Low wage workers are faced with unique challenges such as shift work, scheduling conflicts, and increased job demands, all of which have the capacity to prevent work and family balance. Recently, supportive supervisors and flexible work arrangements have been suggested as essential to mitigating negative work family outcomes. Due to the underrepresentation of low wage workers in the literature, however, the nature of these relationships in the context of low wage work remains unclear. The present study examined the relationship between family-supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSB) and work family conflict and enrichment as mediated by flexibility characteristics. The sample consisted of 104 supervisor-subordinate pairs working in various retail and fast food industries. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the hypothesized relationships, and although flexibility characteristics were not found to mediate the relationship between FSSB and work family outcomes, the overall model was supported. Results suggest that flexibility characteristics have a significant impact on work family conflict for low wage workers. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Research has shown that being in a romantic relationship has related negatively with work-family conflict. Using social exchange theory, the investment model, and role theory, this study examined the relationships among the dimensions of perceived partner support, romantic relationship interdependence, and work-family conflict. A sample of 192 adults in paid employment, currently involved in a romantic relationship, were recruited from SurveyMonkey Contribute. Study participants completed online a demographic survey, the revised Support in Intimate Relationships Rating Scale (SIRRS), the Investment Model Scale, and work-family conflict scales. Correlation analyses showed that work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict correlated negatively with commitment and positively with quality of alternatives as hypothesized. As hypothesized, regression analyses showed that quality of alternatives and informational support explained unique variance in work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict and that commitment explained unique variance in family-to-work conflict. PROCESS mediation analyses showed partial support for the hypothesis of mediation. Quality of alternatives and commitment mediated the relationships between esteem/emotional support and family-to-work conflict and instrumental/tangible support and family-to-work conflict. Quality of alternatives mediated the relationships between informational support and work-to-family conflict, informational support and family-to-work conflict, and instrumental/tangible support and work-to-family conflict. The findings contribute to positive social change by offering added knowledge about the occurrence of work-family issues in the lives of employees representing a large percentage of the workforce.

In recent years, studies have discussed the abusive supervision behavior in the organizations. Especially, supervisors¡¦ abusive supervision behaviors were believed to have negative effects on subordinates. However, the relationship between supervisors¡¦ abusive supervision behaviors, subordinates¡¦ work-family conflict, and deviant behavior remained unclear. For this reason, this study intends correlating supervisors¡¦ abusive supervision behaviors and subordinates¡¦ work-family conflict with deviant behavior. In this study, abusive supervision is the independent variable; Deviant behavior is the dependent variable; Work-family conflict is the mediator. Besides, we defined social support (family-supportive policies, perceived organizational work¡Vfamily support, and perceived coworker support) as a moderator not only between supervisors¡¦ abusive supervision behaviors and subordinates¡¦ work-family conflict, but also between work-family conflict and deviant behavior. The subjects of the study who are selected by convenience sampling and the data are collected using dyad-approach are common enterprise employees from manufacturing, high-tech industry, and service industry in Taiwan. Two hundred and twelve effective questionnaires (106 supervisor-subordinate dyadic data) of the survey are retrieved. Moreover, the analytic tools such as descriptive analysis, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), linear structural relation, hierarchical regression analysis, and sobel test are utilized to analyze the result of the survey and to verify the assumptions of the study. The findings of the study are as follows. (1) Abusive supervision correlates positively with work-family conflict. (2) Work-family conflict also has significantly positive correlation with deviant behavior. (3) Mediating effect of work-family conflict is significant. (4) Family-supportive policies moderate the relationship between Abusive supervision and work-family conflict. The findings highly support the hypothesis I made, and also testify some researcher¡¦s suggestions. Further from this research, I also offer some suggestions for management and practice to the issue and following related research.

This dissertation contains reports of three separate studies in which the connections between work role salience, family role salience, stereotype threat, and work-family conflict were explored. In the first study, findings from a systematic review of the role salience literature were reported. Following a search of four Human Resource Development (HRD) journals, the PsycINFO database, and the Academic Search Complete database, 69 articles and papers were identified for inclusion in the literature review. The literature mostly pertained to career development, with a notable emphasis on life-span, life-space theory. Though, very little of the research in the sample of literature pertained specifically to how individuals negotiate their lives as they occupy multiple life roles. In the second study, meta-analytic techniques were used to identify the nature of the relationships between work role salience, family role salience, and work-family conflict. Hypothesized relationships were based on conservation of resources theory. Data were collected from fourteen papers and articles to test the hypothesized relationships. Work role salience was positively related to work-family conflict (ρ = 0.151; p < 0.01) and family role salience was negatively related to work interference with family (ρ = -0.049; p ≤ 0.05). Family role salience appeared to support healthy involvement in both the work and family roles while work family salience appeared to deplete the necessary resources to balance work and family roles satisfactorily. The third study was an introduction of stereotype threat as a potential moderator of the role salience and work-family conflict relationships. Data were collected from 727 individuals who responded to an online survey. MANOVA was used to conclude that White and Black/African-American participants differed in their responses to the work-family conflict and stereotype threat scales. Regression analyses were used to assess the moderating effects of stereotype threat. Stereotype threat moderated the relationships between parental role salience and family interference with work. Future research efforts should include further examination of the similarities and differences in how the variables interact across racial boundaries and the mechanism(s) by which the stereotype threat affects role salience and work-family conflict relationships.

