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Abstract. The study investigates how commuting strain affects daily self-control capacities at work and at home. Irritability (i.e., increased readiness to express negative emotions when facing frustration) and concentration (i.e., a cognitive control capacity that relies on attention) were used as indicators of (impaired) self-control. Based on 5-day diary data from N = 185 train commuters, we found that on days with a strenuous ride from home to work, commuters indicated higher irritability and lower concentration capacity at work. On days with higher strain during the work-to-home ride, commuters reported to be more irritable back home. Moreover, commuters with low emotional stability turned out to be more affected by commuting strain but only if considering self-control impairment at home.

Obtaining a doctorate offers various career options. This study takes a person-centered approach to identify interest profiles. Career goals (professorate, entrepreneur, etc.) were assessed at two time points (1-year interval) in a sample of doctoral students and doctorate holders from the STEM fields in German-speaking areas ( NT 1 = 2,077). Latent profile analysis revealed that a four-profile solution provided the best data fit: At T1, 33.0% of the participants aimed for a management position in industry, 16.9% pursued an academic career, 30.1% were interested in activities without leadership responsibilities, and 20.1% had a relatively flat career-goal profile. Latent transition analysis indicated that most changes occurred for those classified into the flat profile, while strong interest in a management career was very stable over time. Additionally, the attainment of the doctorate seemed to be a good predictor for profile membership: Doctorate holders were more likely to be clearly dedicated to an academic career.

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This research investigates the impact of parents' feelings of fulfillment and joy aroused by their infant and parenthood-referred to as child-related bliss-on their partnership satisfaction in the early period of parenthood between 6 and 24 months postpartum. In addition, the influence of partnership satisfaction during pregnancy and after childbirth on child-related bliss is investigated. Guided by family systems theory, we assumed both parents' child-related bliss to be positively associated with individual (i.e., spillover effects) as well as the spouse's partnership satisfaction (i.e., crossover effects). Longitudinal dyadic data from N ϭ 135 heterosexual couples were analyzed using the actor-partner interdependence model, which takes interdependencies between couples into account. Taken as a set, the findings suggest that fathers' child-related and partnership-related perceptions are more closely linked than is the case for mothers. Fathers' child-related bliss 6 months postpartum positively influenced their partnership satisfaction at that time, and at 12 and 24 months postpartum. For mothers, in contrast, such spillover effects were not detected. Most importantly with respect to interdependencies between couples, the results indicate crossover effects from fathers to mothers, that is, fathers' child-related bliss positively contributed to mothers' partnership satisfaction in the postnatal period. In contrast, mothers' bliss did not influence fathers' partnership satisfaction. The study demonstrates that fathers' parental feelings of fulfillment and bliss contribute to their individual and to mothers' partnership satisfaction. This highlights gender-specific couple dynamics, that is, an influence of fathers' blissful child-related feelings on mothers' partnership satisfaction in the postnatal period.

Maternal gatekeeping describes mothers’ attempts to influence father involvement in child-rearing. While the effect of maternal gatekeeping on the father–child relationship has been explored, less is known about how fluctuations in the perception of maternal gatekeeping influences fathers’ family outcomes and whether father’s attachment might moderate these associations. Building on family systems theory, this study explores the within-person effect of negative maternal gatekeeping on father’s weekly reports of romantic relationship quality and feelings of exclusion from the family and tests father attachment as a moderator of these associations. Two hundred seventy-seven Canadian and German fathers with children under the age of 6 took part in an 8-week online diary study. Data were analyzed using multilevel structural equation modeling. During weeks when fathers perceived more maternal gatekeeping than was typical, they reported lower positive romantic relationship quality, higher negative romantic relationship quality, and felt more excluded from the family system. Avoidant attachment moderated the within-person effect of perceived maternal gatekeeping on negative romantic relationship quality, such that within-person increases in perceived maternal gatekeeping were more strongly linked with higher than-average negative romantic relationship quality among more avoidant fathers. Our findings shed new light on the within-person effects of perceived maternal gatekeeping on fathers’ feelings regarding the family system.

Postpartum mothers have to decide whether to leave the workforce for some time and, if so, when to return to paid work. Two kinds of regrets might evolve as a result of women's leave‐related decisions: stay‐at‐home and return‐to‐work regrets. The present research investigates how these forms of regrets are associated with women's affective organizational commitment. We conducted a four‐wave longitudinal study with female participants mostly living in Switzerland (61%) and Germany (37%). The first measurement occasion took place during pregnancy (N = 294), and the subsequent three postnatal measurement points were at 6 (n = 281), 12 (n = 254), and 24 months (n = 230) after childbirth. As expected, higher organizational commitment during pregnancy predicted stronger stay‐at‐home regrets. By contrast, women's prenatal organizational commitment did not turn out to be predictive for lowered return‐to‐work regrets. We further assumed cross‐lagged associations between post‐birth organizational commitment and return‐to‐work regrets. Our results suggest that return‐to‐work regrets are predictive of decreases in affective organizational commitment. Reversed causation, that is, effects from postnatal organizational commitment to return‐to‐work regrets, could not be confirmed. Results are discussed regarding theoretical, methodological, and practical implications.

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