Three Essays on Work-Nonwork Balance

Achieving balance between work and nonwork lives is important for individuals and organizations as it may generate various desirable outcomes, such as high role performance, positive role attitudes, and psychological and physiological well-being. However, scholars and practitioners have not reached a common understanding of the content and process of work-nonwork balance. A variety of work-nonwork balance definitions, theories, and measures, as well as numerous correlates, have emerged in this area. In addition, a majority of the studies focused on this topic have theorized work-nonwork balance as a stable construct and measured it in order to explain the between-individual variance. Consequently, we know little about the psychological processes whereby daily work and nonwork events can increase or decrease within-individual work-nonwork balance within a short period of time. This three essay dissertation aims to address these gaps. Essay 1 presents a systematic review of past studies on work-nonwork balance. Extensive research has conceptualized and operationalized work-nonwork balance in various ways; in this essay, I classify these definitions into global and component approaches. I then provide a methodological review of work-nonwork balance research, summarize major themes and previous findings, and offer several recommendations for future research on work-nonwork balance. Essays 2 and 3 are anchored in the review presented in Essay 1. In Essay 2, I develop and propose a model to examine how negative work task and relational events explain daily individuals’ satisfaction with work-family balance (a common form of work-nonwork balance) by triggering their cognitive and affective reactions. This model is based on the integration of Cognitive and Affective Processing System (CAPS) theory and Conservation of Resources (COR) theory (Mischel & Shoda, 1995; Hobfoll, 1989). Using these theories, I propose that negative work events explain within-person variance of work-family balance on a daily basis, and individuals’ negative work reflection and negative affect mediate the direct effects of negative work events on work-family balance. I also suggest that task and relational forms of job crafting (i.e., the proactive behaviors that employees actively engage in to redesign their jobs) (Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001), play a critical role in attenuating the detrimental effects of negative work events on the daily assessment of work-family balance. I use a daily diary study approach to examine the hypothesized relationships. Overall, the findings of Essay 2 support the prediction that work events have a detrimental influence on individuals’ cognitive and affective reactions and, subsequently, their daily assessments of work-family balance. Further, the results indicate that job crafting (i.e., task and relational crafting) moderate the relationships between negative work events and cognitive and affective reactions, but the effects are not in the hypothesized direction. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed. Essay 3 examines the parallel effects of negative family task and relational events on the daily assessment of satisfaction with work-family balance. The underlying theoretical frameworks used to propose and explain the hypothesized relationships are the same as the ones used in Essay 2 (i.e., CAPS and COR theories). Based on these theories, I propose that negative family events will influence work-family balance through their effects on negative family reflection and negative affect. In addition, task and relational forms of family crafting may buffer the effects of negative family events on individuals’ psychological reactions and satisfaction with work-family balance. A daily diary study is used to test the hypothesized model. The results provide limited support to the direct, indirect, and moderating relationships. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed. This dissertation makes three important contributions to the growing literature on work-nonwork balance. First, CAPS theory (Mischel & Shoda, 1995) and COR theory (Hobfoll, 1989) are integrated with research on work-family balance in order to provide a nuanced theoretical explanation of the within-person processes that emerge in the relationship between work and family events and daily assessments of work-family balance. Scholars have repeatedly emphasized the importance of considering the role of time in organizational behavior theory and research (e.g., Bluedorn & Denhardt, 1988; Mitchell & James, 2001). This dissertation responds to this call by explicitly examining the role of time as daily work and family events trigger cognitive and affective reactions, which in turn influence individuals’ satisfaction with work-family balance. By focusing on the dynamic cognitive and affective reactions that undergird daily negative work and family events and work-family balance, I break new ground and test a theoretically-based process in which demands emanating from different domains lead to work-family balance. Second, I theorize and provide support for a multilevel model that examines within-person work-family balance. The findings from my dissertation suggest that satisfaction with work-family balance varies across time and is contingent on several daily work and family negative events as well as individuals’ cognitive and affective reactions to these events. I also contribute to the work-family literature by examining job and family crafting as proactive behavioral strategies that can attenuate the detrimental effects of work and family events on psychological reactions. The findings from my study offer valuable insights into the possibilities and limitations of pursuing job and family crafting as a buffer against the deleterious influence of negative work or family events. Finally, this dissertation makes a methodological contribution to work-family research by using a daily diary approach, which is effective in capturing the variances in work-family balance assessments over time. In sum, this dissertation significantly broadens our understanding of work-nonwork balance research in several ways and systematically illustrates the process by which employees arrive at their assessments of work-family balance on a daily basis

