Communications of the ACM

tion in the literature. Our results show WFC is markedly higher on weekdays than weekends and, more important, fluctuates on weekdays. Our comparison of the two types of WFC shows the dynamics of strain-based conflict is more pronounced than time-based conflict on weekdays. Interestingly, we found strain-based conflict reaches its lowest point on Wednesdays. We also found the relationships between WFC and job and family satisfaction, suggesting that, while people may adapt to the inherent conflict between work and family activity due to the flexibility of work place and time, they also feel dissatisfaction from connecting with work during non-work hours.

The social-media analytics we employed address the limitations of survey methods dominating traditional WFC studies. High-volume, high-ve-locity Twitter data provides a dynamic, fine-grain view of individuals’ behavior in a naturally occurring setting that serves as an ideal testbed for understanding WFC.

This research can be improved and continue in several directions. Tracking a larger number of Twitter users over a longer period of time would improve the general applicability of the findings. In addition, some jobs have distinctive busy and off-peak seasons. In view of country differences in work-family time10 and workweek, 11 WFC outside the U.S. deserves its own separate investigations. Alternative techniques should be explored to improve extracting work- and family-related topics and mood from social-media data. And resolving multiple online identities for the same Twitter users can help refine the findings of our study.

Acknowledgments

We thank the reviewers for their constructive comments. Portions of this work are supported by the National Science Foundation under Award Number SES-152768. The research reported here is that of the authors and does not reflect the official policy of the National Science Foundation.

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Yili Liu ( liuyili@tongji.edu.cn) is an assistant professor in the Department of Management Science and Engineering at Tongji University, Shanghai, China.

Lina Zhou ( zhoul@umbc.edu) is an associate professor in the Department of Information Systems at University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD.

job and life satisfaction. 15 Employees could adapt themselves to WFC as their experience and responding tactics improve through empowerment of modern communication technologies. For instance, telecommuni-cating could support employees in performing some or all of their job functions outside the workplace, even as they stay connected to work during non-work hours. 2 As the boundary between family and work activities blurs in some situations, and despite the distinct norms and requirements of the two roles, 12 TC inevitably loses its influence on JS and FS.

Our findings on SC emphasize the importance of employees’ psychological well being, with significant managerial implications for human resource management in organizations. Minimizing employees’ distress, anxiety, fear, anger, and disgust is thus instrumental to boosting their JS and FS. For example, an increasing spillover between work and family activities might contribute to both increased SC and decreased JS and FS. Managers looking to control employees’ stress try to avoid assigning work activities for non-work hours. And, while enjoying a flexible work-family arrangement, employees are able to reduce their psychological strain by minimizing interference of family responsibilities in non-family situations and non-family hours.

These results also show that both JS and FS are subject to the influence of the same type of WFC, highlighting the importance of WFC in our lives and significant spillover between our personal experience of work and family.

Conclusion

WFC garners widespread attention in modern society beyond human resources management. Despite extensive research in this area, different studies report inconsistent and even contradictory findings on the effects and intensity of WFC. Additionally, the overlap in time and place between traditional family and work roles may also introduce new opportunities for WFC to manifest in people’s everyday lives.