The dramatic changing societal demographics, increasing globalization and knowledge economics have contributed to the transformation of work family patterns. The demands of work and family roles are becoming increasingly difficult and the growing importance in organizations to develop strategies for talent attraction and retention accordingly. Given the raise of knowledge workers and who have been recognized to probably provide the competitive advantage in the coming century, this study wanted to learn more insights of knowledge workers in Taiwanese Hi-Tech Services Industry as well as their organizations on how to better manage and support the demands from both work and family domains that yield the higher degree of organizational commitment and lower the work family conflict, and further support for the business case with concrete suggestions to the companies when developing family supportive strategies and creating family supportive working environment. To summarize the purposes of the study with 3 focus areas that were to (1) investigate the correlates of work¡Vfamily benefit utilization and work¡Vfamily culture. (2) determine whether work¡Vfamily benefit availability and supportive work¡Vfamily culture were related to organizational commitment and work¡Vfamily conflict. (3) and how both work and personal characteristics impact the relations between work family conflict and organizational commitment. One of the important results was consistent with literature that work family conflict was most affected by perceptions of a positive work family culture and by support from a worker¡¦s manager. High commitment working systems and individuals¡¦ desire for segmentation moderated the practices and outcomes. Thus, the most effective organizational responses to work family conflict and organizational commitment are those that combine multiple elements, including family supportive benefits, work family culture as well as implementation of related working systems with developing a better understanding of the implications of practices for how people managing the boundary between work and non-work lives.

The subject of this study was Swedish women's experiences of their everyday lives as lived between the demands of work and family. Twenty female civil servants were interviewed six times each over a three and a half year period when their work places underwent organizational changes. One purpose of the study was to investigate how women while managing everyday demands reproduce or transform the meanings of gender in their own lives. A second purpose was to discuss the impact of these processes on women's self-understandings and ways of relating to power and issues of gender equality, as well as the meanings of "femininity" in their lives. The repeated semi-structured interviews were analysed using two qualitative approaches: the first focused on the ways individual women understood and negotiated their everyday lives. It yielded four main areas of negotiation: the personal biography as a dynamic context in which a woman understands her experiences; the balancing between work and family generally managed by women; women's often somewhat ambiguous personal fit at work; and the striving for subject positions at work. In the second approach discourse analysis was used to study how gender is locally reproduced or transformed from personal experiences set in specific discursive contexts. Modes of understanding were in focus; i.e. the different ways women may integrate experiences as parts of their sense of self, depending mainly on social positionings. Important discursive themes were the women's self-presentations, their experiences of gender equality and power differentials, and their ways of relating to femininity. The dissertation also discusses the types of psychological theory best suited to the historically changeable contents of "femininity", in contrast to its more stable relational qualitites of subordination vs. superordination, and argues for theory situated in a feminist social constructionist framework. / digitalisering@umu

科学研究費補助金 研究種目:基盤研究(C)(2) 課題番号:09610113 研究代表者:金井 篤子 研究期間:1997-1999年度

Australia is one of the most popular countries for immigrants to settle. Many highly qualified Indians from India have made Australia their home, and they hold important positions in the Australian work-force. The Australian work-force now consists not only of employees from different countries, but also of parents who try to balance their work roles and family roles simultaneously. For dual-earner families this can be difficult and could lead to increased job stress and work family conflict. Due to these cultural and gender differences, experiences in the paid work-force cannot be assumed to be the same for all employees. The purpose of this research was to investigate the role of culture and gender among working professionals in Australia and to study the interactional patterns within dual-earner couples in the Australian work-force. This was exploratory research and was conducted using three studies. All studies were cross-sectional, and qualitative as well as quantitative measures were used for data collection. In the first study data were collected from matched pairs of 10 Australian and 10 Indian born mothers who were employed in the Australian work-force. Interviews were conducted and responses to the interview were recorded. Results suggested some significant differences in job stress, with Australian mothers experiencing more job stress than Indian mothers. Further, interview results indicated that women from both cultures were responsible for most of the household work. Study two of the thesis combined culture and gender to investigate job satisfaction, work stress and work family conflict among Australian men and women working in the Australian work-force (N = 58). A 2 X 2 ANOVA was used for this. There were no cultural differences found among men and women of both cultures on measures of job satisfaction, work-family conflict and family-work conflict. However, cultural differences were observed on the job stress scale with Australian men and women experiencing more job stress than Indian men and women. There were also significant gender differences in job stress, workfamily- conflict and family-work conflict. Australian men and Indian men reported higher family-work conflict. Results of this study revealed significant gender differences and therefore, the third study was designed to investigate these gender differences further. Study three investigated the role of gender and work stress variables through crossover and spillover research. Many gender differences in predictors of fatigue, job stress and dyadic adjustment were found among couples both working in white collar professions. This study too strengthened the traditional gender role with women experiencing higher job stress and family-work conflict. It is suggested that these findings contribute to the work-stress literature in three ways. Findings confirm that gender, rather than culture, are responsible for differences among immigrants in their perception of job satisfaction, work-family conflict and family-work conflict. Findings also confirm the traditional gender role of women, who are responsible for most domestic household work, and also demonstrate that increase in work-family conflict and family-work conflict contributes to an increase in job stress among dual-earner couples. This research has provided an insight into factors contributing to both crossover and spillover among Australian dual earner professionals, an area which has not received much attention. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1365266 / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Adelaide, School of Psychology, 2009

