Gender, polychronicity, and the work–family interface: is a preference for multitasking beneficial?

This study examined how polychronicity, or the preference to do several things concurrently, was related to work and family overload, work–family conflict, and outcomes in the work, family, and life domains (i.e. turnover intent, family, and life satisfaction). Using conservation of resources theory as a framework, polychronicity was conceptualized as a resource that could be used to reduce work and family overload. The participants were 553 employed parents from Canada and the US. Results indicated that polychronicity was related to lower work overload. Lower work overload was related to lower work interference with family conflict, lower turnover intent, and higher family and life satisfaction. We also examined gender differences and found that, although women scored significantly higher than men on family overload and family satisfaction, and significantly lower than men on life satisfaction, there was no mean gender difference on polychronicity. In addition, the path coefficients in the model were not significantly different for men and women.