Keywords

organizational justice, work-home conflict, work-life balance, schedules, emergency medicine

Abstract

Emergency physicians work in a high-demand environment requiring irregular, around-the-clock schedules, which can contribute to elevated work-home conflict and burnout. While previous research has focused on objective schedule characteristics such as length of shift or time of day worked, less attention has been given to how emergency physicians perceive the fairness of the scheduling process itself. Drawing on Work-Home Resources Theory and Personal Resource Allocation Theory, this study examines whether perceptions of schedule justice influence work-home conflict via schedule satisfaction. I propose that perceived fairness in schedule creation functions as a contextual resource that shapes whether a schedule is experienced as a resource or a demand, operationalized by the measure of schedule satisfaction. Using a time-lagged survey design with emergency physicians (N = 77) from a large academic hospital, I tested a full mediation model in which schedule justice predicts work-home conflict via schedule satisfaction. Results support the proposed model, suggesting that physicians who perceive the scheduling process as fair report greater satisfaction with their schedules, which in turn is associated with lower work-home conflict. This study contributes to the industrial-organizational psychology literature by integrating theories of work-home interface, resources, and organizational justice in the context of work schedules and the high-pressure environment of emergency medicine. By highlighting the role of perceived schedule fairness, the findings suggest that psychological and organizational factors besides objective schedule features may play an important role in physicians’ work-home interface.

Completion Date

2026

Semester

Fall

Committee Chair

Chelsea LeNoble

Degree

Master of Science (M.S.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Psychology

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Identifier

DP0053279

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