When work-family guilt becomes a women's issue: Internalized gender stereotypes predict high guilt in working mothers but low guilt in working fathers

Gender stereotypes prescribe mothers, but not fathers, to prioritize their family over their work. Therefore, internalization of gender stereotypes may predict higher guilt among mothers than fathers in situations in which they prioritize their work over their family. Study 1 (135 mothers and 116 fathers) indeed revealed that the stronger fathers' implicit gender stereotypes (measured with a gender-career implicit association task) the less guilt fathers reported in a fictitious work-interfering-with-family situation. Although mothers on average reported higher guilt than fathers, this effect was not moderated by their implicit gender stereotypes. Study 2 (daily diary study among 105 mothers), however, did reveal evidence for the moderating effect of implicit gender stereotypes on working mothers' guilt. The stronger mothers' implicit gender stereotypes the more work-family conflict and guilt they reported on days that they worked long hours. These results show that implicit gender stereotypes shape how parents feel about their work-family choices

Gender Gap in Parental Leave Intentions: Evidence from 37 Countries

Despite global commitments and efforts, a gender-based division of paid and unpaid work persists. To identify how psychological factors, national policies, and the broader sociocultural context contribute to this inequality, we assessed parental-leave intentions in young adults (18–30 years old) planning to have children (N = 13,942; 8,880 identified as women; 5,062 identified as men) across 37 countries that varied in parental-leave policies and societal gender equality. In all countries, women intended to take longer leave than men. National parental-leave policies and women’s political representation partially explained cross-national variations in the gender gap. Gender gaps in leave intentions were paradoxically larger in countries with more gender-egalitarian parental-leave policies (i.e., longer leave available to both fathers and mothers). Interestingly, this cross-national variation in the gender gap was driven by cross-national variations in women’s (rather than men’s) leave intentions. Financially generous leave and gender-egalitarian policies (linked to men’s higher uptake in prior research) were not associated with leave intentions in men. Rather, men’s leave intentions were related to their individual gender attitudes. Leave intentions were inversely related to career ambitions. The potential for existing policies to foster gender equality in paid and unpaid work is discussed

Gender Gap in Parental Leave Intentions: Evidence from 37 Countries

Despite global commitments and efforts, a gender-based division of paid and unpaid work persists. To identify how psychological factors, national policies, and the broader sociocultural context contribute to this inequality, we assessed parental-leave intentions in young adults (18–30 years old) planning to have children (N = 13,942; 8,880 identified as women; 5,062 identified as men) across 37 countries that varied in parental-leave policies and societal gender equality. In all countries, women intended to take longer leave than men. National parental-leave policies and women’s political representation partially explained cross-national variations in the gender gap. Gender gaps in leave intentions were paradoxically larger in countries with more gender-egalitarian parental-leave policies (i.e., longer leave available to both fathers and mothers). Interestingly, this cross-national variation in the gender gap was driven by cross-national variations in women’s (rather than men’s) leave intentions. Financially generous leave and gender-egalitarian policies (linked to men’s higher uptake in prior research) were not associated with leave intentions in men. Rather, men’s leave intentions were related to their individual gender attitudes. Leave intentions were inversely related to career ambitions. The potential for existing policies to foster gender equality in paid and unpaid work is discussed.Gender Gap in Parental Leave Intentions: Evidence from 37 CountriespublishedVersio

Work-family guilt: A straightjacket keeping parents into traditional gender roles

