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The relationship between work‐family enrichment (WFE), representing positive interdependencies between individuals' work and family roles, and work‐family conflict (WFC), representing negative interdependencies between the same roles, has been discussed but never fully clarified in the scholarly literature on the work‐family interface. The purpose of this article is to increase understanding of the relationship between these two constructs.

The relationship between WFE and WFC is conceptualized at the level of a “resource” that may be generated in one role, work or family, and applied to the other role. This approach offers an alternative to the more typical approach of analyzing this relationship at the aggregate level across all possible resources.

The answer to the question posed in the title of the article is “yes or no”, or “it depends”. At the resource level, it is suggested that WFE is either unrelated or negatively related to WFC depending on the specific process under consideration by which experiences in one role may affect experiences in the other role.

Future research that examines the relationship between WFE and WFC at the resource level is recommended. For this research to be conducted, new measures are needed that assess these two constructs at the resource level.

This article sheds light on the resource‐level conditions under which positive vs negative interdependencies between work and family roles may occur. In addition, it argues that research on the work‐family interface that goes beyond the aggregate level of analysis is sorely needed.

Innovative behavior is a microfoundation of an organization’s innovation. Knowledge workers are the main creators of innovations. With the boundaries between work and family becoming increasingly ambiguous, the purpose of this study is to explore how the work–family conflict affects knowledge workers’ innovative behavior and when such a conflict arises.

To test the theoretical model, this study collected data from a time-lagged matched sample of 214 dual-career couples. The data were analyzed with the bias-corrected bootstrapping method.

The results of this study showed that work-to-family conflict had not only a direct negative effect on knowledge workers’ innovative behavior but also an indirect effect through spouses’ within-family emotional exhaustion and knowledge workers’ family-to-work conflict. If wives’ gender role perceptions are traditional, then the indirect serial mediating effect is weakened, but if such perceptions are egalitarian, then the mentioned effect is aggravated.

In terms of organizational implications, managers could alter their approach by reducing detrimental factors such as work–family conflict to improve knowledge workers’ innovative behavior. Emotional assistance programs for both knowledge workers and their spouses can be used to prevent the detrimental effect of work–family conflict on innovative behavior. As to social implications, placing dual-career couples into a community of likeminded individuals and promoting their agreement on gender role identity will greatly reduce the negative effects of work–family conflict.

Starting from the perspective of the behavior outcome of knowledge management, this study advances the existing knowledge management literature by enriching the antecedents of knowledge workers’ innovative behavior, illuminating a spillover–crossover–spillover effect of work–family conflict on knowledge workers’ innovative behavior and identifying the boundary condition of this transmission process.

The present study first explored the different dimensions of work–family conflict and job stress. It then evaluated the mediating role of time and strain-based work–family conflict on the relationship between role overload and psychological stress and role overload and physiological stress.

The study utilized a quantitative data collection approach through a questionnaire design. With the aid of the questionnaire, 308 samples were collected from the project-level staff of ten construction organizations in Sri Lanka. The collected data were analyzed using a structural equation modeling approach to address the research hypotheses.

Results supported the mediating role of work–family conflict on the relationship between role overload and job stress. Specifically, the time and strain-based work–family conflict combined partially mediated the effect of role overload on psychological stress. While strain-based work–family conflict fully mediated the effect of role overload on physiological stress. Hence, the organizations that seek employee well-being should focus on developing a conducive working environment with a focus on a reasonable workload for everyone. Besides, the management should give special consideration to working hours as it affects both the employees' stress levels and family life.

This study added the mediating role of time and strain-based work–family conflict to the previous empirical research on the relationship between role overload and job stress dimensions. Besides, this study discusses the different dimensions of work–family conflict and job stress, which is a less explored area in the construction literature.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether, how and when new venture creation progress (NVCP) affects work-to-family conflict (WFC) by introducing coping behavior strategies as mediators, entrepreneurs’ prior experience and family involvement in business as moderators.

This study performs multivariate regression analysis based on a sample of 260 nascent entrepreneurs from the Chinese Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics.

