Work and Family Interface

Outcomes of FWAs

A number of positive outcomes have been associated with FWA. Baltes et al. (1999) reported that the effects of flexible and compressed work schedules on a variety of work outcomes and found that they related positively to productivity, job satisfaction, and work schedule satisfaction, and related negatively to absenteeism. Importantly this meta-analytic review was limited to intervention studies. The availability of FWA has also been associated with greater organizational commitment (Grover & Crooker, 1995).

More research is still needed on Affect

Affect is a key variable in Greenhaus and Powell's (2006) theory of work-family enrichment as well as in theories of positive spillover (e.g., Hanson et al., 2006). Still, our understanding of the role that affect and self-regulatory strategies play in work-family experiences is at a nascent stage.

Distinguishing the 3 types of Role Enhancement

Carlson et al. (2006) suggested that the distinction between enrichment and spillover is that enrichment requires that resources not only be transferred but that they be applied in ways that result in improved performance or affect for the individual. Wayne et al. (2007) suggested that enrichment and facilitation can be distinguished by virtue of the idea that that enrichment involves the within individual transfer of resources from one domain to the other while facilitation involves the positive influence of involvement in one domain on the functioning of the other system. An example of enrichment would be when skills learned in the workplace help make the individual a better parent. Facilitation would occur when the skills learned in the workplace help the individual improve the functioning of the family unit such as through enhanced interpersonal communication. Thus, enrichment involves intraindividual cross-domain transfer while facilitation involves individual to family system transfer.

Number of Children's relationship with WFC

Carlson (1999) found that the number of children living at home was one of the strongest and most consistent predictors of WFC. Importantly, Bryon (2005) also found that parental status moderated the relationship between WFC and gender. Specifically, when samples were comprised of more parents the gender difference in the experience of WIF and FIW widened such that women reported significantly more WIF and FIW than did fathers. Parenthood appears to increase both directions of interference for women.

Carlson and Frone (2003) two dimensions, internal and external

Carlson and Frone (2003) proposed two dimensions, internal and external. External interference refers to interference generated by demands in one role that inhibit or preclude participation in the other role. Internal interference is represented by psychological preoccupation with one role that interferes with the ability to fully engage in the other role while in the other role. They show that external WIF was primarily associated with work hours while internal WIF was associated with psychological work involvement. However, there has been little subsequent research using this typology.

work-family enrichment scale Carson et al (2006)

Carlson et al. (2006) developed and validated at measure of work to family enrichment composed of three dimensions, developmental, affect, and capital. Their family to work enrichment measure was comprised of three dimensions entitled, development, affect, and efficiency. Developmental gains include the acquisition of skills, knowledge, values, or perspectives. Affective gains involve the alteration of moods, attitudes, and confidence. Capital gains involve the acquisition of economic, social, or health assets. Efficiency gains are enhanced focus or attention.

Three Mechanisms of Crossover

Direct Transmission: occurs between partners who are closely related and have empathetic reactions for one another. Indirect Crossover: involves interpersonal exchange as a mediator. The experienced stress of one partner activates a negative interaction sequence that results in conflictual interactions such as social undermining (Westman & Vinokur, 1998; Westman, Vinokur, Hamilton, & Roziner (2004). Common Stressors (e.g., financial strain, threat of job loss): The shared environment of the partners results in the simultaneous increase of the strains of both partners, producing a spurious relationship between strains.

Flexspace

Flexplace involves flexibility in the location where work is completed, often referring to work conducted at home (also known as telework or telecommuting). Flexplace arrangements may also involve flexibility in the timing of work, but this is not always so. For example, some organizations permit employees to work from home but require them to be electronically available and working traditional hours, whereas other employers place no temporal restrictions on remote work. Thus, there is a considerable variation in the restrictions associated with flexplace policies

Flextime

Flextime refers to flexibility in the timing of work. For instance, employees may be empowered to alter the start and stop times of work while still required to be present during a set of specified core hours (e.g., 10:00 to 3:00; Baltes, Briggs, Huff, Wright, & Neuman, 1999).

Organizational Level Work Family Topics

Formal Resources provided by Org: Childcare and Flexibility Supervisor Support-relational Informal Organizational Support

Theoretical Overview when focusing on the worker/individual level

Three competing mechanisms were posed to explain the linkage (or lack thereof) between work and family: segmentation, compensation, and spillover (Lambert, 1990; Edwards & Rothbard, 2000). The segmentation view refers to the notion that work and family are independent spheres that do not relate to each other (Blood & Wolfe, 1960). The compensation hypothesis suggests that individuals compensate for dissatisfaction in one role by increasing their involvement in the other role or by pursuing rewards in the other role (Dubin, 1967; Edwards & Rothbard, 2000). That is, there is an inverse relationship between work and family variables. Spillover suggests that experiences in one domain carry over into the other such that changes in one domain (work or family) lead to similar changes in the other domain (e.g., Burke & Greenglass, 1987; Staines, 1980). The nature of spillover can be positive or negative (Piotrkowski, 1979). For example, positive or negative affect can be carried from work and result in positive or negative affect, respectively, at home. Both spillover and compensation have been supported under different conditions, but the majority of research finds evidence for spillover (Staines, 1980).

Antecedents of Informal Organizational Supports

Thompson, Andreassi, and Prottas (2005) identified the structural factors thought to serve as antecedents of work-family culture. They include market focus (e.g., product life cycle), job demands (e.g., 24/7 service orientation), job characteristics (e.g., measurability of job performance), characteristics of the organization (product technology), and work group characteristics (group cohesiveness).

This area needs more regarding time

Time perspective refers to an individual's way of relating to the psychological concepts of past, present, and future (Boniwell & Zimbardo, 2004). Time perspectives can be "balanced." Optimally balanced time perspectives blend, past, present, and future components and can be engaged in a flexible manner that best fits the situation's demands and individual needs and values. Boniwell and Zimbardo (2004) argue that a time-balanced individual is capable of operating within a temporal mode that is appropriate to the situation. When with families and friends, the individual is truly with them. When working, the individual is fully engaged in the work role. This ties in with the concept of mindfulness described previously.

Effects of Unsupportive Supervisors

Unsupportive supervisors may block or make it difficult for employees to access structural supports such as flexibility (Brewer, 2000; Glass & Fujimoto, 1995; Warren & Johnson, 1995) or place demands on employees that make it challenging for them to be available to family members when needed (e.g., Allen et al., 2008; Galinsky & Stein 1990). Indeed several studies have shown positive correlations between family-supportive policy use and family-supportive supervision (Allen, 2001; Breaugh & Frye, 2008; Thompson et al, 1999).

van Steenbergen, Ellemers, and Mooijaart (2007)

van Steenbergen, Ellemers, and Mooijaart (2007) used a similar modified typology in recent work that examined strain, time, behavioral, and psychological WIF and FIW.

Constructs considered to measure informal organizational work family support

work-family culture family-supportive organizational perceptions

Future Questions from the Multi-level Frame

· How do organizational level policies interact with government level support to impact individual level work-family conflict? · Do organizations possess micro-level climates of family-supportiveness in addition to organizational cultures of family-support? · How do the aggregate job demands of dual career couples as a unit influence individual child health and behavior outcomes? · How does aggregate family support relate to individual job performance? · How do work group norms relate to individual experiences of work-family conflict and work-family enhancement? · How does individual WFC relate to group level performance? · Can constructs such as balance be studied from the couple and/or family level?

