PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS AND WORK ENGAGEMENT AS PREDICTORS OF WORK FAMILY CONFLICTS AMONG ORTHODOX MINISTERS IN IBADAN METROPOLIS

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INTRODUCTION

1 1.BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

In the beginning of the 21st century balancing between work and family demands are becoming increasingly important issue for employees and their families which could lead to anxiety, worries and depression i.e. psychological distress on the employee. The changes that have taken place the last decades in the roles of working men and women, especially in environment where the adoption of modernity is more advanced (Giddens, 2013), have been significant. For example, the increase in the number of women entering the work force has influenced the ways that married men and women organize and manage life on both work and family life. One of the consequences of these changes has been the lifting of the strict segregation of roles between workers and non-workers and the consequent rise in work-home conflict (Geurts & Demerouti, 2013).

Work and family are important aspects of human life for both men and women. People need to work in order to express themselves and earn money to maintain their families and loved ones. Also the need to have a peaceful and cool home to retire after the day’s work cannot be overemphasized. It is easy to acknowledge the home and work place as separate domains but numerous empirical researches opined that roles at both workplace and home are complementary (Allen, Herst, Bruck& Sutton, 2016). Working full time in an organization and keeping a household or a peaceful at the same time require a lot of coordination, support and concentration. Striking a balance between work engagement and family life is a problem for many employees and families in Nigeria and the world at large (Hammer, Neal, Newsom, Brockwood & Colton, 2016). When family demands and work demands conflicts at the same time and none can give way to the other, struggling to strike a balance between home and work becomes more problematic giving room for worries and anxiety etc (Johes, Burke, &  Westman, 2013), consequently conflict may have a negative impact on the employee, resulting in psychological distress and reduced productivity at work and family harmony (Kofodimos, 2014).

Studies have shown that women are more likely to experience higher work and family conflicts than male (Geertije, Willensen & Karin, 2013). It is expected in many African cultures for married women to cook, attend to their kids, husband and relatives and other home chores after a day’s job. Pressure stemming from concurrent performance of official engagement at work environment and house roles may bring about low physical and psychological wellbeing of the married female and male employees in Nigeria. There is therefore need to investigate these conflicts relating to work engagement and home duties, generally as it affect both genders psychologically.

Work family conflict is a kind of inter-role conflict in which the role pressure from work and family domains are mutually incompatible in some Aspects. Especially, Work Family Conflict usually called Work Influence on Family (WIF) is a sort of conflict that a person or a worker experiences when too much pressures from performing work engagement spill over to family life or the home and creates or rises the pressure stemming from performance of family roles (Netemeyer, Boles, & McMurrian, 2017). That is, participation in the family engagement is made more difficult, due to the psychological stress acquired and time spent performing work duties. Effective performance of demands from both domains is the dream of every employee and worker. Demands from both work and family are often incompatible in certain aspects that involvement in one many conflict or preclude performance of role demands from the other domain. For example, a bank employee may have an urgent need to go for school runs and at the same time an important work demand, such as attending to an important client. When both demands conflict at the same time, the bank worker may not have enough time and other resources to simultaneously satisfy the opposing demands at same time. If the employee in question decides to attend to the important client at the expense of his much needed school runs, then his work demand has influenced his family demand.

Psychological distress is the unpleasant feelings or emotions from maladaptive responses to stressors usually characterized by symptoms of depression and anxiety (Mirowsky & Ross, 2014; Caute, Durand, Loisal, Goulet & Gaulhier, 2014) and somatic symptoms of insomnia, headache. Research on psychological distress is very vital because its impact on employees’ level of functioning, reasoning and behaviors(Carson, Butcher & Mineka, 2017), thereby making it a key concern to employers, families and counseling psychologists in Nigeria. A study on level of psychological distress of employees of different organizations in Nigeria revealed that psychological distress and emotional exhaustion were higher in female workers than in males (Yasin & Abudurrahim, 2011). Furthermore, majority of psychological distressed employees may not be receiving the much needed therapy in Nigeria as a result of poor mental health facilities (Hilton, Whitford, Sheridan, Cleary, Chant, Wang & Kessler, 2018).

