Economic and Industrial

Democracy
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The impact of perceived organizational support on workfamily conflict:

Does role overload have a mediating role?
Sait Gurbuz, Omer Turunc and Mazlum Celik
Economic and Industrial Democracy 2013 34: 145 originally published online 6 March
2012
DOI: 10.1177/0143831X12438234

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438234
2012
EID34110.1177/0143831X12438234Gurbuz et [Link] and Industrial Democracy

Article

Economic and Industrial Democracy

The impact of perceived

34(1) 145160
The Author(s) 2012
Reprints and permission: sagepub.
organizational support [Link]/[Link]
DOI: 10.1177/0143831X12438234
on workfamily conflict: [Link]

Does role overload have

a mediating role?

Sait Gurbuz
Turkish Military Academy, Ankara, Turkey

Omer Turunc
Turkish Military Academy, Ankara, Turkey

Mazlum Celik
Ankara, Turkey

Abstract
The present cross-sectional study aims to investigate (1) the direct effects of perceived organizational
support and role overload on workfamily conflict and (2) the mediating role of role overload in
the relationship between perceived organizational support and workfamily conflict using a Turkish
sample. The hypotheses were tested with a sample of 344 employees from small and medium-sized
enterprises in Turkey. The results demonstrated that perceived organizational support was negatively
related to both family to work conflict and work to family conflict of the employees. Role overload
was also positively related to both family to work conflict and work to family conflict. In addition,
the results indicated that role overload did not have a mediating role between perceived organizational
support and workfamily conflict.

Keywords
Family to work conflict, perceived organizational support, role overload, work to family conflict

Introduction
The workfamily conflict issue has received increasing research attention over the past
three decades due to contemporary demographic trends and social transformations in the

Corresponding author:
Sait Gurbuz, Turkish Military Academy, Defence Sciences Institute, Ankara, 006, Turkey.
Email: sgurbuz@[Link]
146 Economic and Industrial Democracy 34(1)

workforce. Employees today are experiencing more difficulties than ever in balancing
work and family roles. As a form of inter-role conflict, workfamily conflict occurs when
work interferes with family demands or family interferes with work responsibilities
(Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985). Workfamily conflict has both work- and family-related
consequences such as work performance, job and life satisfaction, burnout, absenteeism,
psychological well-being and dissatisfaction within the family domain (Frone, 2003;
Greenhaus and Parasuraman, 1999; Kossek and Ozeki, 1998). Thus, researchers have
attempted to understand the possible antecedents that affect workfamily conflict in the
recent decades (e.g. Ahuja et al., 2007; Byron, 2005; Cinamon et al., 2007; Frone et al.,
1997; Parasuraman and Simmers, 2001; Voydanoff, 2005).
Organizational support theory has posited that individuals develop general views con-
cerning to what extent their organizations appreciate their contributions and are concerned
about their well-being (Eisenberger et al., 1986). Though much is now known about the
antecedents and consequences of workfamily conflict, relatively little research has focused
on the role of perceived organizational support in workfamily conflict. Several scholars
have argued that perceived organizational support has a positive impact on workfamily
conflict (e.g. Casper et al., 2002; Dixon andSagas, 2007; Foley et al., 2005).
Role workload is a significant stressor associated with various outcomes. There has
been considerable published research on role overload and its impact on the psychological
and behavioural outcomes of employees such as organizational commitment and absentee-
ism (Duxbury and Higgins, 2001; Mulki et al., 2006). However, to our knowledge among
the published empirical studies, only three have examined a potential effect of role overload
on workfamily conflict (Aminah, 2010; Foley et al., 2005; Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985).
The purpose of the current study is fourfold. First, we aimed to explore the impact of
perceived organizational support on workfamily conflict. Second, we extended the work
family conflict literature by modelling the effects of perceived organizational support and
role overload as a role stressor using structural equation modelling. Third, we addressed
the gaps in workfamily conflict and organizational support literature by examining the
mediating role of role overload (to our knowledge, no study has tested this relationship so
far). Fourth, the present study attempted to contribute to the growing literature by using a
Turkish sample, as most of the previous studies on the main antecedents of workfamily
conflict were conducted in western societies.
Turkey, as a modern and a developing country, has a dynamic culture which differs from
North America and Western Europe. Turkish societal culture has been described as being
high on power distance, avoiding uncertainty and collectivism (Gurbuz and Bingol, 2007;
Hofstede, 1980). Centralized decision-making, powerful leadership and limited delegation
are the other salient cultural characteristics of Turkey (Ronen, 1986). In Turkey, the busi-
ness sector mostly consists of private holding companies run by family members and state
economic enterprises (Gurbuz and Mert, 2011). Turkish firms follow the newest trends and
popular workplace practices, although they have experienced some difficulties due to some
of the emic characteristics of the societal and organizational cultures (Aycan et al., 2000).
We have posited that all these salient cultural characteristics might affect workfamily
interference in the Turkish context. Most studies on workfamily interference assume that
work and family are two homogeneous and clearly distinct concepts, which reflects the
characteristic of western industrial welfare states and cannot be generalized to all countries.
Studying the workfamily conflict issue in a modern and developing but non-western
Gurbuz et al. 147