Work Life Conflict Model Greenhaus and Beutell

1985 Greenhaus and Beutell In this article, different types of work-family conflict based on time, strain, and behavior were delineated, shaping the field of work-family conflict research over the next several decades

Eldercare will become a bigger concern in the future

A large proportion of employees not only have responsibility for the care of children, but also for the care of parents (Neal & Hammer, 2007). Estimates indicate that 35% of workers provide care for an aging family member and that proportion is likely to increase (Bond et al., 2002). In response to this challenge a greater percentage of employers are providing elder care resources to employees, with 35% providing such a benefit in 2005 based on data from the National Study of Employers (Bond, Galinsky, Kim & Brownfield, 2005). To my knowledge, research has yet to isolate the availability or use of eldercare benefits alone with employee outcomes.

Measurement ISSUES of WFC

A major criticism is that the scale items from common measures often confound cause and effect (Bellavia & Frone, 2005). Strain is embedded in many of the items used to measure WFC. As a result of this construct overlap, relationships observed between WFC and strains such as anxiety and depression may be spurious or be inflated. Subjective measures such as those currently used to assess WFC may be prone to distortion due to trait affect (Schaubroeck, 1999). Most existing measures of WFC are based on the use of strongly disagree to strongly agree response anchors (Bellavia & Frone, 2005). Work-family conflict is manifested on a day-to-day basis (Williams & Alliger, 1994) yet current measurement systems do not capture this aspect of the construct Confusion/Variance about what to call the non-work side (family, home, spouse)

Research on the ways in which couples negotiate work family roles is needed

All we really have right now is a classification. Need more research and understanding about the changing nature of role decisions over time. There have been several attempts to classify couples based on how they share involvement in home and career. Hall and Hall (1980) described four types of couples. Accommodating couples are those in which each party is highly involved in a different domain (e.g., husband is highly involved in work and wife is highly involved in home). Allied couples have members who are both involved in the same sphere and neither are concerned with perfection in the other. Adversarial couples are those in which both members are highly involved in work and each want the other member to do more home tasks. Finally, acrobats are couples in which both members are highly involved in both home and work. Gilbert (1993) used the term participant dual-career families to designate couples in which parenting is shared but household duties are primarily the wife's. Role sharing relationships are those in which both members of the couple share responsibility for parenting and household duties.

Family-Supportive Organizational Perceptions (FSOP)

Allen (2001) used the term family-supportive organizational perceptions (FSOP) to describe the global perceptions that employees form regarding the extent that the organization is family-supportive. Thompson et al. (1999) consider three dimensions of culture, career penalties, time demands, and managerial support. In contrast, Allen's (2001) conceptualization is unidimensional and based on the notion that supervisor/manager support is a related, but distinct construct. Other dimensions that might be considered part of the domain of family-supportive organizations/cultures have also been proposed such as face-time orientation (Shockley & Allen, 2008).

Research on Distractions

Another focal point that involves attentional resources for further study is distractions. Distractions play a key role in the experience of work and family conflict. Individuals commonly find themselves participating in one role while simultaneously feeling preoccupied by thoughts, emotions, or demands associated with another role (Ashforth, Kreiner, & Fugate, 2000; Cardenas, Major, & Bernas, 2004). For example, consider the parent who is thinking about work while his or her child is telling him/her about a problem in school that day. Such distractions can erode role quality and result in negative performance outcomes. Self-regulation involves the exertion of control over the self by the self (Muraven & Baumeister, 2000). Self-regulatory skills enable individuals to maintain focus in a given domain, particularly when demands in the other domain are high.

Masculinity Threat and the Household Roles

Arrighi and Maume (2000) found that men who faced masculinity challenges at work participated less in household work. Men avoid housework because it is thought of as women's work and therefore inconsistent with their identities as men. Hochschild (1989) also concluded that a man's identity cannot be furthered threatened by engaging in women's work at home when it is otherwise threatened by work-related factors.

U.S. Policies compared to global policies

As a liberal regime nation, it is often noted that the U.S. lags behind other industrialized nations in terms of social policies that help individuals manage work and family. For example, Heyman et al. (2007) reported that 169 of the 173 countries they studied offered guaranteed leave with income to women in connection with childbirth and 98 of those countries offer 14 or more weeks of paid leave. In contrast the U.S. has no federal guaranteed paid leave for mothers.

Work Family Balance

Balance is not a linking mechanism between work and family because it does not specify how conditions or experiences in one role are causally related to conditions or experiences in the other role (Greenhaus, Collins, & Shaw, 2003). Rather, it reflects an interrole phenomenon. However, some scholars equate low or a lack of work-family conflict with work-family balance (e.g., Duxbury & Higgins, 2001; Hill, Hawkins, Ferris, & Weitzman, 2001). Frone (2003) suggested that work-family balance is represented by a low level of work-family conflict accompanied by a high level of work-family facilitation. Others refer to balance in terms of investments in multiple roles (e.g., Kirchmeyer, 2000; Marks & MacDermid, 1996). Greenhaus and Allen (in press) define work-family balance as, "the extent to which an individual's effectiveness and satisfaction in work and family roles are compatible with the individual's life role priorities at a given point in time." Grzywacz and Carlson (2007) argue that a decontextualized view of balance isolates individuals from their families and organizations. They define balance as, "accomplishment of role-related expectations that are negotiated and shared between an individual and his or her role-related partners in the work and family domains." Little Empirical work here

Selective Optimization and Compensation (SOC)

Baltes and Dickson (2001) Successful development is theoretically defined as the maximization of desirable outcomes and the minimization of undesirable outcomes. Three general strategies—selection, optimization, and compensation—can be used to deal with developmental opportunities or losses successfully Selection involves deciding on which goals and outcomes to undertake. Furthermore, selection is divided into two categories: elective selection and loss-based selection. Elective selection refers to instances in which an individual's selection of goals is not based on losses (e.g., choice of education over sports). For example, does one choose to pursue many goals at once or does one concentrate only on the most important (i.e., determine a goal hierarchy)? Loss-based selection occurs when a loss of some goal-relevant mean (e.g., decline in physical or mental ability, loss of money) pressures an individual to make changes in his or her goals Optimization refers to the allocation or refinement of resources as a means of achieving goals (e.g., changing or enhancing one's personality profile to achieve certain goals; Staudinger & Pasupathi, 1998). An employee could attempt to become more sociable with coworkers to increase his or her network and, thus, increase his or her support group in the workplace. Compensation involves using compensatory processes (i.e., new or alternative means) to maintain a certain level of functioning in a specific domain when faced with losses. As pointed out by a reviewer, these compensatory strategies can be divided into external and internal practices. An example of external compensation is a manager hiring an assistant to help her complete her duties when she realizes that, because of her failing health, she can no longer complete them on her own. An example of internal compensation is the use of impression management by employees so that losses are less evident or are seen by others as less

Suggested Future Frameworks

Baltes and Dickson (2001) have suggested that life-span models such as selective optimization and compensation (SOC) can be used help understand individual differences in work-family conflict and subsequent research has shown that the use of SOC behaviors relates to less WIF and FIW (Baltes & Heydens-Gahir, 2003). However, the data again are cross-sectional. Mitchell and James (2001) in their excellent review of time in organizational theory, "Nonlinear relationships over time are possible, as are cyclical and oscillating ones. Change can be incremental or discontinuous. Cycles can spiral up or down, and the intensity can change.

