Work-family conflict from the perspective of the family: Introduction to the Special Issue

Objective: To introduce the readers to the Journal of Family Research's Special Issue (4/2022) about "work-family conflict from the perspective of the family". Background: Research on work-family conflict rooted in family research and with an explicit focus on family issues has been comparatively rare compared to a more work-centered view. Method: Except for the review article, all contributions of this Special Issue are quantitative analyses of large-scale data from Germany, i.e., the "pairfam"-study, the "LEEP-B3"-study, and the "Growing up in Germany"-survey. Results: The seven studies are innately heterogeneous and show the range in which family research may contribute to the understanding of work-family conflict, and vice versa. Work-family conflict was studied in the context of the transition to parenthood, parenting practices, the composition of working environments, scaling back, mental health, and fertility preferences. Conclusion: Explicitly discussing family issues and their implications for work-family conflict is necessary to understand the interdependencies between family and work, and to pave the way towards a much broader understanding of the antecedents and consequences of work-family conflict in the context of family living

Good mental health despite work-family conflict? The within-domain and cross-domain buffering potentials of family and work resources

Objective: This article investigates whether within-domain and cross-domain buffering by family and work resources can help mitigate the negative mental health effects of work-to-family conflicts (WFC) and family-to-work conflicts (FWC). Background: Most literature on the work–life interface stresses the need to maintain employees’ health and well-being by preventing the emergence of work–family conflicts. Since such conflicts tend to be an unavoidable concomitant of role expansion, we aim to put forward the debate on the conditions that might prevent their negative health consequences instead. Method: Fixed-effects linear regression analyses were applied to a sample of 4,920 employees in a three-wave employer–employee panel study in Germany. Using interaction analyses, we tested within-domain and cross-domain buffering of family (social support and relative bargaining power within partnerships) and work (job resources, support from direct supervisors or co-workers, formal and informal organizational support) resources in the relationship between strain-based and time-based WFC and FWC and mental health (SF-12). Results: Family resources and work resources somewhat mitigated the health risks of WFC and FWC. Overall, within-domain resources were more effective than cross-domain ones. Conclusion: It is important to consider resources in both the family and the work domains to determine the most effective ways of preventing the negative mental health consequences of work–family conflicts

Work-life balance of dual-earner couples: Do advantages and disadvantages of workplace demands and resources accumulate within partnerships?

Pausch S, Reimann M, Abendroth A, Diewald M. Work-life balance of dual-earner couples: Do advantages and disadvantages of workplace demands and resources accumulate within partnerships?. SFB 882 Working Paper Series. Vol 54. Bielefeld: DFG Research Center (SFB) 882 From Heterogeneities to Inequalities; 2015.This study investigates the complex interplay between couples’ work and private life spheres and disentangles how demands and resources affect partners’ satisfaction with their work-life balance. Next to the individual process of spillover of workplace demands and resources to the private life sphere we investigate processes of crossover of one spouse’s demands and resources to the other. We particularly argue that within partnerships an accumulation of individual demands and resources from both partners takes place leading to specifically disadvantaged situations, when it comes to demands, and specifically advantaged situations, when it comes to resources. Furthermore we investigate gender differences in the relevance of spillover, crossover and accumulation for a satisfying work-life balance. We make use of a German Linked Employer-Employee Panel Survey (LEEP-B3), which includes information on 100 work organizations, 6,454 employees, and their partners (2,185). Our results mainly support the spillover of demands and resources from work to private life meaning that workplace demands make integrating work and private life more difficult whereas workplace resources can help reaching a satisfying work-life balance more easily. The results also partly support the hypothesized crossover of demands and resources from one partner to the other. However, there is no such clear-cut picture for the accumulation of demands and resources within partnerships

Work-life balance of dual-earner couples: Do advantages and disadvantages of workplace demands and resources accumulate within partnerships?