country, like Turkey, in this respect could therefore be very fruitful and might extend the
growing literature. On the other hand, the Turkish defence industry is a rapidly growing
sector which especially employs qualified employees and the workfamily conflict issue
has attracted both practitioners and researchers attention. It is therefore appropriate to
target the employees of the defence industry as the study sample.

Conceptual background
Perceived organizational support
Although perceived organizational support was introduced into management literature
during the 1980s, it has gained much research attention in the past two decades. One of
the reasons underlying this interest is that perceived organizational support offers an expla-
nation for the relation between employees and the organization. Employees show heightened
performance when their expectations are met by organizations (Organ, 1977). Eisenberger
et al. (1986) argued that the most significant factors that influence employee behaviour
and attitudes are motives that are reflected onto employees from organizations. The rela-
tions between an employee and the organization have been largely conceptualized within
the social exchange perspective (Rousseau, 1995; Shore et al., 1999). Employees are in an
exchange relationship with their organizations in order to gain benefits and rewards that
would result from activities favoured by the organization (Eisenberger et al., 1986). Perceived
organizational support might represent employees beliefs about the organization in the
social exchange relationship between the employer and the employee. It can be defined as
employees global beliefs concerning the extent to which the organization values their
contributions and cares about their well-being (Eisenberger et al., 1986: 501).
Eisenberger et al. (1986) applied the social exchange theory (Blau, 1964) and the reci-
procity norm (Gouldner, 1960) to different perspectives of employeeorganization relation-
ship. They argued that the employeeorganization connection was a social exchange
relationship in which the organization offered employees benefits and social rewards in
exchange for loyalty and work effort (Rhoades and Eisenberger, 2002). Based on the norm
of reciprocity (Gouldner, 1960), when employees perceived that the organization supported
them, they would reciprocate with positive attitudes (e.g. commitment) and favourable work
behaviours (e.g. citizenship behaviour, task performance) (Eisenberger et al., 1986, 1997).

Role overload
There are three kinds of role stressors in the existing literature, which are role conflict,
role ambiguity and role overload (Kahn and Byosiere, 1990). With changing and inten-
sifying work life, role overload has been the focus of considerable interest since the 1990s
(Jones et al., 2007) and it has been a significant concept in explaining some individuals
outcomes (e.g. job satisfaction, job performance). Role overload is the most frequently
cited source of stress in the organizational setting (Robinson and Griffiths, 2005). It has
been described as the degree to which individuals perceives themselves to be under time
pressure due to the number of responsibilities they have in life (Reilly, 1982). In other
words, when an employee perceives that he or she has received too many commitments
and duties to complete in a period of time, excessive role overload takes place.
148 Economic and Industrial Democracy 34(1)

