Too Engaged? A Conservation of Resources View of the RelationshipBetween Work Engagement and Work Interference With Family

摘要

In a number of studies, researchers interested in positive organizational behavior have sought to betterunderstand the favorable aspects of work engagement—a pervasive state of emotional attachment andmotivation toward work. In this study, however, we investigate a potentially negative outcome ofengagement. Drawing upon conservation of resources theory, we hypothesize that engagement will beassociated with higher work interference with family due to the resources engaged employees mayexpend when they engage in extrarole work behavior such as organizational citizenship behaviors(OCBs). We further propose that conscientiousness, as a personal resource, serves to buffer therelationship between OCB and work interference with family. Examining multisource data, collected atmultiple points in time, from 3 diverse samples (total N = 844), we find that state engagement isassociated with higher levels of work interference with family and that this relationship is mediated bythe performance of OCBs. The findings also indicate that engaged employees who are highly consci-entious experience lower levels of work interference with family than engaged employees who are lessconscientious. The implications of our study and directions for future research are also discussed.