Work–family conflict and psychological well-being: the roles of mindfulness, burnout and segmentation preference

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to examine how work–family conflict is associated with psychological well-being through workplace mindfulness and burnout, and whether segmentation preference conditions these relationships. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 700 full-time employees in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, using a cross-sectional survey. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was applied to test the higher-order psychological well-being construct, indirect associations and moderating effects. Findings Work–family conflict was negatively associated with workplace mindfulness and positively associated with burnout. Workplace mindfulness was positively associated with psychological well-being, whereas burnout was negatively associated with it. The direct association between work–family conflict and psychological well-being was not significant, but both indirect associations were significant. Segmentation preference did not moderate the mindfulness–psychological well-being relationship, but it strengthened the negative associations of work–family conflict and burnout with psychological well-being. Originality/value This study extends work–family research by examining eudaimonic psychological well-being, distinguishing attentional and depletion-related pathways and identifying segmentation preference as a selective vulnerability condition. Because the data are cross-sectional, the findings should be interpreted as associations rather than causal effects.