Work-Family Enrichment: A Research of Positive Transfer

163 Pages·2011·1.722 MB·English

by  Jennifer Shein, Charles P. Chen (auth.)

Work-Family Enrichment

Work-Family Enrichment

A Research of Positive Transfer

Jennifer Shein
Charles P. Chen

University of Toronto, Canada

SENSE PUBLISHERS
ROTTERDAM/BOSTON/TAIPEI
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ISBN: 978-94-6091-380-8 (paperback)
ISBN: 978-94-6091-381-5 (hardback)
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction.........................................................................................................1
Interest in the Work-Family Interface...............................................................1
Role Conflict: Scarcity and Depletion...............................................................1
Role Accumulation: Synergies Exist and should be Explored..........................2
A Metatheory: Donald Super’s Life-Span, Life-space Approach.....................3
Current Investigations of the Positive Side of the Work-family Interface........4
A New Theoretical Model and a Valid Global Measure of Enrichment...........5
Rationale for Qualitative Research on Work-family Enrichment......................6
Rationale for Studying Senior Managers...........................................................6
The Current Study.............................................................................................7

2. Theoretical and Empirical Foundation................................................................9
Super’s Life-span, Life-space Approach and the Life-career Rainbow.............9
Previous Research on the Benefits of Combining Work and
Family Roles...............................................................................................11
A Theoretical Model of Work-family Enrichment..........................................24
A Valid Global Work-Family Enrichment Scale.............................................28
Statement of the Research Questions..............................................................30

3. Research Approach............................................................................................33
Qualitative Methodology.................................................................................33
The Critical Incident Technique......................................................................35
Participants......................................................................................................38
Demographic and Contextual Information....................................................39
Procedures.......................................................................................................40
Data Analysis..................................................................................................41

4. Role Salience Trends, Quality of Life, and the Elaborated Model....................47
Role Salience: General Trends........................................................................47
How Multiple Roles Improve Quality of Life.................................................47
Personal Growth and Development...............................................................48
Stimulation/Challenge...................................................................................49
Accomplishment/Achievement.....................................................................50
Variety and Balance......................................................................................50
An Elaborated Theoretical Model of Work-family Enrichment......................51
Resources......................................................................................................52
Affect............................................................................................................52
Performance..................................................................................................52
The Feedback Phenomenon..........................................................................53
The Process: The Three Empirically Demonstrated Pathways
to Enrichment..............................................................................................53
The Instrumental Pathway.............................................................................53
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Affective Pathway..................................................................................58
The Mixed Pathway......................................................................................62

5. Categories of Resources....................................................................................67
Skills and Perspectives....................................................................................67
Interpersonal Skills and Perspectives............................................................67
Performance Management Skills/Perspectives..............................................68
Effective Work Habits...................................................................................70
Coping Skills/Perspectives............................................................................71
Values...........................................................................................................72
Psychological Resources.................................................................................72
Motivation.....................................................................................................72
Confidence....................................................................................................72
Social Capital..................................................................................................73
Support..........................................................................................................73
Information....................................................................................................73
Material Resources..........................................................................................73
Salary/Compensation....................................................................................73
Flexibility........................................................................................................73
Work-provided Flexibility.............................................................................73

6. Categories of Positive Affect.............................................................................75
Non-facilitative Affect.....................................................................................75
Confidence/Self-worth/Empowerment..........................................................75
Happiness/Satisfaction..................................................................................77
Role Fulfillment............................................................................................77
Emotional Balance........................................................................................78
Self-actualization..........................................................................................80
Gratitude........................................................................................................80
Non-descript Positive Mood..........................................................................81
Facilitative Affect............................................................................................81
Energy...........................................................................................................81
Capability......................................................................................................83
Satisfaction....................................................................................................85
Stress Reduction............................................................................................86

7. Categories of Performance Improvement..........................................................89
Major Higher-order Categories of Performance Improvement.......................89
Interpersonal Skills........................................................................................89
General Management....................................................................................95
Performance Management...........................................................................100
Performance Improvements from Work to Family........................................105
Teaching/Inculcating Values and Lessons..................................................106
Ability to Provide for Family......................................................................108
Financial Management................................................................................109
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
A Smaller Category of Performance Improvement: Stress
Management..............................................................................................110

8. New Learnings About the Process of Enrichment...........................................111
The Feedback Phenomenon...........................................................................111
Reasons for Transfer of Resources................................................................116
Trends in Consciousness of Resource Transfer...........................................119
The Importance of Awareness.....................................................................123

9. A New and Enriched Framework....................................................................127
Theoretical Implications................................................................................127
The Expansion Approach............................................................................127
An Elaboration of Super’s Theory..............................................................128
An Empirically Based Model of Work-family Enrichment........................130
Research Implications...................................................................................143
Practical Implications....................................................................................143
Limitations of the Study................................................................................145
Future Research Directions...........................................................................146

Appendix – Research Interview Questions..........................................................149

References............................................................................................................151

About the Authors................................................................................................155

Index....................................................................................................................157

vii

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
This book presents a study that seeks to explore the positive side of occupying both
work and family roles; specifically, to elucidate how multiple role participation results
in improved performance in each domain. This is the essence of work-family enrich-
ment (Greenhaus & Powell, 2006), an emerging construct in the work-family literature.
This introductory section will begin with a description of the surge of interest in the
work-family interface, followed by a discussion of the competing assumptions of
the depletion argument and the role accumulation perspective. It will then present a
metatheory for understanding life-role interaction and integration; namely, Donald
Super’s (1980, 1990) Life-span, Life-space approach to career development. It will
describe current trends in the investigation of the positive side of the work-family
interface, and a most recent theoretical model of enrichment. It will provide a rationale
for conducting qualitative research to validate a conceptual framework that has yet to
develop an empirical basis. Finally, it will introduce the current study; an exploration
of work-family enrichment among senior managers in the financial services industry.
INTEREST IN THE WORK-FAMILY INTERFACE
The intersection of work and family has been the subject of a great deal of research
over the last 25 years (Greenhaus & Parasuraman, 1999; Greenhaus & Powell, 1996).
The disciplines of management and psychology have shown an increased interest in
the subject of how men and women balance their work and family responsibilities
(Edwards & Rothbard, 2000; Kirchmeyer, 1992a, 1992b; Kossek, Noe, & Demarr,
1999). Researchers attribute the surge in studies of the work-family interface to
changes in the nature and structure of work and family roles, including the rise in dual
earner couples, the greater labour force participation of women (especially mothers),
the prevalence of women at all levels of higher education, and a blurring of the tradi-
tional gender roles in family responsibilities (Barnett & Hyde, 2001; Edwards &
Rothbard, 2000; Perry-Jenkins, Repetti, & Crouter, 2000). More specifically, women
are devoting less time to household chores and childcare than they did 30 years ago,
while men are spending relatively more time on such duties (Barnett & Hyde, 2001).
Moreover, approximately 60% of married couples in America are dual earners, and
over 70% of single parents are employed (Bellavia & Frone, 2005). Additionally,
almost 50% of managers in Fortune 500 companies are members of dual-career
families (Kossek et al., 1999).
ROLE CONFLICT: SCARCITY AND DEPLETION
The work-family literature has primarily focused on the conflict that arises between the
work and family spheres (Greenhaus & Parasuraman, 1999; Greenhaus & Powell, 2006;
1