The role of affective commitment and political skill in the work interfering with family (WIF) conflict–voluntary turnover relationship

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Jun "Michelle" Yang, Assistant Professor (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/

Abstract: The present study explores how political skill affects an employee’s coping behavior in response to Work Interfering with Family (WIF) conflict. Applying Conservation of Resource theory, we argue that politically skilled individuals are more cognizant of the social embeddedness of WIF, and because of cross-domain resource (e.g. time, attention, energy) depletion, lack the resources to cope with its effects. As such, they leverage their political skill to more effectively turnover from the organization than less politically skilled individuals by detaching their identity and lowering their affective commitment to their organization. We tested the hypotheses using a sample of 181 individuals from a retail firm, and results support the hypothesized model. First, a test of indirect effects confirmed that affective commitment partially mediated the link between WIF and voluntary turnover (measured six months later). Second, a moderated-mediation test revealed, as hypothesized, that affective commitment only functioned as a mediator for individual with high levels of political skill. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.

Additional Information

Publication
The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 29(3), 595-613. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2016.1172656
Language: English
Date: 2018
Keywords
affective commitment, COR theory, political skill, turnover, work–family conflict

Email this document to