Types of work-family interface: well-being correlates of negative and positive spillover between work and family

The aim of the present study was to test the structure of the work-family interface measure, which was intended to take into account both the positive and negative spillover between work and family demands in both directions. In addition, the links among the types of work-family spillover and the subjects' general and domain-specific well-being were examined. The sample (n = 202) consisted of Finnish employees, aged 42, who had a spouse/partner. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that a four-factor model, including negative work-to-family spillover, negative family-to-work spillover, positive work-to-family spillover, and positive family-to-work spillover, was superior compared to the other factor models examined. Path analysis showed, as hypothesized, that the negative work-to-family spillover was most strongly related to low well-being at work (job exhaustion) and next strongly to low general well-being (psychological distress), whereas the negative family-to-work spillover was associated with low well-being in the domain of family (marital dissatisfaction). Positive work-to-family spillover was positively related both to well-being at work and general well-being. Inconsistent with our expectations, positive family-to-work spillover was not directly related to any of the well-being indicators examined.     

Work-to-family enrichment: Influences of work resources,work engagement and satisfaction among employees within the South African context

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of work resources, work-to-family enrichment, engagement and job satisfaction among employees in the South African context. Data were collected from 627 participants (females=67%, Afrikaans or English speakers=81.8%). The analysis utilised multiple regression analysis to predict work resources and work-to-family enrichment dimensions from work engagement dimensions, job satisfaction and career satisfaction. In the multiple regression analyses, work-related development opportunities, work autonomy and work-family affect were significant predictors of work vigour. Furthermore, work-related development opportunities, work autonomy, work-family affect and work-family perspectives were significant predictors of work dedication, job satisfaction and career satisfaction. Results support the idea that participation in one role may enrich the quality of life in the other role and provides a more comprehensive understanding of the positive side of the work/family interface.     

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.     

Work-family spillover of daily positive affect onto performance: The moderating role of domain identity salience

IntroductionA number of linking mechanisms between work and family domains have been studied, but one key mechanism has received little attention: the cross-domain influence of positive affect on performance.ObjectiveThis study examines the work-family spillover of positive affect at work onto performance in the family and, inversely, of positive affect in the family onto performance at work. Drawing upon the work-family enrichment theory (Greenhaus & Powell, 2006), we hypothesized that work and family identity salience moderate the work-to-family and family-to-work relationships between originating domain positive affect and receiving domain performance.MethodA sample of 124 Canadian workers completed a pre-diary survey and daily surveys during 10 consecutive days.ResultsMultilevel analyses showed an effect of daily positive affect in the family on daily performance at work, but no significant effect of daily positive affect at work on daily performance in the family. Furthermore, family identity salience facilitated the work-to-family and family-to-work spillover, whereas work identity salience had no significant moderating effect.ConclusionThe results extend the happy-productive worker thesis to the work-family interface by highlighting that positive affect contextualized in the family is related to performance at work.     

Domain Satisfaction as a Mediator of the Relationship Between Work–Family Spillover and Subjective Well-Being: A Longitudinal Study

Purpose

Despite greater recognition that public and workplace policies are needed to facilitate work–family integration, scarce evidence exists on whether and how work–family spillover relates to future subjective well-being (SWB). Guided by conservation of resources theory and bottom-up theories of SWB (i.e., domain-specific satisfaction serves as a source of overall SWB), we investigated the relationship between work–family spillover and future life satisfaction and the potential mechanisms of the relationship (job and marital satisfaction). The relative contribution of positive and negative work–family spillover to SWB was also examined.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Lagged analyses were conducted on self-reported data from a representative U.S. sample over a 9-year interval (N = 2588).

Findings

Individuals who experienced negative work-to-family spillover were less satisfied with their life at a 9-year follow-up, whereas those who experienced positive family-to-work spillover reported higher life satisfaction at the follow-up. These prospective associations remained significant when considering other established predictors of life satisfaction (baseline life satisfaction, health, gender, income, and personality) and were mediated by job satisfaction and marital satisfaction.

Implications

This study provides empirical evidence for ongoing advocacy for working families, suggesting that policies that facilitate positive family-to-work spillover and minimize negative work-to-family spillover should be regarded as essential to enhance SWB of individuals in our society in the long run.

Originality/Value

This study expands our understanding of the causal relationship between work–family spillover and life satisfaction by considering both positive and negative spillover and demonstrating the mechanisms by which work–family spillover relates to future life satisfaction, even beyond personality, health, and income.

