Fyp Report

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The relationship between technology and work-life
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright Page.........................................................................................................ii
Declaration ............................................................................................................. iii
Dedication ............................................................................................................... iv
Acknowledgement ................................................................................................... v
Table of contents ..................................................................................................... vi
List of tables ............................................................................................................ ix
List of figures ........................................................................................................... x
Abstract ................................................................................................................... xi
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................ 1
1.0 Introduction .................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Research Background .................................................................................... 1
1.2 Research Problem .......................................................................................... 2
1.3 Research Objectives ....................................................................................... 4
1.3.1 General Objective ................................................................................... 4
1.3.2 Specific Objectives ................................................................................. 4
1.4 Research Questions ........................................................................................ 4
1.5 Significance of Study ..................................................................................... 5
1.6 Chapter Layout............................................................................................... 6
1.7 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 7
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................. 8
2.0 Introduction .................................................................................................... 8
2.1 Theorical Review ........................................................................................... 8
2.1.1 Boundary Theory .................................................................................... 8
2.2 Empirical Review......................................................................................... 10
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2.2.1 Work-life Balance ................................................................................. 10
2.2.2 Overload (24/7 Availability) ................................................................. 12
2.2.3 Psychological Detachment .................................................................... 13
2.3 Conceptual Framework ................................................................................ 15
2.4 Hypothesis Development ............................................................................. 15
2.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 15
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ................................................... 16
3.0 Introduction .................................................................................................. 16
3.1 Research Design........................................................................................... 16
3.2 Target Population ......................................................................................... 17
3.3 Data Collection and Measurement ............................................................... 17
3.4 Research Instrument..................................................................................... 18
3.5 Method of Data Analysis ............................................................................. 18
3.5.1 Descriptive Analysis ............................................................................. 19
3.5.2 Test of Reliability ................................................................................. 19
3.5.3 Pearson Correlation Coefficient ............................................................ 19
3.5.4 Single Linear Regression ...................................................................... 20
3.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 20
CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS ........................................................................ 21
4.0 Introduction .................................................................................................. 21
4.1 Samling Results ........................................................................................... 21
4.1.1 Demographics ....................................................................................... 21
4.1.2 Technology ........................................................................................... 27
4.2 Reliability Test ............................................................................................. 31
4.3 Descriptive Analysis .................................................................................... 31
4.3.1 Mean and Standard Deviations ............................................................. 31
4.4 Correlation Analysis .................................................................................... 32
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4.4.1 Correlation among Study Variables ...................................................... 32
4.5 Regression Analysis ..................................................................................... 33
4.5.1 Linear Regression ................................................................................. 33
4.5.2 Hypothesis Testing................................................................................ 34
4.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 36
CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION ............................................ 37
5.0 Introduction .................................................................................................. 37
5.1 Discussion of Findings ................................................................................. 37
5.2 Implications of the Study ............................................................................. 39
5.3 Limitations of the Study............................................................................... 39
5.4 Recommendations for Future Research ....................................................... 40
5.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 41
REFERENCES ...................................................................................................... 42
APPENDIX ............................................................................................................ 51
viii
LIST OF TABLES
Table 4.1 Summary of respondents’ response rate ................................................ 21
Table 4.2 Table of Respondents (Age) .................................................................. 22
Table 4.3 Table of Respondents (Gender) ............................................................. 23
Table 4.4 Table of Respondents (Marital Status) .................................................. 24
Table 4.5 Table of Respondents (Dependents) ...................................................... 25
Table 4.6 Table of Respondent (Work Experience) .............................................. 26
Table 4.7 Table of Respondent (Mobile) ............................................................... 27
Table 4.8 Table of Respondent (Other Device) ..................................................... 28
Table 4.9 Table of Respondent (Online Communications Tools) ......................... 28
Table 4.10 Table of Respondent (Social Networks) .............................................. 29
Table 4.11 Table of Respondent (Cloud Storage) ................................................. 29
Table 4.12 Table of Respondent (Online Tools) ................................................... 30
Table 4.13 Table of Respondent (E-mail).............................................................. 30
Table 4.14 Reliability Test for Variables ............................................................... 31
Table 4.15 Mean and Standard Deviation of Variables ......................................... 32
Table 4.16 Correlation Test for the variables ........................................................ 33
Table 4.17 Model Summary .................................................................................. 34
Table 4.18 Coefficients .......................................................................................... 35
Table 4.19 Summary of Hypothesis Tests ............................................................. 36
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1 Most Overworked Cities Worldwide...................................................... 5
Figure 2.1 Conceptual Framework for the proposed study.................................... 15
Figure 4.1 Pie Chart of Respondents (Age) ........................................................... 22
Figure 4.2 Pie Chart of Respondents (Gender) ...................................................... 23
Figure 4.3 Pie Chart of Respondents (Marital Status) ........................................... 24
Figure 4.4 Pie Chart of Respondents (Dependents) ............................................... 25
Figure 4.5 Pie Chart of Respondents (Work Experience)...................................... 26
x
ABSTRACT
Every area of life in the modern age has undergone a total transformation thanks to
technology, particularly in the working class. Due to the fact that work may be done
from anywhere in the globe as long as there is an internet connection, it is unclear
when the official workday starts. Therefore, the goal of this study is to investigate
how technology affects work-life balance among Malaysian working adults today.
A sample of 106 respondents was gathered using a survey questionnaire that was
created for the purpose. The suggested hypothesis was examined, and the
connections between the variables were tested, using correlation and regression
analysis. The findings indicated that independent variable, Overload and the
dependent variable, work-life balance, have no significant relationships while the
other independent variable, psychological detachment, had a significant
relationship on work-life balance. Hence, the findings revealed that the ability to
successfully detach from work during non-working time is crucial to achieving
work-life balance.
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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.0 Introduction
This study focuses on the influence of technology in work-life balance. This chapter
will cover the research background, research problems, research objectives,
research questions and followed by the significance of the study, lastly, the chapter
layout.
1.1 Research Background
Technology has completely revolutionized in every aspect of life in the modern era
especially in the working society. It has changed the methods of communication,
business, and has resulted in the enhancement in the core spheres of life. Due to the
advancement of technology many are now able to check the progression of different
subdivision working around the company in a single click of internet (Ra, Shrestha,
Khatiwada, Yoon, & Kwon, 2019). Hence, it has brought people closer where they
can take any initiative or discussion on any matter of concern in just anywhere like
using video or audio conferencing.
In recent years, working environments is experiencing many changes due to the

