According to Work as Calling Theory (WCT; Duffy et al., 2018), living a calling (LC) may yield benefits, including job satisfaction and performance. Yet, it may also involve risks such as burnout, workaholism, and exploitation, depending on personality traits and psychological climate. Empirical support for these paradoxical aspects remains limited, particularly regarding moderating effects. This study hypothesized that differences in work-family conflict (WFC) would moderate the effects of LC. Because prior studies overlooked demographic factors, we examined moderating effects across marital status and gender.
Purpose: This study examined whether WFC moderates the association between LC and burnout, focusing on three-way interaction effects, specifically contrasting married women with married men and unmarried women.
Method: Participants were 343 Korean employees aged 19 or older with some college education (110 married women, 121 married men, 112 unmarried women). Data were collected through an online survey.
Moderation was tested with the PROCESS macro for SPSS. Model 1 examined moderation separately within each group, and Model 3 tested whether the LC × WFC interaction differed across groups, with married women as the reference group.
Results: In Model 1, the LC × WFC interaction was significant only for married women (B = -.193, p = .023); LC was associated with lower burnout only under high WFC (B = -.294, p = .025). In contrast, for married men and unmarried women, the LC × WFC interaction was nonsignificant; LC was generally associated with lower burnout regardless of WFC level. In Model 3, three-way interactions were significant comparing married women with married men (B = .293, p = .015) and with unmarried women (B = .289, p = .025).
Conclusion: Findings suggest that LC protects against burnout, but patterns differ across sociodemographic factors. Unique moderation among married women underscores the need for gender- and marital status-sensitive approaches in research and workplace interventions.