Multilevel Ecological Model of Human Development

Bronfenbrenner's (1979) multilevel ecological model of human development has been used as the organizing framework in the work life lit Microsystem: Refers to the institutions and groups that most immediately and directly impact the child's development including: family, school, religious institutions, neighborhood, and peers. Mesosystem: Consists of interconnections between the microsystems, for example between the family and teachers or between the child's peers and the family. Exosystem: Involves links between social settings that do not involve the child. For example, a child's experience at home may be influenced by their parent's experiences at work. A parent might receive a promotion that requires more travel, which in turn increases conflict with the other parent resulting in changes in their patterns of interaction with the child. Macrosystem: Describes the overarching culture that influences the developing child, as well as the microsystems and mesosystems embedded in those cultures. Cultural contexts can differ based on geographic location, socioeconomic status, poverty, and ethnicity. Members of a cultural group often share a common identity, heritage, and values. Macrosystems evolve across time and from generation to generation. Chronosystem: Consists of the pattern of environmental events and transitions over the life course, as well as changing socio-historical circumstances. For example, researchers have found that the negative effects of divorce on children often peak in the first year after the divorce. By two years after the divorce, family interaction is less chaotic and more stable. An example of changing sociohistorical circumstances is the increase in opportunities for women to pursue a career during the last thirty years

There is very litte org change work on work family interventions at org level policies

Change driven research is sorely lacking within the work-family literature (see Rapoport, Bailyn, Fletcher, & Pruitt, 2002 for an exception). Our knowledge of effective workplace practices is hampered by a limited number of intervention studies. For example, we know surprising little regarding how the implementation of flexible work policies relate to changes in employee WFC. This may begin to change over the next few years as research from the Work, Family and Health Network Initiative begins to emerge.

Physiological Measures

Cortisol is a stress hormone that is sensitive to socio-emotional demands at work (Lundberg, Granqvist, Hansson, Magnusson & Wallin, 1989). It can be measured relatively non-invasively such as through saliva samples. Cortisol stimulates the mobilization of energy in demanding situations. Sustained levels of cortisol have been associated with an assortment of negative health effects, ranging from depression and immune suppression to cardiovascular disease (e.g., Bergman et al., 2008; Ganster, Fox, & Dwyer, 2001). Catecholamines such as epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline) reflect the sympathetic nervous system's reaction to stress. Their levels too appear to be patterned based on the challenges of meeting work and family demands. Goldstein et al. (1999) showed that unmarried women experienced significant decreases in norepinephrine on off days as compared to workdays, whereas married women had similar levels of norepinephrine on off days and workdays. Elevated blood pressure is a significant marker for cardiovascular risk. Frankenhaeuser et al. (1989) found that male managers' blood pressure fell after work, whereas female managers' blood pressure remained high. Extensive family responsibilities, in conjunction with high job strain, were associated with high levels of systolic and diastolic blood pressure among white-collar women holding a university degree (Brisson, Laflamme, & Moisan, 1999). Similarly, Goldstein et al. (1999) found that decreases in heart rate from day to evening were significantly greater for women without children than for women with children

Outcomes of Cross Over

Crossover effects have been found for psychological strains such as anxiety, burnout, depression, distress, and marital dissatisfaction (e.g., Jones & Fletcher, 1993; Pavett, 1986; Westman & Etzion, 1995; Westman et al., 2004).

Effect of working long or off hours on the kids

Crouter, Helms-Erikson, Updegraff, & McHale (1999) found that mothers working longer hours knew as much about the children's daily experiences as did mothers working fewer hours. However, husbands married to mothers working longer hours were better informed than were husbands married to mothers working fewer hours. Thus, children of mothers who work longer hours may benefit due to increased involvement of fathers. When the work is done appears to be an important factor. Children appear to be more at risk when parents work evenings or nights (Heyman, 2000; Presser, 2000). Nonstandard shifts inhibit parents from participating in family dinners, helping with schoolwork, and reading bedtime stories (Crouter & McHale, 2005).

Job Characteristics Measured with O*Net

Crouter, Lanza, Pirretti, Goodman and Neebe (2006) provide a primer on how the O*Net may be used by work-family researchers. Researchers must collect data in sufficient detail regarding occupations so that it can be further coded. For example, an occupation such as "teacher" is too vague in that O*Net has over 70 different codes for teacher. This approach can shed new light with regard to the occupational conditions that give rise to both work-family conflict and work-family enhancement. Individuals working in occupations that required greater interdependence and responsibility for others (e.g., police detectives, firefighters) reported greater WFC than did those working in occupations that required less interdependence and responsibility for others (e.g., taxi drivers, tellers). Dierdorff and Ellington (2008) The use of occupational codes such as that provided by the O*Net treats all jobs from the same classification as identical, which misses potential differences in individual job design (Morgeson, & Campion, 1997). This is a big limitation

Supervisor Support is very broadly a good thing

Employees who have positive relationships with their supervisors are more satisfied, more committed, and perform better (Gerstner & Day, 1997). Those with abusive supervisors have unfavorable job attitudes, more psychological strain, and lower family well-being (Tepper, 2007)

Outcomes of Informal Supports

Employees who perceive their organizations as more family-supportive report less WFC than do those who perceive the organization to be less family-supportive (Allen, 2001; Behson, 2005; Shockley & Allen, 2007; Thompson et al., 1999). These findings have been supported in studies conducted outside of the U.S. (Lapierre, Spector, Allen, Poelmans et al., 2008; Mauno, Kinnunen, & Pyykko, 2005; O'Driscoll, Poelmans, Spector, Kalliath et al., 2003). In addition, stronger perceptions that the organization is family-supportive have been associated with less intent to leave the organization (Allen, 2001; Thompson et al., 1999), greater job satisfaction (Allen, 2001; Lapierre et al., 2008), and greater family and life satisfaction (Lapierre et al., 2008).

Enrichment

Enrichment is defined as the extent that experiences in one role improve the quality of life (performance and positive affect) in the other role through the transfer of resources or positive affect from one role to the other role (Greenhaus & Powell, 2006). Greenhaus and Powell (2006) specify two paths by which enrichment occurs. Resources generated in one role can be directly transferred to the other role. In addition, a resource generated in one role can generate positive affect within that role that in turn produces high performance and positive affect in the other role. Greenhaus and Powell (2006) also identify five types of resources that can be role generated, including skills and perspectives, psychological and physical resources, social-capital resources, flexibility, and material resources.

Facilitation

Facilitation refers to the extent that engagement in one life domain provides gains that contribute to enhanced functions in another life domain (Wayne, Grzywacz, Carlson, & Kacmar, 2007). van Steenbergen et al. (2007) considered facilitation to be the conceptual counterpart of conflict. That is, while conflict deals with the extent that participation in one role is made more difficult by participation in the other role, facilitation refers to the extent that participation in one role is made easier by virtue of participation in the other role. They identified four types of facilitation similar to the types of conflict examined in the literature, energy-based, time-based, behavioral, and psychological.

Family Leave and Medical Act (FLMA)

Family Leave and Medical Act (FLMA), companies with at least 50 employees are required to allow employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave a year to care for a newborn, a sick family member or their own medical problem. However, some individual employers go beyond these requirements and provide paid leave

Two Directions of WFC Effects

Family interference with work (FIW) is viewed as a distinct construct from work interference with family (WIF). Each has unique antecedents and consequences (e.g., Carlson, 1999). The directionality of the conflict only becomes apparent after the individual makes a decision regarding the resolution of the conflict. In terms of prevalence, mean rates of WIF are consistently higher than that of FIW (Bellavia & Frone, 2005). The family boundary is more permeable than is the work boundary.

Affect on Kids: Disruption of Family Routines

Family routines and rituals contribute to the quality of family life and serve as a protective factor for children (Fiese et al., 2002). Research shows that what children remember most about their childhood is the everyday rituals and traditions that bring the family together (Galinsky, 1999). Allen, Shockley, and Poteat (2008) found that less family-supportive supervision was associated with few family dinners. This relationship was mediated by WIF. In addition, the availability of flexplace (i.e., telecommuting) was negatively associated with the frequency with which children ate fast food for dinner. These findings are important in that more frequent family dinners are associated with reduced risk for teen illegal drug use, drinking, smoking, and aggressive behaviors and with healthy food intake (CASA, 2005; Fulkerson et al., 2006; Gillman et al., 2000). Fast food intake is associated with poor dietary quality and places children at risk for obesity (Bowman, Gortmaker, Ebbeling, Pereira, & Ludwig, 2004). Based on a longitudinal study using daily surveys at both home and work, Iies et al. (2007) employee social behaviors (e.g, going on family outings, eating meals together) as reported by spouses was predicted by employee WIF.