     

The relationship between core self-evaluations and work and family satisfaction: The mediating role of work-family conflict and facilitation

This study examines the impact of work-family conflict and work-family facilitation on work and family outcomes and explores the influence of core self-evaluations (CSE) among these relationships. CSE is comprised of self-esteem, neuroticism, locus of control, and general self-efficacy. CSE was found to be negatively related to work interfering with family (WIF) and family interfering with work (FIW) conflicts, but not to work-to-family facilitation (W→FF) or family-to-work facilitation (F→WF). WIF and FIW negatively predicted work and family satisfaction, respectively. Additionally, W→FF was significantly related to job satisfaction in the hypothesized direction, and F→WF positively predicted family satisfaction. Job satisfaction negatively predicted intentions to quit. The research and practical implications, as well as limitations of this study are discussed.     

Linking team resources to work-family enrichment and satisfaction

Work-family scholars now recognize the potential positive effects of participation in one life domain (i.e., work or family) on performance in other life domains. We examined how employees might benefit from team resources, which are highly relevant to the modern workplace, in both work and nonwork domains via work-family enrichment. Using the Resource-Gain-Development model (Wayne, Grzywacz, Carlson, & Kacmar, 2007), we explored how team resources contribute to enrichment and resulting project and family satisfaction. Using multilevel structural equation modeling (ML-SEM) to analyze student data (N = 344) across multiple class projects, we demonstrated that individuals with team resources were more likely to experience both work-to-family and family-to-work enrichment. Further, enrichment mediated the relationship between team resources and satisfaction with the originating domain.     

A two-study examination of work–family conflict,production deviance and gender

Building on the spillover and crossover literatures of work–family conflict and the theoretical framework of Conservation of Resources Theory (Hobfoll, 1989) we examine the effects of conflict on production deviance. Using a two-study constructive replication and extension design, we examine how partner work-to-family conflict contributes to job incumbent family-to-work conflict and subsequent engagement in production deviance. In addition, we examine the moderating role of gender on the incumbent family-to-work conflict to production deviance relationship. Study 1 of 344 job incumbents supported the positive relationship between incumbent family-to-work conflict and deviance. In addition, this was moderated by gender such that men engaged in more deviant behaviors in response to family-to-work conflict. Study 2 consisted of 190 matched job incumbents and their partners. These findings supported the mediation of partner work-to-family conflict to production deviance through incumbent family-to-work conflict. Again gender was supported using moderated mediation analysis such that men engaged in more deviant behaviors in response to family-to-work conflict. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

Portuguese Mothers and Fathers Share Similar Levels of Work-Family Guilt According to a Newly Validated Measure

Transformations in family and work life have led to profound changes in the articulation of both spheres. The massive entry of women into the labor market, the decline of a family model based on the male provider, increasing job demands, and persistent gender inequality are factors that can generate work-family conflict and lead to feelings of guilt. Work-family guilt is a topic still rarely studied, particularly in Portugal. Given the importance of understanding the complexity of the relationships underlying the work-family interface and the lack of instruments in Portuguese to assess the feeling of guilt as it pertains to the work-family interface, our goal was to adapt the Work-Family Guilt Scale (WFGS) to the Portuguese population. Our results confirmed the two-dimensional structure of the scale with good reliability and validity. The WFGS was invariant between genders, with no significant mean differences between men and women. Convergent validity with the variables of work-to-family and family-to-work conflict and discriminant validity between the two dimensions of the WFGS was demonstrated. Use of this scale will allow the identification of feelings of guilt, which pose risks to the physical, emotional and psychological well-being of workers. Guilt feelings should, like conflict, be considered as a psychosocial risk that must be mitigated through policies and practices aimed at promoting a balance between family and working life.     

Workaholism and work–family spillover in a cross-occupational sample

This study examined the relationship between three components of workaholism (work involvement, drive, enjoyment of work) and work–family spillover. A cross-occupational sample consisting of 661 Norwegian employees from six different organizations responded to a Web-based questionnaire measuring workaholism and work–family spillover. A short and revised version of the WorkBAT showed that work involvement was positively related to both positive family-to-work spillover and to negative work-to-family spillover. Drive was positively related to both negative work-to-family and negative family-to-work spillover, and negatively related to positive work-to-family spillover. Enjoyment of work was positively associated with positive work-to-family and positive family-to-work spillover. Workaholism is clearly related to spillover. The findings imply that interventions for workers scoring high on work involvement and drive should be emphasized as these dimensions were associated with negative spillover. More research on this area is warranted.     

