Linking work-family interference, workplace incivility, gender and psychological distress

Abstract

Purpose

Drawing on COR theory, the purpose of this paper is to contribute to the scarce literature of work-family interference, workplace incivility, gender and psychological distress at the practical and academic juncture.

Design/methodology/approach

The linear (structural equation modeling (SEM)) and non-linear (artificial neural network (ANN)) techniques were applied to the survey data from a sample of Nigerian health workers (n=447) to investigate the relationships between the aforementioned variables.

Findings

The results from SEM and ANN revealed that work-family conflict (WFC), family-work conflict, supervisor incivility and coworker incivility have positive impacts on psychological distress. A multi-group moderation analysis suggests that women were more likely to experience psychological distress.

Originality/value

The work-family interference and incivility are pervasive and gendered problems in the workplace. This paper strives to enhance the understanding of the nature of the relationship in an African work setting. The implications for making the workplace better and safer are discussed.

Citation

Abubakar, A.M. (2018), "Linking work-family interference, workplace incivility, gender and psychological distress", Journal of Management Development, Vol. 37 No. 3, pp. 226-242. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMD-06-2017-0207