Contributions of perfectionism and social support to the prediction of work-family conflict among women academics in Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The current study observed the predictive influence of perfectionism and social support on Work-Family Conflict (WFC) among women academics. A correlational method was employed for the study, one hundred and sixty-eight women academics in tertiary institutions in Oyo State were engaged in the study through a purposive random sampling technique. Three major psychological instruments were adopted for data gathering: Work-Family Conflict Scale (a = .87); Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (a = .78), and Almost Perfect Scale (α= .84). Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) and multiple regression statistics were used to analyse data. The findings showed that a combination of the independent variables jointly accounted for about 39% of the total variance in WFC (F(4, 167) = 26.183, P < 0.01). Based on the degree of magnitude of each predictor variables in predicting WFC, the study showed that Social Support (β= -.365; t= -5.659, p < 0.01), Discrepancy (β = .268, t = 4.234 p<), High Standard (β =-.273, t =-4.430, p < 0.01), and Order (β =-.148, t =-2.350, p = .02) in that order significantly predicted WFC. Additionally, while inverse relationships were recorded for social support (r =-.467); High Standard (r =-.308) and Order (r =-.226), direct relationship was observed between discrepancy and WFC (r =.386). Based on the outcomes of the study, it was recommended that men should provide their spouses with both emotional and instrumental social support and that women should be educated on the adverse effects of maladaptive perfectionism to life and stressful situations.

Keywords: Work-Family Conflict, Social Support, Perfectionism, Women Academics, Dual Career