Gender Differences in the role of family-work interface, organizational support, and life satisfaction on job satisfaction

Job satisfaction is the most widely studied key indicator of psychological well-being at work, and several empirical studies have investigated the factors that contribute to determine it in different organisational settings focusing on situational and individual-dispositional variables. Among the possible predictors linked to job satisfaction, the present study considered a specific core of resources, represented by work-family interface, organisational support, and life satisfaction, constructs related to job satisfaction. The research investigated the role of family-work interface dimensions (positive work-family interface, positive family-work interface, negative work-family interface, and negative family-work interface), organisational support (support of colleagues and supervisors), and life satisfaction as possible determinants of job satisfaction, in relation to the gender of the participants. The study involved about 400 employees of an Italian public service organisation. Data were collected via a questionnaire which included the following scales: Work-family interface Scale (De Simone et al., 2014; Kinnunen, Feldt, Geurts, & Pulkkinen, 2006), Organizational Support (Clark, 2001), Brief Overall Job Satisfaction measure II (Judge, Locke, Durham, & Kluger, 1998), and Life satisfaction (Lance, Lautenschlager, Sloan, & Varca, 1989). Path analysis showed that the factors involved in the work-family interface, directly and indirectly, influenced life satisfaction, job satisfaction, and work engagement. Data analysis showed that the factors involved in the work-family interface, supervisors’ support, and life satisfaction influenced job satisfaction. Furthermore, results found gender differences: all family-work interface dimensions, and only these dimensions, resulted in predicting job satisfaction in the men interviewed, whereas negative work-family and family-work interface, organisational support, and life satisfaction contributed to determining job satisfaction for the women interviewed. The results of the study offer interesting suggestions for the implementation of strategies to improve job satisfaction in general, especially considering the role of organisational support and life satisfaction for female workers.