Prior research has shown that role overload is the antecedent of significant employee
attitudes and behaviours (Innstrand et al., 2008; Piesah et al., 2009). An employee who
perceives excessive role overload tends to receive less job satisfaction and reduces job
performance because the role overload forces employees to give their attention and
resources to deal with overwhelming demands (Brown et al., 2005). It has been proven
that role overload is likely to reduce organizational commitment and increase absenteeism
due to illness (Duxbury and Higgins, 2001; Mulki et al., 2006). Duxbury and Higgins
(2001) have posited that employees used personal time to cope with work demands and
they often were obliged to take work home. That is, role overload might disrupt social
and family life and has detrimental effects on employee well-being as well.

Workfamily conflict
Workfamily conflict has been the subject of much research over the past three decades
because of changes in the demographic composition of the workforce (e.g. dual-career
couples and increased numbers of working mothers). Workfamily conflict is a form of
inter-role conflict and has generally been recognized as bidirectional: work interfering with
family and family interfering with work. Previous research has demonstrated that work to
family conflict (WFC) and family to work conflict (FWC) are connected but empirically
distinct constructs (e.g. Casper et al., 2002; Hill, 2005; Kossek and Ozeksi, 1998; Kreitner
and Kinicki, 2004). WFC occurs when work interferes with family life, and FWC occurs
when family life interferes with work. Recent research depicts that WFC and FWC constructs
may have different causes and outcomes (e.g. Frone et al., 1997; Kelloway et al., 1999).
Researchers have highlighted a number of different variables as the possible antecedents
of workfamily conflict. Perceived organizational support, role overload, work hours, job
stress, personality and individual differences such as sex, income and coping style can be
considered as significant antecedents that influence workfamily conflict (Ahuja et al.,
2007; Cinamon et al., 2007; Frone et al., 1997; Parasuraman and Simmers, 2001; Voydanoff,
2005). It has been determined that employees more frequently report WFC than FWC in
their life (Frone, 2003; Kinnunen et al., 2004). In terms of gender differences, studies
have generally found that women experience higher levels of WFC and FWC than men
due to spending more combined time on work and family activities (Brough and Kelling,
2002; Hill, 2005; Kirchmeyer, 1993; Lo, 2003).
WFC and FWC constructs have both work- and family-related consequences. Work
family conflict has been associated with job and life satisfaction, burnout, absenteeism and
psychological well-being (Allen et al., 2000; Frone et al., 1997; Kossek and Ozeki, 1998,
1999). Furthermore, it has led to psychological symptoms such as higher stress (Chapman
et al., 1994), physical ailments (Frone et al., 1997) and lower quality of family life (Higgins
and Duxbury, 1992).

Research hypotheses
As Eisenberger et al. (1986) argued, an employee who perceives high organizational sup-
port is inclined to demonstrate favourable work behaviours. From this point of view, we
propose that the effects of both WFC and FWC may influence the relationship between
employee and organization negatively. This is owing to the fact that, when employees have
Gurbuz et al. 149

family-friendly policies or flexible work arrangements as organizational support, they will

be inclined to have less WFC. Also, an organizations positive response to illnesses and
family needs (e.g. an employee missing work due to childcare issues) is also likely to lessen
the FWC level of employees. Recent studies have shown that there is a significant relation-
ship between workfamily conflict and perceived organizational support (Casper et al.,
2002; Dixon andSagas, 2007; Erdwins et al., 2001; Foley et al., 2005; Grant-Vallone and
Ensher, 2001; Shaffer et al., 2001). Therefore, the following hypotheses are proposed:

Hypothesis 1: Perceived organizational support is negatively related to work to family

conflict (WFC).

Hypothesis 2: Perceived organizational support is negatively related to family to work

conflict (FWC).

