Abstract
Abstract. The present paper focuses on sharing work events with the family by interviewing dual-earner parents. Specifically, the aim of the study was to investigate to what extent experiences at work, both positive and negative, were shared with the family, depending on (a) characteristics of the event and (b) general characteristics of work and family life (e.g., chronic stressors, chronic resources in each domain). Results of multilevel analysis showed that the longer lasting (for positive events only) and less familiar (for positive and negative events) a work event was, the more intense the event was shared with family members. Furthermore, besides work events also general social support in the work and the family context predicted sharing such events with family members. That is, the more supportive family members were and the less supportive the work environment was in general, the stronger was the effect of sharing work events with the family. Combining qualitative and quantitative data was successful in uncovering the situational and general determinants of work–family processes.
References
(2000). Consequences associated with work-to-family conflict: A review and agenda for future research. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 5, 278–308.
(2011). A meta-analysis of work-family conflict and various outcomes with a special emphasis on cross-domain versus matching-domain relations. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 16, 151–169.
(2013).
Chains of events in work-family research . In J. GrzywaczE. DemeroutiEds., New frontiers in work and family research (pp. 132–151). Routledge: Psychology Press.(2008). How job demands affect partners’ experience of exhaustion: Integrating work-family conflict and crossover theory. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 901–911.
(2004). Toward a dual-process model of work-home interference. Work & Occupations, 31, 345–366.
(2000).
Affective events-emotions matrix: A classification of work events and associated emotions . In N. M. AshkanasyC. E. J. HärtelW. J. ZerbeEds., Emotions in the workplace: Research, theory, and practice (pp. 36–48). Westport, CT: Quorum Books.(2001). Bad is stronger than good. Review of General Psychology, 5, 323–370.
(2005).
Work-family conflict . In J. BarlingE. K. KellowayM. R. FroneEds., Handbook of work stress (pp. 113–147). London, UK: Sage.(1989). Effects of daily stress on negative mood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 808–818.
(1980). Attachment and loss (Vol. 3, New York, NY: Basic Books.
(2006). Rethinking the control of nuisance variables in theory testing. Journal of Business and Psychology, 20, 429–443.
(1968). Crises and life changes and the onset of schizophrenia. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 9, 203–214.
(2006). The social stressors-counterproductive work behaviours link: Are conflicts with supervisors and coworkers the same? Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 11, 145–156.
(2005). A meta-analytic review of work-family conflict and its antecedents. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 67, 169–198.
(1975). Job demands and worker health. Washington, DC: National Institute on Occupational Safety and Health.
(1999). The role of social support in the stressor-strain relationship: An examination of work-family conflict. Journal of Management, 25, 513–540.
(1996). Social support in couples: Marriage as a resource in times of stress. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
(2004). Acute stressors and cortisol responses: A theoretical integration and synthesis of laboratory research. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 355–391.
(1999). Social support at work, and depressive symptoms: Testing for main and moderating effects with structural equations in a three-wave longitudinal study. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84, 874–884.
(1956). Industrial workers’ world: A study in the central life interests of industrial workers. Social Problems, 4, 3–13.
(1997). Interrole conflicts and the permeability of work and family domains: Are there gender differences? Journal of Vocational Behavior, 50, 168–184.
(2005). Work and family research in IO/OB: Content analysis and review of the literature (1980–2002). Journal of Vocational Behavior, 66, 124–197.
(2000). Mechanisms linking work and family: Clarifying the relationship between work and family constructs. Academy of Management Review, 25, 178–199.
(2005). Discovering statistics using SPSS. London, UK: Sage.
(2007). Work and family satisfaction and conflict: A meta-analysis of cross-domain relations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92, 57–80.
(1999). An investigation of the effects of time and involvement in the relationships between stressors and work-family conflict. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 4, 164–174.
(2005). Positive affect and the complex dynamics of human flourishing. The American Psychologist, 60, 678–686.
(1987). Eine Skala zur Erfassung von Sozialen Stressoren am Arbeitsplatz
[A scale measuring social stressors at work] . Zeitschrift für Arbeitswissenschaft, 41, 134–141.(2003).
Work-family balance . In J. Campbell QuickL. E. TetrickEds., Handbook of occupational health psychology (pp. 143–162). Washington, DC: APA.(1992). Antecedents and outcomes of work-family conflict: Testing a model of the work-family interface. Journal of Applied Psychology, 77, 65–78.
(2004). What do you do when things go right? The intrapersonal and interpersonal benefits of sharing positive events. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 228–245.
(2003).