technological factor affecting on how work and life balance are managed (Haeger
& Lingham, 2014). As one of the most fastest growing sectors in the past few
decades (Rushe , 2012), the use of technologies like, computers, tablets, printers,
and even mobile phones, have been part of our daily lives, many will say that “it is
convenient”, “it helps to reduce time spend in work”, “it is used to reduce stress”,
but does it really help in the balance between work and life? Ever since, the arrival
of the industrial revolution 3.0, technologies have implemented in the working
environment (Schwab, 2016), many people have to attempt to meet demands of
both work and life on a daily basis even as the margins between the balance are
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being blurred. While there are some that have managed to achieve balance it with
ease, there are also some that can’t seem to achieve it not how hard they try.
However, during the pandemic many countries, including Malaysia, have imposed
a nationwide lockdown order, in which forced many working professionals to work
at home which is only possible through the use of technology, hence a survey was
conducted among Malaysian professionals during the post-pandemic era, it revealed
that around 88% of the respondents showed that the pandemic have allowed them
to improve their balance between work and life (Digital News Asia, 2022). Same
goes to the United States, 94% of professionals in the service sector have spent more
than 50 hours working per week, and there are some preferring to work in the
weekends, when asked about jobs searching, 72% of the respondents consider
work-life balance as the main focus when choosing the right job (Apollo Technical,
2022).
Hence, these statistics starts to show the growing importance of work-life balance,
but why is it so important? In a recent study, having a good balance between work
and life can reduce stress-related outcomes in a person, for example: anxiety and
depression, while also improving life and family satisfaction, hence it is not just
crucial for oneself but also to the employers and their families, as better balance
gives employees more job satisfaction and organisational commitment, while also
having a better lifestyle and family relationship (Gragnano, Simbula, & Miglioretti,
2020).
1.2 Research Problem
Even through, there is a rising importance in work-life balance, not many have been
able to achieve it. An unbalanced work-life can lead to many psychological issues
and also family issues (Qiqi, Mengtong, Camila , Ko , & Ip, 2022). Hence, the main
cause of this issues is technology, with the advancement of technology, it improves
our lifestyle while as also affecting it, for example, in a recent study, smartphones
was described as a pacifier for adults (Melumad & Pham, 2020), as the devices
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provides connectivity not just in a person personal life but also to the employer and
colleagues, hence this connectivity have the possibility to rope in employees to
work for 24/7 (Gaskell, 2020), and not just smartphones, the uses of laptop,
improves portability, this means that work can be done in anywhere of the world as
long as there is an internet connection. Many younger employees that are aged
between 18 to 24 years old, checked their email after working hours out of
responsibility (Bell, 2021).
Even during the pandemic, as working at home brings more freedom and flexibility
to the employees, but there is also a dilemma, it blurred out when exactly working
hours begin (Rashmi & Kataria, 2021) and when it will end on each day, this creates
an inconsistency in working hours, hence working at home can acts as a double
edge sword (Zoonen, Sivunen, & Rice, 2020). Previously confined to the workplace,
social media, instant messages, and email are increasingly being used in our
personal space, for example in living rooms and bedrooms, as temporary offices
(Bell, 2021). The stream of digital alerts might easily become too much to handle.
Hereafter, as advancement of technologies, it keeps blurring out the lines between

work and life, hence, this study is conducted to explore the relationship between
technology and work-life balance in the modern-day working adults in Malaysia.
As modern-day studies are now becoming more closely focused on Work-life
balance literature (Gragnano, Simbula, & Miglioretti, 2020) many individuals try
to seek equilibrium in their management between life/work and organisation are
now seeking to understand the activities needed to develop their employees in order
to deliver a successful policies and programs. Hence, this study is conducted to
explore the relationship between technology and work-life balance in the modern-
day working adults in Malaysia.
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1.3 Research Objectives
1.3.1 General Objective
The goal of this study is to determine whether there is a relationship between

the Overload (24/7 availability), psychological detachment, and Work-Life
Balance.
1.3.2 Specific Objectives
• To examine the relationship between overload (24/7 availability) and

work-life balance.
• To examine the relationship between psychological detachment and
work-life balance.
1.4 Research Questions
• How different component like overload impact on the work-life balance?

• How different component like psychological detachment impact on the
work-life balance?
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1.5 Significance of Study
For this study, various individuals or companies in Malaysia can be benefited, as

the research would further assist on individuals to understand the importance of
work-life balance and helping them to make developments in improving their
lifestyle and working environment. For companies, this research can help them in
further developing better policies within the company that can benefit the
employees, as better balance between work and life can improve productivity, hence
which may improve the company’s performance in the long run.
The primary piece of legislation governing the relationship between an employer

and an employee is the Employment Act (EA) 1995. This law lays out the minimum
requirements for pay, working conditions, leave, and layoff and termination
benefits. The Act limits the number of hours that may be worked each day to eight,
with a weekly maximum of 48. However, according to research conducted in 40
major cities, Kuala Lumpur is ranked 2nd for the most overworked cities with 22%
of the total workforce located in the city have work more than 48 hours per week
(Kisi, 2019)
Figure 1.1 Most Overworked Cities Worldwide
For instance, research findings from Alwis and Hernvall (2021) send a very
important message to many professionals in the human resource field, showing that
flexible arrangements like working from home should be executed cautiously since
not all staff members are ready to accept such policy initiatives even though they
are proven to be effective.
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Besides, according to Vlacic (2013), organisations that have supportive cultures and
policies that will allow employees to use technology insides working hours have
shown to have improved productivity and flexibility in work.
1.6 Chapter Layout
The following chapters will be addressed in this study:
The research problems and objectives, followed by research questions, and the
significance of the research will all be fully discussed in Chapter 1 after a brief
overview on the research background of the topic.
Chapter 2 will be dealing with the literature review of the research topic, in this
chapter, it will be consisting of the underlying theories, review of the variables,
conceptual framework and lastly will be the hypotheses development for the
research.
The methodology employed in this study will be covered in Chapter 3; as a result,

this chapter will outline the research design, sample design, data collecting
techniques, and suggested tool for data analysis.
The study of the data that is significant to the research issue and the hypotheses are
the main topics of Chapter 4. This chapter will detail the data analysis's findings.
Chapter 5 will draw up the conclusion and the summary of the research findings. In
this chapter, it consists of discussion on the major findings, implication of the study,
limitations of the study, and lastly, recommendations will be given for future
research.
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1.7 Conclusion
The research background, research problem, research objectives and research

question are being discussed in the beginning of this chapter, followed by the
research significance at the end of the chapter. Moving on to the next chapter will
further assess on the literature that are related to this study.
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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Introduction
The previous chapter highlighted about the research background, research problems,
research objectives, research question and significance of the study. In this chapter,
there will be a discussion on the theory that will be applied in this study, followed
by the review of the variables from previous studies and lastly, the development of
the hypotheses.
2.1 Theorical Review
2.1.1 Boundary Theory
This theory provides a theoretical framework in understanding how people manage

their boundaries between their roles in work and non-work (Rothbard N. P., 2005).
As the theory assumes that every people have their own roles in their lives, and
hence they create mental boundaries to differentiate their life-roles and manage
them accordingly (Ashforth, Kreiner, & Fugate, 2000). It also focused on the deep
meanings of work and life that is assigned to people (Nippert-Eng, 2008). The core
belief of this theory is that boundaries are actively developed by individuals around
both their personal life and work life domains, furthermore, these domains vary in
strength (Bogaerts, Cooman, & Gieter, 2018).
In this literature, there are two strategies that are commonly accepted, which are
segmenting and integrating (Matthews, RA, Barnes-Farrell, JL, & Bulger, CA,
2010). Individuals who like to keep a distance between work and life domains are
known as segmenters while those who prefer to keep all their work and life domains
knitted together are known as integrators (Piszczek & Berg, 2014). When compared
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to these two strategies, boundaries are much clearer when roles or domains are
segmented while role or domains changes are easier when each of the roles and
domains are integrated (Field & Chan, 2018).
Nevertheless, according to Descrochers (2005), when roles are highly integrated,

role blurring occurs, it is the difficulty or confusion that happened to an individual
in distinguishing between work from non-work roles. Hence, roles can be arranged
according to a continuum, where the role boundaries are strict and impermeable,
these roles are segmented, while roles are integrated when the role boundaries are
fluid and changeable (Ashforth, Kreiner, & Fugate, 2000).
However, study from Hyland and Prottas (2013) have found that permeability is
asymmetrical, which means that the work demands have a habit of spilling over to
other non-work domains, hence they concluded where individuals with higher
levels of segmentation will experience challenges when crossing to other
boundaries while those with higher levels of integration will experience challenges
when creating and preserving the boundaries.
Besides, organizational factors have proven to have substantial influence on the

