The role of health, supervisor’s leadership style and management level in managers’ work-life balance in an Indian public sector enterprise

Pages: 1980-1988
Nidhi Prakash (Department of Psychology, University of Delhi, Delhi)

Work-life balance refers to the balance of time and effort, stemming from satisfactory fit between engagement in work and non-work domains of life. This study investigated the relationships among health, perceptions of supervisor’s leadership styles, management level, and work-life balance of managers of a large, Indian public sector enterprise operating in the power sector. Data were collected from 100 managers from the corporate and regional offices of the enterprise, encompassing lower, middle and top level management, using EQ MAP(full form) Health Outcomes, adapted Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) and self-constructed work-life balance scale. Stepwise multiple regression was used to examine the predictive utility of the variables in explaining variation in work-life balance. Behavioral and emotional health emerged as significant (p<.001) predictors of managers' work-life balance, while physical health, supervisor's leadership behaviors and management level did not emerge as significant predictors. Implications for future research and praxis are discussed.