The studies examining role stressors have consistently shown a positive relationship between
work role stressors (e.g. role ambiguity, role conflict and role overload) and WFC (Fu and
Shaffer, 2001; Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985; Jones and Butler, 1980; Kopelman et al., 1983;
Voydanoff, 1989). Role workload is a significant stressor related to important variables. For
example, Coverman (1989) found that excessive role overload is associated with reduced
employee well-being. Employees who perceive that their workload is more than they can cope
with face greater workfamily conflict (Aminah, 2010; Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985; Lingard
and Francis, 2006). A significant relationship between role overload and workfamily conflict
was reported in a sample of junior physicians by Aminah (2010) and among Hong Kong
Chinese employees by Foley et al. (2005). Hence, the following hypotheses are proposed:

Hypothesis 3: Role overload is positively related to work to family conflict (WFC).

Hypothesis 4: Role overload is positively related to family to work conflict (FWC).

Perceived organizational support may also have a negative effect on the role overload of
employees who perceive high levels of support due to better resources or information to
help them cope with problems; they are not likely to have a stressful situation and their role
overload will be diminished (Grant-Vallone and Ensher, 2001). In the existing literature, to
our knowledge there are only two studies that investigate the relationship between perceived
organizational support (POS) and role overload. Foley et al. (2005) found a negative rela-
tionship between role overload and perceived organizational support. In a more recent study,
Panaccio and Vandenberghe (2009) reported that POS was significantly negatively related
to role ambiguity and role conflict. Therefore, we propose the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 5: Perceived organizational support (POS) is negatively related to role

overload.

As stated above, studies have pointed out that there is a relationship between role
overload and POS (Foley et al., 2005; Panaccio and Vandenberghe, 2009) on the one hand,
and between role overload and workfamily conflict (Aminah, 2010; Foley et al., 2005),
on the other. Based on the prior research findings, we have posited that changes in the
levels of POS could lead to changes in the levels of role overload and in turn in the levels
of workfamily conflict. Therefore, the following hypotheses are proposed:
150 Economic and Industrial Democracy 34(1)

WFC
H1
H6
H3
H5 Role
POS
Overload
H7 H4

H2
FWC

Figure 1. Hypothesized model of the study.

Hypothesis 6: Role overload mediates the relationship between perceived organizational

support (POS) and work to family conflict (WFC).

Hypothesis 7: Role overload mediates the relationship between perceived organizational

support (POS) and family to work conflict (FWC).

The hypothesized model for the present study is presented in Figure 1.

Method
Sample
The population of the present study is composed of 3000 employees from small and medium-
sized enterprises (SMEs) in the defence sector in Ankara, Turkey. The present work is
a cross-sectional study. A total of 341 valid responses from respondents was required to
ensure a 95% confidence level based on suggestions posited by Sekaran (1992: 253).
A stratified random sampling technique was used to select employees from surveyed SMEs.
Of the 400 questionnaires sent out, 380 were returned, representing a response rate of 95%.
After elimination of cases having incomplete data and outliers (Burke, 1997; Hair et al.,
2006) we had a total sample of 344.
Of the participants 82% (n = 282) were male, 18% (n = 62) were female. The mean
age of the respondents was 36.80 years (SD = 6.78). In terms of education level, most of
them (85.5%; n = 294) have a college degree and above (e.g. masters degree), while 12%
(n = 50) have high school education or below. The mean tenure of the respondents was
12.80 years (SD = 3.78), and 47.7% have children.

Measures
Respondents used five-point Likert-type scales (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly
agree) to respond to the items in the following measures, except demographic variables.
All scales were subjected to confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and goodness of fit indexes
are presented at Table 1. It is important to note that the role overload scales have only three
items and the CFA model for role overload is just-identified (degrees of freedom equal to
zero), and therefore we used additional constraint to test it. We formed a fourth manifest
Gurbuz et al. 151

Table 1. Goodness of fit indexes of the scales.

