Past research suggests that the relationship between work hours and work-family conflict is not as strong as expected, suggesting a need to investigate moderators of the relationship. This dissertation explores whether the value placed on time spent in a domain (subjective influence) moderates the relationship between actual time spent (objective influence) and subsequent work-family conflict. Value on time spent in a domain is operationalized as centrality, which draws upon the works of Mead (1934) and reflects the self-ascribed importance of a role identity (Ritzer, 1992). The concept of role-identities originates in sociological theories of identity: Identity theory (Stryker, 1980) and role-identity-theory (McCall & Simons, 1978). This mediated model is tested in a cross-national sample consisting of participants from Sweden and the United States. Sweden and the United States have been chosen because they represent very different public policy conceptions, particularly in approaching the work-family issue. Swedish public policy supports the reconciliation of employment and parenthood while North American public policy supports the male breadwinner model.Results of a field study show that the moderating effect of centrality on the relationship between hours spent and work-family conflict is significant only for high earners. Analyses were also conducted to compare Sweden and the United States with regards to work and family hours, work and family centrality, and work-family conflict. As expected, Americans work longer hours than Swedes. However, there is no significant difference with regard to work-family conflict. Unexpectedly, Swedes reported higher work centrality. Antecedents and consequences of work-family were also investigated. Specifically, daycare satisfaction related negatively to work-family conflict, while work-family conflict related negatively to turnover intentions.

Thesis (M. P. A.)--Texas State University-San Marcos, 2007. / "Spring 2007." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 65-67).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-112). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-112). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2003. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 170-182). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Idag möter många människor svårigheter med att balansera arbetslivet och privatlivet. Att tiden och energin inte riktigt räcker till för alla delar i livet. En grupp som särskilt möter dessa svårigheter är skiftarbetare. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur skiftarbetare som arbetar utifrån två olika arbetstidsmodeller upplever och hanterar balansen mellan arbete och fritid. För att besvara syftet har åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts med undersköterskor från Norrlands universitetssjukhus. Resultatet från studien visar att samtliga undersökningspersoner generellt sätt upplever en god balans mellan arbete och fritid. Trots det upplever de stundtals konflikter däremellan. De främsta skillnaderna mellan hur undersköterskor som arbetar utifrån de två arbetstidsmodellerna upplever balansen är kopplade till ansvar, återhämtning samt kontroll över arbetsschemat. För att hantera konflikter mellan arbete och fritid använder sig undersökningspersonerna av olika strategier. Några av dessa är att planera och prioritera, söka stöd från omgivningen samt att acceptera läget.

Remote work has become a popular topic within organizations and the popular press. However, academic research has been inconclusive as to whether remote work is related to benefits of increased job performance and lessened work-family conflict. This study examined remote work resources to gain an in-depth understanding of how remote work relates to job performance and work-family conflict. One hundred fifty-one salespeople participated in two time-lagged surveys regarding remote work resources (autonomy, feedback, access to information and interaction with one’s supervisor), outcomes (subjective and objective job performance and work family-conflict) and demographics. Remote work resources were not significantly related to job performance. Contrary to hypotheses, more control over work schedule and control over work process were related to more FIW. In support of hypotheses, more interaction with one’s supervisor was related to less FIW and more access to information was related to less WIF. There was no support for hypothesized mediation or moderation but exploratory analyses revealed that proactive personality moderated the relationship between interaction with one’s supervisor and objective job performance such that the relationship was stronger for less proactive employees than for more proactive employees. Overall, findings support the value of fine-grained analysis of remote work’s resources to provide a nuanced look into their relationships with outcomes.

Employing a sample of 116 female entrepreneurs, this study investigated how work-family issues, including work-family conflict and enrichment, relate to their intention to grow the business that they own or co-own. Results suggest that family-to-work enrichment directly related to female entrepreneurs’ business growth intentions, and important family members seems highly salient to female entrepreneurs’ business growth decisions.

Coworkers can play an important role in helping each other overcome stressful circumstances (Beehr, Jex, Stacy, & Murray, 2000; LaRocco & Jones, 1978; Viswesvaran, Sanchez, & Fisher, 1999), yet work-family researchers have paid significantly less attention to coworker-provided support than they have to supervisor-provided support (Kossek, Pichler, Bodner, & Hammer, 2011). This thesis contributes to the occupational health literature by providing empirical evidence of the benefits of a novel construct termed work-family supportive coworker behavior (WFSCB) – defined as any supportive action that a coworker can take to contribute to the improved management of an individual’s work and family role demands. A phenomenological qualitative investigation revealed five categories of WFSCB that were tested using three quantitative samples to develop and validate a multidimensional measure. The findings indicated that four dimensions of behavior best reflect WFSCB including: 1) emotional support, 2) facilitating work adjustments, 3) sharing resources and knowledge, and 4) proactively developing solutions. In testing the criterion-related validity of the new measure, this research provides evidence of the positive relationship between these behaviors and various work-family outcomes, as higher levels of WFSCB were associated with lower levels of work-to-family conflict, and higher levels of work-family balance, work-family positive spillover, and overall life satisfaction. In addition, the utility of WFSCB as a source of informal workplace support was underscored based on evidence of its incremental validity in the prediction of these same outcome variables over and above a measure of general coworker support (i.e., emotional and instrumental support). Practically, these findings suggest that general measures of coworker support may fall short in assessing a broad spectrum of supportive coworker behaviors that can significantly contribute to improved work-family outcomes. Overall, the results of this research program will place scholars in a better position to provide prescriptive advice to organizations and employees on the behaviors that they can engage in towards one another to promote improved work-family integration for individuals and more broadly, to contribute to a work-family supportive organizational climate.

This study meta-analyzed relationships between proposed antecedents and both directions of work-family enrichment (i.e., work-to-family enrichment and family-to-work enrichment). Proposed antecedents, which were derived from three existing theoretical models on the positive interface between work and family, include contextual and personal characteristics from both work- and family-domains. Primary studies included in the meta-analyses were from both published and unpublished sources between 1990 and 2016. The results suggest that several contextual and personal characteristics are significantly related to work-family enrichment. Gender’s moderating effect on the relationship between contextual characteristics and work-family enrichment received little support. Comparisons between examined antecedents of work-family enrichment and antecedents of work-family conflict supported the notion that work-family enrichment and work-family conflict are distinct constructs; in other words, enrichment is not merely the opposite of conflict. Practical implications and suggestions on future research are discussed.