Work-Family Conflict

• The intersection of work and family refers to the point where professional and personal life responsibilities and demands overlap
• Balancing work and family roles can be challenging, but finding harmony is crucial for overall well-being and satisfaction

Three Forms of Work-Family Conflict

• Time-based conflict
• Strain-based conflict
• Behavior-based conflict

Time-Based Conflict

• Common type of work-family conflict where life roles compete for time
• Time spent in one role cannot be devoted to another
• Being in two places at once is impossible
• Those exposed to time-based conflict tend to work long hours, travel extensively, work overtime, and have inflexible schedules
• Work characteristics increase at-work time, which means less family-role time

Strain-Based Conflict

• Exists when tension produced in one role negatively affects experiences in another role
• Work stressors can cause tension, irritability, fatigue, depression, and apathy
• Most intense for who expereince conflict or ambiguity within the work role, those exposed to physical, mental or emotional demands, constantly changing work environments or those doing repetitive, boring tasks
• Stressful conditions can lead to negative emotional spillover from work to non-work life

Behavior-Based Conflict

• Occurs when behavior effective in one role is inappropriate in another
• People who cannot shift gears between roles may experience this form of conflict
• Examples include police officers, military leaders, and principals

Work Domain vs Family Domain

• Work domain pressures and incompatibilities are impacted by:
  • Time (hours worked, inflexible schedules, shift work)
  • Strain (role conflict, ambiguity, boundary-spanning activities)
  • Behavior (expectations for secretiveness & objectivity)
• Creates Role pressure incompatibility
  • Time devoted to one role makes fulfilling requirements of another difficult
  • Strain produced by one role makes fulfilling requirements of another difficult
  • Behavior required in one role makes fulfilling requirements of another difficult
• Family domain requirements:
  • Time(young children, spouse employmentLarge families)
  • Strain (family conflicts, low spousal support)
  • Behavior (expectations for affection & openness)

Work-Family Integration

• Many people encounter work and family conflicts
• Skills like time management and communication learned at work can improve family life
• Emotional support from family can increase focus and performance at work
• Work-family integration refers to positive ways work and family support each other
• Income can enhance the quality of family life
• Families receive useful information/advice and have opportunities for quality child care, education, and positive growth experiences
• Work schedule fleixibility can improve the Family Life balance

Instrumental Support in a career

• A supportive partner can provide the following supports
  • Instrumental: Direct help on a task
  • Informational: Provides information or advice
  • Emotional: Person displays affection, love, concern, trust, and empathy
  • Appraisal: Person provides feedback regarding behavior or performance

Traditional vs Two-Career Families

• Traditional Family View:
  • Husband is employed
  • Wife cares for kids at home
• Two-Career Family:
  • Both husband and wife are working
  • Two people share a lifestyle that includes an ongoing love relationship, cohabitation, and a work role for each partner
  • Both pursue professional and occupational endeavors while contributing to household income and sharing reponsibilites
  • In contrast, traditional gender roles involve primarily working roles that are one sided

Characteristics of a Two-Career Family

• Balancing work and family life requires time management, communication, and support systems
• Two-career families need adaptability and flexibility, which may involve adjusting work schedules
• Career decisions are often influenced by family needs to balance career satisfaction and family obligations
• Both partners contribute income, and responsibilities are shared.
• Both individuals pursue professional aspirations and seek growth.
• Major decisions are made collaboratively

The 2-Career Lifestyle

• Financial security is derived from two incomes, leading to a desired standard of living
• From a woman's perspective:
  • Employment satisfies needs for achievement, challenge, variety, and power
  • Self-esteem and emotional well-being improve, especially if the job is interesting and challenging
  • Rewarding jobs contribute to a woman's life quality
  • Careers promote independence and self-sufficiency, which is important if the marriage ends
• From a man's perspective:
  • Relationships involve additional responsibility at home
  • Extensive involvement in child rearing creates a closer bond with children.
  • Financial well-being of the family is not solely his responsibility
  • Enhances the quality of the relationship

Sources of Stress in a Two-Career Relationship

• Work-family conflict
• Restricted career achievements
• Competition and jealousy
• Identity problems
• Impact of two-career status on children
• Extensive work and family demands can lead to work-family conflict
• Challenging jobs, travel, and long hours clash with family pressures and desires

Restricted Career Achievements

• The two-career lifestyle can restrict career accomplishments
• Two career mothers may occur a 'family penalty` because their extensive family responsibilities limit their career progress
• Two career mothers often cut back hours, turn down developement opportunities, and may refuse promotions that require relocation
• Men may have more career and a 'family bonus'

Competition and Jealousy

• Employed parties are likely that ultimate successes lead to jealousy
• Potentially leads to husband's feeling threatened is the wife outperforms in the career world

Identity Problems

• Partners might feel stress if a lifestyle conflicts their gender roles
• Women may experience guilt is they were raised to stay home and not compete with men

Impact of Children

• The majority believe that the children of working parents lack sufficient time and attention
• Children in two-career families are more resourceful and independent
• Children from two-career homes are more likely to develop egalitarian attitudes and may suffer from addiction or failing educations

Possible Outcomes

• Stress makes focusing difficult, leading to fatigue and accidents
• Stress may cause degraded performance as concetrating on taks becomes harder
• Work-family conflict is a factor for employee turnover
• Difficult to maintain emplotyee engagement, so conflicts often cause reduced contributions
• Reduced empathy can affect the level of cutomer service provided

Coping Strategies

• Social support can help solve problems at work and at home
• Two career couples could require a wide range of mutually provided supportive rlationships

Douglas Hall's strategies coping with work-family conflict:

• Structural role redefinition, is a active problem solving approach, eg hiring outside help for the home
• Personal role reorientation, changing own conception of role requirments, eg gradually reducing involvement at work
• Reactive Role Behavior: eg. Get ting up earlier, going to bed later, and managing one's time more efficiently are all attempts to "do it all."

Quality of Life

• Families can maximize the benefits and minimize the risks with the strategy below
• Effective Coping requires much flexibility in a two family setting
• Social support is for solving family problems effectivley and and must be mutual
• Douglas Halls approach can be implimented

Organizational Strategies

• Organizational responses to work-family issues:
  • Dependent care solutions
    • Child care resource and recommendation
    • Elder care consultation and referral
    • Child care centers
    • Discounts or vouchers for child care
    • Sick child care
  • Flexible work arrangements
    • Part-time schedules
    • Flexible work schedules
    • Personal leaves of absence,
    • Job sharing
    • Family, child care leaves
    • Family illness days
    • Flexible career paths and assignments
  • Changing the organization's work-family culture
    • Spouse employment assistance
    • Work-family seminars
    • Work-family management training
    • Work-family support groups
    • Redesign work processes
    • Include work-family in mission statement