Commuting as a work-related demand: Effects on work-to-family conflict, affective commitment, and intention to quit

Abstract

Commuting time is the duration of the transition between the work and private (typically family) domains. The status of commuting in theories dealing with work–family issues or boundary management is not very clear. We discuss commuting taking a different perspective from the literature (e.g., as a demand, source of time-based work–family conflict, impediment to the flexibility and permeability of the work–home boundary, and as a resource for work–family boundary management), concluding that the demand aspects of commuting are dominant. From this perspective, we analyzed the association between the commuting time as a work-related demand at baseline and work–family conflict (WFC), affective commitment (AC), and intention to quit (ITQ) 1 year later (N = 838). We assessed commuting time objectively by using Google Maps to estimate travel time based on postal codes of home and workplace. As expected, longer commuting predicted all three outcomes. Furthermore, autonomy—manifested in flexible work arrangements—moderated these effects for two out of three outcome variables: Temporospatial autonomy reduced the positive associations between commuting time and WFC and ITQ. The effect sizes were small; however, effects were adjusted for baseline levels of the relevant outcome, demographic variables, and several work and private stressors.