INTERPERSONAL CONTEXT AT WORK AND THE FREQUENCY,APPRAISAL, AND CONSEQUENCES OF BOUNDARY‐SPANNING DEMANDS

Compared to job‐specific conditions, the interpersonal context of work has received less attention from work–family scholars. Using data from a 2007 U.S. survey of workers (N = 1,286), we examine the impact of workplace social support and interpersonal conflict on work–family conflict and exposure to boundary‐spanning demands—as indexed by the frequency that workers receive work‐related contact outside of normal work hours. Findings indicate that workplace social support is associated negatively with work‐to‐family conflict, while interpersonal conflict at work is associated with higher levels of work‐to‐family conflict. Results also indicate that both supportive and conflictive work contexts are associated with more frequent exposure to boundary‐spanning demands. However, workers in supportive contexts are more likely to appraise these demands as beneficial for accomplishing work tasks, and are less likely to appraise them as disruptive to family roles. By contrast, workers in conflictive contexts are more likely to appraise demands as disruptive to family roles, and are less likely to appraise them as beneficial for paid work. Consequently, our findings underscore the resource and demands aspects of interpersonal work contexts and their implications for the work–family interface.     

Gender Differences in the Effect of Job Characteristics on Work‐to‐Family Conflict in Japan: Application of the Job Demands‐Resources Model into Japanese Population1

This article uses the job demand‐resources (JD‐R) model to analyze the Japanese population and gender differences in work‐to‐family conflict in Japan. Using data from the International Social Survey Programme in 2015, the study addresses four main questions: (i) does the JD‐R model apply to the Japanese population? (ii) which gender is more likely to experience work‐to‐family conflict? (iii) does gender moderate the relationship between work‐related factors and work‐to‐family conflict? and (iv) do different factors predict work‐to‐family conflict between men and women? The findings show that the JD‐R model applies in part to the Japanese population, and women are more likely to experience a higher level of work‐to‐family conflict than men. There are also different factors predicting work‐to‐family conflict by gender, even though gender does not moderate the relationship between work‐related factors and work‐to‐family conflict. This article points out the peculiar Japanese social and cultural contexts that lead to gender differences in work‐to‐family conflict. It offers two solutions: (i) legal regulations to reduce working hours and the frequency of working on weekends to prevent work from intruding on family life; and (ii) changes to the work environment to make women workers more comfortable at work because of the male‐dominated workplace and Japanese culture on family gender roles in Japan.     

Work and Family in the 1990s

This review highlights four themes emerging from the work and family literature of the 1990s. The first theme evolves from the historical legacy of the maternal employment literature with its focus on children's well‐being. The second theme, work socialization, is based on the premise that occupational conditions, such as autonomy and complexity, shape the values of workers who in turn generalize these lessons off the job. Research on work stress, the third theme, explores how experiences of short‐ and long‐term stress at work make their mark on workers' behavior and well‐being off the job. Finally, the multiple roles literature focuses on how individuals balance roles, such as parent, spouse, and worker, and the consequences for health and family relationships. In addition to these four major themes, advances in work and family policy initiatives over the past decade are discussed. Suggestions for future research focus on addressing issues of causality, attending to the complexity of social contexts, linking research to policy, and developing interdisciplinary theories and research designs.     

The Work–Family Interface: Integrating Research and Career Counseling Practice

This article addresses the work–family interface by reviewing research using Frone's ( 2003 ) bidirectional model of work–family conflict and facilitation. The review demonstrates that work–family conflict is associated with various detrimental outcomes and that work–family facilitation is positively correlated with enhanced mental and physical well‐being. After summarizing the research, the authors discuss recent models and perspectives from the field of vocational psychology, connect these models and perspectives to existing work–family literature, and propose theoretically based interventions for increasing facilitation and decreasing conflict.     

Why the paradigm of work–family conflict is no longer sustainable: Towards more empowering social imaginaries to understand women's identities

The paradigm of work–family conflict is challenged by the fluid realities of the actual world. Through an innovative phenomenographic study of women's understanding of their lives, we show that the social imaginary of work–family conflict assumes that vulnerability is a constitutive reality for women. Consequently, with respect to the perspectives through which women are invited to make sense of their lives, the metaphor of conflict enforces a worldview based on traditional gender roles. Organizational policies that rely heavily on a social imaginary of work–family conflict may prove ineffective. On the one hand, they ignore the diversity of morphologies and vocabularies used by women today to understand themselves in relation to their family and workplace. On the other, work–family conflict arises as a product of policy measures and bureaucratic practices rather than as an experiential reality. Policy statements on work–family conflict have a performative character: they communicate a message about women's social status and identity. Therefore, effective organizational policies should integrate vocabularies and assumptions that make women aware of themselves in a confident manner by relying on social imaginaries that encourage agency and empowered participation in the world.     

Core Self‐Evaluations,Work–Family Conflict,and Burnout

This study investigated how core self‐evaluations relate to work–family (and family–work) conflict and burnout. Drawing from a sample of 289 police officers and civilian staff who were either married or living in a union as common‐law partners, this study advances an empirical integration of work–family and core self‐evaluations research. The results suggested that even when work, nonwork, and demographic variables are controlled for, positive core self‐evaluations (i.e., composite scale, self‐esteem, locus of control, emotional stability) are related to less work–family (and family–work) conflict. The associations between core self‐evaluations and burnout are partially mediated by work–family (and family–work) conflict. Finally, core self‐evaluations moderated the association between work–family conflict and burnout, but not the one between family–work conflict and burnout.     

Work,Family, and Mental Health: Testing Different Models of Work‐Family Fit

Using family resilience theory, this study examined the effects of work‐family conflict and work‐family facilitation on mental health among working adults to gain a better understanding of work‐family fit. Data from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) were used to compare different combinations of work‐family conflict and work‐family facilitation. Results suggest that family to work facilitation is a family protective factor that offsets and buffers the deleterious effects of work‐family conflict on mental health. The results across these outcomes suggest that work‐family conflict and facilitation must be considered separately, and that adult mental health is optimized when family to work facilitation is high and family to work and work to family conflict is low.     

Work and Family Research in the First Decade of the 21st Century

Scholarship on work and family topics expanded in scope and coverage during the 2000–2010 decade, spurred by an increased diversity of workplaces and of families, by methodological innovations, and by the growth of communities of scholars focused on the work‐family nexus. We discuss these developments as the backdrop for emergent work‐family research on six central topics: (a) gender, time, and the division of labor in the home; (b) paid work: too much or too little; (c) maternal employment and child outcomes; (d) work‐family conflict; (e) work, family, stress, and health; and (f) work‐family policy. We conclude with a discussion of trends important for research and suggestions about future directions in the work‐family arena.     

Role Conflict and Self‐Efficacy Among Employed Parents: Examining Complex Statistical Interactions

In response to growing concerns with explaining how work and family interfere with each other and with statistical approaches that do not capture the way in which predictors interact, this study tested statistical interactions involving personal and social resources of 410 full‐time employed women and men. The results indicate that self‐efficacy is a strong predictor of family interfering with work (FIW) and work interfering with family (WIF). Gender moderates the relation between supervisor support and WIF moderates the impact of efficacy beliefs and instrumental support at home on FIW. Specifically, while supervisor support is negatively related to WIF in women and men, high levels of support more strongly affected men's perceptions of WIF. In low self‐efficacy men, high levels of support at home improved their perceptions of FIW but these perceptions worsened in women. These findings contrast with earlier research that focus predominantly on the predictive value of structural demands (for example, the number of hours worked per week and family size). This study shows that gender plays a critical yet intricate role as a predictor of the successful management of work and family roles: it is not gender per se but its interaction with personal and social variables that informs us about differences in the experience of employed parents.     

The Effects of Work Demands and Resources on Work‐to‐Family Conflict and Facilitation

This article uses a differential salience‐comparable salience approach to examine the effects of work demands and resources on work‐to‐family conflict and facilitation. The analysis is based on data from 1,938 employed adults living with a family member who were interviewed for the 1997 National Study of the Changing Workforce. The results support the differential salience approach by indicating that time‐ and strain‐based work demands show relatively strong positive relationships to work‐to‐family conflict, whereas enabling resources and psychological rewards show relatively strong positive relationships to work‐to‐family facilitation. The availability of time‐based family support policies and work‐family organizational support is negatively related to conflict and positively related to facilitation, thereby supporting the comparable salience approach.     

