The relationship between life-domain interactions and the well-being of internationally mobile employees

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the relations between the life-domain interactions (i.e. interactions between the personal and professional lives) of internationally mobile employees (IMEs) and their well-being and to examine whether these links are different for assigned expatriates (AEs) and self-initiated expatriates (SIEs). Design/methodology/approach Questionnaire data were collected from 284 IMEs including 182 SIEs, and 102 AEs. Two measures of IMEs’ well-being were used: subjective, namely satisfaction with life, and psychological well-being (PWB), which refers to self-acceptance, personal growth, and reaching for life goals. Life-domain interactions were measured from a conflict and an enrichment perspective, each in two directions: Work Life → Personal Life (WL → PL) and Personal Life → Work Life (PL → WL). Findings Regression analyses confirm that IMEs’ life-domain conflicts (WL → PL and PL → WL) have an adverse impact on their subjective and PWB, IMEs’ life-domain enrichments account for their subjective well-being over and above what is explained by their life-domain conflicts, the relationship between WL → PL conflicts and subjective well-being is more negative among SIEs than among AEs. Practical implications This study underscores the need for both employers and IMEs to take action not only to reduce conflicts but also to promote enrichments between their personal and their professional lives. It is of particular importance to reduce the WL → PL conflict of SIEs, often left to fend for themselves, because it has a significant negative impact on their subjective well-being. Originality/value This study innovates in using conservation of resources theory and recent theoretical work linking this theory with the interplay between personal and professional lives to understanding SIEs’ and AEs’ well-being.