This study reveals that an entrepreneur’s WFC tends to increase along with the growth of the new venture. Specifically, NVCP impels entrepreneurs to adopt reactive role behavior strategy and meet both entrepreneurial and family demands; meanwhile, NVCP propels entrepreneurs to adopt prioritizing entrepreneurship behavior strategy for the increasing work demands, thus leading to more WFC; the mediation effect of prioritizing entrepreneurship behaviors is stronger than that of reactive role behaviors, which leads to an overall positive main effect. Moreover, the preceding mediating paths are moderated by entrepreneurs’ prior experience and family involvement.

First, the authors have investigated how NVCP influenced WFC. However, the authors did not extend the research to the possible effect of WFC on entrepreneurial performance. Second, in the work-family-conflict literature, unmarried and those without children are often excluded since their private life demands differ significantly from parents’ demands. Although the authors control for marital status in the model, the number of children is still left uncontrolled. Furthermore, the authors only used the first two waves of data, leading to a potential selection bias. In addition, the Chinese context may have influenced the generalizability of the results in a complex manner.

This paper indicates that reactive role behavior strategy will decrease WFC, while prioritizing entrepreneurship behavior strategy will increase WFC. Therefore, the authors suggest entrepreneurs adopt more reactive strategy to reduce WFC. Besides, both prior experience and family involvement strengthen the relationship between NVCP and prioritizing entrepreneurship behavior strategy, thereby leading to more WFC. Therefore, entrepreneurs with prior experience and family involvement should pay more attention to their roles in family. Furthermore, entrepreneurs with family involvement can try to segment the entrepreneurship-family boundary psychologically. For example, entrepreneurs can avoid business talking with families but show concerns for them at rest time.

WFC has been found negatively related to individual health and well-being. And entrepreneurs experienced even more WFC than employees in established organizations. Therefore, it is of great importance to focus on the topic of reducing entrepreneurs’ WFC. This research indicates that entrepreneurs can experience less WFC by choosing reactive role behavior strategy. Prior experience and family involvement can induce them to be more attached to new venture creation. This research provides practical suggestions and reminders for entrepreneurs.

This mediated moderation model elaborates whether, how and when NVCP affects WFC, thereby contributing to the knowledge of entrepreneurship-family interface and enlightening nascent entrepreneurs about balancing their start-up responsibilities with their family life.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the part that gender roles play in fathers’ work-family experiences. The authors compared two models (gender role as a correlate and as a moderator) and hypothesized that gender role beliefs play an important factor related to fathers’ experiences of work-family conflict.

Participants completed an online survey that consisted of questions related to work and family experiences. The final sample consisted of 264 employed, married fathers.

Results showed a relationship between traditional gender role beliefs and number of hours spent at work and at home. Additionally, number of work hours was related to time-based work-to-family conflict, but not strain-based work-to-family conflict. The results supported the expectation that work hours mediate the relationship between a father's traditional gender role beliefs and time-based work-to-family conflict.

Limitations of this study include the use cross-sectional and self-report data. Future research might want to expand the theoretical model to be more inclusive of fathers of more diverse demographic backgrounds, and assess the model with a longitudinal design.

A key theoretical implication gleaned from the study is that work-family researchers should include the socially constructed variable of gender roles in their work-family research. Findings provide support for the contention that organizations need to ensure that mothers’ and fathers’ unique needs are being met through family-friendly programs. The authors provide suggestions for specific workplace strategies.

This is one of the first studies that focussed on fathers’ experiences of the work-family interface. The results clarify that traditional gender role beliefs give rise to fathers’ gendered behaviors and ultimately work-family conflict.

In light of the dramatic social transformations occurring in the nature of family and worker demands, nearly all employees today need to make decisions on how to manage work and family roles. Drawing on role theory, we provide a summary framework for understanding individual, family, and organizational influences on the self‐management of work and family roles. Work‐family role synthesis is defined as the strategies an individual uses to manage the enactment of work and caregiving roles. It involves decision‐making choices governing boundary management and role embracement of multiple roles. We present hypotheses and a research agenda for examining antecedents and consequences of employee strategies for managing work and family roles.

This paper aims to examine the role of the spouse, specifically the husband, for the woman manager's career by focusing on the gender role construction between spouses, and the relationship of these roles to the woman's career.

The topic was investigated within a Finnish context by analyzing the narratives of 29 female managers. A common feature among the women was their managerial position and extensive work experience. All the women had or had had one or more spouses in the course of their careers, and all but one were mothers, mostly of teenage or adult children.