The labor market has become highly comprised of workers needing to negotiate often conflicting demands of work and family life (Marshall, 2013).  The Current conceptualizations emphasize the bidirectional nature of work-family conflict in that family demands can interfere with work responsibilities, i.e., family-to-work conflict, and work demands can interfere with family responsibilities, i.e., work-to-family conflict (Allen, Herst, Bruck, & Sutton, 2016; Carlson, Kacmar, & Williams, 2016; Frone, 2016).furthermore, different kinds of work-family conflict have been described in the two most common being time-based and strain-based conflict (Lapierre & Allen, 2013). Time-based conflict arises when time committed to one sphere, e.g., family, reduces available time to participate in the other sphere, e.g., work (Carlson, et al., 2016). Strain-based conflict occurs when concerns and anxieties associated with one sphere interfere with meeting the demands of the other sphere. Further, each kind of work-family conflict may happen in either direction, i.e., work-to-family or family-to-work Perceived conflict between work and family life has been associated with a number of negative physical and mental health outcomes in the research literature (Allen, et al., 2016).Therefore this study centers on psychological distress and work engagement as predicators of work family conflicts among orthodox ministers.

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Work-family conflict mainly began as a one-dimensional construct. That is, conflict can arise from work roles interfering with family or family roles interfering with work as part of one dimension. This is sometimes expressed as work interfering with family and family interfering with work. Work-family conflict originally began as a one-dimensional construct. In Nigeria today as result of the gap between the effective management of work and family there has been a conflict between the two spheres of life. The conflicting of work and family has a psychological impact which is usually negative; in trying to balance between work and family psychological distress tend to develop as a result of worries and anxiety. Therefore this work centres on psychological distress and work engagement as predictors of work family conflicts among orthodox ministers in Ibadan metropolis.

1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The main aim of the study is to examine psychological distress and work engagement as predictors of work family conflicts. Specific objectives of the study are:

1) To assess the level of work engagement among orthodox ministers in Nigeria.

2) To examine the impact of psychological distress and work engagement on work family conflicts in Ibadan metropolis

3) To determine other factors that influences work family conflicts among orthodox ministers in Ibadan.

4) To determine the relationship between psychological distress and work engagement and work family conflicts in Nigeria

5) To recommend solutions to work family conflicts in Nigeria.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1) What is the level of work engagement among orthodox ministers in Nigeria?

2) What is the impact of psychological distress and work engagement on work family conflicts in Ibadan metropolis?

3) What are other factors that influences work family conflicts among orthodox ministers in Ibadan?

4) What is the relationship between psychological distress and work engagement and work family conflicts in Nigeria?

5) What are the solutions to work family conflicts in Nigeria?

1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

Hypothesis 1

Ho: There is no significant impact of psychological distress and work Engagement on work family conflicts among orthodox ministers in Ibadan metropolis.

Hi: There is a significant impact of psychological distress and work Engagement on work family conflicts among orthodox ministers in Ibadan metropolis.

Hypothesis 2

Ho: Psychological distress and work engagement has a significant relationship with work family conflicts among orthodox ministers in Ibadan metropolis

H1: Psychological distress and work engagement has no significant relationship with work family conflicts among orthodox ministers in Ibadan metropolis

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study would enable the researcher to pass their experience on the subject matter to government parastatals, NGOS (Based on mental health problems). The study would also be of immense benefit to students, researchers and scholars who are interested in developing further studies on the subject matter

1.7 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Financial constraint- Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

Time constraint- The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

1.8 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The general scope of this study covers psychological distress and work engagement as predictors of work family conflicts among orthodox ministers in Ibadan metropolis

1.9 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Psychological Distress: Psychological distress is a state of emotional suffering associated with stressors and demands that are difficult to cope with in daily life. The lack of effective care for and difficulty in identifying psychological dis- tress is frustrating for patients and health professionals alike.

Work Family Conflicts: Work-to-family conflict occurs when experiences and commitments at work interfere with family life, such as extensive, irregular, or inflexible work hours, work overload and other forms of job stress, interpersonal conflict at work, extensive travel, career transitions, or an unsupportive supervisor or organization.

Work Engagement: Work engagement is defined as positive behaviour or a positive state of mind at work that leads to positive work-related outcomes. Employees with high levels of work engagement are energetic and dedicated to their work and immersed to their work.

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