employees’ capability to act based on their preference in boundary management
(Foucreault, Malaterre, & Menard, 2016). Regardless of their choice for boundary
management, employees may have to adjust to an organisational culture (i.e.,
organisational practises and conventions and regulations) that may promote or
prohibit work-nonwork division or integration (Bogaerts, Cooman, & Gieter, 2018).
In previous studies conducted, it has found that when integration is applied in
organizational culture and practices, just to appeal employees that are desiring
integration, it has leads to employees that are desiring for segmentation feel less job
satisfaction and uncommitted to the organization (Rothbard, Phillips, & Dumas,
2005). In general, when a workplace environment that meets the employees’
preference in boundary management is found to have reduced conflict in work-life
and stress (Chen, Powell, & Greenhaus, 2009), while also improved satisfaction in
their job, increased organizational commitment (Rothbard, Phillips, & Dumas, 2005)
and better mental health (Edwards & Rothbard, 1999).
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The impact of these boundary management strategies has received many attentions
from scholars and researchers especially on the work/non-work interface (Allen,
Cho, & Meier, 2014). However, despite the increase in academic interest, there are
still some disagreements, as many researchers argue about whether having higher
levels of segmentation or integration is helpful in balancing multiple roles or it may
lead to more conflict (McNall, Scott, & Nicklin, 2015).
2.2 Empirical Review
2.2.1 Work-life Balance
Work-life Balance is defined as an achievement of experiences in all aspects of life

that will require various types of resources that spread across all the domains, the
resources like time, energy, and commitment (Kirchmeyer, 2000). The work-life
balance is often compared to another term known as work-family balance; however,
this term usually incorporates other domains that an individual will take up, other
domains like community, social, leisure and most importantly, religious (Khateeb,
2021). Much research on work-life balance, have used work-life balance as a
measurement of a construct, and mostly relates the word “life” to commitments to
the family, therefore, many studies have presented the measurement of balance
between work and life as work/non-work balance, through the word “non-work”
referring to all the time spent on activities that are unrelated to work, hence it can
be used to refer to activities that are family or non-family related (Viswanathan,
2022).
The expectation of work-life balance is often related to the demands of

reconciliation of all affairs that relates to work and non-work in a satisfactorily
manner (Gatrell & Cooper, 2008). Hence, there are three main perspectives to
access how individuals manage their work and non-work lives: first is the direction
of influence, which either work to family or family to work, second is scope of
influence, which is either positive (enrichment) or negative (conflict), and lastly,
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third is the nature of the influence, which is boundary management or spillover

(Shockley, Shen, & Johnson, 2018). However, according to Brough and Kalliath
(2009), have stated that there is no precise explanation for this concept, and other
researchers have explained that in work-life balance, the concept of work and non-
work matters should not be categorized as a competing priority instead be seen as a
complementary element in living a full life (Manfredi & Holliday, 2004). For
Clark’s (2000) point of view, he suggests that the meaning of work-life balance is
that when an individual is excelling both at work and home without any issues or
conflict.
Though many working individuals are frequently met with problems when
accomplishing balance and satisfaction demands from work and life (Casper, Vaziri,
Wayne, DeHauw, & Greenhaus, 2018). Besides, pressures and obligations given
from work can negatively affects non-work or life domains, for example personal
time, commitments to family and social engagement (Gisler, et al., 2018).
Individuals who exceed their limit by the demands from work, they often experience
a job burnout which is in a state of mental exhaustion (Schaufeli, Bakker, & Van
Rhenen, 2009). This will lead to a decrease of satisfaction in life and also having
job turnover intentions (Demerouti, Bakker, Nachreiner, & Schaufeli, 2001).
According to Goode (1960), the work-life interface has mostly focused on how
participation in multiple roles in life having can exhausts all the personal resources
(i.e., time, energy, and commitment) and increases stress to individuals. While other
researchers say otherwise, for example, from the perspective of Sieber (1974),
through the adoption of a role expansion viewpoint, what he suggests is the total
opposite of Goode, the participation of multiple roles in life can achieve more
rewards, satisfaction, growth, and energy.
As Krichmeyer (2000) have stated that when an individual’s resources like time,
energy, and commitment, is evenly distributed throughout all life roles then balance
in work and life can be achieved. In the meantime, studies conducted by Marks and
MacDermid (1996) have explained role balance as when an individual is fully
involved in across all life roles.
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2.2.2 Overload (24/7 Availability)
According to Crary (2014), the meaning of 24/7 availability means an

“announcement of a time without time” and he further state that it also indicates a
cycle of a never-ending work. Furthermore, many studies have proven that the days
where a workplace is confined in a designated hours are fading fast for many
professional, managers and particularly white-collar workers (Felstead, 2012). In
the view of Landy and Conte (2013), 24/7 availability is an important component
in the workforce, as it is considered as a necessity, especially in the essential
services, that there a need to be fully functional and ready for 24 hours a day, 7 days
a week.
In the context of economics together with the growing importance of ICTs, many
organizations have started to become more demanding, but at the same time, they
are also becoming more flexible with their employees, and further encouraging
them to work from home, implementing flexi work hours, and telecommuting
(Mellner, Aronsson, & Kecklund, 2014). Nevertheless, the encouragement of
flexibility involves a set of volatility for the employees, as their working
environment becoming more fluid and less organized (Allvin, Aronsson, Hagström,
Johansson, & Lundberg, 2011).
To satisfy the demands from the organizations, many employees arrive early, leave
late, work overtime, working during weekends and tied to their mobile devices even
during non-work time, in addition, those who unable or reluctant to give replies,
will mostly get penalized (Reid & Ramarajan, 2016).
Furthermore, this will lead to overload of work. It is defined where the employees
are given more tasks to do in a specified period (Caplan, 1999). If an employee is
experiencing work overload, then there will be a decrease in efficiency and
effectiveness while increasing the chances of boredom or exhaustion from work
(Ahuja, Chudoba, Kacmar, McKnight, & George, 2006). According to a study, it is
proven that workload and burnout, shares a positive relationship (Aniţei, Chraif, &
Ioniţă, 2015). While Moore (2000), stated that the strongest factor that contribute
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towards exhaustion is overload from work. Hence, in the presence of work overload,
it increases strain, such as exhaustion, which will further lead to undesirable
outcomes from the employees, like decrease in productivity (Bakker, Demerouti, &
Schaufeli, 2005).
However, 24/7 availability are not just driven by the organization, but employees
themselves. According to Holmgren (2015), human nature often stimulates
employees to be ambitious and to aim for things that are higher and better. Hence,
employees are willing to sacrifice their time, commitment, and energy to earn more
income or getting promotion from the organisation.
As the growth in ICTs is creating more difficulties for many employees to have a
pause from 24/7 availability, hence having a break from work and taking vacations
is just as important, this is to prevent employees to experience any further
exhaustion and burnout, while also reducing the risk of any health problems that
may arise (Fritz, Yankelevich, Zarubin, & Barger, 2010).
2.2.3 Psychological Detachment
According to Etzion (1998), the concept of detachment is described as “the

individual’s sense of being away from the work situation”. Eden (2001) further
stated that, psychological detachment from work happens when an individual is not
thinking about work during non-work time. While Sonnentag (2005), implies that
the psychological detachment is leaving all the work behind and mentally switch
off in daily life. Henceforth, psychological detachment is a state of mind that is
considered as a mental disconnection from an individual’s work life.
For example, when an employee is fully detached from work, they will not engage
in work related phone calls or messages at home and will refrain from any activities
that is work related, hence, they will stop thinking of any problems or opportunities
related to work (Sonnentag & Bayer, 2005).
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Many studies have demonstrated that it is beneficial for the employees to