A typology distinguishing five types of spouses was constructed: determining, supporting, instrumental, flexible, and counterproductive. The results suggest that fluidity in gender roles between spouses is associated with the woman manager's sense of success and satisfaction in her career compared with more conventional gender role construction. It seems that traditional gender roles between spouses can be one reason for women's difficulties in attaining (top) managerial positions in Finland.

The study contributes to the prior literature concerning the work‐family relationship by extending research into an area so far overlooked: namely, the role of the spouse in relation to the woman manager's career. The study calls into question the straightforward and unequivocal view of the family – so typical in discussions about work‐family issues – by showing the many different meanings that women managers attach to one of the family members.

Drawing on the role theory and work–family border theory, this study aims to examine the relationship between work/family demands and sui generis forms of work–family conflict and further investigates the gender role ideology as a moderator of the relationship between work/family demands and work–family conflict.

The data were garnered with a self-reported questionnaire from randomly selected 569 employees working in the banking sector. As a caveat, nonresponse bias, common method variance and the reliability and validity of the measure were examined.

The results revealed that work demand and family demand were strongly related to both time- and strain-based work–family conflict; however, the relationship was not established with behavioural-based conflict. Notably, the findings affirmed the existence of a neglected form of psychological-based work–family conflict as the pièce de résistance and established a strong connection with its precursor. The dogma of gender role ideology, as a moderator, was indubitably confirmed and strengthened the positive relationship between family demand and family-to-work conflict.

The present study emphasises the importance of work/family demands and gender role ideology on work–family conflict. Consequently, it behoves human resource managers, strategists and practitioners to frame the organisational arrangements to alleviate the work–family conflict.

The present study fills a hiatus by establishing the relationship between work/family demand and work–family conflict with its cultural beliefs in the context of a collectivist culture.

Researchers have used different approaches to understand how individuals combine work with family, one being boundary and transition management. However, very few studies have focussed on empirically examining the role of individual boundary management style on work-family experience. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap by examining the role of integration-segmentation on work-family conflict (WFC) and work-family enrichment (WFE). Two secondary purposes are to explore gender differences in work-family experiences and to examine the relationship between WFC and WFE.

The predictor variable in the primary study is integration (with two levels segmented and integrated). Different measures of WFC and WFE are criterion variables. Survey method was used to collect data from 156 life insurance professionals including 64 women employees in India. The average age of the sample is 35 years (SD=6.56). Boundary strategy of integration or segmentation between work and family is determined by measuring similarity in resource priority between work and family. Median split technique is used to delineate the groups.

The study has three key findings: employees with integrated boundary strategy report greater levels of both WFC and WFE; no gender differences exist in the experience of WFC and WFE; and WFC and WFE were found to be unrelated to each other.

The paper empirically studies the role of boundaries on WFC and WFE of insurance employees. It is a response to researchers’ call to integrate boundary theory with spillover theory and examine the role of integration-segmentation.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the predominant theoretical frameworks used to describe the interaction between work and family roles and present an integrative model of work‐family enrichment. The goal is to better understand the psychological processes underlying work‐family enrichment and to identify ways in which work‐family enrichment can be increased. A conceptual and testable model depicting the direct and indirect relationships involved in work‐family enrichment is provided.

A review of past theories describing the work‐family interface is provided, followed by the presentation of a theoretical and testable model depicting the relationships between work‐family enrichment and need theory.

It is suggested that the basic needs of competence, autonomy, and relatedness are presented as important psychological benefits that directly impact affect within a domain and indirectly influence work‐family enrichment and quality of life.

This paper suggests several future directions that researchers can undertake to advance the understanding of positive linkages between work and family. These future directions include: testing the propositions related to need theory through a daily study approach, examining organizational and personal antecedents and consequences associated with work‐family enrichment, and testing the aspects of the presented model to further the new area of research, integrating work‐family enrichment and need theory.

This paper highlights several practical recommendations for individuals and organizations. These include: the need to focus beyond work‐family conflict towards work‐family enrichment, incorporating basic psychological need fulfillment into employees' developmental goals, and for employees to seek psychological benefits to buffer any costs within a role when trying to balance work and family.

This paper addresses several gaps in the previous work‐family literature including: the primary focus on the negative interaction between work and family; the lack of theoretical exploration into how and why multiple roles can lead to work‐family enrichment; and specifically, the integration of need theory as an explanation for work‐family enrichment.