Variables d.f. CMIN/DF GFI AGFI CFI NFI TLI RMSEA

5 .85 .80 .90 .90 .90 .08
1. Perceived organizational 40.1 25.06 1.6 .96 .92 .98 .95 .97 .06
support (POS)
2. Role overload (RO) 3.49 1.5 2.3 .99 .97 .99 .98 .96 .01
3. Work to family conflict 9.2 4.02 2.3 .98 .93 .99 .96 .98 .08
(WFC)
4. Family to work conflict 13.5 5.01 2.7 .97 .92 .98 .97 .96 .09
(FWC)

indicator for the latent role overload variable, by summing randomly chosen cases from
other three items of the role overload (Hair et al., 2006). We did this because a minimum
of four manifest indicators is required to test fit for the model.

Perceived organizational support scale. Employees perceptions of organizational support

were measured with 10 items from Eisenberger et al. (1986). Sample items include: The
organization cares about my well-being and Help is available from the organization when
I have a problem. Previous research has reported good reliability for this scale (Cronbachs
alpha = .93 in Stassen and Ursel [2009] and in Vandenberghe et al. [2007]).
We adapted the items to Turkish by following the method of Brislin (1970), forward-
backward translation. Exploratory factor analysis using principle component analysis with
varimax rotation was applied to the adapted scale to check the unidimensionality. One
item was dropped because it did not pass the .40 criterion of Hair et al. (2006). All nine
items were satisfactorily summed up in one factor. Results from a confirmatory factor
analysis using the Amos 6.0 program showed that they overall fit the one factor model.
Factor loadings of the item ranged from .53 to .88. The Cronbachs alpha coefficient of
the perceived organizational support scale items is .88.

Role overload scale. We took three items from a scale originally used by the Michigan
Organizational Assessment Questionnaire (MOAQ; Cammann et al., 1983) to capture
perceived role overload of the employees. Sample items include: I dont have time to finish
my job. Klein (2007) has reported good reliability for this scale (Cronbachs alpha = .80).
We adapted the items of the role overload scale to Turkish by the method explained above
(Brislin, 1970). Exploratory factor analysis using principle component analysis with varimax
rotation was applied to the adapted scale to check the unidimensionality. All three items sat-
isfactorily summed in one factor. Results from a confirmatory factor analysis using the Amos
6.0 program showed the overall fit of the one factor model. Factor loadings of the item ranged
from .44 to .70. The Cronbachs alpha coefficient of the role overload scale items is .75.

Workfamily conflict scales. Work to family conflict (WFC) and family to work conflict
(FWC) were measured using two separate scales originally developed by Netemeyer et al.
(1996). The scale consisted of 10 items, five for FWC and five for WFC. A sample item
from this scale is The amount of time that my job takes up makes it difficult to fulfil
family responsibilities. Adaptation of the scale to the Turkish language and culture was
152 Economic and Industrial Democracy 34(1)

Table 2. Means, standard deviations and correlations of the study variables.

Variables Mean SD 1 2 3 4
1. Perceived organizational 3.22 .78 (.88)
support (POS)
2. Role overload (RO) 2.75 .77 .21** (.66)
3. Work to family conflict (WFC) 2.84 1.04 .36** .42** (.91)
4. Family to work conflict (FWC) 2.05 .80 .22** .09 .32** (.88)
*p < .05; **p < .01.

carried out by Efeoglu (2006) as part of a doctorate dissertation. He reported good reliability
for the adapted version of the scales (Cronbachs alpha = .91 for WFC, and .83 for FWC).
We executed the confirmatory factor analysis using the Amos 6.0 program to the scale to
check fit index. The result showed the overall fit of the one factor model for both the WFC
and FWC scale. Factor loadings of the item ranged from .65 to .89. The Cronbachs alpha
coefficient for items was .83 for WFC and .88 for FWC.