Family-supportive/friendly benefits

Family-supportive/friendly benefits, policies, and programs (FSB) are those that are designed to help employees be effective in both their work and their family lives. Although there is no commonly accepted categorization system, FSB are often clustered into two categories, those that involve dependent care and those that involve the timing and location of work.

Flexible Work Arrangements (FWA)

Flexible work arrangements (FWA) are defined as "alternative work options that allow work to be accomplished outside of the traditional temporal and/or spatial boundaries of a standard workday" (Rau, 2003). FWA permit deviance from the traditional 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, 40-hour workweek by allowing work to be performed on a reduced hours basis, before or after normal working hours, and/or from remote locations. Flexible policies are assumed to facilitate the management of competing demands from work and non-work through increases in temporal flexibility (when work is done) and in spatial flexibility (where work is done; Rau, 2003). The two most popular forms of FWA are flextime and flexplace (SHRM Foundation, 2001).

Health Outcomes of WFC

Frone (2000) reported that individuals who reported WIF were significantly more at risk for mood, anxiety, and substance dependence disorders compared with those who reported less WIF. The rate of psychiatric disorders was 10-fold greater among those who reported WIF. Greater FIW has been associated with eating more high fat foods and less physical activity (Allen & Armstrong, 2006). In addition, Allen and Armstrong (2006) reported that WIF was associated with eating fewer healthy foods. These findings have been attributed to perceptions of time scarcity. hypertension (Frone et al., 1997) depression (Frone et al., 1997)

Affects on the Kids: Parent Stress and Mood

Galinsky (1999) found that what children most wish for is that their parents would be less stressed and less tired. Similarly, Sallinen, Ronka, Kinnunen, & Kokka (2007) investigated mother and father work experiences along with reports from their adolescent children. Their results were consistent with Galinsky's (1999) in that lack of parents' time due to work was less of a concern than was parents' fatigue and bad mood.

Causes of Work Family Conflict

Gender Number of Children Marital Status Role Stressors Importance of Work and Family Roles Personality

Motivational Agendas could be a useful theory in this space

George and Brief's (1996) theory concerning motivational agendas provides one foundation for developing a theory of affect in work-family relationships. As noted by George and Brief (1996) people have motivational agendas that involve many possible selves that cross both work and nonwork domains. Possible selves refer to what people want to become. Individuals are not singularly directed, but rather they strive to become many things. Feelings serve as a cue as to which of the motivational selves require attention. That is, feelings serve as a source of information used to direct motivational attention (Schwarz, 1990).

Role Accumulation- Scarcity Hypothesis

Goode (1960) developed what was referred to as the scarcity hypothesis. The scarcity hypothesis refers to the idea that individuals possess a finite amount of time, energy, and attention and that greedy social organizations tend to demand the majority of those resources. The more roles one accumulates, the greater the probability that the individual will face conflicting obligations and therefore suffer role strain and distress.

Research on Deciding between roles in WF

Greenhaus and Powell (2003) used an experimental vignette study to investigate the factors that influence an individual's decision in participate in a conflicting work versus family activity. The relative salience of work and family roles had the strongest influence on the decision. However, the decision was also influenced by external pressure received from role-senders (managers and spouses). This study was followed by a critical incidents study in which participants were asked to describe a time when they faced a difficult choice between participation in a work activity and participation in a family activity (Powell & Greenhaus, 2006). This study illustrates how when confronted with difficult choices, individuals may try and find solutions that prevent a decrement in performance in either role (e.g, mobilize support from others). Further study is needed to examine the long-term effects on the self and on others of various decisions and decision-making strategies.

Model of Health Consequences of Work Family Conflict

Greenhaus, Allen, and Spector (2006) proposed a modified typology that refined the strain-based aspect of WFC into that which is effort-based and emotion-based

National Culture Level variables relationships with work-life balance

Grzywacz, Arcury, et al. (2007) found no association between WFC and health among a sample of immigrant Latino low-wage workers after controlling for job characteristics. However, these findings differed across gender in that there was a relationship between WIF and greater anxiety and depressive symptoms for women but not for men. Research by Lyness and Kropf (2005) also points to the potentially important role of gender and gender role ideology in examining work-family across cultures. In a study of European managers from 20 different countries, national gender equality was related to perceived work-family culture and the availability of flexible work arrangements, which in turn related to work-family balance (Lyness & Kropf, 2005).

Prevalence of work-family conflict across cultures

Grzywacz, Arcury, et al. (2007) found that the degree of conflict reported by the immigrant workers in their study was infrequent compared to findings based on the typical American professional sample. In a comparison of 18 different countries with regard to work-family pressures, Spector et al. (2005) found significant mean differences in the level of work-family pressure reported by participants with individuals from Taiwan and Hong Kong reporting the highest and individuals from the UK and Australia reporting the lowest.

What are the Affective/Emotional Components in the popular lit?

Guilt, Rumination Self-regulation theory proposes that rumination can be adaptive or maladaptive. In this case, the result may be adaptive if the woman takes action to resolve the discrepancy (finds another job that does not require travel) or she modifies her goal (she quits work and abandons the goal of pursuing a fulfilling career) or be maladaptive (she perseverates regarding the amount of travel needed to advance her career and lack of time with spouse). Rumination should be examined as a response to work-family conflict as it may be one of the mechanisms that explain the relationship between work-family conflict and negative outcomes such as depression and health behaviors. Moreover, incorporating rumination into work-family research could reveal new ways in which men and women differ in response to WFC. For example, women are more likely to use rumination to regulate their negative moods while men are more likely to medicate with alcohol (Nolen-Hoeksema & Corte, 2004).

Research on the Crossover of WFC from one spouse to another

Hammer et al. (1997) reported that husbands' and wives' WFC explained unique variance in their partners' WFC beyond their partners' work salience, perceived flexibility, and family involvement. Westman and Etzion (2005) found that husbands' and wives' WIF explained unique variance in their partners' WIF beyond their partners' job stressors and family demands. Similarly, husbands' and wives' FIW explained unique variance in their partners' FIW beyond the same set of variables.

Dimensions of Family Supportive Supervision

Hammer, Kossek, Zimmerman, and Daniels (2007) recently proposed that family supportive supervisor behavior is comprised of four dimensions. The dimensions include: Emotional support Instrumental support Role model behaviors Recognition of the strategic importance of work-family issue Hammer and colleagues (2007) also recently linked family-supportive supervision with health outcomes. Specifically, Hammer, Kossek, Yragui, Zimmerman, and Daniels (2008) found that family-supportive supervision was associated with workday systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Thus family-supportive supervision has the potential to be implicated as a cardiovascular risk factor. This is not surprising when considering CVD risk has been linked to a lack of social support in previous research (Uchino, Cacippo, & Kiecolt-Glaser, 1996).

Individual Differences Predicting WFE

Higher levels of enhancement have been found for women than for men (Aryee et al., 2005; Roehling, Moen, & Batt, 2003; Rotundo & Kincaid, 2008; van Steenbergen et al., 2007). In addition, van Steenbergen et al. (2007) reported that enhancement differentially predicted the work and nonwork outcomes of men and women. Grzywacz & Butler, 2005; Grzywacz & Marks, 2000; Wayne et al., 2004). Findings suggest that greater extraversion relates to greater WFE as well as to greater FWE. A secure attachment style has also been associated with greater enhancement in both directions (Sumer & Knight, 2001). Rotundo and Kincaid (2008) examined coping styles and found that a direct-action coping style was positively related to WFE but not to FEW. Advice seeking was positively associated with FWE, but not to WFE.

