1. Social Support and Work-Family Guilt: The Role of Gender Differences
Grace Ewles, Karen Korabik, & Donna S. Lero
Department of Psychology and Centre for Families, Work, and Well-Being, University of Guelph
Introduction
The increased stressors faced by today’s employed parents can result in negative outcomes associated with the inability to fulfill both work and family roles (Crosbie & Moore, 2004)
Work-family (W-F) guilt, which has been linked to W-F conflict (McElwain et al., 2004), is an emotional response to the difficulties dealing with competing work and family demands (Duxbury & Higgins, 1991; Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985)
Social support has been previously investigated within the W-F interface as a buffer to help alleviate the consequences associated with W-F conflict (Ayman & Antani, 2008; Kossek et al., 2011), however, initial investigations into the role of social support in the experience of W-F guilt reported mixed findings (Ewles, Korabik, & Lero, 2014)
Measures
Demographic information
Social Support
Nonwork Support for Family
Nonwork Support for Work
Work Support for Family
Work Support for Work
Work-Family Conflict (WIFC and FIWC)
Work-Family Guilt (WIFG and FIWG)
Results
For women:
Significantly higher ratings of WIFG were associated with receiving support from parents or parents-in-law with respect to:
Helpful work-related information:
women (r = .22, p < .05) vs. men (r = -.03, ns), z = 2.10, p < .05
Encouragement/appreciation in the family domain:
women (r = .26, p < .01) vs. men (r = -.08, ns), z = 2.96, p < .01
Encouragement/appreciation in the work domain:
women (r = .19, p < .05) vs. men (r = -.11, ns), z = 2.48, p < .01
Listening to/discussing family-related problems:
women (r = .33, p < .001) vs. men (r = -.12, ns) z = 3.94, p < .001
For men:
Significantly higher ratings of WIFG was associated with receiving support from a supervisor with respect to:
Household taks: men (r = .28, p < .001) vs. women (r = -.14, ns), z = 3.40, p < .001
Conclusions and Future Directions
Men and women experience W-F guilt differently
Women reported significantly higher levels of WIFG from utilizing family domain supports, whereas, men reported higher WIFG from utilizing supervisor support
The role of social support in the experience of W-F guilt requires further exploration as the present results imply that certain types of social support may exacerbate the experience of guilt while others may help alleviate guilt
Objectives
Exploratory investigation into the gender differences associated with the role of social support, from both the work and family domains, in the experience of work-family guilt
Participants
Canadian sample from the larger Project 3535 dataset*
Participants included 203 men (Mage= 39.04, SD = 6.53) and 134 women (Mage= 41.29, SD = 6.25) from various sectors
All participants were married or cohabitating with at least one child under the age of 21 living at home
50.4% were in a managerial position
94.1% were working full-time
References
Ayman, R., & Antani, A. (2008). Social support and work-family conflict. In K. Korabik, D. S. Lero, & D. L. Whitehead (Eds.). Handbook of Work-Family Integration Research, Theory, and Best Practices (pp ). San Diego, CA: Elseiver.
Crosbie, T., & Moore, J. (2004). Work-life balance and working from home. Social Policy and Society, 3(3),
Duxbury, L. E., & Higgins, C. A. (1991). Gender differences in work-family conflict. Journal of Applied Psychology, 76(1),
Ewles, G., Korabik, K., & Lero, D. S. (2014, June). Work-family guilt: The role of social support. Poster accepted to the biennial meeting of the Work and Family Researchers Network, New York City: NY.
Greenhaus J. H, & Beutell, N. J. (1985). Sources of conflict between work and family roles. The Academy of Management Review, 10(1),
Kossek, E. E., Pichler, S., Bodner, T., & Hammer, L. B. (2011). Workplace social support and work-family conflict: A meta-analysis clarifying the influence of general and work-family-specific supervisor and organizational support. Personnel Psychology, 64(2),
McElwain, A., Korabik, K., & Chappell, D. B. (2004, August). Beyond gender: Re-examining work-family conflict and work-family guilt in the context of gender-role orientation. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the International Society for the study of Work and Organizational Values, New Orleans, LA.
Work
Family
We acknowledge the contribution of the Project 3535 research team to this study.