psychological detach from their work during afterwork hours, as it has shown that
there are significant improvements in the various aspects of job performance as well
as the well-being of the employee (Sonnentag S. , 2012). As mentally switching off
from work during afterwork hours, is crucial for an individual’s recovery process
from stress and recharging their mental batteries to prepare themselves for the next
day (Sanz-Vergel, Demerouti, Bakker, & Moreno-Jimenez, 2011).
When experiencing a high demand from work, the employee’s physical and
psychological systems are activated to collect the amount of energy that are needed
to meet the job demands (McEwen, 1998). While, during the end of the working
day, all jobs demand will be relief, hence, the employee’s physical and
psychological systems will be deactivated, further reducing the stress levels, then
the recovery process will happen (Craig & Cooper, 1992).
Hence, psychological detachment from job expectations allows individuals to settle

down and replenish their emotional and energetic resources, lack of detachment, on
the other hand, suggests that one does not fully experience release from work
pressures as one is still preoccupied with work-related ideas (Sonnentag, Binnewies,
& Mojza, 2010). Being preoccupied with work-related ideas during off-work hours
depletes energy and negatively impacts well-being in the long run.
This is known as the “recovery paradox” (Sonnentag S. , 2018) as people struggle

with “leaving work at work” when they are faced with high job expectations, that
is, when they would most need to detach (Steed, Swider, Keem, & Liu, 2019).
However, no healing can occur if strain levels stay high after employment pressures
have been eliminated, and momentarily excessive strain levels may grow into more
significant issues (McEwen, 1998).
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2.3 Conceptual Framework
Figure 2.1 Conceptual Framework for the proposed study
Psychological
Detachment
Work-Life Balance
Overload
(24/7 Availability)
2.4 Hypothesis Development
Hypothesis 1: There is a significant relationship between overload (24/7

Availability) in workplace and work-life balance under the use of technology
Hypothesis 2: There is a significant relationship between psychological detachment

from workplace and work-life balance under the use of technology
2.5 Conclusion
This chapter has covered on the review of the theoretical and empirical findings that
have been used to develop the conceptual framework and hypotheses of this study
as well as on the theoretical and empirical findings. In the next chapter, it will cover
on the research design, the design of the sample, and data analysis for the study will
be covered in the following chapter.
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CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.0 Introduction
This study's techniques and procedures will be the major topic of discussion;
research methodology will include the research design, the selected target
population, data collecting, the instrument used for data collection, and lastly, the
manner by which the data will be processed.
3.1 Research Design
The specific plan for acquiring and analysing data and information based on the
study question and objectives is known as the research design. The selection of a
research design is guided by the purpose of the research so that the problems stated
in the previous chapter can be solved. For this study, a survey method will be
applied to collect data needed to measure the influence of technology availability
and its usage on the balance between work and life.
Hence, questionnaires will be used in this study. As this study involves all of the
variables and examine the relationship, therefore, a quantitative research method is
used because it collects numerical data to summarize the results and can validate
the relationships of between overload (24/7 availability), and psychological
detachment on the balance between work and non-work.
Besides, online questionnaires will be used for this study, as it is cost saving, less
time consuming and easier to reach to the target population. The Socio-
demographics variables that will be used in this study were age, gender, marital
status, dependents, and lastly, work experience, besides there will also be questions
asked on technological availability and their usage.
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3.2 Target Population
Target population is a group of people whose intervention intends to study and draw
conclusion from. Consequently, in order to adequately understand the correlation
between the independent and dependent variables, the data will be collected from
Malaysians that are aged 18 years and above with working experience. Data will be
collected from all the working adults that are currently working in any industry.
In this study, the convenience sampling technique will be used when selecting the
sample to participate in the study. According to Sousa, Zauszniewski, & Musil
(2004), researchers may assess convenience samples' representativeness using
certain statistical considerations, allowing them to make accurate statistical
inferences about the population.
3.3 Data Collection and Measurement
In order to obtain comprehensive and relevant data, data collection is the systematic
process of gathering and analysing information from a range of sources. The
primary data is being used in this study's data collecting. Primary data are initial
research findings or unprocessed data that have not undergone any interpretation or
formal announcements. The most reliable information is always derived from
primary sources since it has not been altered by a third party. In this study,
questionnaires will be given in Google form, and all the questionnaires obtained
this time will constitute the primary data of this research. This is a quick and
efficient technique since it can quickly gather a lot of data and information relevant
to the study. Besides, primary data can also provide researchers with up-to-date
information that is extremely accurate. The first part of the questionnaire is to
collect the socio-demographic data such as age, gender, marital status, dependents,
work experience and technological availability, and their usage. Then followed by
the second part, which consists of questions that are related to the topic of this study
such as work/non-work balance, overload (24/7 availability) and psychological
detachment.
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3.4 Research Instrument
To prove the hypothesis, a set of questionnaires is developed and given to selected

target population. The questionnaire is consisting of components that may affect the
balance between work and life in the working adults in the construction industry.
The development of the questionnaire is based on the previously used
questionnaires by the past literatures on this topic. The scale used to collect the data
in the questionnaire is the Likert scales. The scale was developed to assess "attitude"
in a way that is recognised and supported by science (McLeod, 2019). An attitude
is a preferred course of action or response in a given situation that is based on a
structure of beliefs and ideas that is relatively persistent and developed via social
interactions (Park, 2013). Variation of the scale was used in this research, is a 5-
point scale which ranges from the highest (Strongly agree) to lowest (Strongly
disagree).
3.5 Method of Data Analysis
A collection of techniques known as data analysis are used to identify and analyse
information about the data level to the desired information output. Then uses
descriptive statistics to analyse categorical and continuous data and inferential
statistics to analyse the relationships among variables or to assess the strength of a
relationship. Then the outcome will be used to conclude the hypotheses. Hence,
Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) will be used in this study to analyse
the data and assess the research topics. The outcomes will then be utilised to support
the two study hypotheses. Thus, descriptive analysis was used to summarise the
findings, then the hypotheses will be tested by the correlation analysis and single
linear regression in this study.
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3.5.1 Descriptive Analysis
To explain fundamental aspects like the distribution of the data sample, descriptive
analysis converts raw data into a summary of the data's values. Descriptive research
would make it simpler to understand and explain data from respondents. The
straightforward and widely used methods employed in this descriptive study include
average calculation, frequency distribution analysis, and percentage distribution
analysis. The findings of the fundamental feature of the data may be obtained using
the SPSS performance.
3.5.2 Test of Reliability
This study employed Cronbach's Alpha to assess the instrument's dependability. It

assessed the instrument's internal consistency and measurement precision. The
validity of the questionnaire responses and the consistency of the study sample's
responses are examined using Cronbach's Alpha. A value of less than 0.6 for
Cronbach's Alpha appears poor (Bonett & Wright, 2015). However, a value of
between 0.7-0.9 is considered acceptable (Skovholt et al, 2016). Hence, all variables
must be able achieve the internal consistency reliability in order to obtain results
that are relevant to the study.
3.5.3 Pearson Correlation Coefficient
This correlation method gauges how closely the independent variable and
dependent variable are related, hence, the independent variables, overload (24/7
availability) and psychological detachment, and the dependent variable, work-life
balance will be used to measure the strength of the relationship between them. It is
recommended to use this method to calculate the strength of the association between
these variables when conducting statistical tests between them. The correlation
coefficient formula determines how the variables are related. It gives back values
in the range of -1 and 1. If the value is near 0, then the relationship is weak. If it is
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closer to 1, then there is a very strong relationship. The closer the value is to -1, the
more negatively correlated the variables are with one another.
3.5.4 Single Linear Regression
This linear regression technique was used in this study to determine whether the
independent variables overload (24/7 availability) and psychological detachment,
and will have an effect on dependent variable, work-life balance. The reason to use
this technique is due to the single independent and dependent variable where this
analysis will assume that there is a direct relationship between the variables
(Sullivan, 2000). Furthermore, this method is commonly used to test the
relationship between two variables. It seeks to describe the magnitude of the
relationship as well as the direction in which it exists between any two variables
being examined. Moreover, this technique used to test the significant of the effect
of the independent variables to the dependent variables. Hence, the results of the
analysis will measure the impact on the dependent variables and, when a significant
effect is found, the effects of other independent variables can be assessed.
3.6 Conclusion
The development of this methodology allows this study to carry out without any
issue. As the inputs gives a layout to of the processes and techniques that will be
applied when moving further into the study.
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CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS
4.0 Introduction
In this chapter, discussions of the statistical analysis of study variables and