Causality of Work Family Findings is not known

However, there have also been longitudinal studies suggesting alternative causal flows. Variables typically considered as outcomes of WFC such as psychological well-being have been found to act as precursors to WFC rather than as outcomes (Kelloway, Gottlieb, & Barham, 1999; Kinnunen, Geurts, & Mauno, 2004). The causal direction of WFC-outcome relationships is not well understood. The longitudinal studies to date have been based on different time lags and have included different dependent variables, making comparisons difficult. This is complicated by the fact that behavioral, psychological, and physiological symptoms of strain can be expected to have different patterns of development over the same time course (Semmer, Grebner, & Elfering, 2004). There is also evidence that temporal effects may differ across gender (Kinnunen et al., 2004), direction of conflict (WIF versus FIW; Kelloway et al., 1999), and type of conflict (time-based versus strain-based; van Hooff et al., 2005).

Crossover Affecting Outcome Variables of the Opposite Spouse

Husbands' FIW has been associated with wives' lateness to work (Hammer, Bauer, & Grandey, 2003). The same study found that wives' FIW predicted husbands' interruptions at work and absences. Grandey et al. (2005) found that husbands' WIF predicted wives' job satisfaction one year later. However, wives' WIF did not predict husbands' job satisfaction cross-sectionally or longitudinally. Hammer et al. (2005) found support for the crossover of a husband's WIF on his wife's depression. Matthews, Del Priore, Acitelli, and Barnes-Farrell (2006) found while wives' WIF was associated with increased relationship tension for their husbands, husbands' WIF was associated with decreased relationship tension for their wives.

Regulating Roles and Detachment in Work Family

Individuals have a more difficult time regulating their focus on their family role than on their work role and is consistent with research suggesting the family role boundary is more permeable than is the work role boundary (Eagle, Miles, & Icenogle, 1997). A related line of research is that of psychological detachment. Psychological detachment from work involves not participating in work related activities or thoughts when away from the workplace. The inability to detach from one's job has been associated with indicators of poor well-being such as fatigue and sleep complaints (e.g., Grebner, Semmer, & Elfering, 2005). Sonnentag, Mojza, Binnewies, and Scholl (2008) found that individuals who detached from the job during the week reported a positive affective state at the end of the workweek. The inability to focus psychological attention on members within the social system that share our physical location may ultimately be damaging to both the individual and his/her relationship partners.

Why do people engage in FWAs

Individuals may choose to use FWA for a variety of reasons, including a decrease/elimination of commute time, ease in scheduling appointments or running errands, continuing education, childcare needs, or productivity purposes (Sharpe, Hermsen, & Billings, 2002).

Positives of Good Supervisors

Individuals who report more that their supervisors are more family-supportive also report less WFC (e.g., Allen, 2001; Anderson, Coffey, & Byerly, 2002; Frone et al, 1997; Goff et al., 1990; Lapierre & Allen, 2006; Thomas & Ganster, 1995; Thompson, Beauvais, & Lyness, 1999). Breaugh and Frye (2008) recently corroborated the relationship through other reports of WFC. That is, employee reports of supervisor support were associated with reports provided by significant others of employee WFC. Family-supportive supervision has also been positively associated with positive job attitudes and lower intentions to leave the organization (e.g., Allen, 2001; Anderson et al., 2002; Roehling, Roehling, & Moen, 2001).

Could be some measurement issues in work family with the measures of integration and segmentation

It seems important to develop measures that tap into the actual strategies that individuals use to manage their work and nonwork boundaries and to recognize that those strategies may vary both within and across domains.

Interrole Conflict

Kahn, Wolfe, Quinn, Snoek, and Rosenthal (1964) examined organizational stress that arose from role conflict and role ambiguity. The term interrole conflict was coined to describe when pressures in one role become incompatible with the pressures from another role.

Research on Segmentation and Integration

Kreiner (2006) found no relationship between segmentation/integration and WIF. The items used in Kreiner (2006) all refer to preferences with regard to keeping work separate from home (e.g., "I don't like to think about work when I am at home."). Shockley and Allen (2008) used the same measure and found no relationship with WIF and a slightly higher, but nonsignificant (r = .13) relationship with FIW in the direction of suggesting that a stronger segmentation preference was associated with more FIW. Shockley and Allen (2008) also reported that a stronger segmentation preference was associated with less use of flextime and flexplace. In contrast to Shockley and Allen (2008), Kossek, Lautsch, and Eaton (2006) reported that those who preferred integration telecommuted less. Their findings also indicated that individuals who preferred integration reported more FIW than those who preferred segmentation, however, the correlation was small (r = .16). No relationship with WIF was detected. It is interesting to note that the items developed by Kossek et al. (2006) are more reflective of keeping family out of the workplace ("I prefer to not talk about my family issues with most people I work with.") while others do not specify direction ("I actively strive to keep my family and work-life separate).

Paid Leaves for Family Care

Leaves following the birth or adoption of a child generally demonstrate positive health benefits for mothers (Chatterji & Markowitz, 2004), but research that examines specific organizational paid leave policies and individual health well-being outcomes is sparse. There is some data based on a review of the California paid leave program to suggest that offering extensive family and medical leave benefits helps reduce turnover, but the data cannot rule out the possibility that companies that offer more extensive leaves are better employers in general (Milkman & Appelbaum, 2004). Other studies have found that generous leaves, paid or unpaid, increase the likelihood that women will return to work following childbirth (Glass & Riley, 1995). On the other hand, taking a leave of absence has also been associated with negative career consequences for both men and women (Allen & Russell, 1999; Judiesch & Lyness, 1999).

Life Role Priority

Life role priority refers to the relative priority, focus, or emphasis placed on different life roles (Friedman & Greenhaus, 2000). Career focused people and family focused people place work and family respectively at the center of their lives and derive their strongest sense of identity from their higher-priority role. Career and family focused people place similar emphasis on both roles and they derive their sense of self from their experiences in both roles.

Work Life Research Does Not Really Focus on Life

Limited attention has been given to outcomes that reside in the family domain (Eby et al., 2005). In addition, there has been an overemphasis on individual effects. In their review of critical gaps in work-family research, Parasuraman and Greenhaus (2002) highlight that there has been limited investigation of couple-level work-family relationships and crossover effects from one partner to the other. This observation was echoed in Casper et al.'s (2007) review of methods used to study work-family issues. The authors reported that a mere 13% of the work and family studies published in IO/OB journals examined crossover relationships and that only 5% used the couple as the level of analysis

Work Outcomes of WFC

Longitudinal support of relationships between WFC and job satisfaction (Grandey, Cordeiro, & Crouter, 2005) Well-being (Grant-Vallone & Donaldson, 2001) have been reported.

Gender Roles in Dual Earner Families

Men are career primary Women are family primary 90% of the time when a child of a two-parent family is sick, the woman is the caretaker (Maccoby, 1998). Couples are often faced with decisions in which the career advancement of one member may come at the expense of the career advancement of the second member of the couple. The vast majority of trailing spouses in job relocations are female (Eby, 2001). Women are more likely than men to take parental leaves (Judiesch & Lyness, 1999). Greenhaus (2003) A man's marital status generally does not influence his choice of career roles, while family responsibilities often interfere with female career success.

