Flexible work arrangements have the potential to enhance work–life balance and contribute to more sustainable work environments. However, they may also increase fatigue and lead to greater work–life conflict (WLC). This study offers a novel contribution by examining the relationship between flexible work arrangements—focusing in particular on the cognitive demands of flexible work (CDFW), which encompass the task structuring, scheduling of working times, planning of working place, and coordination with others—and WLC. Specifically, the study investigates the mediating role of workload in this relationship. Furthermore, it also explores whether perceived organizational support (POS) moderates the indirect relationships between CDFW and WLC, within the framework of the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model. Data were collected from a sample of 419 employees in the Italian public sector. The study also controls for potential confounding variables, such AcademicEditor: ¸Stefan Cristian Gherghina Received: 16May2025 Revised: 4July2025 Accepted: 31July2025 Published: 4 August2025 Citation: Bellini, D.; Barbieri, B.; Mondo,M.;DeSimone,S.;Marocco,S. Sustainable Work–Life Balance, Social Support, andWorkload: Exploringthe Potential Dual Role of Flexible Workin aModeratedMediationModel. Sustainability 2025, 17, 7067. https:// doi.org/10.3390/su17157067 Copyright: ©2025bytheauthors. Licensee MDPI,Basel,Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the termsand conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY)license (https://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/). as age, gender, duration of employment in public administration, and weekly working hours, to account for their influence on work–life balance and workload. The results highlight a significant positive relationship between planning of the working place and WLC. Additionally, workload plays a mediating role between CDFW subdimensions and WLC. However, POS does not moderate the mediated relationship between CDFW and WLC.
Sustainable Work–Life Balance, Social Support, and Workload:Exploring the Potential Dual Role of Flexible Work in a Moderated Mediation Model
Diego Bellini
;
2025-01-01
Abstract
Flexible work arrangements have the potential to enhance work–life balance and contribute to more sustainable work environments. However, they may also increase fatigue and lead to greater work–life conflict (WLC). This study offers a novel contribution by examining the relationship between flexible work arrangements—focusing in particular on the cognitive demands of flexible work (CDFW), which encompass the task structuring, scheduling of working times, planning of working place, and coordination with others—and WLC. Specifically, the study investigates the mediating role of workload in this relationship. Furthermore, it also explores whether perceived organizational support (POS) moderates the indirect relationships between CDFW and WLC, within the framework of the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model. Data were collected from a sample of 419 employees in the Italian public sector. The study also controls for potential confounding variables, such AcademicEditor: ¸Stefan Cristian Gherghina Received: 16May2025 Revised: 4July2025 Accepted: 31July2025 Published: 4 August2025 Citation: Bellini, D.; Barbieri, B.; Mondo,M.;DeSimone,S.;Marocco,S. Sustainable Work–Life Balance, Social Support, andWorkload: Exploringthe Potential Dual Role of Flexible Workin aModeratedMediationModel. Sustainability 2025, 17, 7067. https:// doi.org/10.3390/su17157067 Copyright: ©2025bytheauthors. Licensee MDPI,Basel,Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the termsand conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY)license (https://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/). as age, gender, duration of employment in public administration, and weekly working hours, to account for their influence on work–life balance and workload. The results highlight a significant positive relationship between planning of the working place and WLC. Additionally, workload plays a mediating role between CDFW subdimensions and WLC. However, POS does not moderate the mediated relationship between CDFW and WLC.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