outcomes of the research will be interpreted. The discussions will be on data
screening, validity, and reliability tests. To further address the research questions,
statistical analysis which includes, descriptive analysis, correlations, and
regressions analysis, are applied in the study.
4.1 Samling Results
4.1.1 Demographics
Before moving on to the discussions on the analysis of the data, the demographics
data have to be shown and describe accordingly to the population of the respondents.
These data are crucial in understanding the thoughts of the respondents. In table 4.1,
it indicates the percentage of the population and the response rate of the
questionnaires that are given out. The questionnaires are distributed through social
media platforms like, Facebook, and a total of 106 questionnaire are collected in
the span of 2 weeks. As all of the questionnaires are usable, thus the response rate
from the respondents is at a 100%.
Table 4.1 Summary of respondents’ response rate

Questionnaire administered 106
Total number of responses 106
Response rate 100%
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Tables 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5 and 4.6 below show the demographics profiles of the
respondents regarding their age, gender, marital status, dependents, and work
experience. The data were collected to help to solve the interpretation of the data
analysis in this study. Summaries of the demographics data that are collected
through online are shown below.
Table 4.2 Table of Respondents (Age)

Age Frequency Valid (%)
18-21 26 25
22-25 51 48
26-30 11 10
>31 18 17
Total 106 100
Figure 4.1 Pie Chart of Respondents (Age)
Age
17%
25%
10%
48%
18-21 22-25 26-30 >31
Most of the respondents are aged between 22 to 25 years accumulating 51 among

106 responses, followed by 26 respondents that are aged between 18 to 21 years
(25%), only about 10% of the respondents are aged between 26 to 30 years, making
it the lowest in the study while, 17% of the respondents are more than 31 years of
age.
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Table 4.3 Table of Respondents (Gender)

Gender Frequency Valid (%)
Male 36 34
Female 70 66
Total 106 100
Figure 4.2 Pie Chart of Respondents (Gender)
Gender
34%
66%
Male Female
For gender, most of the respondents are female accumulating 70 out of 106 of the
total responses making them the highest when compared to the male is only 36 out
of the total 106 responses.
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Table 4.4 Table of Respondents (Marital Status)

Marital Status Frequency Valid (%)
Single 78 74
Married 28 26
Total 106 100
Figure 4.3 Pie Chart of Respondents (Marital Status)
Marital Status
26%
74%
Married Single
According to the table, most of the respondents are single with a total of 78 out of
106 responses, while only 28 of the respondents are married.
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Table 4.5 Table of Respondents (Dependents)

Dependents Frequency Valid (%)
Yes 17 16
No 89 84
Total 106 100
Figure 4.4 Pie Chart of Respondents (Dependents)
Dependents
16%
84%
Yes No
The results states that most of the respondents are yet to have any dependents
accumulating 84% of the responses, while 17% of the respondents have children in
their household.
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Table 4.6 Table of Respondent (Work Experience)

Work experience Frequency Valid (%)
< 5 years 77 73
5 - 15 years 16 15
> 15 years 13 12
Total 106 100
Figure 4.5 Pie Chart of Respondents (Work Experience)
Work Experience
12%
15%
73%
< 5 Years 5 - 15 Years > 15 Years
Most of the respondents have less than 5 years of work experience, with 77
responses out of the 106 which accumulates 73%, while the least number of
respondents is those with more than 15 years of work experience, only accumulating
12% of the total responses. Whereas those with 5 to 15 years of work experience
only receive 16 responses.
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4.1.2 Technology
Besides demographic, questions based on technology and their usage are asked, as
these data can be crucial to describing the analysis of the research. Table 4.7, 4.8,
4.9, 4.10, 4.11, 4.12 and 4.13 below shows the results of the technology availability
and their usage of the respondents, regarding their, mobile, other devices, online
communication tools, social media, cloud storage, online tools, and emails.
Table 4.7 Table of Respondent (Mobile)

Mobile Frequency Valid (%)
Yes, it is the only one I
4 4
am using
Yes, beside business one
20 19
I have personal one also
No, I use my personal
48 45
one for work
No, I don’t need such a
13 12
device for my work
No, I bought one on my
21 20
own
Total 106 100
Most of the respondents, stated that they use their own personal mobile device to
work with 48 responses out of the 106, followed by 21 respondents who brought
one on their own and 20 of the respondents uses more than one mobile with one for
business purposes and one for personal uses. Besides 13 respondents don’t need
their mobile for their work while only 4 respondents have companies provide them
with the mobile device for work.
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Table 4.8 Table of Respondent (Other Device)

Other Devices Frequency Valid (%)
Yes, it is the only one I am using 13 12
Yes, beside business one I have personal one also 40 38
No, I use my personal one for work 25 24
No, I don’t need such a device for my work 10 9
No, I bought one on my own 18 17
Total 106 100
For this table, it asks about whether their company provide them other devices for
work, such as laptops and tablets. Hence, 40 of the respondents said the company
have provided them, also they have devices for personal use, and 25 respondents
uses their own personal devices to work. Only 18 of the respondents, personally
brought the devices just for work. Besides, 13 of the respondents only uses the
device that is provided by the company they work in., while only 10 respondents
stated that they don’t need such devices for their work
Table 4.9 Table of Respondent (Online Communications Tools)

Online Communication tools Frequency Valid (%)
Yes, for business purposes only 61 58
Yes, for all purposes 32 30
No 12 11
I do not have any account 1 1
Total 106 100
This table enquires the respondents about whether the company permits them to use
online communication tools like Microsoft Teams and Zoom Meetings. Hence, a
total of 61 respondents out of 106 stated that they use this sort of tools only for
business purposes only, 32 respondents use it for all purposes, and 12 respondents
doesn’t need to use these online communication tools for their work at all, while
only 1 respondent doesn’t have any accounts on any online communications tools.
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Table 4.10 Table of Respondent (Social Networks)

Social Networks Frequency Valid Frequency Valid (%)
(%)
Yes 69 65 79 74
No 36 34 26 25
I do not have any account 1 1 1 1
Total 106 100 106 100
For this table, it enquires about the social media, like Facebook or Twitter, and the
usage in the workplace. Hence, the table shows that 69 of the respondents says that
their employers allow them to use social networks during working hours. While 79
of the respondents use social networks during working hours, hence about 13
respondents use social networks regardless of their employers’ permission.
Table 4.11 Table of Respondent (Cloud Storage)

Cloud Storage Frequency Valid (%)
Yes 74 70
No 23 22
I do not have any account 9 8
Total 106 100
Usage Frequency Valid (%)
Yes, for private purposes only 16 15
Yes, for private and business purposes 52 49
No, I don’t use 13 12
Total 106 100
For this table, it enquires about the availability of cloud storage, like Google Drive
and Dropbox, in the respondents’ workplace and their usage. The result is that 70%
of the respondents stated that their workplace does provide these services and most
of the respondents (49%) use these services for both business and personal purposes.
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Table 4.12 Table of Respondent (Online Tools)

Online Tools Frequency Valid (%)
Yes 70 66
No 22 21
It doesn’t matter which tools we use 14 13
Total 106 100
Usage of Online Tools Frequency Valid (%)
Yes, for private purposes only 16 15
Yes, for private and business purposes 61 58
No, I don’t use 5 5
No, I am not familiar with such tools 2 2
Total 106 100
In this table, it shows the accessibility of online tools, like Gmail, Google Docs, etc,
in the respondents’ workplace and their usage. It shows that most of the respondents
(66%) have access to the possibility of using these online tools in their workplace
and their usage is mostly for personal and business purposes (58%).
Table 4.13 Table of Respondent (E-mail)

