Development and Validation of a Work-Life Conflict Scale: Identifying Energy and Emotion

Abstract

This research outlines a series of studies that aim to develop and validate a new scale that expands upon the current measurement of work-family conflict. While work-family conflict, and more broadly work-life conflict, has traditionally been conceptualized through the dimensions of time, strain, and behavior, an expansion of these dimensions may prove advantageous for measurement and comprehension. Specifically, energy and emotion have been cited (e.g., Judge, Ilies, & Scott, 2006; Small & Riley, 1990) as possible factors that may be beneficial to the measurement of work-family and work-life conflict. While these forms of conflict have been discussed as viable areas in which work-life conflict is evident, there is yet to be a scale that includes both energy and emotion as their own distinct dimensions. In the present research, items were identified and/or created to represent energy-based and emotion-based forms of work-life conflict to explore their feasibility in work-life conflict measurement. Emotion and energy were identified as distinct dimensions of work-life conflict through three studies of construct validation. By combining and expanding existing measures and exploring emotion and energy as dimensions for fuller work-life conflict measurement, this research creates a more encompassing scale that more accurately represents the construct of work-life conflict.