The Effect of Work/Family Conflict on Intention to Quit: The Mediating Roles of Job and Life Satisfaction

Research has shown consistently that job satisfaction predicts turnover, but much less attention has been given to the how relationships between work and nonwork or how overall subjective evaluations of life (i.e., life satisfaction) affects turnover. We tested a model that included job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and conflict between work and nonwork domains of life as predictors of intent to quit. Results from a sample of Air Force personnel revealed that life satisfaction was a significant predictor of intent to quit after controlling for job satisfaction, and that both job and life satisfaction mediated the effects of role conflict between work and nonwork on intent to quit. We consider implications of these findings for both theory and practice. Portions of this paper were presented at the 9th Bi-Annual Conference of the International Society for the Study of Work and Organizational Values (ISSWOV). The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the United States Air Force, Department of Defense, or the US Government.