Results
The data gathered were analysed using SPSS 16 and Amos 6.0 programs. We first performed
a KolmogorovSmirnov analysis to test whether data are normally distributed. As a result of
the analyses a few cases were excluded in order to ensure normal distribution of the data.
Eventually, it was found that all data used in the analyses fit the normal distribution (p > .05).
Then, we examined descriptive statistics such as means, standard deviations and Pearson cor-
relation analysis of the study variables. In the second phase of analyses, we ran a series regression
analysis. Finally, we used structural equation modelling (SEM) to conduct a test of the variables
in the hypothesized model to examine the extent to which it is consistent with the data.
Table 2 displays the means, standard deviations and correlations among the study vari-
ables. Reliabilities of scales (Cronbachs alpha) are provided in parentheses on the diagonal
of Table 2. As can be seen, the participants reported a relatively high level of perceived
organizational support (POS), a moderate level of work to family conflict (WFC) and a
relatively low level of role overload and family to work conflict (FWC).
Correlation analysis results revealed that the two types of workfamily conflict (WFC
and FWC) were positively correlated (r = .32, p < .01). Both WFC and FWC were nega-
tively correlated with POS (r = .36, p < .01; r = .22, p < .01, respectively). In addition,
WFC was positively correlated with role overload. Moreover, there was a significant
correlation between role overload and POS (r = .21, p < .01). However, there was no
significant correlation between role overload and FWC.
After correlation analyses, we employed a series of regression models to test the medi-
tational hypotheses according to statistical procedures described by Baron and Kenny
(1986: 1177). Testing for mediation requires the following four conditions: (1) the inde-
pendent variable significantly affects the dependent variable; (2) the independent variable
significantly affects the mediator; (3) the mediator significantly affects the dependent
variable; (4) the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable shrinks upon
the addition of the mediator to the model. If the independent variable does not affect the
Gurbuz et al. 153

Table 3. Results of regression analyses (main and mediating effects).

RO WFC FWC
Step 1
POS .21**
R .04
Adjusted R .03
(F = 7.9**)
Step 2
Age .08 .03
Tenure .01 .01
POS .35*** .22**
R .13 .04
Adjusted R .11 .03
(F = 8.5***) (F = 2.8**)
Step 3
Age .03 .04
Tenure .02 .004
POS .27** .21**
RO .36*** .05
R .25 .05
Adjusted R .23 .03
(F = 14.3***) (F = 2.2)
Sobel test (z) 2.5 1.12
*p < .05; **p < .01.
Note: POS = perceived organizational support; WFC = work to family conflict; FWC = family to work
conflict; RO = role overload.

dependent variable upon regressing the dependent variable on both the independent vari-
able and on the mediator, then full mediation is established. If, however, the independent
variable is reduced in absolute size but is different from zero when the mediator is con-
trolled, partial mediation can then be concluded.
Following Baron and Kennys (1986) approach, we tested whether role overload medi-
ated the relationship between perceived organizational support and WFC and FWC. The
results of regression models are presented in Table 3. In the first step, results showed that
perceived organizational support predicted role overload ( = .21, p < .01). In the second
step, the results indicated that POS predicted both WFC and FWC ( = .35, p < .01;
= .22, p < .01, respectively). In the third step, both the mediator variable (role overload)
and perceived organizational support were added to the model to test the mediation effect
of role overload. When including role overload, effects of perceived organizational sup-
port on WFC and FWC were reduced. The effect of role overload on FWC was insignificant.
We performed the Sobel test (1982) to see whether the role overload significantly carried
the influence of an independent variable (POS) to a dependent variable (WFC). The partial
mediation of the role overload was not established (z = .59) according to the result of
154 Economic and Industrial Democracy 34(1)

