We investigated potential crossover from mothers' and fathers' work-family conflict to their own and their partner's perception of inter-parental conflict and parenting irritability, and subsequent ...influences on children's and adolescents' mental health. Using a representative sample of Australian children (N = 3061), an autoregressive model tested four mediation paths for mother-reported child internalizing and externalizing problems (4–5 to 14–15 years), and a second model tested two mediation paths for adolescent-reported problems (8–9 to 14–15 years). Findings indicated that mothers' and fathers' parenting irritability (6–7 years) mediated the association between mothers' work-family conflict (4–5 years) and mother-reported child externalizing problems (8–9 years); and mothers' parenting irritability (12–13 years) mediated the association between fathers' work-family conflict (10–11 years) and mother- and adolescent-reported externalizing problems (14–15 years). Findings demonstrate the potential for work-family conflict to cross over to parenting, thus influencing long-term child mental health.
•Work-family conflict influences inter-parental conflict and parenting irritability.•Work-family conflict poses ongoing influences on child/adolescent mental health.•Work-family conflict influences children via both parents' parenting irritability.•Mothers' work-family conflict poses more persistent influences on family over time.
To clarify how work and non-work role conflicts are processed and produce psychological change, we propose an integrative theory of work-family conflict (WFC) episode processing. We clarify ...ambiguities around the meaning of WFC, overcome questionable research assumptions, make testable counter-normative predictions, reconcile “levels” and “episodes” WFC conceptions, and explain how WFC can even have a net positive effect for the person. In the model, a trigger event causes a perceived WF role incompatibility and a negative change in core affect, prompting either a scripted response or controlled sensemaking. In the latter, cognitive appraisals and secondary affect ensue, causing a choice of a coping/resolution response. Responses are reinforced/punished, and possibly, consciously evaluated. Episodes end with the potential storage of outputs in long-term memory. State inputs to an episode condition processing and memory storage. Stored episode outputs can thereafter become inputs to future episodes and/or cause longer-term change in role performance, satisfaction, and well-being. After describing these processes, we suggest new directions for WFC research and practice.
•clarifies the definition of WFC as a discrete occurrence of WF incompatibility.•provides precise theoretical description of WFC processing.•models appraisal, resolution, memory instead of treating these as error.•posits successful episode resolution as key mediator vs. frequency or intensity.•suggests several new directions for empirical research and practice.
This study examines how the need for family friendly practices contribute in increasing the effects of work-family conflict (WFC) and family-work conflict (FWC) on job stress, burnout, and intention ...to leave in the hotel industry in Quebce (258 staff). The essential results indicate that the perception of a need for childcare moderates the relationship between FWC, job stress, and burnout. Also, employees wanting to have a compressed workweek and part time measures are exposed to more stress related to WFC/FWC. Finally, the four measures can constitute resources passageways in order to reduce the work-family interference, job stress, burnout and therefore the intention to leave. Theoretically, he results extend this line of theorizing by highlighting the importance of subjective needs for family friendly policies, as 'resource caravan passageways', in the work-family interface and job outcome processes. The perception of a desire or need for these measures offers a new understanding of these practices. Practically, identifying who is more sensitive to family friendly measures would enable organizations or employers to allocate supportive resources more adequately by targeting those employees who are most in need of such practices.
Just as for most of the world, the COVID-19 pandemic had detrimental impacts on the well-being, mental health, and productivity of entrepreneurs. To delineate these effects, the current study draws ...from social role theory to predict that women entrepreneurs exhibit a diminished sense of well-being compared with their male counterparts, due to the greater work-family conflict women experienced during the pandemic. The authors leverage gender egalitarianism theory to argue further that in gender-egalitarian contexts, in which women are socioeconomically, institutionally, and culturally more equal to men, this gender gap in psychological well-being, caused by work- family conflict, may be mitigated. A sample of 5,754 entrepreneurs from 27 European countries who completed Eurofound's Living, Working and COVID-19 e-Survey confirms these predictions, with notable implications for research and practice.
