Work-life balance and job satisfaction are important topics that have seen increased attention from researchers in recent decades. A balanced life with fulfillment both at work and outside of work leads to greater well-being and productivity. Balancing responsibilities can be challenging as professional and personal obligations often compete for limited time and energy. This study examined relationships between work-life balance, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions in a sample of full-time employees from various industries.
A quantitative survey design was utilized to measure multiple variables related to work-life balance experiences and perceptions of the workplace. The target population was full-time employees over the age of 18 across diverse occupations. Participants were recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk platform and direct emails sent to employee contact lists from several companies that agreed to participate. The final sample consisted of 267 working adults ranging from entry-level to executive positions.
The questionnaire consisted of several validated scales measuring work-life balance, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions. Work-life balance was assessed using the Work-Life Balance Scale, which examines the degree of conflict or facilitation between work and personal life roles on both daily and long-term bases. Job satisfaction was measured with the abridged Job Descriptive Index/Job in General scale to reflect overall positive and negative sentiments about the job. Turnover intentions were gauged through three items pertaining to thoughts, plans, and desires to leave the current position. Demographic information such as age, gender, tenure, marital status, and number of dependents was also collected.
Prior to analyzing the main study variables, data screening procedures were undertaken to check for missing values, outliers, normality of distributions, and reliability of multi-item scales. Participants with more than 15% missing data were removed via listwise deletion. Outliers were inspected but retained since they represented real data points. Normality was deemed acceptable based on histograms and skew/kurtosis values falling within an acceptable range. Internal consistencies of scales exceeded the recommended cutoff of .70.
Pearson correlations were then run to explore bivariate relationships among work-life balance, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions. As anticipated, results showed significant positive associations between work-life balance and job satisfaction (r = .59, p < .001) as well as significant negative relationships between job satisfaction and turnover intentions (r = -.43, p < .001), and work-life balance and turnover intentions (r = -.31, p < .001). Work-life balance explained around 35% of the variance in job satisfaction and 10% of the variance in turnover intentions based on correlation coefficients squared.
To test for unique predictive effects on outcomes, hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted. Demographic covariates including gender, age, tenure, and number of dependents were entered in the first block. Work-life balance was entered in the second block for the job satisfaction model and first block for the turnover intentions model. Results revealed that after accounting for demographic factors, work-life balance still significantly predicted incremental variance in both job satisfaction (R^2 change = .33, p < .001) and turnover intentions (R^2 change = .09, p < .001). Specifically, better work-life balance predicted higher job satisfaction as well as lower turnover intentions. The findings generally support existing research on the consequences of work-life balance for individuals and organizations. Having equilibrium between work and personal duties appears integral to employees deriving pride and meaning from their careers. A balanced lifestyle may also discourage thoughts of resigning due to feeling fulfilled and committed to the organization. Limitations centered around the cross-sectional design inhibiting causal conclusions. Future longitudinal research could assess directionality and whether initiatives enhancing work-life balance ultimately decrease turnover. Recommendations for organizations involve adopting family-friendly policies, flexible work arrangements, and a culture respectful of employees’ multiple roles. This study enhances understanding of work-life balance as a predictor of crucial work outcomes beyond job attitudes. Maintaining equilibrium between responsibilities at and away from work can boost retention through increased satisfaction with the job and company. Employers recognizing the importance of work-life balance may see benefits to both productivity and the bottom line. Considering the changing nature of work and families, further examination of effective balance strategies remains an important area for industrial/organizational psychology.