Anticipated regret in time-based work-family conflict

Purpose – The primary purpose of this research was to investigate the role of anticipated regret in time-based work-family conflict decisions. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 90 working parents responded to a decision making problem describing a time-based conflict between a work event and a family event. Participants' preference for which event to attend constituted the dependent variable. Independent variables were participants' work and family centralities. Anticipated regret for choosing the work option and anticipated regret for choosing the family option were measured as hypothesized mediators. Findings – Structural equation modeling revealed that anticipated regret for choosing the family option mediated the relationship between work centrality and preference for the family option. Similarly, it was found that anticipated regret for choosing the work option mediated the relationship between family centrality and preference for the family option. Originality/value – This article contributes to work-family and decision making literatures by studying the intersection of the two fields. Although most work-family research studies ongoing conflict, this study focuses on one decision event. The findings suggest that anticipated regret plays a significant role in how individuals resolve time-based work-family conflict.