The mediating role of work–family conflict on role overload and job stress linkage

Purpose The present study first explored the different dimensions of work–family conflict and job stress. It then evaluated the mediating role of time and strain-based work–family conflict on the relationship between role overload and psychological stress and role overload and physiological stress. Design/methodology/approach The study utilized a quantitative data collection approach through a questionnaire design. With the aid of the questionnaire, 308 samples were collected from the project-level staff of ten construction organizations in Sri Lanka. The collected data were analyzed using a structural equation modeling approach to address the research hypotheses. Findings Results supported the mediating role of work–family conflict on the relationship between role overload and job stress. Specifically, the time and strain-based work–family conflict combined partially mediated the effect of role overload on psychological stress. While strain-based work–family conflict fully mediated the effect of role overload on physiological stress. Hence, the organizations that seek employee well-being should focus on developing a conducive working environment with a focus on a reasonable workload for everyone. Besides, the management should give special consideration to working hours as it affects both the employees' stress levels and family life. Originality/value This study added the mediating role of time and strain-based work–family conflict to the previous empirical research on the relationship between role overload and job stress dimensions. Besides, this study discusses the different dimensions of work–family conflict and job stress, which is a less explored area in the construction literature.