Division of Labor in Dual Earner Families

Men tend to contribute more hours to the paid labor force while women contribute more hours to home related activities (Bianchi, Robinson, & Milkie, 2006) This holds true even for men and women in high status jobs. Based on a sample of academic physicians, Bergman, Ahmad, and Stewart (2008) found that men and women had the same total workload, but men spent more time in professional work than did women while women spent more time in unpaid work and childcare activities than did men. Spouses tended to agree on the amount of time that the wife spent on these activities. However, men tended to report a higher estimate of their own hours than that reported by their wives (Lee, 2005). Theories of Division of Labor Include The Time Availability Approach Relative-Resources Approach Gender Ideology Framework

Meta Analytic Results on WFC and (General) Dependent Care

Mesmer-Magnus and Viswesvaran (2006) reported a meta-analytic effect size of -.14 for WFC and -.04 for WIF with dependent care availability and satisfaction. These effect sizes should be interpreted with caution because their research did not distinguish between childcare arrangements provided by an employer versus those provided by another source (e.g., homecare).

Marital Status' relationship with WFC

Meta-analytic results shows little difference in WIF or FIW by marital status (single versus married), but parental status again moderates this effect (Byron, 2005). Single parents report more WIF and FIW than do married parents while married and single employees without children report similar levels of WIF and FIW (Byron, 2005). Marital type (single versus dual-earner) has also been examined. Dual earner couple members are thought to experience more WFC than their single earner counterparts (e.g., Higgins & Duxbury, 1992), but meta-analytic research shows no difference (Byron, 2005).

Mindfulness as an avenue of exploration

Mindfulness has been defined as "intentionally paying attention to present-moment experience (physical sensations, perceptions, affective states, thoughts and imagery) in a nonjudgmental way, thereby cultivating a stable and nonreactive awareness" (p. 394; Carmody, Reed, Kristeller, & Merriam, 2008). It has been lamented that the fast paced, technology overloaded, nature of today's society has eroded opportunities for deep focus, awareness, and reflection (Jackson, 2008). Cultivating a mindful awareness can be a valuable self-regulatory behavior that gives individuals a greater sense of control (Carmody et al., 2008). It is consistent with self-determination theory, which promotes the individual's ability to choose behaviors consistent with one's needs, values, and life interests (Kostanski & Hassed, 2008; Ryan & Deci, 2000). Being aware of moods and thoughts should enable individuals to fully attend to others within the moment as well as identify which motivational self needs to be called into attention. Most recently, a work-site mindfulness based intervention was investigated (Klatt, Buckworth, & Malarkey, in press). Results indicated that the intervention resulted in reduced stress among a group of working adults. Because the two critical components to mindfulness are, (a) self-regulation of attention and (b) the adoption of an orientation toward one's experiences in the present moment, it has the potential to serve as a means to help individuals cope with the management of work and nonwork boundaries.

Flexibility Extended across the Lifespan

Moen and Roehling (2005) argue that lockstep arrangements that force a pattern based on education, work, family, and then retirement, are outdated. Research has shown that 37% of highly qualified women voluntarily leave their career for a period of time. The vast majority of women (93%) who take a break want to return to work (Hewlett, 2005). Organizations that acknowledge and accommodate such changes in pace over the career course make provisions for employees to slow their career progress while also avoiding permanent career derailment.

Relationship Between Work-family Conflict and Work-family Enhancement

Most scholars agree that work-family conflict and work-family enhancement constructs are conceptually distinct (e.g., Hanson et al., 2006). Correlations between the two constructs tend to be low. Greenhaus and Powell (2006) reported an average correlation of .02 across 21 studies Research consistently shows that work is more likely to interfere with family than family is likely to interfere with work, while family is more likely to enhance work than work is to enhance family (Greenhaus & Powell, 2006).

Outcomes of WFE

Multiple studies have found that greater enhancement relates to greater job satisfaction and organizational commitment (e.g., Aryee et al., 2005; Boyar & Mosley, 2007; Carlson et al., 2006; Geurts, Taris, Kompier, Dikkers, van Hooff, & Kinnunen, 2005; Hanson et al., 2006). Similarly, greater enhancement has been associated with greater marital satisfaction and family satisfaction (Hill, 2005; Voydanoff, 2005). In terms of directional differences, there is some indication that WFE more highly correlates with job satisfaction while FWE is more highly associated with family satisfaction (Carlson et al., 2006). One study has reported a positive relationship between FWE and sleep quality (Williams, Franche, Ibrahim, Mustard, & Layton, 2006). Research also documents that positive work-family interactions are associated with general well-being (e.g., Allis & O'Driscoll, 2008). One study has examined enhancement and depression longitudinally. Hammer, Cullen, Neal, Sinclair, & Shafiro (2005) found no significant bivariate relationship between either direction of enhancement with depression measured one year later.

Cross Cultural Research on Work-Family

Not a lot of this, rare and usually just focus on the individual vs collectivistic These studies generally demonstrate that the relations between work-family conflict and predictors such as work demands and outcomes such as job satisfaction are weaker in collectivist societies than in individualist societies (e.g., Spector et al., 2007; Spector et al., 2004). This is attributed to the notion that in collectivist cultures work hours are viewed as a contribution made to the family while in individualistic societies work hours are viewed as something the individual does for his or her own career gain. Not all studies show differences. In a 48-country study, Hill, Yang, Hawkins and Ferris (2004) demonstrated that a model that linked work demands to WIF and job attitudes held universally across four country clusters. However, all of the participants in the study were employees from IBM. Hence one possible explanation for the findings was that the IBM culture was stronger than the country culture.

State of Individual Difference Research in Work Family Space

Not a lot, Most people look at this topic from the societal/organizational level feeling that looking at the individual may absolve workplace of it's responsibilities. There was also some work around work design (Eby, 2005)

Why are the Meta Analytic Findings Heterogeneous?

One explanation for the heterogeneous results regarding FWA and work-family conflict is that some individuals benefit from flexibility more than others. Family responsibility appears to be a moderating factor. In her meta-analysis Byron (2005) found that having a higher percentage of females in a sample was negatively related to the study effect size between schedule flexibility and WIF and FIW. Shockley and Allen (2007) found that family responsibility moderated the relationship between WFC and FWA availability such that the relationship was stronger for women with greater family responsibility than for women with less family responsibility. Thus, FWA may provide more of a protective benefit for women than for men by virtue of women's greater family responsibility. More specifically, women are still primarily responsible for tasks such as scheduling doctor appointments, meetings with teachers, etc. The type of flexibility also makes a difference. Shockley and Allen (2007) reported FWA related more highly to WIF than to FIW, and flextime availability was more highly associated with WIF than was flexplace availability.

General Research on Dependent Care at Work

Only a handful of studies have specifically examined the use of employer-supported childcare centers. Goff, Mount, and Jamison (1990) found no relationship between childcare center use and employee absenteeism or work-family conflict. However, satisfaction with childcare arrangements was associated with less work-family conflict regardless of location. Nichols (1992) found that parents who used an employer sponsored onsite childcare center reported fewer childcare problems and more positive work-family attitudes than those who were on the waiting list. No relationship was found with performance or employee absenteeism. Most recently Hammer, Neal, Newsom, Brockwood, and Colton (2005) found that the use of dependent care supports (a variety of supports that included child and eldercare) were positively associated with WIF for dual-career women. Grover and Crooker (1995) found that the availability of childcare was associated with attachment to the organization.

Suggestions to Add to Self-Report: Physiological Measures and Job Characteristics

Physiological systems have their own characteristics that differ from what is captured through self-reports of health. As noted by Sonnentag and Fritz (2006) self-reports and physiological measures do not substitute for each other but likely reflect different underlying processes or aspects of stress responses Most research linking organizational characteristics with constructs such as work-family conflict has been based on employee reports. One way to more objectively assess occupational conditions is to assess variables such as job complexity using the O*Net.

