CHALLENGE JOB DEMANDS AND WORK-LIFE BALANCE: BUFFERING ROLE OF WORK-RELATED FLOW AMONG UNIVERSITY UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

Abstract

The study investigated the moderating role of work-related flow on the relationship between challenge job demands and work-life balance among undergraduate students. Crosssectional data were collected from undergraduate students of music and fine and applied arts from two federal universities in Southeastern Nigeria. The participants’ ages ranged from 18-30 years with a mean age of 22.08 (SD=2.87). They consisted of 54 (55%) male and 44 (45%) female students. The results of the moderation analysis using PROCESS Macro V4.2 showed that contrary to our hypothesis 1, challenge job demands positively associated with work-life balance, suggesting that higher job challenge demands was linked to better work-life balance. The results also indicated that work-related flow positively associated with work-life balance. Work-related flow significantly moderated the relationship between challenge job demands and work-life balance. At lower levels of work-related flow, challenge job demands had a stronger positive effect on work-life balance, but this effect diminished at higher levels of flow experience, supporting our hypothesis. We conclude that challenge job demands leads to positive individual outcomes, but this is further enhanced when work-related flow is introduced.