Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

An Examination of the Relationship Between the Work–School Interface, Job Satisfaction, and Job Performance

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Business and Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

This study provides a comprehensive examination of how the work–school interface relates to work outcomes such as task performance and job satisfaction. Additionally, this study builds upon past research by examining a range of work- and school-related resources and demands that collectively influence the work–school interface.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Data were obtained from 170 working undergraduate students at multiple time points over the course of a semester, as well as from participants’ supervisors at the organizations in which the students work.

Findings

The strongest antecedent of job satisfaction, interpersonal facilitation, and job performance was work–school facilitation. Demands in one role create pressures in the other. Contrary to expectations, job demands positively related to work–school facilitation, while school demands positively related to school–work facilitation.

Implications

For practitioners, this study highlights the need to better understand the interplay between school and work roles for employees at a time when continuing education is emphasized. Employers benefit from the performance gains and positive attitudinal shifts that stem from experiences of facilitation between roles. From a theoretical perspective, this study reveals a unique pattern of results that adds to our understanding of the dynamics involved in the integrated work–school routines of working students.

Originality/Value

This is one of the first studies to investigate the relationships between four bi-directional forms of the work–school interface and subsequent multi-source assessments of organizational outcomes. As such, it offers an examination of how conflict and facilitation from both the work and school domains relate to work outcomes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price includes VAT (France)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Notes

  1. We conducted two robustness tests for the model results reported. First, aligned with recommendations concerning the use of control variables (Spector and Brannick 2011), we retested our hypotheses in a separate model which excluded the three control variables (work hours per week, position tenure, and number of classes). Second, we re-analyzed the model using all available data with full information maximum likelihood as the estimation method. For both of these alternative models, model fit indices were largely equivalent, standardized path coefficients underwent only minor changes in magnitude, and there were no differences in the significance of individual model paths.

References

  • Alhija, F. N., & Wisenbaker, J. (2006). A monte carlo study investigating the impact of item parceling strategies on parameter estimates and their standard errors in CFA. Structural Equation Modeling, 13, 204–228. doi:10.1207/s15328007sem1302_3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allen, T. D., Herst, D. E., Bruck, C. S., & Sutton, M. (2000). Consequences associated with work-to-family conflict: A review and agenda for future research. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 5, 278–308.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Andrews, M. C., Kacmar, K. M., & Harris, K. J. (2009). Got political skill? The impact of justice on the importance of political skill for job performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94, 1427–1437. doi:10.1037/a0017154.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bagozzi, R. P., & Edwards, J. R. (1998). A general approach for representing constructs in organizational research. Organizational Research Methods, 1, 45–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2007). The job demands-resources model: State of the art. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22, 309–328.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bandalos, D. L. (2002). The effects of item parceling on goodness-of-fit and parameter estimate bias in structural equation modeling. Structural Equation Modeling, 9, 78–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bandalos, D. L., & Finney, S. J. (2001). Item parceling issues in structural equation modeling. In G. A. Marcoulides & R. E. Schumacker (Eds.), Advanced structural equation modeling: New developments and techniques (pp. 269–296). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butler, A. B. (2007). Job characteristics and college performance and attitudes: A model of work–school conflict and facilitation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92, 500–510. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.92.2.500.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Butler, A. B., Grzywacz, J. G., Bass, B. L., & Linney, K. D. (2005). Extending the demands-control model: A daily diary study of job characteristics, work-family conflict, and work-family facilitation. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 78, 155–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Byron, K. (2005). A meta-analytic review of work-family conflict and its antecedents. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 67, 169–198.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caplan, R., Cobb, S., French, J., Van Harrison, R., & Pinneau, S. (1975). Job demands and worker health. Ann Arbor, MI: Survey Research Center, University of Michigan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carlson, D. S., Witt, L. A., Zivnuska, S., Kacmar, K. M., & Grzywacz, J. G. (2008). Supervisor appraisal as the link between family-work balance and contextual performance. Journal of Business and Psychology, 23, 37–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cavanaugh, M. A., Boswell, W. R., Roehling, M. V., & Boudreau, J. W. (2000). An empirical examination of self-reported work stress among U.S. managers. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85, 65–74.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Creed, P. A., French, J., & Hood, M. (2015). Working while studying at university: The relationship between work benefits and demands and engagement and well-being. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 86, 48–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crouter, A. (1984). Spillover from family to work: The neglected side of the work-family interface. Human Relations, 37, 425–442.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cutrona, C. E., & Russell, D. W. (1990). Type of social support and specific stress: Toward a theory of optimal matching. In B. R. Sarason, I. G. Sarason, & G. R. Pierce (Eds.), Social support: An interactional view (pp. 319–366). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18, 39–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frone, M. R., Russell, M., & Cooper, M. L. (1992). Antecedents and outcomes of work-family conflict: Testing a model of the work-family interface. Journal of Applied Psychology, 77, 65–78.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Greenhaus, J. H., & Beutell, N. J. (1985). Sources of conflict between work and family roles. Academy of Management Review, 10, 76–88. doi:10.5465/AMR.1985.4277352.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenhaus, J. H., & Powell, G. (2006). When work and family are allies: A theory of work-family enrichment. Academy of Management Review, 31, 72–92. doi:10.5465/AMR.2006.19379625.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grzywacz, J. G. (2002). Toward a theory of work-family facilitation. Persons, Processes, and Places: Research on Families, Workplaces and Communities Conference, San Francisco, CA.