U.S. Policies Regarding Family Leave

Signed into law in 2002, California was the first state to create a paid leave program (Milkman & Appelbaum, 2004). Workers who participate in the State Disability Insurance Program are eligible for up to six weeks of partial pay each year for the purposes of bonding with a newborn/adopted child or to care for an ill family member. This program is funded by the state, not the employer. Washington approved a law in 2007 that provides up to five weeks of paid family leave due to the birth or adoption of a child. Most recently New Jersey passed a law based on the California model. Other states are currently considering their own versions of paid leave. Research tracking the outcomes associated with these changes in policy for working parents would be informative

Models Examining the Multi-Level Frame

Poelmans and Sahibzada (2004) presented a multilevel framework intended to illuminate the macro- and meso-level factors thought to influence individual perceptions, and the adoption, of work-family policies. For example, it is proposed that companies in countries that have more extensive family-supportive policies (e.g., paid maternity leave) will be more likely to adopt organizational level family-supportive policies. Along the same lines, Poelmans and Beham (2008) developed a multilevel model of the processes involved in work-family policy allowance decisions of managers. Swody and Powell (2007) proposed a multilevel model intended to explain employee participation in family-friendly programs. Finally, Van Dyne, Kossek, and Lobel (2007) developed a cross-level model designed to examine how the individual use of flexibility influences group-level processes and outcomes. In total, these models provide a rich array of research propositions that remain to be tested. Major, Fletcher, Davis, and Germano (2008) examined cross-level relationships between work-family culture, leader-member exchange (LMX), coworker support, and WIF among employees from 10 different organizations who worked in the IT industry. They found that employees do form shared perceptions of the organization's work-family culture and that these perceptions indirectly relate to individual WIF through its influence on LMX and coworker support. Hammer et al. (2005) examined the use of workplace family supports (e.g., flexibility, childcare) at both the couple and individual level of analyses. Findings revealed no significant longitudinal couple-use effects on WIF or job satisfaction.

Role Enhancement Perspective

Positive Spillover Facilitation Enrichment

Positive Spillover

Positive spillover is defined as the transfer of generative mood, skills, behaviors, and values from work to family or from family to work (Edwards & Rothbard, 2000; Hanson et al., 2006). The measure of positive spillover developed by Hanson et al. (2006) captures three types of work-to-family positive spillover: affective, behavior-based instrumental, and values-based. Each of these types of spillover can occur from family to work as well as from work to family.

Predictors of Work-Family Enhancement coming from family or work

Psychological involvement in the family and marital role commitment are predictors of FWE (e.g., Allis & O'Driscoll, 2008; Graves, Ohlott, & Ruderman, 2007). Work-related factors such as job involvement have been associated with WFE (Aryee, Srinivas, & Tan, 2005). Grzywacz and Butler (2005) found that characteristics of the job, such as greater decision latitude, variety, and complexity were associated with greater WFE. Butler, Grzywacz, Bass, and Linney (2005) provided further support for this finding based on a within-person daily dairy design that linked skill level and control with WFE.

Dual Career Families

Rapoport and Rapoport (1969) first coined the term "dual-career families" to designate a type of family structure in which both heads of household-the husband and the wife-pursue active careers and family life. Each partner's work and family experiences and outcomes are impacted by his or her own set of circumstances as well as by those of his or her partner (Parasuraman & Greenhaus, 2002).

How does work role imbalance affect the kids?

Recently, scholars have argued that children are the unseen stakeholders at work and that child health should be considered a legitimate business concern (Friedman & Greenhaus, 2000; Major et al., 2004). Further, Cleveland (2005) noted that employer requirements such as long hours and face time can result in employees who are dysfunctional in their roles as spouses or parents.

Influence of Role Stressors on WFC

Role stressors are chronic sources of stress that can originate in either the work or the family domain (e.g., Carlson, 1999; Frone et al., 1992). Repeated exposure to role stressors has been linked to WFC (e.g., Aryee, 1992; Carlson & Perrewe, 1999; Parasuraman, Greenhaus, & Granrose, 1992; Shamir, 1983). Role stressors may result in cognitive preoccupation or reduced energy needed to fulfill multiple roles (Frone, 2003). Of all of the predictors examined, Byron (2005) found that job stress, family stress, and family conflict had the strongest meta-analytic effect sizes with both WIF and FIW

Affects on the Kids: Teens get depressed

Sallinen et al. (2007) reported adolescents' perceptions of parents negative spillover from work to home was connected to less autonomy granting parental behaviors and to increased parent-adolescent conflict, which in turn was associated with adolescent depression

Segmentation and Integration (the individual difference in this area!)

Segmentation/integration preferences are based on boundary theory (Ashforth et al., 2000; Nippert-Eng, 1996). Boundary role theory suggests that individuals develop boundaries to attempt to manage their work and family roles (Ashforth et al., 2000). Segmenters prefer the two domains to be kept apart while integrators prefer to remove boundaries and blend work and family together. Current conceptualizations place integration and segmentation as opposite ends of the same continuum (Kreiner, 2006). It been proposed that there costs and benefits to either extreme on the continuum (Ashforth et al., 2000). Role segmentation allows for less role blurring of role boundaries, but makes transitions between role boundaries more difficult.

Meta Analytic Findings on FWA

Specifically, although there is a robust relationship between FWA and organizational variables such as productivity and absenteeism, the evidence regarding WFC is considerably more mixed. Demonstrating the heterogeneity of effects, two recent meta-analyses came to two different conclusions. Byron (2005) reported a meta-analytic effect size of -.30 between flexibility and WIF and of -.17 with FIW while Mesmer-Magnus and Viswesvaran (2006) reported an effect size of .00 with WIF and .06 with FIW. Most recently, Gajendran and Harrison (2007) reported a mean effect size of -.11 between telecommuting and WFC suggesting a small but significant relationship.

We need to consider how changes happen across the life course

The Cornell Couples and Careers Study (Moen, 2003; Sweet & Moen, 2006). examined dual career couples in seven life stages. Life stages were operationalized based on primarily on family stage. That is, seven groups were created based on parental status and age of children (Roehling et al., 2003). Results revealed that FIW varied significantly across life stage for both men and women. FIW was highest for parents with preschool children and was lower among groups as children grew older. Interestingly, WIF was highest for younger couples without children. With regard to work-family enhancement, FWE varied across life stages for women but not for men. Mothers with young children reported less FWE than did women who were yet to have children. FWE was again higher among women with older children. WFE did not vary across life stage for men or women. These findings begin to elucidate the potential ways in which work-family relationships may differ across the life course, however, they are based on cross-sectional data. Moreover, the sample was restricted to middle-aged, middle-classed professional.

The Business Case for Caring about the Children

The business case for caring about child health is that child health affects employees work lives (Major et al., 2004). In addition, child illnesses impact insurance claims and costs for the organization and increases employees' absenteeism.

Personality and Dispositional Variables related to WFC

The dispositional variable that has received the most research attention is negative affect (NA). NA has been proposed to impact how individuals perceive their jobs and other life experiences and consistently has been associated with reports of stressors and strains (Spector, Zapf, Chen, & Frese, 2000). Similarly, neuroticism has been linked to both WIF and FIW (Grzywacz & Marks, 2000; Wayne et al., 2004). Two studies have examined the Big Five variables in relation to WFC (Bruck & Allen, 2003; Wayne et al., 2004). Both studies found that agreeableness and conscientiousness relate to WFC. Less agreeable individuals are more likely to report WFC, while, more conscientious individuals report less WFC (Bruck & Allen, 2003; Wayne et al., 2004). In a study of employed fathers, Kinnunen, Vermulst, Gerris, and Makikangas (2003) reported that emotionally stable fathers were protected from the negative effects of WIF on well-being while agreeable fathers were protected from the negative effects of FIW on marital satisfaction.

