The Mediator Role of Psychological Capital in The Relationship Between Remote Working and Work-Life Balance During the Pandemic: A Study on White Collar Workers

Abstract

In recent years, the work-life balance concept gained more importance among businesses to have efficient and high-performance employees. These businesses developed various policies to ensure work-life balance. In this sense, the Covid-19 pandemic that emerged in China in 2020 and impacted the whole world in a short time also had an impact on the business world. The majority of the businesses decided to shift to a remote working model for employees that met the requirements since individuals need to stay away from crowded spaces to prevent the spread of the pandemic. Ensuring work-life balance became more important with remote working. The employees struggle to create a work-life balance since there is no distinct border between home and work. At the same time, it can be seen that employees have different perspectives according to their psychological capital level. Therefore, psychological capital is one of the factors that impact the work-life balance. In this study, the relationship between employees’ remote working and work-life balance is investigated with the mediator role of psychological capital in this relationship. The analysis conducted within this study investigated whether the work-life balance of employees applying a remote working model changed according to their psychological capital. In the research, a questionnaire was applied as a quantitative data collection method. SPSS 26.0 is used in data analysis for this study. It has been revealed that the relationships between remote work and the work-life balance of employees with high psychological capital are positive and significant.