教师情绪智力和工作绩效的关系：工作家庭促进和主动行为的中介作用

采用整群抽样法对630名中小学教师进行调查,考察教师情绪智力与工作绩效之间的关系,以及工作家庭促进和主动行为在其中的中介作用。结果发现：（1）教师情绪智力、工作促进家庭、家庭促进工作和主动行为与工作绩效呈显著正相关;（2）教师情绪智力对工作绩效具有直接的正向预测作用,同时还通过家庭促进工作和主动行为的多重中介作用对工作绩效产生影响;（3）高低情绪智力对工作绩效的影响机制不同,低情绪智力通过家庭促进工作的部分中介作用影响教师工作绩效,高情绪智力通过家庭促进工作和主动行为的完全多重中介作用影响教师工作绩效;（4）工作家庭促进中工作促进家庭维度在教师情绪智力影响工作绩效中没有显著中介作用。     

Children’s Life Satisfaction: The Roles of Mothers’ Work Engagement and Recovery from Work

The present study examines whether mothers’ positive work-related experiences, work engagement and recovery from work, are indirectly linked to their children’s life satisfaction via mothers’ perceived life satisfaction and closeness with their children. Theoretically the study is based on the spillover and crossover models of work–family interface with a particular focus on positive interface, as this is a gap in the existing research. The sample consisted of 671 Finnish mother–child dyads. Survey-based data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results showed that mothers’ work engagement and recovery from work were positively and indirectly associated with children’s life satisfaction via mothers’ life satisfaction and closeness with their children. The findings suggest that work-to-family crossover of positive work-related experiences does indeed occur from mothers to children. Employers should pay attention to mothers’ work engagement and recovery from work, because these positive work-related experiences are likely to promote mothers’ life satisfaction and a positive mother–child relationship which, in turn, may be reflected in children’s life satisfaction. Job resources and mental detachment from work while not working are vital for work engagement and recovery from work, and should be promoted.     

Antecedents and consequences of work-family enrichment among Indian managers

The present study identifies core self-evaluations, family support, supervisor support and job characteristics as the antecedents of work-to-family enrichment and family satisfaction, job satisfaction, affective commitment and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) as its outcomes. The participants (n= 245) were employees from four organizations in India from manufacturing and information technology sectors. The results show that job characteristics and supervisor support were the predictors of work-to-family enrichment and core self-evaluations, family support and supervisor support emerged as the predictors of family-to-work enrichment. On outcomes, work-to-family enrichment are the predicator of job satisfaction, affective commitment and OCB and family-to-work enrichment as the predictor of family satisfaction, job satisfaction, affective commitment and OCB. The implications of the findings are discussed.     

Role resources and work–family enrichment: The role of work engagement

This article proposes a theoretical model of work-family enrichment and tests the mediating role of work engagement. The inclusion of work engagement extends prior research on work-family interface, and allows for examination of the effects of role resources (job resources, family support) on work-family enrichment. A two-wave survey was conducted among a matched sample of 786 employees in China. The model was tested with structural equation modeling techniques. The results showed that work engagement was the most proximal predictor of work-family enrichment. Work engagement fully mediated the relationship between family-friendly organizational policies and work-family enrichment, and also between job autonomy and family-work enrichment. Further, work engagement partially mediated the relationships between two job resources (supervisor support, job autonomy) and work-family enrichment, and also between family support and family-work enrichment. No difference was found in gender and marital status in the proposed model. Implications for future research and practices are discussed.     

Role resources and work–family enrichment: The role of work engagement

This article proposes a theoretical model of work-family enrichment and tests the mediating role of work engagement. The inclusion of work engagement extends prior research on work-family interface, and allows for examination of the effects of role resources (job resources, family support) on work-family enrichment. A two-wave survey was conducted among a matched sample of 786 employees in China. The model was tested with structural equation modeling techniques. The results showed that work engagement was the most proximal predictor of work-family enrichment. Work engagement fully mediated the relationship between family-friendly organizational policies and work-family enrichment, and also between job autonomy and family-work enrichment. Further, work engagement partially mediated the relationships between two job resources (supervisor support, job autonomy) and work-family enrichment, and also between family support and family-work enrichment. No difference was found in gender and marital status in the proposed model. Implications for future research and practices are discussed.     