Company Email Frequency Valid (%)
Yes 78 74
No 28 26
Total 106 100
Personal Email Frequency Valid (%)
Yes 40 38
No 66 62
Total 106 100
Lastly, for this table, it enquires about the use of e-mail in the respondents’ working
environment, with 78 out of 106 respondents stated that their employers provide
them a business e-mail address to use while most of the respondents (62%) do not
use their personal e-mail address for any business-related purposes.
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4.2 Reliability Test
Through the SPSS, a reliability test was carried out to examine the dependability of
each of the chosen variables. Examining the consistency of the scales used in this
study is the goal of this test. The Cronbach's Alpha coefficient is used to verify this
as a result. Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient typically falls between 0 and 1.
How close Cronbach's alpha coefficient is to 1.0 is closely connected with the
internal dependability of the scale's items. When an item on the scale has an alpha
coefficient of higher than 0.7, this is when the study's reliability is to be evaluated.
The Cronbach's Alpha of each pertinent variable utilised in this investigation is
displayed in Table 4.14 below. All the variables are at 0.8 and above, which shows
the variables used for this study have an excellent consistency. The lowest
Cronbach’s Alpha value is at 0.830 from psychological detachment with 0.830
while the highest is the overload (24/7 Availability) with 0.923.
Table 4.14 Reliability Test for Variables

Variables Number of items Cronbach’s Alpha
Overload (24/7 Availability) 29 0.923
Psychological Detachment 4 0.830
Work-Life Balance 3 0.845
4.3 Descriptive Analysis
4.3.1 Mean and Standard Deviations
The total amount of samples collected in this study is from 106 respondents. The
following Table 4.15 report the mean and standard deviations of all the relevant
variables used in this study. All the variables have means that are higher than 3.0.
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Table 4.15 Mean and Standard Deviation of Variables

Variables Mean Standard Deviation
Overload (24/7 Availability 3.4502 0.63030
Psychological Detachment 3.5448 0.91469
Work-Life Balance 3.6132 0.83715
4.4 Correlation Analysis
In order to determine the strength of the relationship between the study variables, a
correlation analysis is conducted through SPSS. It is simple to miss correlation's
presumptions. According to Tabachnick and Fidell (2001), to use correlations, there
are certain assumptions or conditions to be met. Hence, the following assumption
are created, the level of measurement, refers to the measurement used between the
two variables should be in ratio scale or interval scale.
4.4.1 Correlation among Study Variables
The one value or number that indicates a connection between the two variables used
in this study is known as a correlation coefficient. The Pearson's correlation
coefficient r is the formula used to determine this. Based on three assumptions, the
Pearson's correlation coefficient determines a link between the two variables. These
include a linear relationship, independent variables, and normally distributed
variables. The range of a correlation coefficient's value is from -1 to +1. A
correlation coefficient of a positive 1 indicates that two variables are related in a
positive way, a correlation coefficient of negative 1 indicates that correlation
between two variables in some kind of negative way, and a correlation coefficient
of 0 indicates that there is no linear association between the independent variables
and the dependent variable under the research study. Hemphill (2003) suggested the
guidelines on measuring the effect sizes of the correlation coefficients: small = r
value less than 0.20, medium = r value between 0.20 to 0.30, and large = r value
more than 0.30. Hence, the results of the correlations analysis in this study shows a
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positive correlation as the range of the absolute value is between 0.060 to 0.390.
Work-life balance was found to have a large positive correlation with Psychological
Detachment (r = 0.390, p = <0.001) while Overload (r = 0.060, p = 0.544) have a
small positive correlation with work-life balance. The Table 4.16 below shows the
test results of the correlation analysis.
Table 4.16 Correlation Test for the variables

Overload Psychological Work-Life
(24/7 Detachment Balance
Availability)
Overload Pearson 1 0.039 0.060
(24/7 Correlation
Availability) Sig. 0.690 0.544
N 106 106 106
Psychological Pearson 0.039 1 .390**
Detachment Correlation
Sig. 0.690 <0.001
N 106 106 106
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
4.5 Regression Analysis
4.5.1 Linear Regression
It is impossible to overstate the importance of regression analysis in data science:

forecasting a continuous target is a challenge that is prevalent conceptually as well
as practically. The theoretical underpinnings of regression cover a variety of topics
that reveal hidden relationships in the data and alternate viewpoints that go as far
as being purely hypothetical, such as the interpretation of all statistical learning as
a specific type of regression (Berk, 2020). In its original formulation, R-squared or
r², Wright (1921) first established the concept, which quantifies the amount of
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variation that the independent factors contribute to the dependent variable. To

evaluate how the regression model describes the study's dataset, R-squared is
typically utilised. A higher r-squared often indicates that the model does a better
job of describing the variability. However, for this study, the r² is only at 0.154,
hence this indicates that there are numerous factors or variables affect the statistical
measure's quality. The Table 4.17 below shows the model summary.
Table 4.17 Model Summary

Model R R Square Adjusted R Std. Error of
Square the Estimate
1 .392a 0.154 0.137 0.77749
a. Predictors: (Constant), PH, OL
4.5.2 Hypothesis Testing
The next section will outline the conclusions of the association between the
independent factors, overload and psychological detachment, and the dependent
variable, work-life balance, in order to meet the study objectives outlined in Chapter
One and the hypothesis generated in Chapter Two.
H1: The overload (24/7 Availability) in workplace will have an impact in work-life
balance under the use of technology.
H2: The psychological detachment from workplace will have an impact in work-
life balance under the use of technology.
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Table 4.18 Coefficients

Unstandardized Standardized
t Sig.
Coefficients Coefficients
R Std.
B Beta
Square Error
(Constant) 2.151 0.505 4.256 <0.001
Overload 0.004 0.059 0.120 0.044 0.489 0.626
Psychological 0.152 0.355 0.083 0.388 4.278 <0.001
Detachment
a. Dependent
Variable: WL
In the Table 4.18, it shows that the significant levels of both variables. The
significant levels at which a P-value that is less than or equivalent to 0.01 is
regarded as statistically significant is known as the significance threshold for a
certain hypothesis test. This is an indication of the acceptable level of inaccuracy or
the likelihood of rejecting a hypothesis that is really true. To assess H1, overload
relationship to work-life balance, were found to be insignificant at p = 0.626, and
contributing just 0.4 % of the variance in work-life balance. Through the use of this
method, it can be said that Overload (24/7 Availability) is not significantly
correlated to work-life balance (B = 0.059; t = 0.489; p = 0.626), hence H1 is
rejected. While for H2, psychological detachment relationship with work-life were
found to be significant at p<0.001 and contributing 15.2% of the variance in work-
life balance. Thus, the results revealed that psychological detachment is positively
and significantly correlated to work-life balance (B = 0.355; t = 4.278; p<0.001).
Therefore, H2 was accepted.
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4.6 Conclusion
Throughout this chapter, the data was analyzed using spss version 29.0, and the
findings were examined to see if they supported the hypothesis put forward in
Chapter Two. The conclusions from Chapter Four will be discussed in Chapter 5,
along with the theories' ramifications and suggestions for further research. The
results of the hypothesis test performed in this chapter are summarised in Table 4.19
below.
Table 4.19 Summary of Hypothesis Tests