Australia is one of the most popular countries for immigrants to settle. Many highly qualified Indians from India have made Australia their home, and they hold important positions in the Australian work-force. The Australian work-force now consists not only of employees from different countries, but also of parents who try to balance their work roles and family roles simultaneously. For dual-earner families this can be difficult and could lead to increased job stress and work family conflict. Due to these cultural and gender differences, experiences in the paid work-force cannot be assumed to be the same for all employees. The purpose of this research was to investigate the role of culture and gender among working professionals in Australia and to study the interactional patterns within dual-earner couples in the Australian work-force. This was exploratory research and was conducted using three studies. All studies were cross-sectional, and qualitative as well as quantitative measures were used for data collection. In the first study data were collected from matched pairs of 10 Australian and 10 Indian born mothers who were employed in the Australian work-force. Interviews were conducted and responses to the interview were recorded. Results suggested some significant differences in job stress, with Australian mothers experiencing more job stress than Indian mothers. Further, interview results indicated that women from both cultures were responsible for most of the household work. Study two of the thesis combined culture and gender to investigate job satisfaction, work stress and work family conflict among Australian men and women working in the Australian work-force (N = 58). A 2 X 2 ANOVA was used for this. There were no cultural differences found among men and women of both cultures on measures of job satisfaction, work-family conflict and family-work conflict. However, cultural differences were observed on the job stress scale with Australian men and women experiencing more job stress than Indian men and women. There were also significant gender differences in job stress, workfamily- conflict and family-work conflict. Australian men and Indian men reported higher family-work conflict. Results of this study revealed significant gender differences and therefore, the third study was designed to investigate these gender differences further. Study three investigated the role of gender and work stress variables through crossover and spillover research. Many gender differences in predictors of fatigue, job stress and dyadic adjustment were found among couples both working in white collar professions. This study too strengthened the traditional gender role with women experiencing higher job stress and family-work conflict. It is suggested that these findings contribute to the work-stress literature in three ways. Findings confirm that gender, rather than culture, are responsible for differences among immigrants in their perception of job satisfaction, work-family conflict and family-work conflict. Findings also confirm the traditional gender role of women, who are responsible for most domestic household work, and also demonstrate that increase in work-family conflict and family-work conflict contributes to an increase in job stress among dual-earner couples. This research has provided an insight into factors contributing to both crossover and spillover among Australian dual earner professionals, an area which has not received much attention. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1365266 / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Adelaide, School of Psychology, 2009

Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro / A presente Dissertação trata de uma análise sobre as questões que envolvem o retorno de jovens casais à casa materna ou paterna causado pelo desemprego e/ou dificuldade de inserção no mercado de trabalho. Questões estas que vão desde a precarização das condições materiais da família até os efeitos do desemprego nas relações familiares. Na constatação deste quadro, uma questão inicial surgiu: O desemprego estaria provocando uma nova dinâmica na organização das famílias de camadas médias urbanas? Ou seja, a recoabitação como estratégia de apoio no momento do desemprego estaria provocando a co-residência forçada entre duas ou mais gerações, alterando assim a tendência à nuclearização da família, iniciada a partir dos nos anos 70? Mais ainda, a dependência entre as gerações estaria comprometendo a autonomia dos indivíduos na família? Essas foram algumas das indagações investigadas nessa pesquisa. / This thesis is an analysis of the issues surrounding the return of young couples to the maternal or paternal house caused by unemployment and / or difficulty in entering the labor market. These issues are ranged from the precarious material conditions of the family until the unemployment effects on family relationships. In finding to this situation, an initial question arose: Would unemployment be leading a new dynamic in the organization of urban middle-class families? That is, would re-living as a support strategy when unemploymetn was happening be causing the forced co-residence between two or more generations, thereby altering the trend toward family nuclearization, started from the '70s? Moreover, could the dependence between generations be compromising the autonomy of individuals in the family? These were some of the questions investigated in this research.