The role of psychological capital in the effect of work-family conflict on intention to leave: A research on private sector employees

Working life is getting more intense and stressful every day. Employees who stay for a long time under these intense working conditions experience some psychological and physiological problems. Psychologically, issues such as restlessness, tension, burnout and unhappiness are experienced. The fact that the job is at the center of life for many people and it triggers these negativities to be experienced even more. One of these negativities is work-family conflict. Work-family conflict is caused by the inadequate fulfillment of job responsibilities and family responsibilities, neglect of the family, and the inability to spare enough time with the family. Work family conflict is an issue that can negatively affect the work and social life of the individual if the family conflict is not intervened in a timely manner. For this reason, there is a need for research on the consequences of work-family conflict and the factors that affect the reduction of work-family conflict. In this study, it is aimed to examine the moderating role of psychological capital in the effect of work-family conflict on the intention to quit the job. A quantitative research has been designed to achieve the purpose of the research. A total of 277 employees from private sector participated in the study. According to the research findings, work-family conflict positively affected the intention to quit, while psychological capital affectected the intention to quit the job negatively. Psychological capital played a moderating role in the effect of work-family conflict on intention to quit the job. Other findings of the study are as follows. Work-family conflict, intention to quit the job and psychological capital did not differ according to gender and education level. The psychological capital levels of married people were found to be higher than singles. As the number of children increased, the intention to quit decreased. It has been found that as age and working experience increase, psychological capital also increases. The findings obtained in the study were interpreted, and some suggestions were made for future studies, organizations and employees.