No. Hypothesis Results
1 H1: The overload (24/7 Availability) in workplace Rejected
will have an impact in work-life balance under the
use of technology.
2 H2: The psychological detachment from workplace Accepted
will have an impact in work-life balance under the
use of technology.
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CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
5.0 Introduction
In this chapter, there will be a discussion on the analysed results from Chapter 4.
Key findings and results of the hypothesis will be thoroughly discussed.
Implications, limitations, and also recommendations for future research are so
presented in this chapter. In the linear regression analysis results only shows that
one independent variable, psychological detachment, have an impact in the
dependent variable, work-life balance.
5.1 Discussion of Findings
The findings of this study concern on the impact of different variables on the
balance between work and life of working adults in Malaysia. Hence, this study has
laid down the fundamentals for future research on the work-life balance of the
working population in Malaysia.
Technology's productivity and flexibility give benefits and drawbacks on our work-
life balance are both possible. Working adults who are aware that increased
flexibility and improved productivity might lead to work overload will undoubtedly
have negative effects for work-life balance. Besides, employees will experience
significant positive effects on work-life balance if job overload does not exist while
retaining the same level of productivity and flexibility. However, as job demands
rise in the workplace, people working in organisations will choose to spend less
time on their careers (Okurame, 2012). Employees with heavier workloads are
much more likely to regard their work-life balance as being less favourable, claims
Kumarasamy (2015). Evidence shows that extreme job stress might exhaust
employees' limited resources, leaving them with less to deal with obligations or
demands from their personal lives (Karatepe, 2013). Unfortunately, in this study
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overload does not have any significant relationship with work-life balance as it does
not align with past studies reported by Poulose (2018), Kumarasamy (2015), and
Verick (2007), as they have claimed that employees with greater workloads are
prone to having lower perceive balance between work and life.
The results of the study's examination of the relationship between psychological

detachment and work-life balance were encouraging, and it was found that there is
a strong connection between the two. Using the boundary theory, it can conclude
that working adults in Malaysia are integrators as they failed to fully detach from
work even after working hours. As stated by Piszczek and Berg (2014), these people
prefer to keep their work and life boundaries closely knitted together without a clear
line that separates both the boundaries.
According to Hassan (2014), he asserted that the effectiveness of work-life balance

depends on how detached an individual keeps themselves from their workplace
during non-working hours. This result backs up other research's assertions (Aziz et
al., 2013; Robinson, 2001) that individuals who are deeply committed to their job
may overlook other important aspects of their lives, which might make it difficult
to achieve a balance between work and life. The inclination for these individuals to
do their work or think about their job tasks regardless of where they are is another
factor (McMillan et al., 2001). According to Tejero (2021), stress and sleep were
significantly impacted by psychological detachment, which in turn had an effect on
productivity and work-life balance. Hence, when a person is unable to mentally
separate themselves from their profession, their stress level increases, influencing
their thoughts about their job are continually present from getting up till going to
bed, thus affecting work-life balance. According to a survey conducted in 40 major
cities worldwide, Kuala Lumpur is rank second as the most overworked city.
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5.2 Implications of the Study
The findings of this study highlight the significance importance of work-life

balance. Therefore, human resource departments should seek to implement a
segmentation company culture that promotes work-life balance. Organizations
should have a supportive culture and policies that allow employees to use
technology to increase productivity and flexibility without interfering with their
personal lives. Like how work-life balance practices are intentional organizational
changes in programs or corporate culture that are aimed to minimize work-life
conflict and encourage staff to be more effective in the workplace and in other roles.
Policies are incentives that give the employee the flexibility to manage
their lives outside of work. They enable "the sense of physiological wellness and
harmony in life, which helps them to concentrate more on their task and results in
higher and better performance in their work.
Additionally, it has been shown that companies with workers who have a better
work-life balance may guarantee that such workers will make substantial
contributions to their organisations' success and growth (Poulose and Sudarsan,
2017). According to the literature, maintaining a good work-life balance and
assuring greater organisational outcomes may be achieved through informal work
and family assistance, which is sometimes more successful than other formal
policies or general support (Ronda et al., 2016). Additionally, other studies (Eagly
et al., 2010; Puetz, Reed & Colella, 2008) have discovered a favourable correlation
between employees' well-being and their contentment with their job and family
duties.
5.3 Limitations of the Study
The first limitation of this study is the sample data used. As the data is collected
through a convivence sampling from series of online survey respondents, the nature
of the data may introduce some bias into the outcomes of the research, as the survey
is conducted through online, the nature of the respondents is unknown and may
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introduce a level of selection bias. There may also be a generational bias in the
sample data; older workers may not have as high an uptake in technology as younger
workers. Also, those with low literacy may not respond so effectively to the survey
questions and may have higher attrition rates. Similarly, there may be an income
bias in the sample data as people with access to a greater number of resources may
be more likely to respond to the survey questions and hence have a higher response
rate. This may cause the results to be biased towards those with higher levels of
education and higher incomes.
Secondly, is that the other elements that might influence the relationship should be
included in the study. As mentioned from the previous chapter, the low amount of
r square is mostly due to external factors or elements that are affecting the
relationship of the variables. For example, the segmentations of difference culture
and preferences can be included. For instance, the segmentation culture which was
previously mentioned is defined as the assistance that firms give people who want
to use new technology to balance their lives (Yun et al., 2012). Employees can
easily separate work and personal lives or try to keep them as close to one another
as possible depending on their preferences, such as whether they prefer office work
or telecommuting, and the company culture that supports such interests.
5.4 Recommendations for Future Research
Future studies can include a bigger sample size for this study. For the current study,
the sample size of a total of 106 respondents is considered small, hence, this may
influence the accuracy of the results and does not really represent the selected
population. A sample that is bigger than necessary will be more accurate since it
will be more representative of the population, hence, at least having a sample size
of 300 will yield a more accurate and promising results for this study. Future studies
can include more qualitative interviews to gather more data to further improve the
quality of the data collected while also increasing the sample size.
Future studies can also explore for more independent variables for this study. The
current variables are not enough to explain the relationship of the dependent
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variable as shown through the r square which the current independent variables are
only able to just 15.4% of the variance hence the other 84.6 % can be explained by
other external factors influencing the dependent variable. Hence, future researchers
can include independent variables like job stress, working environment, job
satisfactions, engagement, career commitment, etc.
Lastly, focusing on specific targeted industry. As the current study, targeted

population is too broad with people working in different industries and companies,
hence it will be difficult to determine the findings based on this population, as
different companies and industries have a different set of rules and policies, hence
focusing on a certain industry or a company especially where technologies are
widely used, will yield a better result for a clearer explanation for the targeted
population.
5.5 Conclusion
As there is an increasing interest in literatures regarding work-life balance, and

many are beginning to aware of the importance of it, the management from different
companies and industries should be able to realise the importance of the work-life
balance and the increasing threats of blurring between work and life that are
happening in the workplace, as they may not only help in improving the lives of
their employees but also the possible positive factors may arise in benefiting the
organization as a whole.
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Page 50 of 64
APPENDIX
Part 1: Socio-demographics (Fender, 2010)
1. Age:
a. 18-21
b. 22-25
c. 26-30
d. >31
2. Gender:
a. Male
b. Female
3. Are you married/living with your partner?

a. Yes
b. No
4. Do you have children living with you?