Pausch S, Reimann M, Abendroth A, Diewald M. Work-life balance of dual-earner couples: Do advantages and disadvantages of workplace demands and resources accumulate within partnerships?. SFB 882 Working Paper Series. Vol 54. Bielefeld: DFG Research Center (SFB) 882 From Heterogeneities to Inequalities; 2015.This study investigates the complex interplay between couples’ work and private life spheres and disentangles how demands and resources affect partners’ satisfaction with their work-life balance. Next to the individual process of spillover of workplace demands and resources to the private life sphere we investigate processes of crossover of one spouse’s demands and resources to the other. We particularly argue that within partnerships an accumulation of individual demands and resources from both partners takes place leading to specifically disadvantaged situations, when it comes to demands, and specifically advantaged situations, when it comes to resources. Furthermore we investigate gender differences in the relevance of spillover, crossover and accumulation for a satisfying work-life balance. We make use of a German Linked Employer-Employee Panel Survey (LEEP-B3), which includes information on 100 work organizations, 6,454 employees, and their partners (2,185). Our results mainly support the spillover of demands and resources from work to private life meaning that workplace demands make integrating work and private life more difficult whereas workplace resources can help reaching a satisfying work-life balance more easily. The results also partly support the hypothesized crossover of demands and resources from one partner to the other. However, there is no such clear-cut picture for the accumulation of demands and resources within partnerships

Employee and partner surveys wave 3 of the Linked-Employer-Employee-Panel (LEEP-B3) Project (DFG – 373090005): Organizational Inequalities and Interdependencies between Capabilities in Work and Personal Life: A Study of Employees in Different Work Organizations. Technical Report

Marx C, Abendroth A, Bächmann A-C, et al. Employee and partner surveys wave 3 of the Linked-Employer-Employee-Panel (LEEP-B3) Project (DFG – 373090005): Organizational Inequalities and Interdependencies between Capabilities in Work and Personal Life: A Study of Employees in Different Work Organizations. Technical Report. Bielefeld: Univ., Fak. für Soziologie; 2020

The moderating role of overcommitment in the relationship between psychological contract breach and employee mental health

Reimann M. The moderating role of overcommitment in the relationship between psychological contract breach and employee mental health. JOURNAL OF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH. 2016;58(4-5):425-433.Objectives: This study investigated whether the association between perceived psychological contract breach (PCB) and employee mental health is moderated by the cognitive-motivational pattern of overcommitment (OC). Linking the psychological contract approach to the effort-reward imbalance model, this study examines PCB as an imbalance in employment relationships that acts as a psychosocial stressor in the work environment and is associated with stress reactions that in turn negatively affect mental health. Methods: The analyses were based on a sample of 3,667 employees who participated in a longitudinal linked employer employee survey representative of large organizations (with at least 500 employees who are subject so social security contributions) in Germany. Fixed-effects regression models, including PCB and OC, were estimated for employee mental health, and interaction effects between PCB and OC were assessed. Results: The multivariate fixed-effects regression analyses showed a significant negative association between PCB and employee mental health. The results also confirmed that OC does indeed significantly increase the negative effect of PCB on mental health and that OC itself has a significant and negative effect on mental health. Conclusions: The results suggest that employees characterized by the cognitive-motivational pattern of OC are at an increased risk of developing poor mental health if they experience PCB compared with employees who are not overly committed to their work. The results of this study support the assumption that psychosocial work stressors play an important role in employee mental health

Methodenbericht Faktorieller Survey (Vignetten) Projekt B3 „Wechselwirkungen zwischen Verwirklichungschancen im Berufs- und Privatleben“

Reimann M, Andernach B, Schunck R, et al. Methodenbericht Faktorieller Survey (Vignetten) Projekt B3 „Wechselwirkungen zwischen Verwirklichungschancen im Berufs- und Privatleben“. SFB 882 Technical Report Series. Vol 9. Bielefeld: DFG Research Center (SFB) 882 From Heterogeneities to Inequalities; 2014

Technical Report Factorial Survey (Vignettes) Wave 1: Project B3 “Interactions Between Capabilities in Work and Private Life”

Reimann M, Andernach B, Schunck R, et al. Technical Report Factorial Survey (Vignettes) Wave 1: Project B3 “Interactions Between Capabilities in Work and Private Life”. SFB 882 Technical Report Series. Vol 20. Bielefeld: DFG Research Center (SFB) 882 From Heterogeneities to Inequalities; 2015

Technical report employer survey wave 2: Project B3 "Interactions Between Capabilities in Work and Private Life"

Reimann M, Pausch S, Diewald M, et al. Technical report employer survey wave 2: Project B3 "Interactions Between Capabilities in Work and Private Life". SFB 882 Technical Report Series. Vol 19. Bielefeld: DFG Research Center (SFB) 882 From Heterogeneities to Inequalities; 2015

Technical Report. Interdisziplinäre Befragung von Crowdworkern

Giard N, Hemsen P, Hesse M, et al. Technical Report. Interdisziplinäre Befragung von Crowdworkern. Bielefeld: Forschungsschwerpunkt Digitale Zukunft (Universität Bielefeld / Universität Paderborn); 2019