of work-to-family and family-to-work conflict: A meta-analytic examination. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 67, 215–232.
Murry, W. D., Sivasubramaniam, N., & Jacques, P. H. (2001). Supervisory support, social exchange relationships, and sexual harassment consequences: A test of competing models. Leadership Quarterly, 12, 1–29.
Neal, M. B., & Hammer, L. B. (2007). Working couples caring for children and aging parents: Effects on work and well-being. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
O’Leary-Kelly, A. M., Bowes-Sperry, L., Bates, C. A., & Lean, E. R. (2009). Sexual harassment at work: A decade (plus) of progress. Journal of Management, 35, 503–536.
Parasuraman, S., & Simmers, C. A. (2001). Type of employment, work–family conflict and well-being: A comparative study. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 22, 551–568.
Perry, E. L., Kulik, C. T., & Field, M. P. (2009). Sexual harassment training: Recommendations to address gaps between the practitioner and research literatures. Human Resource Management, 48, 817–837.
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J.-Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 879–903.
Pool, S. W. (2000). Organizational culture and its relationship between job tension in measuring outcomes among business executives. Journal of Management Development, 19, 32–48.
Spector, P. E., Allen, T. D., Poelmans, S. A. Y., Lapierre, L. M., Cooper, C. L., O’Driscoll, M., et al. (2007). Cross-national differences in relationships of work demands, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions with work–family conflict. Personnel Psychology, 60, 805–835.
Spector, P. E., & Brannick, M. T. (2011). Methodological urban legends: The misuse of statistical control variables. Organizational Research Methods, 14, 287–305.
Stoeva, A. Z., Chiu, R. K., & Greenhaus, J. H. (2002). Negative affectivity, role stress, and work–family conflict. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 60, 1–16.
Stone, E. F., & Hollenbeck, J. R. (1989). Clarifying some controversial issues surrounding statistical procedures for detecting moderator variables: Empirical evidence and related matters. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74, 3–10.
Trefalt, Š. (2013). Between you and me: Setting work-nonwork boundaries in the context of workplace relationships. Academy of Management Journal, 56, 1802–1829.
Westman, M., & Vinokur, A. D. (1998). Unraveling the relationship of distress levels within couples: Common stressors, empathic reactions, or crossover via social interaction? Human Relations, 51, 137–156.
Willness, C. R., Steel, P., & Lee, K. (2007). A meta-analysis of the antecedents and consequences of workplace sexual harassment. Personnel Psychology, 60, 127–162.
Wu, L.-Z., Kwan, H. K., Liu, J., & Resick, C. J. (2012a). Work-to-family spillover effects of abusive supervision. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 27, 714–731.
Wu, L.-Z., Yim, F. H.-K., Kwan, H. K., & Zhang, X. (2012b). Coping with workplace ostracism: The roles of ingratiation and political skill in employee psychological distress. Journal of Management Studies, 49, 178–199.
Zhang, M., Foley, S., & Yang, B. (2013). Work–family conflict among Chinese married couples: Testing spillover and crossover effects. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24, 3213–3231.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to the generous support of the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics Grant (2014110766) for this paper.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
A previous version of this article received the Certificate of Recognition for presenting one of the top posters at the 2015 Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Xin, J., Chen, S., Kwan, H.K. et al. Work–Family Spillover and Crossover Effects of Sexual Harassment: The Moderating Role of Work–Home Segmentation Preference. J Bus Ethics 147, 619–629 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2966-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2966-9