Cluster X-ray line at 3.5 keV3.5\,{\rm keV} from axion-like dark matter

The recently reported X-ray line signal at $E_\gamma \simeq 3.5\, {\rm keV}$ from a stacked spectrum of various galaxy clusters and the Andromeda galaxy may be originating from a decaying dark matter particle of the mass $2 E_\gamma$. A light axion-like scalar is suggested as a natural candidate for dark matter and its production mechanisms are closely examined. We show that the right amount of axion relic density with the preferred parameters, $m_a \simeq 7 \,{\rm keV}$ and $f_a \simeq 4\times 10^{14}\, {\rm GeV}$, can be naturally obtainable from the decay of inflaton. If the axions were produced from the saxion decay, it could not have constituted the total relic density due to the bound from structure formation. Nonetheless, the saxion decay is an interesting possibility, because the $3.5\, {\rm keV}$ line and dark radiation can be addressed simultaneously, being consistent with the Planck data. Small misalignment angles of the axion, ranging between $\theta_a\sim 10^{-4} -10^{-1}$ depending on the reheating temperature, can also be the source of axion production. The model with axion misalignment can satisfy the constraints for structure formation and iso-curvature perturbation.Comment: 14 pages, significant changes in the form, matched to the journal versio

Using multimedia to promote environmental protection

This interactive project allows users to explore what causes and affects environmental problems on Earth using papervision 3D. The purpose of this project is to provide a simple platform for users to be aware of the environmental issues and know how to improve the environment. Moreover, these environmental issues are discussed by scientists and environmental protection agencies. The environmental issues discussed are global warming, acid rain, and air pollution, which impact the quality of human life. Reading helps us learn so much truth that we may not be aware of. The traditional pop-up books give readers a deeper impression of the story. Therefore, I created a simulated, interactive pop-up book to create a similar experience for the readers. This book combined education with recreation. Besides, user can gain a lot of information from the book. I used COLLADA Maya to build 3D models and export them to Flash for the interactive user interface. This pop-up book provides a more interactive experience over a traditional pop-up book. Each chapter provides lots of information about the environmental issues. The illustrations visually communicate information to the user. In addition, the book comes with a game. Users may play the game to test how much they learned from the book. Therefore, this book is easy to read, providing the users with information about the environment in a fun manner. The visual style for this project is hand drawn artwork. Then, the art was scanned into computers to be further colored by Illustrator and Photoshop. The 3D modeling of the book was created in Autodesk Maya. To get the best performance of the pop-up book, 2D and 3D were used together. Many pieces of the art were carefully colored to look like real paintings, especially the background colors of the game. Therefore, users can have the best experience of reading the book or playing the game. The purpose of my project is to promote environmental protection by using computer graphics. By using the interactive pop-up book and the game, users will look at our environment with a pair of different eyes

Pair Production of a 125 GeV Higgs Boson in MSSM and NMSSM at the LHC

In light of the recent LHC Higgs search data, we investigate the pair production of a SM-like Higgs boson around 125 GeV in the MSSM and NMSSM. We first scan the parameter space of each model by considering various experimental constraints, and then calculate the Higgs pair production rate in the allowed parameter space. We find that in most cases the dominant contribution to the Higgs pair production comes from the gluon fusion process and the production rate can be greatly enhanced, maximally 10 times larger than the SM prediction (even for a TeV-scale stop the production rate can still be enhanced by a factor of 1.3). We also calculate the chi-square value with the current Higgs data and find that in the most favored parameter region the production rate is enhanced by a factor of 1.45 in the MSSM, while in the NMSSM the production rate can be enhanced or suppressed (\sigma_{SUSY}/\sigma_{SM} varies from 0.7 to 2.4).Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure