Antecedents and outcomes of a fourfold taxonomy of work-family balance in Chinese employed parents.

The study provided validity evidence for a fourfold taxonomy of work-family balance that comprises direction of influence (work to family vs. family to work) and types of effect (work-family conflict vs. work-family facilitation). Data were collected from 189 employed parents in China. The results obtained from a confirmatory factor analysis supported the factorial validity of the fourfold taxonomy of work-family balance with a Chinese sample. Child care responsibilities, working hours, monthly salary, and organizational family-friendly policy were positively related to the conflict component of work-family balance; whereas new parental experience, spouse support, family-friendly supervisors and coworkers had significant positive effects on the facilitation component of work-family balance. In comparison with the inconsistent effects of work-family conflict, work to family facilitation had consistent positive effects on work and life attitudes. The implications of findings in relation to China and other countries are discussed in the paper. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Dynamic Spillover of Satisfaction Between Work and Marriage: The Role of Time and Mood.

Previous research has indicated important linkages between work and family domains and roles. However, the nature of the dynamic spillover between job and marital satisfaction remains poorly understood. The current study tests both the concurrent and lagged associations between job and marital satisfaction at a within-individual level of analysis using a diary study of 76 fully employed, married adults. The authors further examine the mediating role of mood in this spillover process. Consistent with their hypotheses, findings indicate both a concurrent and a lagged (job to marital and marital to job) job satisfaction-marital satisfaction association at the within-subject level of analysis and lend some support for the mediating role of mood (most notably positive affect) in these associations. The authors hope these findings stimulate new research that uses more complex designs and comprehensive theoretical models to investigate work-family links. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived versus used workplace flexibility in Singapore: Predicting work-family fit.

This study examined the relationship of 2 types of workplace flexibility to work-family fit and work, personal, and marriage-family outcomes using data (N = 1,601) representative of employed persons in Singapore. We hypothesized that perceived and used workplace flexibility would be positively related to the study variables. Results derived from structural equation modeling revealed that perceived flexibility predicted work-family fit; however, used flexibility did not. Work-family fit related positively to each work, personal, and marriage-family outcome; however, workplace flexibility only predicted work and personal outcomes. Findings suggest work-family fit may be an important facilitating factor in the interface between work and family life, relating directly to marital satisfaction and satisfaction in other family relationships. Implications of these findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Work-family spillover and life satisfaction among professional psychologists.

How do the professional lives of psychologists influence their personal and family lives? Data from 485 psychologists who responded to a survey on professional and family life were analyzed to examine work-to-family spillover, life satisfaction, and family support. Respondents reported a significantly higher incidence of positive spillover, termed family enhancers, than negative spillover, termed family stressors. The low incidence of family stressors suggested that stresses associated with the professional work of psychology do not routinely spill over into professionals' family lives. Both positive and negative spillover, however, played significant roles in mediating the relationship between work and family domains. On the positive side, a sense of personal accomplishment at work was associated with increased family enhancers, which appeared to lead to greater family support and life satisfaction. On the negative side, emotional exhaustion at work was associated with more family stressors, which appeared to lead to less family support and life satisfaction. The implications of these findings for training and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Longitudinal Effects of Work-Family Conflict and Positive Spillover on Depressive Symptoms Among Dual-Earner Couples.

This study assessed longitudinal and cross-sectional relationships between work-family conflict, positive spillover, and depression in a national sample of 234 dual-earner couples. The authors also assessed crossover effects (i.e., the transmission of emotions, affect, or stress from 1 member of a dyad to another) of work-family conflict and positive spillover on spouses' depression. Two general findings of the study were that (a) positive spillover has a stronger impact on depression than does work-family conflict, and (b) the effects of spouses' positive spillover were more strongly related to decreased depression than were the effects of one's own positive spillover. Significant longitudinal effects were related to the crossover of positive spillover on decreased spouse depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Work-family characteristics as determinants of sickness absence: A large-scale cohort study of three occupational grades.

This study examined the previously unexplored occupational grade-specific relationships of domestic responsibilities, the age of children, and work-family spillover, with registered sickness absence (>3 days' sick leave episodes, a mean follow-up of 17 months; n = 18,366 municipal employees; 76% women). The results showed that negative spillover from work into family life predicted a heightened rate of sickness absence spells among both women and men in all occupational categories (except upper white-collar men), but especially among blue-collar and lower white-collar employees. Furthermore, among all white-collar employees (except upper white-collar men), having young children (     

Work-family conflict and burnout among practicing psychologists.