a. Yes
b. No
5. Work experience:
a. <5 years
b. 5 to 15 years
c. >15 years
Page 51 of 64
Part 2: Technology availability and usage (Vlacic, 2013)
1. Does your employer provide you mobile device like Samsung or iPhone?
a. Yes, it is the only one I am using
b. Yes, beside business one I have personal one also
c. No, I use my personal one for work
d. No, I bought one on my own
e. No, I don’t need such a device for my work
2. Does your employer provide you mobile device such as laptop, tablets and other
types of PC?
a. Yes, it is the only one I am using
b. Yes, beside business one I have personal one also
c. No, I use my personal one for work
d. No, I bought one on my own
e. No, I don’t need such a device for my work
3. Does your employer allow you to use Zoom meetings or Microsoft teams during
working hours?
a. Yes, for business purposes only
b. Yes, for all purposes
c. No
d. I do not have any account
4. Does your employer allow you to use social networks such as Facebook and
Twitter during
working hours?
a. Yes
b. No
c. I do not have account on any of it
Page 52 of 64
5. Do you use any social network such as Facebook and Twitter during your
working hours?
a. Yes
b. No
c. I do not have account on any of it
6. Does organization you work for have online service for storage and exchange of
data, such as Google Drive and Dropbox?
a. Yes
b. No
c. I don’t know
7. Do you use online service for storage and exchange of data such as Google Drive
and Dropbox?
b. Yes, for private purposes only
c. Yes, for private and business purposes
d. No I don’t use
8. Does employer provide you possibility of using web tools for data processing
such as Google apps (Gmail, Google Docs, Calendar…)?
a. Yes
b. No
c. It doesn’t matter which tools we use
9. Do you use web tools for data processing such as Google Apps (Gmail, Google
Docs, Calendar…)?
b. Yes, for private purposes only
c. Yes, for private and business purposes
d. No, I am not familiar with such tools
e. No I don’t use
Page 53 of 64
10. Does employer provide you a business e-mail address?

a. Yes
b. No
11. Do you use your private email address for business purposes also?
a. Yes
b. No
Part 3: Overload (24/7 avaliability) (Geurts, et al., 2005)

Please select the best option that suits to your situation.
Assessment Scale
1 = Strongly disagree
2 = Disagree
3 = Neutral
4 = Agree
5 = Strongly agree
How often does it happen that:
1 2 3 4 5
a1. You receive emails outside working hours ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
a2. You receive calls outside working hours ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
a3. You try to be available 24/7 for business purposes ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
a4. Your employer allows you to take work home with ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
you
a5. Your employer requires you to take unfinished ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
work home with
a6. You handle your private matters during working ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
hours
a7. You handle work-related matters in private time ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
b1. You are irritable at home because your work is ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
demanding?
Page 54 of 64
b2. You find it difficult to fulfil your domestic ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞

obligations because you are constantly thinking about
your work?
b3. You have to cancel appointments with your ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
spouse/family/friends due to work-related
commitments?
b4. Your work schedule makes it difficult for you to ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
fulfil your domestic obligations?
b5. You do not have the energy to engage in leisure ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
activities with your spouse/family/friends because of
your job?
b6. You have to work so hard that you do not have ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
time for any of your hobbies?
b7. Your work obligations make it difficult for ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
you to feel relaxed at home?
b8. Your work takes up time that you would have liked ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
to spend with your spouse/family/friends
b9. The situation at home makes you so irritable that ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
you take your frustrations out on your colleagues?
b10. You have difficulty concentrating on your work ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
because you are preoccupied with domestic matters?
b11. Problems with your spouse/family/friends affect ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
your job performance?
b12. You do not feel like working because of problems ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
with your spouse/family/friends?
b13. After a pleasant working day/working week, you ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
feel more in the mood to engage in activities with your
spouse/family/friends?
b14. You fulfil your domestic obligations better ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
because of the things you have learned on your job?
b15. You are better able to keep appointments at home ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
because your job requires this as well?
Page 55 of 64
b16. You manage your time at home more efficiently ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞

as a result of the way you do your job?
b17. You are better able to interact with your ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
spouse/family/ friends as a result of the things you
have learned at work?
b18. After spending a pleasant weekend with your ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
spouse/family/friends, you have more fun in your job?
b19. You take your responsibilities at work more ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
seriously because you are required to do the same at
home?
b20. You are better able to keep appointments at work ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
because you are required to do the same at home?
b21. You manage your time at work more efficiently ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
because at home you have to do that as well?
b22. You have greater self-confidence at work because ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
you have your home life well organized?
Page 56 of 64
Part 4: Work-life Balance (Allen & Kiburz, 2012)

Please select the best option that suits to your situation.
Assessment scale
1 = Strongly disagree
2 = Disagree
3 = Neutral
4 = Agree
5 = Strongly agree
1 2 3 4 5
1. I am able to balance the demands of my work ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
and the demands of my family
2. I experience a high level of work–family ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
balance
3. I am satisfied with the balance I have ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
achieved between my work life and my family
life
Part 5: Phycological Detachment (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2007)

1 2 3 4 5
4. During my nonwork time, I distance myself ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
from work
5. During my nonwork time, I don’t think ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
about work at all
6. During my nonwork time, I forget about ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
work.
7. During my nonwork time, I get a break from ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞ ⃞
the demands of work
Page 57 of 64

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ii

1.0 Introduction .................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Research Background .................................................................................... 1

1.2 Research Problem .......................................................................................... 2

1.3 Research Objectives ....................................................................................... 4

1.3.1 General Objective ................................................................................... 4

1.3.2 Specific Objectives ................................................................................. 4

1.4 Research Questions ........................................................................................ 4

1.5 Significance of Study ..................................................................................... 5

1.6 Chapter Layout............................................................................................... 6

1.7 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 7

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................. 8

2.0 Introduction .................................................................................................... 8

2.1 Theorical Review ........................................................................................... 8

2.1.1 Boundary Theory .................................................................................... 8

2.2 Empirical Review......................................................................................... 10

2.2.1 Work-life Balance ................................................................................. 10

2.2.2 Overload (24/7 Availability) ................................................................. 12

2.2.3 Psychological Detachment .................................................................... 13

2.3 Conceptual Framework ................................................................................ 15

2.4 Hypothesis Development ............................................................................. 15

2.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 15

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ................................................... 16

3.0 Introduction .................................................................................................. 16

3.1 Research Design........................................................................................... 16

3.2 Target Population ......................................................................................... 17

3.3 Data Collection and Measurement ............................................................... 17

3.4 Research Instrument..................................................................................... 18

3.5 Method of Data Analysis ............................................................................. 18

3.5.1 Descriptive Analysis ............................................................................. 19

3.5.2 Test of Reliability ................................................................................. 19

3.5.3 Pearson Correlation Coefficient ............................................................ 19

3.5.4 Single Linear Regression ...................................................................... 20

3.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 20

CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS ........................................................................ 21

4.0 Introduction .................................................................................................. 21

4.1 Samling Results ........................................................................................... 21

4.1.1 Demographics ....................................................................................... 21

4.1.2 Technology ........................................................................................... 27

4.2 Reliability Test ............................................................................................. 31

4.3 Descriptive Analysis .................................................................................... 31

4.3.1 Mean and Standard Deviations ............................................................. 31

4.4 Correlation Analysis .................................................................................... 32

4.4.1 Correlation among Study Variables ...................................................... 32

4.5 Regression Analysis ..................................................................................... 33

4.5.1 Linear Regression ................................................................................. 33

4.5.2 Hypothesis Testing................................................................................ 34

4.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 36

CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION ............................................ 37

5.0 Introduction .................................................................................................. 37

5.1 Discussion of Findings ................................................................................. 37

5.2 Implications of the Study ............................................................................. 39

5.3 Limitations of the Study............................................................................... 39

5.4 Recommendations for Future Research ....................................................... 40

5.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 41

Table 4.1 Summary of respondents’ response rate ................................................ 21

Table 4.2 Table of Respondents (Age) .................................................................. 22

Table 4.3 Table of Respondents (Gender) ............................................................. 23

Table 4.4 Table of Respondents (Marital Status) .................................................. 24

Table 4.5 Table of Respondents (Dependents) ...................................................... 25

Table 4.6 Table of Respondent (Work Experience) .............................................. 26

Table 4.7 Table of Respondent (Mobile) ............................................................... 27

Table 4.8 Table of Respondent (Other Device) ..................................................... 28

Table 4.9 Table of Respondent (Online Communications Tools) ......................... 28