  • Grzywacz, J. G., & Butler, A. B. (2005). The impact of job characteristics on work-to-family facilitation: Testing a theory and distinguishing a construct. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 10, 97–109.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grzywacz, J. G., & Marks, N. F. (2000). Reconceptualizing the work-family interface: An ecological perspective on the correlates of positive and negative spillover between work and family. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 5, 111–126.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hackman, J. R., & Oldham, G. R. (1975). Development of the job diagnostic survey. Journal of Applied Psychology, 60, 159–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hakanen, J. J., Perhoniemi, R., & Toppinen-Tanner, S. (2008). Positive gain spirals at work: From job resources to work engagement, personal initiative and work-unit innovativeness. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 73, 78–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halbesleben, J. R., Neveu, J. P., Paustian-Underdahl, S. C., & Westman, M. (2014). Getting to the “COR:” Understanding the role of resources in conservation of resources theory. Journal of Management, 40, 1334–1364.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hecht, T. D., & McCarthy, J. M. (2010). Coping with employee, family, and student roles: Evidence of dispositional conflict and facilitation tendencies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95, 631–647.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hobfoll, S. E. (1989). Conservation of resources: A new attempt at conceptualizing stress. American Psychologist, 44, 513–524.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hobfoll, S. E. (1998). Stress, culture, and community: The psychology and philosophy of stress. New York: Plenum.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hobfoll, S. E. (2001). The influence of culture, community, and the nested self in the stress process: Advancing conservation of resources theory. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 50, 337–370.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hobfoll, S. E. (2002). Social and psychological resources and adaptation. Review of General Psychology, 6, 307–324.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holt, J. K. (2004). Item parceling in structural equation models for optimum solutions. Columbus, OH: Annual Meeting of the Mid-Western Educational Research Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Horn, L., Peter, K., & Rooney, K. (2002). Profile of undergraduates in U.S. Postsecondary Institutions: 1999–2000. Washington D.C.: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.

