Relationship between Work-Family Balance and Occupational Stress of Administrative Officers: Empirical Study in the Public Universities in the Western Province in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Occupational stress is a major issue that has received attention lately in the corporate world. Globalization of the corporate world and the increased competitiveness have changed the work culture and today individuals are engaging in work, disregarding their stress level, resulting in detrimental effects on the work output and the individual’s well-being. Existing findings have disclosed numerous causes of occupational stress, among which Work-Family Balance has had a huge impact. However, in the local context, there is a lack of empirical sources that relate work-family balance and occupational stress. Hence, the authors tend to fill up this vacuum by examining the relationship between work-family balance and occupational stress of administrative officers in public universities in the Western Province, Sri Lanka. For this purpose, 132 administrative officers from the State Universities in the Western Province were selected based on convenience sampling and data were collected through online-administered questionnaires. The data were analyzed using the Statistical package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22. The correlation statistics were used to identify the correlation among each dimension of Work-Family balance and occupational stress. The findings reveal that a significant negative relationship exists between work-family balance and occupational stress of the administrative officers at public universities in the western province, Sri Lanka.

Key Words: Behaviour Balance, Occupational Stress, Strain Balance, Time Balance, Work-Family Balance