How Guilt Drives Emotional Exhaustion in Work–Pet Family Conflict

Work-pet family conflict has emerged as a novel form of work-life conflict, reflecting the increasingly significant role that pets play in modern families. Guided by role theory, work-pet family conflict is anticipated to produce outcomes similar to those of traditional work-life conflict. Accordingly, we developed a conceptual model to examine how work-pet family conflict affects employees' emotional exhaustion. Drawing on role theory, we tested whether the experience of guilt serves as an affective mechanism linking work-pet family conflict to emotional exhaustion. Data were collected from 356 pet owners to empirically test the model. The results revealed a significant relationship between work-pet family conflict and emotional exhaustion, mediated by employees' experienced guilt. This study underscores the relevance of work-pet family conflict as a distinct form of work-life conflict and highlights the role of guilt as a key emotional driver that contributes to employees' emotional exhaustion in this context. Hence, organizations can delineate strategies to mitigate work-pet family conflict by offering flexible work arrangements, implementing pet-friendly policies, providing pet care benefits, and fostering a culture that supports work-life balance. These measures can potentially help employees better manage the demands of both work and pet responsibilities.