the Sobel test (1982). Furthermore, the role overload has no mediation effect on the rela-
tionship between POS and FWC.
According to results of regression analyses, the hypotheses (H1 and H2) testing whether
POS has a significant effect on workfamily conflict have been supported. Moreover,
H3(RO WFC) and H5(POS RO) have been supported. However, based on the results,
H4 (RO FWC), H6 and H7(mediating effect of RO on POS FWC and mediating
effect of RO on POS WFC) have not gained empirical support.
After the series of regression analyses, SEM was used to test the overall research model.
The SEM estimates for the hypothesized model are shown in Figure 2. The results of the
structural model showed a moderate fit to the data (GFI = .86, AGFI = .81, CFI = .91, TLI
= .90, NFI = .88, = 417.89, d.f. = 241, CMIN/DF = 1.07 and RMSEA = .06) (Joreskog
and Sorbom, 1993; Kline, 1998) and most of the hypothesized SEM in the proposed model
were statistically significant, except for the perceived organizational support to role over-
load. Overall, the structural model showed that perceived organizational support and role
overload have a significant effect on both WFC and FWC. The mediation effect of the
role overload that was not approved by the series of regression analyses above was also
investigated using SEM. As can be seen in Figure 2, the effect of POS on role overload
was insignificant and the indirect effects of role overload on the relation between POS
and WFC/FWC were negligible (.001 vs .003 respectively). This finding confirmed
that role overload had no mediation effect.

Discussion and conclusions

The present research was designed to investigate the direct effects of POS and role overload
on workfamily conflict using a Turkish sample. In addition, the study tested the mediat-
ing role of role overload in the relationship between POS and workfamily conflict.
The findings of the study revealed that POS is negatively related to both FWC and
WFC of employees. Such findings are in line with those of previous studies (Casper et al.,
2002; Erdwins et al., 2001; Foley et al., 2005; Grant-Vallone and Ensher, 2001; Shaffer
et al., 2001). Also, we found evidence that, as a role stressor, role overload is positively
related to WFC. Our finding is consistent with other studies (Aminah, 2010; Jones et al.,
2007; Klein, 2007). Contrary to our prediction, role overload is not significantly related
to FWC according to regression analysis. However, when all variables are included in the
structural model, role overload is positively related to FWC. Also, while POS is negatively
related to role overload in regression analysis, it is not significantly related to role overload
in the structural model. One possible reason for this is that the effects of all variables were
tested simultaneously in SEM and this might influence the relationships among variables.
Another possible reason might be indicative of convergence problems for the SEM.
However, considering the correlation coefficients among the variables, convergence
problems may not be the case (Hair et al., 2006).
We tested the mediating role of role overload in the relationship between POS and
workfamily conflict (WFC and FWC) using both Baron and Kennys (1986) approach
and SEM. The results, contrary to expectations, indicate that role overload does not have
any mediation effect on the relationship between POS-WFC and POS FWC.
Gurbuz et al. 155

W1 W2 W3 W4 W5
Age
Tenure
P1 WFC
P2 -.35***
P3 .45***
P4 O1
P5 -.008 Role O2
POS Overload
P6
O3
P7
P8 .21*
P10 -.22**
FWC

POSWFC St. Indirect effect: -.001

POSFWC St. Indirect effect: -.003
F1 F2 F3 F4 F5

Figure 2. Structural model and path coefficients.

*p < .05; **p < .01.
Note: POS = perceived organizational support; WFC = work to family conflict; FWC = family to work
conflict; RO = role overload.

It is important to note that prior research found that women experience higher levels
of WFC and FWC than men due to spending more combined time on work and family
activities (Hill, 2005; Lo, 2003). Our study was conducted within a male dominant sample
(82% male), which might have influenced the results. Therefore there could be different
mechanisms of workfamily interference operating for men and for women.

