How the well-being of construction professionals mediates the effect of work-life balance on their commitment to the organization

The construction industry is notorious for poor work-life balance (WLB) due to its strong culture of long working hours, non-standard work schedules, and variable work duration. Extant construction literature highlights that the poor WLB in the industry is a work stressor that leads to a low level of organizational commitment (OC), a strong predictor of employee turnover and productivity. Yet, little attention has been paid to understanding how WLB affects OC, which could hinder construction organizations from developing targeted measures to improve OC. This study seeks to address this gap by using the ASSET (A Shortened Stress Evaluation Tool) model grounded in occupational stress theory to depict the underlying mechanisms of how WLB affects OC through the mediation effect psychological well-being (i.e., positive emotions (PE) and sense of purpose (SP)). The ASSET questionnaire was used to measure the constructs via an online questionnaire survey administered to construction professionals around the globe registered with the Association for Project Management, the Chartered Institute of Building, and the Project Management Institute. A total of 255 valid responses were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). Contrary to previous research, this study found that WLB does not have a direct impact on OC. Instead, it affects OC through the mediation effects of SP and PE. These results indicate that construction firms could benefit from enhancing SP and PE to yield greater organizational commitment rather than emphasizing enhanced WLB per se. This could be done by increasing employee participation in setting goals and objectives, clarifying the meaning and purpose of work, working to align work goals and objectives with employees’ sense of meaning and purpose, and generating greater frequency of experienced positive emotions through creating work environments that satisify the psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness.