Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T02:12:21.694Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

How Work–Family Research Can Finally Have an Impact in Organizations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 January 2015

Ellen Ernst Kossek ,
Boris B. Baltes  and
Russell A. Matthews
Ellen Ernst Kossek*
Affiliation:
Michigan State University
Boris B. Baltes
Affiliation:
Wayne State University
Russell A. Matthews
Affiliation:
Louisiana State University
*
E-mail: [email protected], Address: School of Human Resources and Labor Relations, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Although work–family research has mushroomed over the past several decades, an implementation gap persists in putting work–family research into practice. Because of this, work–family researchers have not made a significant impact in improving the lives of employees relative to the amount of research that has been conducted. The goal of this article is to clarify areas where implementation gaps between work–family research and practice are prevalent, discuss the importance of reducing these gaps, and make the case that both better and different research should be conducted. We recommend several alternative but complementary actions for the work–family researcher: (a) work with organizations to study their policy and practice implementation efforts, (b) focus on the impact of rapid technological advances that are blurring work–family boundaries, (c) conduct research to empower the individual to self-manage the work–family interface, and (d) engage in advocacy and collaborative policy research to change institutional contexts and break down silos. Increased partnerships between industrial–organizational (I–O) psychology practitioners and researchers from many industries and disciplines could break down silos that we see as limiting development of the field.

Type
Focal Article
Information
Industrial and Organizational Psychology , Volume 4 , Issue 3 , September 2011 , pp. 352 - 369
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology 2011 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allen, T., Herst, D., Bruck, C., & Sutton, M. (2000). Consequences associated with work-to-family conflict: A review and agenda for future research. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 5, 278–308. Google Scholar
Allen, T. D. (2001). Family-supportive work environments: The role of organizational perceptions. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 58, 414–435. Google Scholar
Aumann, K., & Galinsky, E. (2009). The state of health in the American workforce: Does having an effective workplace matter? New York, NY: Families and Work Institute. Google Scholar
Baltes, B. B., Briggs, T. E., Huff, J. W., Wright, J. A., & Neuman, G. A. (1999). Flexible and compressed workweekschedules: A meta-analysis of their effects on work-related criteria. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84, 496–513.Google Scholar
Baltes, B. B., & Heydens-Gahir, H. A. (2003). Reduction of work–family conflict through the use of selection, optimization, and compensation behaviors. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 1005–1018. Google Scholar
Baltes, P. B. (1997). On the incomplete architecture of human ontogeny: Selection, optimization, and compensation as foundation of developmental theory. American Psychologist, 52, 366–380. Google Scholar
Baltes, P. B., & Baltes, M. M. (Eds.). (1990). Successful aging: Perspectives from the behavioral sciences. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar
Barnett, R., & Hyde, J. (2001). Women, men, work, and family: An expansionist theory. American Psychologist, 56, 781–796.Google Scholar
Berg, P., Kossek, E., & Misra, K. (2010). Work–life voice. Working paper. East Lansing, MI: School of Labor and Industrial Relations.Google Scholar
Bond, J. T., Thompson, C., Galinsky, E., & Prottas, D. (2003). Highlights of the national study of the changing workforce. New York, NY: Families and Work Institute. Google Scholar
Brough, P., O’Driscoll, M. P., & Kalliath, T. J. (2005). The ability of ‘family friendly’ organizational resources to predict work–family conflict and job and family satisfaction. Stress & Health, 21, 223–234. Google Scholar
Byron, K. (2005). A meta-analytic view of work-family conflict and its antecedents. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 67, 169–198.Google Scholar
Bulger, C. A., Matthews, R. A., & Hoffman, M. E. (2007). Work and personal life boundary management: Boundary strength, work/personal life balance and the segmentation-integration continuum. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 12, 365–375. Google Scholar