Enhancement Hypothesis of multiple roles

The enhancement hypothesis suggests that individuals' supply of energy is expandable and that multiple roles can increase psychological well-being (e.g., Barnett & Baruch, 1985; Thoits, 1983). Crouter (1984) used the term positive spillover to describe circumstances when activities in one role support, facilitate, or enhance activities in the other role.

The Gender Ideology Framework to Division of Labor

The gender ideology framework poses that division of labor is based on attitudes regarding gender roles with more egalitarian views reflecting a more equal division of labor. For example, Arrighi and Maume (2000) found that egalitarian men spend more time in housework than do men who espouse more traditional gender role values.

Societal Factors to Consider in Work-Family

The majority of individuals today are involved in both paid employment and unpaid family work. According to the 2006 U.S. Census Bureau 52% of all married couples are in a dual earner marriages In addition, data from the 2008 National Study of Employers indicates that an increasing percentage of employees have eldercare responsibilities (Galinsky, Bond, Sakai, Kim, & Giuntoli, 2008). Organizations no longer offer lifetime security and employees are less willing to sacrifice family for career (Sullivan, 1999). The number of Americans who work long hours (more than 50 hours a week) has been on the incline (Barnett, 2006). Technology has created more opportunities for individuals to devote more time to work anytime and anyplace (Olson-Buchanan & Boswell, 2006). Thus, the boundaries between work lives and family lives have become increasingly blurred (Fletcher & Bailyn, 1996).

Directions for Future Research

Think of things from a multi-level frame Rely less on Self-Reports Think more about the role of affect, emotion and self regulation here Think more broadly about individual differences here Capturing Change Over Time/Dynamics

Work Family Culture

Thompson and colleagues (1999) refer to work-family culture as "the shared assumptions, beliefs, and values regarding the extent to which an organization supports and values the integration of employees' work and family lives." (p. 394)

Importance of Work and Family Roles Related WFC

The more one is involved in a role, the more conflict originating within that role one is likely to experience (Gutek et al., 1991). In addition, high levels of involvement in a role may create preoccupation with that role, resulting in difficulty fulfilling the other role (Frone et al., 1992). An objective indicator of work and family involvement is the number of hours spent engaged in paid work and family work. Kanter (1977) noted that occupational time demands are among the most obvious ways that work life affects family life. Because time is a finite resource, time spent in paid work restricts the time available to participate in family activities. Byron (2005) found relatively small meta-analytic effect sizes associated with subjective and objective role involvement

Dimensions of WFC

The most recognized dimensional structure is that proposed by Greenhaus and Beutell (1985) that consists of time-based conflict, strain-based conflict, and behavior-based conflict. Time-based conflict occurs when time spent on activities in one role inhibits the fulfillment of responsibilities in another role. Strain-based conflict occurs when pressures from one role impede the fulfillment of requirements in another role. Behavior-based conflict occurs when behaviors necessary to fulfill one role are incompatible or incongruent with behavior patterns necessary in the other role. Of these three dimensions, greater emphasis has been placed on time and strain, often to the exclusion of the behavior dimension.

The Pre-Frontal Cortex might also help us understand more in this region

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is important for attentional control and when people are stressed their PFC does not function optimally. The PFC is critical to the regulation of behavior, attention, and affect (Brennan & Arnsten, 2008). In response to stressors, the amygdala may be turned on while the PFC, which is the higher cognitive center is turned off (Arnsten, 1998). This is important in that the PFC inhibits distractions, permitting individuals to plan and organize effectively. In addition, inhibition of the PFC impairs the ability to multitask (Diamond, Campbell, Park, Halonen, & Zoladz, 2007). The PFC functions optimally under conditions of moderate catecholamine release. PFC working-memory functions are impaired under conditions of high catecholamine release. Fatigue can result in underproduction of catecholamines and stress can result in overproduction.

The Relative-Resources Approach to Division of Labor

The relative-resources approach is based on the premise that housework is distasteful and will be avoided. Hence, individuals within the marital dyad greater resources (e.g., more earning power) leverage those resources to avoid housework. Strong support for this perspective is lacking in that women do more housework than men even when they earn more than their spouses (e.g., Brines, 1994).

Crossover Effects- Contagiousness of Work Family Conflict

The strain that individuals face as a result of work-family demands and conflict can be contagious. That is, the experience can be shared with family members and/or with coworkers. This can result in what is referred to as crossover. Within the work-family and stress literature, crossover effects refer to a process whereby stresses and strains experienced by one individual affect the stresses and strains experienced by a partner in that individual's social system (Westman, 1991; Westman & Etzion, 1995; Westman & Vinokur, 1998). Three Mechanisms of Crossover: Direct transmission

The Time Availability Approach to Division of Labor

The time availability approach asserts that household members will divide task according to the time they each have available (Arrighi & Maume, 2000). However, research shows little relationship between wife's employment and husband's time in housework, suggesting that marital partners do not allocate family work on the basis of time availability.

The Welfare Regime Typology

The welfare regime typology represents the way that the state, the market, and the family shape different backgrounds for understanding the work-family interface (Esping-Andersen, 1990, den Dulk, 2005). The three distinct regimes are referred to as liberal, conservative, and social democratic. Liberal regimes are characterized as market dominated (Eikemo, & Bambra, 2008). The ideology of the liberal welfare regime centers on free-market capitalism with minimal state interference (Esping-Andersen, 1990). Working parents are encouraged to rely on their own resources for managing work and family and the adoption of work-family arrangements within organizations is framed as a business case (den Dulk, 2005). Government aid that is provided is primarily means-based. Conservative regimes are characterized as state dominated and occupationally related. Benefits are typically earnings related and administered through employers (Eikemo, & Bambra, 2008). In such regimes, the state and organizations are viewed as active participants who both should contribute to the development of work-family policy. The state provides services, but simultaneously retains social status differences. In social democratic regimes the state dominates and the focus is on egalitarianism. Government takes responsibility for a wide array of social issues including work-family arrangements such as childcare and parental leave. Full employment of all citizens is encouraged.

This area needs more regarding longitudinal work

While longitudinal studies are beginning to emerge with greater frequency (e.g., Hammer, Neal, et al., 2005), few studies to date capture long-term change or even long term retrospective approaches in family circumstances and dynamics. Career and family priorities can shift across the life course, often in response to major life transitions (Sweet & Moen, 2006). Moreover, long-term study designs are also important because the dependent variables that are often of interest to work-family researchers have varying time lags (Frese & Zapf, 1988; Semmer et al., 2004).

Gender's relationship with WFC

With regard to gender, the direction of the interference is thought to matter. Because men tend to spend more time in the work domain than do women, men should experience more WIF than women. Because women tend to take primary responsibility for the home domain, women should experience greater FIW than men. Meta-analytic research is consistent with this notion, but the effect sizes are small. Specifically, Byron (2005) reported an average effect sized of -.03 for WIF and .06 for FIW, suggesting men were slightly more likely to report WIF than were women and that women were slightly more likely to report FIW than were men.

Thompson, Poelmans, Allen, & Andreassi, 2007

Work Family Coping Literature Citation

Outcomes of WFC

Work Outcomes Family Outcomes Health Outcomes

Work-family conflict (WFC)

Work-family conflict (WFC) research is grounded in theories of role stress and interrole conflict. Greenhaus and Beutell (1985) extended Kahn et al.'s (1964) definition of interrole conflict to form a definition of WFC that has become the operative definition with which most research and measurement has been based. Specifically, WFC is defined as "a form of interrole conflict in which the role pressures from the work and family domains are mutually incompatible in some respect" (p. 77). WFC is the mechanism that links constructs within one domain such as job demands with constructs in other domains such as family satisfaction (Frone, Russell, & Cooper, 1992).