Work/non-work interface: A review of theories and findings . In M. J. SchabracqJ. A. M. WinnubstC. L. CooperEds., Handbook of work and health psychology (pp. 279–312). Chichester, UK: Wiley.(2004). Stressful situations at work and in private life among young workers: An event sampling approach. Social Indicators Research, 67, 11–49.
(1985). Sources of conflict between work and family roles. Academy of Management Review, 10, 76–88.
(2006). When work and family are allies: A theory of work-family enrichment. Academy of Management Review, 31, 72–92.
(2007).
Mentoring and the work-family interface . In B. R. RaginsK. E. KramEds., Handbook of mentoring at work: Theory, research and practice (pp. 519–544). London, UK: Sage.(2003). Work, family, and mental health: Testing different models of work-family fit. Journal of Marriage and Family, 65, 248–262.
(2000). Reconceptualizing the work-family interface: An ecological perspective on the correlates of positive and negative spillover between work and family. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 5, 111–126.
(1999). Do background stressors influence reactivity to and recovery from acute stressors? Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 29, 469–494.
(1991). Rational versus gender role explanations for work-family conflict. Journal of Applied Psychology, 76, 560–568.
(1994). Impact of life-cycle stage and gender on the ability to balance work and family responsibilities. Family Relations, 43, 144–150.
(1981). Work stress and social support. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
F. JonesR. J. BurkeM. Westman (2006). Work-life balance: A psychological perspective. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.
(1993). Nonwork to work spillover: A more balant view of the experiences and coping of professional women and men. Sex Roles, 28, 1–22.
(1999). WinMax–professionelle Version. Opladen, Germany: Westdeutscher Verlag GmbH.
(1977). The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics, 33, 159–174.
(1998). A case of the usefulness of laboratory social stressors. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 20, 310–316.
(1998). Protective and damaging effects of stress mediators. New England Journal of Medicine, 338, 171–179.
(1990).
Occupational stress and marital support: A description of microprocesses . In J. EckenrodeS. GoreEds., Stress between work and family (pp. 39–60). New York, NY: Plenum Press.(2005). Balancing work and home: How job and home demands are related to burnout. International Journal of Stress Management, 12, 43–61.
(2004). HLM 6: Hierarchical linear and nonlinear modeling. Lincolnwood, IL: SSI Scientific Software International.
(1992).
Social withdrawal as a short-term coping response to daily stressors . In H. S. FriedmanEd., Hostility coping & health. Washington: APA.(1997). Effects of daily stress at work on mothers’ interactions with preschoolers. Journal of Family Psychology, 11, 90–108.
(1993). Ergonomie. München, Germany: Carl Hanser Verlag.
(1990).
Assessing frequency reports of mundane behaviours . In C. HendrickM. S. ClarkEds., Research Methods in Personality and Social Psychology (Vol. 11, pp. 98–119). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.(1996). Impact of social environment characteristics on neuroendocrine regulation. Psychosomatic Medicine, 58, 459–471.
(2000). Positive psychology. The American Psychologist, 55, 5–14.
(2007).
Occupational stress research: The „Stress-as-Offense-to-Self” perspective . In J. HoudmontS. McIntyreEds., Occupational health psychology: European perspectives on research, education and practice (Vol. 2, pp. 43–60). Castelo da Maia, Portugal: ISMAI Publishing.(1980).
Coping with undesirable life events . In J. GarberM. E. P. SeligmanEds., Human helplessness (pp. 279–375). New York, NY: Academic Press.(2005). Switching off mentally: Predictors and consequences of psychological detachment from work during off-job time. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 10, 393–414.
(1993). Competence at work: Models for superior performance. New York, NY: Wiley.
(1995). Impact of family-supportive work variables on work-family conflict and strain: A control perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology, 80, 6–15.
(2004). Work related and “private” interactions at work. Social Indicators Research, 67, 145–182.
(1996). The relationship between social support and physiological processes: A review with emphasis on underlying mechanisms and implications for health. Psychological Bulletin, 119, 488–531.
(1999). The role of social support in the process of work stress: A meta-analysis. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 54, 314–334.
(1997). It’s about time: A study of hours worked and work spillover among law firm lawyers. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 50, 227–248.
(1996).
Affective events theory: A theoretical discussion of the structure, causes and consequences of affective experiences at work . In B. M. StawL. L. CummingsEds., Research in Organizational Behavior (Vol. 19, pp. 1–74). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.(2009). Work engagement and financial turnover: A diary study on the role of job and personal resources. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 82, 183–200.
(2001). Emotion work and job stressors and their effects on burnout. Psychology and Health, 16, 527–545.