  • Johnson, J. W. (2000). A heuristic method for estimating the relative weight of predictor variables in multiple regression. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 35, 1–19. doi:10.1207/S15327906MBR3501_1.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kahn, R. L., Wolfe, D. M., Quinn, R., Snoek, J. D., & Rosenthal, R. A. (1964). Organizational stress: Studies in role conflict and ambiguity. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karasek, R. A. (1979). Job demands, job decision latitude, and mental strain. Implications for job redesign. Administrative Science Quarterly, 24, 285–308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kline, R. B. (2005). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (2nd ed.). New York: The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kossek, E. E., & Ozeki, C. (1998). Work-family conflict, policies, and the job-life satisfaction relationship: A review and directions for organizational behavior-human resources research. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83, 139–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kossek, E. E., Pichler, S., Bodner, T., & Hammer, L. B. (2011). Workplace social support and work-family conflict: A meta-analysis clarifying the influence of general and work-family specific supervisor and organizational support. Personnel Psychology, 64, 289–313.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • LePine, J. A., Podsakoff, N. P., & LePine, M. A. (2005). A meta-analytic test of the challenge stressor-hindrance stressor framework: An explanation for inconsistent relationships among stressors and performance. Academy of Management Journal, 48, 764–775.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Little, T., Cunningham, W. A., Shahar, G., & Widaman, K. F. (2002). To parcel or not to parcel: Exploring the question, weighing the merits. Structural Equation Modeling, 9, 151–173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Markel, K. S., & Frone, M. R. (1998). Job characteristics, work–school conflict, and school outcomes among adolescents: Testing a structural model. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83, 277–287. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.83.2.277.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Marks, S. R. (1977). Multiple roles and role strain: Some notes on human energy, time and commitment. American Sociological Review, 42, 921–936.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matthews, R. A., Kath, L. M., & Barnes-Farrell, J. L. (2010). A short, valid, predictive measure of work-family conflict: Item selection and scale validation. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 15, 75–90.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Matthews, R. A., Winkel, D. E., & Wayne, J. H. (2014). A longitudinal examination of role overload and work-family conflict: The mediating role of inter-domain transitions. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 35, 72–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McNall, L., & Michel, J. (2011). A dispositional approach to work–school conflict and enrichment. Journal of Business and Psychology, 26, 397–411. doi:10.1007/s10869-010-9187-0.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Motowidlo, J., & Van Scotter, J. R. (1994). Evidence that task performance should be distinguished from contextual performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 79, 475–480.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nasser, F., & Takahashi, T. (2003). The effect of using item parcels on ad hoc goodness-of-fit indexes in confirmatory factor analysis: An example using Sarason’s reactions to tests. Applied Measurement in Education, 16, 75–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park, Y., & Sprung, J. M. (2015). Weekly work–school conflict, sleep quality, and fatigue: Recovery self-efficacy as a cross-level moderator. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 36, 112–127. doi:10.1002/job.1953.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sessa, V. I., Kabacoff, R. I., Deal, J., & Brown, H. (2007). Generational differences in leader values and leadership behaviors. The Psychologist-Manager Journal, 10, 47–74. doi:10.1080/10887150709336612.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaffer, M. A., Joplin, J. R., Bell, M. P., Lau, T., & Oguz, C. (2000). Gender discrimination and job-related outcomes: A cross-cultural comparison of working women in the United States and China. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 57, 395–427.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shockley, K. M., & Singla, N. (2011). Reconsidering work-family interactions and satisfaction: A meta-analysis. Journal of Management, 37, 861–886. doi:10.1177/014-9206310394864.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sieber, S. D. (1974). Toward a theory of role accumulation. American Sociological Review, 39, 567–578.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spector, P. E., & Brannick, M. T. (2011). Methodological urban legends: The misuse of statistical control variables. Organizational Research Methods, 14, 287–305.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tonidandel, S., & LeBreton, J. M. (2011). Relative importance analyses: A useful supplement to multiple regression analyses. Journal of Business and Psychology, 26, 1–9. doi:10.1007/s10869-010-9204-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tonidandel, S., & LeBreton, J. M. (2015). RWA Web: A free, comprehensive, web-based, and user-friendly tool for relative weight analyses. Journal of Business and Psychology, 30, 207–216. doi:10.1007/s10869-014-9351-z.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tonidandel, S., LeBreton, J. M., & Johnson, J. W. (2009). Determining the statistical significance of relative weights. Psychological Methods, 14, 387–399. doi:10.1037/a0017735.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2012). Digest of education statistics, 2011. NCES 2012-001. Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office.

  • Van Scotter, J. R., & Motowidlo, S. J. (1996). Interpersonal facilitation and job dedication as separate facets of contextual performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81, 525–531.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vodydanoff, P. (2004). The effects of work demands and resources on work-to-family conflict and facilitation. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66, 398–412.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, L. J., & Anderson, S. E. (1991). Job satisfaction and organizational commitment as predictors of organizational citizenship and in-role behaviors. Journal of Management, 17, 601–617.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wyland, R. L., Lester, S. W., Mone, M. A., & Winkel, D. E. (2013). Work and school at the same time? A conflict perspective of the work school interface. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 20, 346–537. doi:10.1177/1548051813484360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yuan, K., Bentler, P. M., & Kano, Y. (1997). On averaging variables in a confirmatory factor analysis model. Behaviormetrika, 24, 71–83. doi:10.2333/bhmk.24.71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Management and Marketing Department, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, 1005 Garfield Ave, Eau Claire, WI, 54702-4004, USA

    Rebecca Wyland, Scott W. Lester & Rhetta Standifer

  2. University of Colorado - Denver, The Business School, 1475 Lawrence St., Denver, CO, 80202, USA

    Kyle Ehrhardt

Authors
  1. Rebecca Wyland
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Scott W. Lester
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kyle Ehrhardt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Rhetta Standifer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rebecca Wyland.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wyland, R., Lester, S.W., Ehrhardt, K. et al. An Examination of the Relationship Between the Work–School Interface, Job Satisfaction, and Job Performance. J Bus Psychol 31, 187–203 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-015-9415-8

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-015-9415-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation