Purpose This study aims to examine how personality traits and job demands are associated with job dissatisfaction and job stress through the mediating role of work-family conflict (WFC) among lecturers working in a distance higher education context. Design/methodology/approach Using a quantitative, cross-sectional design, data were collected through an online survey of 451 lecturers affiliated with Universitas Terbuka (UT), Indonesia. The proposed model was tested using structural equation modeling to examine the direct and indirect relationships among personality, job demands, WFC, job dissatisfaction and job stress. Findings The results indicate that personality is negatively associated with WFC, while job demands are positively associated with WFC. WFC is positively associated with both job dissatisfaction and job stress and serves as a central mediating mechanism linking personality and job demands to job dissatisfaction. These findings are consistent with an integrated framework drawing on role theory, the job demands–resources model and conservation of resources theory. Research limitations/implications First, the quantitative and cross-sectional research design limits the ability to capture the temporal dynamics of the relationships among variables, such as how WFC and job dissatisfaction evolve over time. Second, the study focuses solely on lecturers at UT as a single population. While this population has unique characteristics, it restricts the generalizability of the findings to other higher education institutions with face-to-face or hybrid learning systems. Third, the use of self-report measures may introduce perception bias and common method bias, although efforts were made to minimize these issues. Practical implications The findings suggest that higher education institutions should adopt more holistic workload management practices that account for the cognitive and emotional demands of digital teaching, alongside flexible scheduling policies and well-being initiatives to mitigate WFC and stress among lecturers. Social implications Managing work-family boundaries can enhance employee well-being and improve educational service quality. Originality/value This study provides novel empirical evidence from distance higher education, an underexplored context in work–family research, and offers an integrated theoretical explanation of how personality and job demands shape lecturer well-being through WFC.
Patiro et al. (Tue,) studied this question.