Research has found that men and women psychologists experience burnout differentially depending on the work setting. A total of 497 psychologists responded to a survey designed to replicate this finding and to investigate the role of work-family conflict in contributing to this difference. Results failed to replicate gender differences in levels of burnout according to work setting. In general, the overall pattern of results was the same for men and women. Findings indicated that family support was important for well-being at work and that conflict between work and family domains was associated with burnout. Mediational models indicated that work-family conflict and family-work conflict can help researchers understand the process by which resources or demands in work and family domains influence burnout at work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Work and family satisfaction and conflict: A meta-analysis of cross-domain relations.

This meta-analysis is a review of the literature examining the relations among stressors, involvement, and support in the work and family domains, work-family conflict, and satisfaction outside of those domains. Results suggest that a considerable amount of variability in family satisfaction is explained by work domain-specific variables, whereas a considerable amount of variability in job satisfaction is explained by family domain-specific variables, with job and family stress having the strongest effects on work-family conflict and cross-domain satisfaction. The authors propose future directions for research on work and family issues focusing on other explanatory mechanisms and moderators of cross-domain relations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coping with work-family conflict: A leader-member exchange perspective.

Leader-member exchange (LMX) theory is applied as a framework for understanding coping with work-family conflict. The effectiveness of four work-family coping strategies (i.e., preventive and episodic forms of both problem-focused and emotion-focused coping) is considered with emphasis on how the LMX relationship contributes to each form of coping with work interference with family. The LMX-based model of work-family coping accounts for the development of family-friendly work roles, use of organizational family-friendly policies, and the negotiation of flextime and flexplace accommodations. Constraints on the relationship between LMX and work-family coping associated with supervisor authority and resources and aspects of the organizational context are also discussed. Research and applied implications of the model are offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Work-supportive family, family-supportive supervision, use of organizational benefits, and problem-focused coping: Implications for work-family conflict and employee well-being.

Employees (n = 230) from multiple organizations and industries were involved in a study assessing how work-family conflict avoidance methods stemming from the family domain (emotional sustenance and instrumental assistance from the family), the work domain (family-supportive supervision, use of telework and flextime), and the individual (use of problem-focused coping) independently relate to different dimensions of work-family conflict and to employees' affective and physical well-being. Results suggest that support from one's family and one's supervisor and the use of problem-focused coping seem most promising in terms of avoiding work-family conflict and/or decreased well-being. Benefits associated with the use of flextime, however, are relatively less evident, and using telework may potentially increase the extent to which family time demands interfere with work responsibilities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Work-based resources as moderators of the relationship between work hours and satisfaction with work-family balance.

This study reports an investigation of the relationships of work hours, job complexity, and control over work time to satisfaction with work-family balance. Based on data from a sample of 570 telephone call center representatives, a moderated hierarchical regression analysis revealed that work hours were negatively related to satisfaction with work-family balance, consistent with the resource drain perspective. Job complexity and control over work time were positively associated with satisfaction with work-family balance. Control over work time moderated the relationship such that as work hours rose, workers with low control experienced a decline in work-family balance satisfaction, while workers with high control did not. Results encourage greater research attention to work characteristics, such as job complexity and control over work time, and skills that represent resources useful to the successful integration of work and family demands. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Family-Responsive Interventions, Perceived Organizational and Supervisor Support, Work-Family Conflict, and Psychological Strain.

This study examined organizational family-responsive policies, perceptions of the organization as family supportive, and supervisor support as issues that may be salient to the experience of conflict between paid employment (work) and family roles. Data were collected from 355 managerial personnel in New Zealand. Although work-family conflict and psychological strain were strongly linked, the availability of organizational policies had no significant association with levels of conflict or strain, whereas policy usage was related only to work-to-family interference and not to family-to-work interference. On the other hand, perceptions of the organization as family supportive and supervisor support for work-family balance displayed significant relationships with key variables, highlighting the importance of these variables for interventions designed to ameliorate the negative impact of work-family conflict on managerial well-being. Implications for the effective implementation of family-responsive interventions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationships among organizational family support, job autonomy, perceived control, and employee well-being.

The authors analyzed data from the 2002 National Study of the Changing Workforce (N = 3,504) to investigate relationships among availability of formal organizational family support (family benefits and alternative schedules), job autonomy, informal organizational support (work-family culture, supervisor support, and coworker support), perceived control, and employee attitudes and well-being. Using hierarchical regression, the authors found that the availability of family benefits was associated with stress, life satisfaction, and turnover intentions, and the availability of alternative schedules was not related to any of the outcomes. Job autonomy and informal organizational support were associated with almost all the outcomes, including positive spillover. Perceived control mediated most of the relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Supervisor and subordinate work-family values: Does similarity make a difference?