The fact that the permeability between family and work scopes produces work-family conflict (WFC) is well established. As such, this research aims to check whether the unequal involvement in ...household chores between men and women is associated with increased WFC in women and men, interpreting the results also from the knowledge that arise from gender studies. A correlational study was carried out by means a questionnaire applied to 515 subjects (63% men) of two independent samples of Spanish men and women without emotional relationship, who lived with their heterosexual partner. As expected, results firstly show unequal involvement in household chores by women and men as it is higher in women that in men, and the perception of partner involvement is lower in women that in men. Secondly, those unequal involvements relate differently to men and women on different ways of work-family interaction. They do not increase WFC in women comparing to men, although there are tangentially significant differences in work conflict (WC) and statistically significant in family conflict (FC). However, perception of partner involvement on household chores increases WFC both in men and in women but not WC nor FC. Nevertheless, increase on marital conflict (MC) by domestic tasks neither affect in a significant way WFC in women nor in men, but increase WC in both women and men and FC only in women. Results also confirm that subject involvement on household chores is not a significant predictor of WFC in women nor in men, and that MC by domestic tasks is a statistically significant predictor in women of WFC and FC, but not in men. Thus, results show that traditional gender roles still affect the way men and women manage the work and family interaction, although the increased WFC due to involvement in housework is not exclusive to women, but also occurs in men. Personal and institutional recommendations are made on the basis of these results to cope with these conflicts.
Work–family conflict continues to be a topic of considerable interest to researchers and practitioners across the globe. In the current study, meta-analysis is used to compare cross-national mean ...differences in work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict across cultural, institutional, and economic aspects of context. No significant differences in work-to-family conflict were detected. Reports of family-to-work conflict were higher in more collectivistic versus more individualistic cultures, in countries with a higher versus a lower economic gender gap, and in countries other than the U.S. versus the U.S.
•We meta-analytically examine cross-national work–family conflict mean differences.•We examine cultural, institutional, and economic aspects of context.•No significant differences in work-to-family conflict were detected.•Significant differences in family-to-work conflict were found.
Work in our modern society that is facilitated by communication technology involves connectivity, immediacy, and a blurring of boundaries between work and non‐work domains. This 4‐day quantitative ...diary study (N = 100 employees, N = 367–400 data points) aims to shed light on the relationship between daily smartphone use and daily work–home interference (WHI). Two potential moderators of this relationship are examined: (1) (strong) social norms represented by the influence of colleagues and supervisors regarding availability after work hours and (2) work engagement. Overall, the results of multilevel analyses were in line with the hypotheses. The findings suggest that supervisors should be clear about their expectations regarding smartphone use in private hours in that they should not expect employees to be always available. In addition we conclude that engaged workers can prevent work from interfering too much with their private lives, even when they use their smartphones during evening hours.
Practitioner points
Employees working in an ‘always‐on’ culture experience more WHI.
Important role models, such as supervisors, should be aware that the emails they send during evening hours and weekends also have recipients.
Supervisors should be careful in creating expectations regarding availability when they decide to provide smartphones to their employees.
Drawing on the resource (drain) perspective in work‐family spillover theory and conservation of resources theory, the current paper studies the daily consequences of working from home for employees' ...work‐home interface and well‐being. We build an intraindividual model that investigates how working from home influences experiences of time pressure, work‐family conflict, and work‐related employee well‐being on a daily basis. A total of 34 professional workers participated in our study and were asked to respond to 10 daily surveys in the morning, afternoon and evening, across two consecutive workweeks. In line with our hypotheses, results indicated that on days when employees worked from home, they experienced less time pressure and, in turn, they reported lower levels of work‐family conflict on that particular day. Moreover, we found that experiences of work‐family conflict predicted individuals' next morning engagement and exhaustion levels and affective states towards the organization they work for. We recommend organizations to encourage a work‐from‐home protocol aimed at protecting employee well‐being.
Our review highlights key contributions to the work‐family literature, including research published in Personnel Psychology. We review foundational key constructs (e.g., work‐family conflict), ...theories (e.g., boundary management), and methodology and measurement issues (e.g., episodic versus levels approaches) at the intersection of work and family. We then review select topics that move from the more micro (e.g., individual emotions and health) to the more macro (e.g., cross‐cultural) in scope. In addition, taking stock of the work‐family field's trajectory, we mapped future research directions that have been posed by researchers over the past two decades in previous narrative reviews and examine the extent that they have been heeded within the Personnel Psychology work‐family literature. We use insights from the past and from contemporary research, as well as from societal trends, to provide a set of “next generation” future research directions. Finally, we provide practical implications from the research to date.
Building on the theoretical foundations of conservation of resources theory, this research provides insights into the relationship of abusive supervision with work–family conflict (work-to-family and ...family-to-work). Further, it is the first attempt to incorporate the emotional labor to burnout link as the mediating process between abuse and conflict. Using a sample of 328 individuals working fulltime we examined both the direct relationship of abuse with conflict as well as the indirect relationship through surface acting (emotional labor) and burnout. Our results suggest that abusive supervision influences conflict and the relationship is partially mediated through the surface acting to burnout path.