Exploring the Reciprocal Nature of Work-Family Guilt and its Effects on Work/Family-Related Performance

The present study explored the bidirectional and reciprocal nature of work-family guilt by testing a non-recursive model that treats work-family guilt as the mediator connecting the work-family interface. The sample was composed of 627 Chinese employees. The findings confirmed the reciprocal nature of work-family guilt (work-to-family and family-to-work guilt), which indicated that employees would not only have one form of guilt in the work-family interface. In addition, the findings revealed that time spent on work/family domains is indirectly related to work-family guilt via the increased work-family conflict and that there was a positive relationship between work-to-family guilt and work performance. As the first study investigating the bidirectional nature of work-family guilt, this study has refined and enriched our understanding of work-family guilt as well as contributed to future work-family interface, emotion, and performance studies.