Supervisor-subordinate similarity affects a number of workplace outcomes, but the effect of similarity in work-family values is not well understood. Our sample consisted of 209 participants (121 female and 88 male) from a range of occupations. A structural model was tested in which subordinate perceptions of supervisor work-family value similarity predicted increased supervisor support and reduced family conflict, with an indirect effect through these variables to job satisfaction. Higher work-family conflict and lower job satisfaction had significant paths to emotional exhaustion, as a key indicator of burnout. Structural equation modeling indicated a good fit to the model for both men and women. Similarity of work-family values influenced emotional exhaustion through its impact on work-family conflict and job satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How work and family can facilitate each other: Distinct types of work-family facilitation and outcomes for women and men.

This study was designed to gain more insight in the different ways in which work and family roles can benefit each other. Both qualitative (N=25) and quantitative (N=352) results obtained in a financial service organization supported the distinction between energy-based, time-based, behavioral, and psychological work-family facilitation, in addition to different types of work-family conflict that were identified in previous research. As expected, facilitation contributed substantially and differentially to the prediction of work and nonwork outcomes, over and above the effects of conflict. As predicted, women experienced higher levels of facilitation than men did. Furthermore, results indicate that examining facilitation, in addition to conflict, is especially important to predict the work and home life experiences of women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Telecommuting's differential impact on work-family conflict: Is there no place like home?

The literature on the impact of telecommuting on work-family conflict has been equivocal, asserting that telecommuting enhances work-life balance and reduces conflict, or countering that it increases conflict as more time and emotional energy are allocated to family. Surveying 454 professional-level employees who split their work time between an office and home, the authors examined how extensively working in this mode impacts work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict, as well as the contextual impact of job autonomy, scheduling flexibility, and household size. As hypothesized, the findings suggest that telecommuting has a differential impact on work-family conflict, such that the more extensively individuals work in this mode, the lower their work-to-family conflict, but the higher their family-to-work conflict. Additionally, job autonomy and scheduling flexibility were found to positively moderate telecommuting's impact on work-to-family conflict, but household size was found to negatively moderate telecommuting's impact on family-to-work conflict, suggesting that contextual factors may be domain specific. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The interactive effects of proactive personality and work-family interference on well-being.

Proactive personality was expected to moderate the relationship between controllable work and nonwork stressors (e.g., time-based work-family interference) and job/life satisfaction. Moderated multiple regression analyses of survey data from a sample of professionals (N=133) revealed a significant interaction between time-based family interfering-with work and proactive personality predicting life satisfaction and several main effects offering partial support for the hypothesized relationships (α     

Work-Family Conflict and Job Withdrawal Intentions: The Moderating Effect of Cultural Differences.

This study examined the interactive effects of individual cultural orientation with work-family conflict on employees' job withdrawal intentions. Using a sample of 394 employees from the banking sector in the United States and China, the authors found that work interfering with family (WIF) was more positively related to job withdrawal intentions among individuals scoring high on idiocentrism. It is interesting to note that the authors (unexpectedly) found that family interfering with work (FIW) was more positively related to job withdrawal intentions for those scoring high on allocentrism or low on idiocentrism. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Structure and correlates of spillover from nonwork to work: An examination of nonwork activities, well-being, and work outcomes.

Employees today are involved in many different types of activities outside of work, including family, volunteering, leisure, and so on. The purpose of this study was to understand how participation in such nonwork activities can both enrich and interfere with well-being and behavior at work. Four dimensions of nonwork-to-work spillover were examined to better understand this process (i.e., positive emotional, negative emotional, positive behavioral, and negative behavioral). Survey data were collected in 2 waves from 293 staff and faculty members of a large Canadian university (N = 108 matched surveys from both waves). We found that volunteering is associated with increased well-being and work satisfaction, and that it creates positive emotional and behavioral, and negative behavioral spillovers. We also found that sports, recreation, and fitness are associated with improved well-being and positive emotional spillover. Negative spillover is associated with negative outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship among work-family conflict and enhancement, organizational work-family culture, and work outcomes for older working women.

This article examines the relationship among work-family conflict and enhancement, organizational work-family culture, and four work outcomes for 489 working women over the age of 50. Survey results from two U.S. health care organizations and one U.S. financial services organization indicate that older working women experience differing amounts of work-to-family conflict, family-to-work conflict, work-to-family enhancement, and family-to-work enhancement. Hypotheses relating organizational work-family culture to work-family conflict and enhancement were partially supported, and hypotheses relating conflict and enhancement to four work outcomes were partially supported. Work-to-family conflict and work-to-family enhancement partially mediate the relationship between organizational work-family culture and selected work outcomes. Implications for theory and practice, limitations of this study, and directions for future research are also presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)