The belief that mothers experience more guilt than fathers about the time and energy they invest in their work instead of their family is pervasive in Western society. It has even been claimed that mothers should learn to manage their guilt as a way to keep them motivated for their career. This would reduce gender inequality at work. However, research on the guilt that parents feel about working is sparse. It is unclear if mothers experience more work-family guilt than fathers and how work-family guilt impacts the work-family choices of parents. Lianne Aarntzen demonstrates in her dissertation that parents' guilt about working indeed shapes their work-family choices. For example, on days that mothers experience more guilt, they are also more likely to think about reducing their working hours. However, Aarntzen also shows in her dissertation that the extent to which fathers and mothers experience work-family guilt is predicted by gender stereotypes in our society. As such, only in some contexts mothers experience more guilt than fathers. For example, when parents work in a "father-friendly" organization, in which not only mothers but also fathers are supported in their work-family balance, gender differences in work-family guilt are absent. In such organizations the norm is communicated that mothers and fathers are both equally responsible for the care of their children, which may reduce mothers' work-family guilt. An important recommendation emerging from this thesis is that rather than focusing on “fixing” mothers, we should focus on “fixing” the social and organizational context in which parents are embedded

Work-family guilt: A straightjacket keeping parents into traditional gender roles

The belief that mothers experience more guilt than fathers about the time and energy they invest in their work instead of their family is pervasive in Western society. It has even been claimed that mothers should learn to manage their guilt as a way to keep them motivated for their career. This would reduce gender inequality at work. However, research on the guilt that parents feel about working is sparse. It is unclear if mothers experience more work-family guilt than fathers and how work-family guilt impacts the work-family choices of parents. Lianne Aarntzen demonstrates in her dissertation that parents' guilt about working indeed shapes their work-family choices. For example, on days that mothers experience more guilt, they are also more likely to think about reducing their working hours. However, Aarntzen also shows in her dissertation that the extent to which fathers and mothers experience work-family guilt is predicted by gender stereotypes in our society. As such, only in some contexts mothers experience more guilt than fathers. For example, when parents work in a "father-friendly" organization, in which not only mothers but also fathers are supported in their work-family balance, gender differences in work-family guilt are absent. In such organizations the norm is communicated that mothers and fathers are both equally responsible for the care of their children, which may reduce mothers' work-family guilt. An important recommendation emerging from this thesis is that rather than focusing on “fixing” mothers, we should focus on “fixing” the social and organizational context in which parents are embedded

How individual gender role beliefs, organizational gender norms, and national gender norms predict parents’ work-Family guilt in Europe

The guilt that mothers feel about the time and energy that they invest in work instead of their family is often proposed to be an important reason for why mothers ‘opt-out’ the career track. We sought to understand if mothers indeed experience more work-family guilt than fathers and how this relates to both their own gender role beliefs and organizational gender norms across nine European countries. Analyses draw on the European Social Workforce Survey, with data from 2619 working parents nested in 110 organizations in 9 European countries. Results showed that when fathers and mothers work more than a full-time week (a) fathers with traditional gender role beliefs felt less guilty, and (b) especially mothers working in an organization with low support for the parent role of working fathers felt guilty. Explorative analyses showed no effect of national gender norms on gender differences in guilt. Our results are beneficial for organizations and policy makers by showing that guilt in working mothers can be reduced by developing egalitarian organizational norms, in which there is support for the parent role of mothers and fathers, potentially helping mothers to focus on their careers alongside their families

How individual gender role beliefs, organizational gender norms, and national gender norms predict parents’ work-family guilt in Europe

The guilt that mothers feel about the time and energy that they invest in work instead of their family is often proposed to be an important reason for why mothers ‘opt-out’ the career track. We sought to understand if mothers indeed experience more workfamily guilt than fathers and how this relates to both their own gender role beliefs and organizational gender norms across nine European countries. Analyses draw on the European Social Workforce Survey, with data from 2619 working parents nested in 110 organizations in 9 European countries. Results showed that when fathers and mothers work more than a full-time week (a) fathers with traditional gender role beliefs felt less guilty, and (b) especially mothers working in an organization with low support for the parent role of working fathers felt guilty. Explorative analyses showed no effect of national gender norms on gender differences in guilt. Our results are beneficial for organizations and policy makers by showing that guilt in working mothers can be reduced by developing egalitarian organizational norms, in which there is support for the parent role of mothers and fathers, potentially helping mothers to focus on their careers alongside their families