Cameron, K. S., & Caza, A. (2004). Introduction: Contributions to the discipline of positive organizational scholarship. American Behavioral Scientist, 47, 731–739. Google Scholar
Casper, W. J., Eby, L. T., Bordeaux, C., Lockwood, A., & Lambert, D. (2007). A review of research methods in IO/OB work–family research. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92, 28–43. Google Scholar
Casper, W. J., Weltman, D., & Kwesiga, E. (2007). Beyond family-friendly: The construct and measurement of singles-friendly work culture. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 70, 478–501. Google Scholar
Chien-Juh, G. (2009). Immigration and work–family concerns. In Pitt-Catsouphes, M. & Kossek, E. (Eds.), Work–family encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://wfnetwork.bc.edu/encyclopedia_entry.php?id=15431&area=All.Google Scholar
Clark, M. A., Bal, A., Zhdanova, L., & Baltes, B. B. (2009, April). A qualitative analysis of strategies for coping with work–family stressors. Interactive poster presented at the 24th Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, New Orleans, LA.Google Scholar
Clay, R. (2011). Is stress getting to you? Monitor on Psychology, 42(1), 58. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Google Scholar
Cullen, J. C., & Hammer, L. B. (2007). Developing and testing a theoretical model linking work–family conflict to employee safety. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 12, 266–278. Google Scholar
Donaldson, S. I., & Ko, I. (2010). Positive organizational psychology behavior and scholarship: A review of the emerging literature and evidence base. Journal of Positive Psychology, 5, 171–199. Google Scholar
Eby, L. T., Casper, W. J., Lockwood, A., Bordeaux, C., & Brinley, A. (2005). Work and family research in IOOB: Content analysis and review of the literature (1980–2002). Journal of Vocational Behavior, 66, 124–197. Google Scholar
Ford, M. T., Heinen, B. A., & Langkamer, K. L. (2007). Work and family satisfaction and conflict: A meta-analysis of cross-domain relations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92, 57–80.Google Scholar
Freund, A. M., & Baltes, P. B. (2002). Life-management strategies of selection, optimization, and compensation: Measurement by self-report and construct validity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 642–662. Google Scholar
Galinsky, E., Aumann, K., & Bond, J. (2009). Times are changing: Gender and generation at work and home. New York, NY: Families and Work Institute. Google Scholar
Galinsky, E., Salmond, K., Bond, J. T., Brumit Kropf, M., Moore, M., & Harrington, B. (2003). Leaders in a global economy: A study of executive women and men. New York, NY: Families and Work Institute. Google Scholar
Grandey, A. A., Cordeiro, B. L., & Michael, J. H. (2007). Work–family supportiveness organizational perceptions: Important for the well-being of male blue-collar hourly workers? Journal of Vocational Behavior, 71, 460–478. Google Scholar
Greenhaus, J., & Beutell, J. N. (1985). Sources of conflict between work and family roles. Academy of Management, 10, 76–88. Google Scholar
Greenhaus, J., & Powell, G. (2006). When work and family are allies: A theory of work–family enrichment. Academy of Management Review, 31, 72–79. Google Scholar
Gutek, B. A., Searle, S., & Klepa, L. (1991). Rational versus gender role explanations for work–family conflict. Journal of Applied Psychology, 76, 560–568. Google Scholar
Hammer, L. B., Kossek, E. E., Bodner, T., Anger, K., & Zimmerman, K. (2011). Clarifying work–family intervention processes: The roles of work–family conflict and family supportive supervisor behaviors. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96, 134–150.Google Scholar
Hammer, L. B., Neal, M. B., Newsom, J., Brockwood, K. J., & Colton, C. (2005). A longitudinal study of the effects of dual-earner couples' utilization of family-friendly workplace supports on work and family outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, 799–810. Google Scholar
Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture's consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Hoobler, J. M., Wayne, S. J., & Lemmon, G. (2009). Bosses' perceptions of family–work conflict and women's promotability: Glass ceiling effects. Academy of Management Journal, 52, 939–957. Google Scholar
Ilies, R., Schwind, K., & Wagner, D. (2009). The spillover of daily job satisfaction onto employees' family lives: The facilitating role of work-family integration. The Academy of Management Journal, 52, 87–102.Google Scholar
Kahn, R., Wolfe, D., Quinn, R., Snoek, J., & Rosenthal, R. (1964). Organizational stress: Studies in role conflict and ambiguity. New York, NY: Wiley. Google Scholar
Katz, D., & Kahn, R. (1978). The social psychology of organizing (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Wiley. Google Scholar
Kegan, R., & Lahey, L. (2001). How the way we talk can change the way we work: Seven languages for transforming organizations. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass. Google Scholar
Kelly, E., Kossek, E., Hammer, L. Durham, M., Bray, J., Chermack, K., Murphy, L., & Kaskubar, D. (2008). Getting there from here: Research on the effects of work-family initiatives on work-family conflict and business outcomes. In Walsh, J. P. & Brief, A. (Eds.), The Academy of Management Annals (Volume 2, pp. 305–349). New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Kossek, E. E. (2005). Workplace policies and practices to support work and families. In Bianchi, S., Casper, L., & King, R. (Eds.), Work, family, health, and well-being (pp. 97–116). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Google Scholar
Kossek, E. E. (2006). Work and family in America: Growing tensions between employment policy and a changing workforce. A thirty-year perspective. In Lawler, E. & O’Toole, J. (Eds.), America at work: Choices and challenges (pp. 53–72). New York, NY: Palgrave MacMillan. Google Scholar
Kossek, E. E., Colquitt, J., & Noe, R. (2001). Caregiving decisions, well-being, and performance: The effects of place and provider as a function of dependent type and work–family climates. Academy of Management Journal, 44, 29–44. Google Scholar
Kossek, E. & Distelberg, B. (2008). Work and family employment policy for a transformed work force: Trends and themes. In Crouter, A. C. & Booth, A. (Eds.), Work-life policies (pp. 1–51). Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press.Google Scholar
Kossek, E. & Hammer, L. (2008, November). Supervisor work/life training gets results (p. 36). Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review.Google Scholar
Kossek, E. E., Huber, M., & Lerner, J. (2003). Sustaining economic and psychological well-being of mothers on public assistance: Individual deficit and social structural accounts. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 62, 155–175.Google Scholar
Kossek, E., & Lambert, S. (2005). Work and life integration: Organizational, cultural, and individual perspectives. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Google Scholar
Kossek, E., & Lautsch, B. (2008). CEO of me: Creating a life that works in the flexible job age. Philadelphia, PA: Wharton School Publishing. Google Scholar
Kossek, E. E., Lautsch, B. A., & Eaton, S. C. (2006). Telecommuting, control, and boundary management: Correlates of policy use and practice, job control, and work–family effectiveness. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 68, 347–467. Google Scholar
Kossek, E., & Michel, J. (2010). Flexible work scheduling. In Zedeck, S. (Ed.), Handbook of industrial-organizational psychology (pp. 535–572). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Google Scholar
Kossek, E. E., & Ozeki, C. (1998). Work- family conflict, policies, and the job-life satisfaction relationship: A review and directions for organizational behavior/human resources research. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83, 139–149.Google Scholar
Kossek, E. E. & Ozeki, C. (1999). Bridging the work-family policy and productivity gap. International Journal of Community, Work, and Family, 2, 7–32.Google Scholar
Kossek, E., Pichler, S., Bodner, T., & Hammer, L. (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, 289–313.Google Scholar
Kossek, E., Sweet, S., & Pitt-Catsouphes, M. (2006). The insights gained from integrating disciplines. In Pitt-Catsouphes, M., Kossek, E. E., & Sweet, S. (Eds.), The work–family handbook: Multi-disciplinary perspectives and approaches (pp. 67–72). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Google Scholar
Lambert, S. J. (1990). Processes linking work and family. Human Relations, 43, 239–257. Google Scholar
Lambert, S. J. (2008). Passing the buck: Labor flexibility practices that transfer risk onto hourly workers. Human Relations, 61, 1203–1227. Google Scholar
Leiter, M. P., & Durup, M. J. (1996). Work, home, and in-between: A longitudinal study of spillover. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 32, 29–47. Google Scholar
Lobel, S. A. (1991). Allocation of investment in work and family roles: Alternative theories and implication for research. Academy of Management Review, 16, 507–521. Google Scholar
MacDermid, S., & Harvey, A. (2006). The work–family conflict construct: Methodological implications. In Pitt-Catsouphes, M., Kossek, E., & Sweet, S. (Eds.), The work–family handbook: Multi-disciplinary perspectives and approaches (pp. 238–308). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Google Scholar
Major, D., Fletcher, T., Davis, D., & Germano, L. (2009). The influence of work–family culture and workplace relationships on work interference with family: A multilevel model. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 29, 881–897.Google Scholar
Major, V. S., Klein, K. S., & Ehrhart, M. G. (2002). Work time, work interference with family, and psychological distress. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 427–436. Google Scholar
Marks, S. R. (1977). Multiple roles and role strain: Some notes on human energy, time and commitment. American Sociological Review, 42, 921–936. Google Scholar
Matthews, R. A., Barnes-Farrell, J. L., & Bulger, C. A. (2010). Advancing measurement of work–family boundary characteristics. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 77, 447–460. Google Scholar
Matthews, R. A., Bulger, C. A., & Barnes-Farrell, J. L. (2010). Work social supports, role stressors, and work–family conflict: The moderating effect of age. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 76, 78–90. Google Scholar
Mesmer-Magnus, J. R., & Viswesvaran, C. (2005). Convergence between measures of work-to-family and family-to-work conflict: A meta-analytic examination. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 67, 215–232.Google Scholar
Michel, J. S., Mitchelson, J. K., Kotrba, L. M., LeBreton, J. M., & Baltes, B. B. (2009). A comparative test of work–family conflict models and critical examination of work–family linkages. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 74, 199–218. Google Scholar
Near, J., Rice, R., & Hunt, R. (1980). The relationship between work and nonwork domains: A review of empirical research. The Academy of Management Review, 5, 415–429. Google Scholar
Netemeyer, R. G., Boles, J. S., & McMurrian, R. (1996). Development and validation of work–family conflict and family-work conflict scales. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81, 400–410. Google Scholar
Parish, S. L. (2006). Juggling and struggling: A preliminary work–life study of mothers with adolescents who have developmental disabilities. Mental Retardation, 44, 393–404. Google Scholar
Rosenbaum, M., & Cohen, E. (1999). Equalitarian marriages, spousal support, resourcefulness and psychological distress among Israeli working women. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 54, 102–113.Google Scholar
Rothausen-Vange, T. (2005). Family diversity. In Pitt-Catsouphes, M. and Kossek, E. (Eds.), Sloan work–family encyclopedia. Boston, MA: Boston College Sloan Work Family Network. Retrieved from http://wfnetwork.bc.edu/encyclopedia_entry.php?id=1138.Google Scholar
Ryan, A., & Kossek, E. (2008). Work-life policy implementation: Breaking down or creating barriers to inclusiveness. Human Resource Management, 47, 295–310.Google Scholar
Shellenbarger, S. (2008). Downsizing maternity leave: Employers cut pay, time off. The Wall Street Journal, June 11, 2008, D1.Google Scholar
Shockley, K. M., & Allen, T. D. (2007). When flexibility helps: Another look at the availability of flexible work arrangements and work–family conflict. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 71, 479–493. Google Scholar
Sieber, S. (1974). Toward a theory of role accumulations. American Sociological Review, 39, 567–578. Google Scholar
Society for Human Resource Management. (2010). 2010 employee benefits: Examining employee benefits in the midst of a recovering economy. Alexandria, VA: Author. Google Scholar
Society for Human Resource Management. (2011). Principles for a 21 st century workplace flexibility policy. Alexandria, VA: Author. Google Scholar
Thompson, C., Beauvais, L., & Allen, C. (2006). Work and family from an industrial-organizational psychology perspective. In Pitt-Catsouphes, M., Kossek, E., & Sweet, S. (Eds.), The work–family handbook: Multi-disciplinary perspectives and approaches (pp. 283–308). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Google Scholar
Viswesvaran, C. (2007). Editorial. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 15, 1–2. Google Scholar
Voydanoff, P. (2005). Toward a conceptualization of perceived work-family fit and balance: A demands and resources approach. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67, 822–836.Google Scholar
Westman, M., & Etzion, D. (2005). The crossover of work–family conflict from one spouse to the other. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 35, 1936–1957. Google Scholar
Young, L. M., Baltes, B. B., & Pratt, A. (2007). Using selection, optimization, and compensation to reduce job-family stressors: Effective when it matters. Journal of Business and Psychology, 18, 1–2. Google Scholar