Theoretical implications
According to both social exchange theory (Blau, 1964) and organizational support theory
(Eisenberger et al., 1986), an employee who perceives high organizational support is
inclined to show favourable work behaviours. This study suggests that the employees who
perceive high levels of support from their organization will be inclined to have less work
family conflict (both WFC and FWC).
By testing the mediating effect of role overload on the relationship between POS and
workfamily conflict this study aimed to contribute to the workfamily conflict literature
by examining the relationship between a work stressor and workfamily conflict. Our
workfamily model extended the current line of research and previous models (e.g. Casper
et al., 2002; Foley et al., 2005; Grant-Vallone and Ensher, 2001) by including a Turkish
context. However, contrary to our expectation, the mediation role of role overload was
not supported. This means that the mediation role of role overload between POS and
workfamily interference still needs to be studied in future works. Consistent with prior
156 Economic and Industrial Democracy 34(1)

research, we suggest that POS and role overload should be incorporated for a better
understanding of the antecedents of workfamily conflict.
Most of the studies concerning the POS and workfamily conflict relationship have
been conducted in western societies. To our knowledge, limited studies so far have exam-
ined the POS and workfamily conflict relationship in non-western cultural contexts, thus
this study contributes to the literature on the workfamily interface in different cultures
by targeting a Turkish sample. Turkey, as a modern and developing but non-western
country, has some distinct workplace characteristics. Especially in SMEs, the working
conditions are very arduous, which is considered the main problem in this industrial sec-
tor. Despite the heavy working conditions, employees continue their work due to a high
unemployment rate and erratic layoffs. This situation causes the employees to experience
more workfamily interference. In this context, perceived organizational support does
not have any significant effect on role overload of employees working in the surveyed
firms. However, the influence of role overload and perceived organizational support on
workfamily conflicts is clear.

Practical implications
This study has important practical implications for SMEs, as they provide further evidence
of the beneficial effects of providing support to employees. Notably, this study shows that
the perceptions of support from the organization would lessen the experience of FWC
and WFC. In other words, when employees have family-friendly policies or flexible work
arrangements as organizational support, they will be inclined to feel less FWC and WFC.
Hence, organizations should adopt some favourable procedures to influence employees
perceptions of support such as fair treatment, supervisory support, showing recognition,
adapting work schedules to meet individual needs and family-friendly policies, as the
recent longitudinal research suggests (Hammer et al., 2010).

Limitations and future work

Several limitations of this study should be noted. First, the study was a cross-sectional one.
The sample was made up of employees from SMEs in the defence sector, Ankara, Turkey.
Hence, the results of the research may not be considered as representative of all Turkish
firms. Conducting future research using a longitudinal design and including larger enterprises
might contribute to the generalizability of the link among the variables (perceived organi-
zational support, role overload and workfamily conflict) and bring about more reliable
results. Second, the perceptions drawn from this study are limited by self-report. As a result,
common method bias is always an issue in survey research due to gathering data from a
single respondent. In the future, in order to lessen the potential for bias, at the very least data
concerning POS should be collected from different sources (i.e. supervisors).
It has been proven that there are many antecedents to workfamily conflict in the
workplace. In our research model, we only incorporated POS and role overload as the
antecedents of workfamily conflict and focused on the mediation of role overload.
Therefore, it may be helpful for future studies to test the mediating role of workfamily
conflict in the relationship between job performance and perceived organizational support,
Gurbuz et al. 157

supervisor support and organizational justice. Additionally, future research is needed to

assess the generalizability of the findings to employees, sectors and cultures.

Funding
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or
not-for-profit sectors.

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Author biographies
Sait Gurbuz is assistant professor of management and organization at the Turkish Military
Academy Defence Sciences Institute, Ankara. His research is focused on organizational
citizenship behaviour, organizational commitment, organizational justice, job satisfaction,
performance evaluation and high performance HR practices. He is editor-in-chief of the
Journal of Defense Sciences.

Omer Turunc is associate professor of management and strategy in the Department of System
ManagementSciences at the Turkish Military Academy, Ankara, Turkey. His research
interests are jobfamily conflict, job performance, work stress and organizational justice.

Mazlum Celik is a lecturer, retired from the Turkish Military Academy, Ankara, Turkey.
His research interests include leadermember exchange, jobfamily conflict and organi-
zational support.