Work Life Conflict, Professional Commitment, and Job Satisfaction Among Academics
ABSTRACT Based on the job demands resources model and role conflict theories, we developed and tested hypotheses to elucidate the consequences that work to life and life to work conflicts have on job satisfaction and how affective, normative, and continuance professional commitment moderate these relationships. Using data collected from German academics, our results confirmed theoretical assumptions that work to life conflict and continuance commitment act as stressors that reduce job satisfaction, while affective commitment serves as a resource, as it lowers job satisfaction directly and buffers the negative impact of a work to life conflict on job satisfaction. Neither life to work conflict nor normative commitment had a direct impact on job satisfaction, but their interaction had a positive effect on job satisfaction. A groupwise analysis of academics with temporary positions and academics with permanent positions revealed that affective commitment was a moderator only in association with work to life conflict among temporarily employed academics and that normative and continuance commitment were moderators in association with the life to work conflict among permanently employed academics. We discuss the implications of these results for theory and policy.