Family‐Supportive Organizational Culture and Fathers' Experiences of Work–family Conflict in Sweden

This study explores fathers' experiences with work–family conflict and their perceptions of how supportive the organizational culture at work is regarding fathers' work–family needs, and whether a family‐supportive organizational culture is associated with less work–family conflict. A total of 377 fathers working in private Swedish companies were surveyed. While a modest proportion of fathers experienced high levels of work‐to‐family conflict, less family‐to‐work conflict was reported. Further, fathers perceived little work–family support from top managers, supervisors, and co‐workers. Our results indicate that the cultures in the examined companies have norms that separate work and family from each other. Fathers seem likely to experience work–family conflict as long as the family‐supportive organizational culture, especially at the work group level, is not well‐developed. When fathers experience their work organizations as family‐supportive, they are likely to be better able to combine work and family and thus to help Swedes achieve a more gender‐equal society.     

Social Integration,Work‐Family Conflict and Facilitation,and Job and Marital Quality

This paper examines relationships between 2 dimensions of social integration (community participation and affective community resources) and job and marital quality. Data from the 1995 National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (n= 1,816) indicate that the level of community participation is unrelated or negatively related to job and marital quality, whereas affective community resources show positive associations with job and marital quality. Relationships between community participation and affective community resources and job stress are partially mediated by work‐to‐family conflict and facilitation. Family‐to‐work conflict and facilitation partially mediate relationships between affective community resources and marital satisfaction and risk. The study takes a beginning step in establishing relationships and exploring processes that make up the work‐community‐family interface.     

Work‐Family Enrichment and Conflict: Additive Effects,Buffering, or Balance?

We used data from the Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS I) (N = 2,031) to compare three models of how work‐family conflict and enrichment might operate to predict well‐being (mental health, life satisfaction, affect balance, partner relationship quality). We found no support for a relative‐difference model in which the conflict‐enrichment balance predicted outcomes. In the work‐to‐family direction, the additive model fit best: Both work‐to‐family conflict and work‐to‐family enrichment were independently linked to outcomes. In the family‐to‐work direction, the interactive model fit best: Family‐to‐work enrichment buffered the negative outcomes ordinarily linked to family‐to‐work conflict. Enrichment is key because with the additive model, it contributed incremental explanatory power, and with the buffering model, it conditioned conflict‐outcome relationships. Work‐to‐family conflict and family‐to‐work enrichment appeared particularly salient for well‐being.     

Supervisor Support Buffers Daily Psychological and Physiological Reactivity to Work‐to‐Family Conflict

Using a daily diary design, the current study assessed within‐person associations of work‐to‐family conflict with negative affect and salivary cortisol. Furthermore, the authors investigated whether supervisor support moderated these associations. Over 8 consecutive days, 131 working parents employed by an information technology company answered telephone interviews about stressors and mood that occurred in the previous 24 hours. On Days 2–4 of the study protocol, they also provided 5 saliva samples throughout the day that were assayed for cortisol. Results indicated a high degree of day‐to‐day fluctuation in work‐to‐family conflict, with employed parents having greater negative affect and poorer cortisol regulation on days with higher work‐to‐family conflict compared to days when they experience lower work‐to‐family conflict. These associations were buffered, however, when individuals had supervisors who offered support. Discussion centers on the use of dynamic assessments of work‐to‐family conflict and employee well‐being.     

Anticipated Work‐Family Conflict: Effects of Gender,Self‐Efficacy,and Family Background

Anticipated levels of 2 types of work‐family conflict (WFC) were studied among 358 students from 2 universities. The study examined the contribution of gender, parental models of child care and housework, and self‐efficacy to the variance in anticipated WFC. Findings demonstrated that the bidirectionality of the relations between work and family life also exists in anticipated conflicts. A number of gender‐related differences emerged: Women anticipated higher levels of work interfering with family and family interfering with work and demonstrated lower efficacy in managing these conflicts than did men. Exposure to an egalitarian child care model correlated with lower anticipated levels of work interfering with family. Self‐efficacy correlated negatively with both types of conflict. Implications for further research and career programs are discussed.     

