A Work-Home Resource Model of AI and Global Work-Family Balance

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) research is becoming increasingly integral to industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology research. However, the intersection of AI and a key subfield of I-O, work-family research, has yet to be thoroughly explored. This study adopts a demands and resources theoretical perspective to examine the impact of AI usage at work on global work-family balance (WFB) through a time-oriented mediating mechanism, perceived time adequacy (PTA). The study also aimed to evaluate how personal and organizational factors may nuance this relationship. A new measure, the AI Work Support Questionnaire, was developed to capture resource-oriented AI use at work. This measure, along with existing measurements, was employed in a three-wave study occurring over four weeks. A sample of N=311 working adults in the U.S. with co-habiting partners and children were recruited via Prolific. Structural equation modeling was used to establish relationships between observed and latent measures and test the hypothesized relationships between constructs. Results confirm that experiences of AI demands at work (overload and cognitive or emotional demands) negatively influence global WFB (comprised of balance satisfaction and balance effectiveness) via PTA. Resource-related AI use at work also had a significant negative indirect effect on global WFB through PTA. Leader symbolization of AI buffered the negative impacts of demands, acting as a moderator on the indirect effect of AI demands on WFB. The present study suggests that both AI demands and resource-oriented AI use were associated with lower PTA, which in turn predicted lower global WFB. It is possible that organizational factors such as leadership may mitigate the negative effects, but this study leaves more to be explored within the dynamic of AI, organizations, and individual experiences across domains.