Work‐family culture, work‐family interference and well‐being at work : Is it possible to distinguish between a positive and a negative process?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether work‐family (WF) interference functions as an explaining mechanism in the link between work‐family culture and well‐being, hereby distinguishing between a negative and a positive process. The negative, energy depleting process initiates from a hindrance work‐family culture and ends up to burnout through the experience of work‐family conflict. The positive, motivation generating process initiates from a supportive work‐family culture and ends up to work engagement through work‐family enrichment. Design/methodology/approach – The paper employs a quantitative study among employees from three different organizations ( n =516). Findings – Work‐family conflict fully mediates the relationship between a hindrance WF‐culture and the exhaustion dimension of burnout and partially mediates the relationship between a hindrance WF‐culture and the cynicism dimension of burnout. With regard to the mediational role of work‐family enrichment the results also confirm the paper's hypothesis. Work‐family enrichment partially mediates the relationship between a supportive WF‐culture and work engagement. Interestingly, analyses of some alternative mediational paths reveal some additional findings. Specifically, a supportive work‐family culture relates to work engagement through the perception of less work‐family conflict. Moreover, a supportive culture is also related to less feelings of burnout through work‐family enrichment. Originality/value – The study shows that it pays off to invest in a supportive work‐family culture because such a culture contributes to work engagement and in the same time helps to prevent burnout.