Profession and Workplace Expectations of Social Workers: Implications for Social Worker Subjective Well-Being

The expectations people have of social workers, and those that social workers hold of themselves, can negatively affect social worker's perceived well-being, via work stress and strain and other negative workplace experiences. This qualitative research presents findings that help to better understand what aspects of these expectations have the greatest impact on the well-being of a sample (n = 19) of social workers with reported low levels of workplace and profession satisfaction. Our data support a conceptual framework of social worker's expectations that relate to outcomes of practice, social worker roles, the perceived functioning by other health-related professionals, conflict in direct practice with social worker identity and having to work in adverse situations, as all contributing to the well-being of social workers. Findings are discussed in relation to social work practice and the role and function of professional associations and educational programmes in addressing these issues that emerge in practice.     

A cross‐cultural test of the work‐family interface in 48 countries

This study tests a cross‐cultural model of the work‐family interface. Using multigroup structural equation modeling with IBM survey responses from 48 countries (N= 25,380), results show that the same work‐family interface model that fits the data globally also fits the data in a four‐group model composed of culturally related groups of countries, as well as a two‐group gender model. This supports a transportable rather than a culturally specific or gender‐specific work‐family interface model: notably, job flexibility related to reduced work‐family conflict, reduced family‐work conflict, and enhanced work‐family fit. Work‐family fit related to increased job satisfaction. Findings suggest that investment by multinational companies in job flexibility initiatives may represent a dual‐agenda way to benefit men, women, and businesses in diverse cultures.     

Gender and the Artist Archetype: Understanding Gender Inequality in Artistic Careers

Women artists are systematically disadvantaged across cultural fields. Although some of these disadvantages resemble gender inequalities in non‐artistic work, such as lower pay, underrepresentation, work–family conflict, and symbolic devaluation, others are unique to artistic careers. In this essay, I extend Acker's work on the implicit gendering of the ideal‐typical worker to show how gender implicitly organizes social expectations around artists and artistic work. I highlight themes emerging from past research on gender relations in artistic careers, which suggest that the ideal‐typical artist builds on a masculine model in at least three ways. First, collective understandings of creative genius center a masculine subject. Second, bias in aesthetic evaluations systematically favors men over women. Third, the structure of artistic careers, particularly the need for entrepreneurial labor and self‐promotion, requires artists to engage in behaviors that are more socially acceptable in men than in women.     

Teachers' Occupation‐Specific Work‐Family Conflict

To expand work‐family conflict (WFC) research to specific occupations, this study investigated how work and family generic and occupation‐specific stressors and support variables related to family interfering with work (F → W) and work interfering with family (W → F) among 230 Israeli high school teachers. Further expanding WFC research, the authors assessed WFC effects on burnout and vigor. Results indicated that W → F conflict was related to generic variables and more so to distinctive teaching characteristics (e.g., investment in student behavior and parent‐teacher relations). Both W → F and F → W predicted burnout, whereas only F → W predicted vigor. Implications for WFC research and occupational health programs are discussed.     

ADOLESCENT WORK AND BOYS' AND GIRLS' ORIENTATIONS TO THE FUTURE

This study compares adolescent boys' and girls' aspirations and plans concerning achievement, family, and other adult life spheres, and examines the effects of adolescent work experience on these future orientations. The data were obtained from 1001 students, chosen randomly from a list of enrolled ninth graders in a large Midwestern city. Girls were not found to have lower achievement orientations than boys. Examination of the interrelations of achievement and family plans suggests that boys see their future educational, work, and family roles as more closely integrated than do girls. Just as work and family roles are mutually supportive for adult men but in conflict for adult women, so too do employed adolescent boys appear to be developing traditional family orientations, while employed girls, especially those much exposed to formal work, expect less involvement in marriage and family life. The analyses indicate that paid work is traditionalizing for boys, promoting optimism about, and commitment to, numerous adult life domains; but for girls, formal work lessens interest in traditional female gender roles.