边界弹性与工作-家庭冲突、增益的关系：基于人?环境匹配的视角

本研究从人?环境匹配理论的视角探讨工作和家庭边界弹性能力和边界弹性意愿对个体工作?家庭冲突和工作?家庭增益的交互影响。通过问卷法共获得494份有效数据, 基于多项式回归分析和反应曲面分析的结果表明：工作弹性能力与工作弹性意愿的匹配对工作→家庭冲突有显著的负向效应, 对工作→家庭增益无显著影响; 家庭弹性能力与家庭弹性意愿的匹配对家庭→工作冲突、家庭→工作增益有显著的负向效应。     

Reducing work-family conflict through different sources of social support

The present study examines the relationship between four sources of social support (i.e., spouse, relatives and friends, supervisor, and colleagues) and time and strain-based work-to-family and family-to-work conflict among 444 dual-earners. Gender differences with respect to the relationship between social support and work-family conflict were examined as well. The relationship between the sources of support and work-family conflict was tested using multiple regression analyses. Results showed that women reported more strain-based work-to-family conflict than men. Social support from spouse and from colleagues were related to family-to-work conflict, while none of the sources of social support were related to work-to-family conflict. Social support from supervisor and from colleagues were related differently to work-to-family conflict (time-based) and family-to-work conflict (strain-based) for men than for women. We conclude that social support is especially important in reducing family-to-work conflict.     

Examining the constructs of work-to-family enrichment and positive spillover

This paper reports three studies examining construct validity evidence for two recently developed measures of the positive side of the work–family interface: work-to-family positive spillover (WFPS; Hanson, Hammer, & Colton, 2006) and work-to-family enrichment (WFE; Carlson, Kacmar, Wayne, & Grzywacz, 2006). Using confirmatory factor analysis, the results from the first two studies indicate that the best fitting model distinguishes between WFPS and WFE, each with three sub-dimensions. However, these studies also showed that several items measuring WFE cross-loaded onto factors measuring WFPS. Results from the discriminant analyses showed that the sub-dimensions of WFPS and WFE uniquely predicted job satisfaction and life satisfaction. Yet, when WFPS and WFE were examined as one dimension, the measure of WFE predicted life satisfaction, but the measure of WFPS did not add to the prediction above WFE. Across both studies, WFE mediated the relationship between WFPS with both job and life satisfaction. Lastly, Study 3 provides some evidence of the content adequacy of these items; however, several items overlapped in content. These results suggest that enrichment and positive spillover are distinct but related constructs, each with three sub-dimensions. Further, more work is needed to refine the measurement of WFE and WFPS; however, this research helps advance our understanding of the positive side of the work–family interface.     

Occupational and Industry Sex Segregation and the Work–Family Interface

This study examines how gender interacts with the extent of occupational and industry sex segregation to affect family-to-work conflict, work-to-family conflict, coworker support, and supportive work-family culture. Using a theoretical framework that highlights the negative ramifications of working in a sex-atypical occupation or industry, we hypothesized that men and women would be impacted differently by the percentage of women in an occupation or industry. The data (N?=?2,810) are from the 2002 National Study of the Changing Workforce (a US sample). Findings suggest that gender interacts with the percentage of women in an industry in significantly predicting coworker support and supportive work–family culture. Gender also interacts with the percentage of women in an occupation in significantly predicting family-to-work conflict.     

Work-family conflict and psychological well-being: Stability and cross-lagged relations within one- and six-year follow-ups

The rank-order stability and cross-lagged relations between work-to-family conflict (WFC), family-to-work conflict (FWC), and psychological well-being were examined in two longitudinal studies with full two-wave panel designs. In Study 1 (n = 365), the time lag was one year, and in Study 2 (n = 153), six years. The Structural Equation Modeling showed that the stability for WFC was .69 over one and .73 over six years. The respective stabilities for FWC were .57 and .48. Cross-lagged relations were not detected between WFC/FWC and low psychological well-being (job exhaustion, marital adjustment, parental stress, and psychological distress), expected to exist on the basis of the integrative model of work-family interface [Frone, M. R., Yardley, J. K., & Markel, K. S. (1997). Developing and testing an integrative model of the work-family interface. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 50, 145-167.]. Instead, high job exhaustion preceded high psychological distress, both within one- and six-year time lags, and within a one-year time lag: low marital adjustment preceded high psychological distress, and high psychological distress preceded high parental stress. These findings supported the spillover perspective on work-family interface [Edwards, J. R., & Rothbard, N. P. (2000). Mechanisms linking work and family: Clarifying the relationship between work and family constructs. Academy of Management Review, 25, 178-199.].