Gender Differences in Work-Family Guilt in Parents of Young Children

Borelli, Jessica L.; Nelson, S. Katherine; River, Laura M.; Birken, Sarah A.; Moss‐Racusin, Corinne A.

doi:10.1007/s11199-016-0579-0

Cited by 113 publications

(106 citation statements)

References 71 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The findings show that feeling pressure to be a perfect mother relates to affective reactions in mothers with increased parental stress (in line with Borelli et al, 2017 ; Henderson et al, 2016 ; Rizzo et al, 2013 ), but also to cognitive regulation (higher prevention focus – aiming to avoid mistakes as a mother) and behavioral regulation (maternal gatekeeping behaviors - taking over childcare tasks from their partner). While this regulation could be functional in adhering to the high standards of motherhood and affirming one’s mother identity ( Gaunt, 2008 ), this regulation may also have costs: the results showed that these affective, cognitive, and behavioral reactions all related to higher parental burnout.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…While such high expectations for mothers may stem from a positive view on motherhood, they can also have costs for today’s mothers. Research has shown that women’s feelings of being pressured to be a perfect mother are related to increased maternal guilt, lower self-efficacy beliefs, and higher stress levels - even when these women do not hold strong intensive mothering beliefs themselves ( Rotkirch and Janhunen, 2009 ; Henderson et al, 2016 ; Borelli et al, 2017 ). The current research aims to increase our understanding of the effects of pressure to be a perfect mother on working mothers’ health, parental and work outcomes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous research has shown that mothers can show negative affective reactions to the pressure to be a perfect mother such as increased stress or feelings of guilt ( Rotkirch and Janhunen, 2009 ; Henderson et al, 2016 ; Borelli et al, 2017 ). Yet, mothers are not just passive recipients of intensive mothering norms, they likely also try to actively regulate such social pressure to be a perfect mother.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Feeling Pressure to Be a Perfect Mother Relates to Parental Burnout and Career Ambitions

2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background and aims: Intensive mothering norms prescribe women to be perfect mothers. Recent research has shown that women’s experiences of pressure toward perfect parenting are related to higher levels of guilt and stress. The current paper follows up on this research with two aims: First, we examine how mothers regulate pressure toward perfect mothering affectively, cognitively, and behaviorally, and how such regulation may relate to parental burnout. Second, we examine how feeling pressure toward perfect mothering may spill over into mothers’ work outcomes.Methods: Through Prolific Academic, an online survey was sent to fulltime working mothers in the United Kingdom and United States with at least one child living at home (N = 169). Data were analyzed using bootstrapping mediation models.Results: Feeling pressure to be a perfect mother was positively related to parental burnout, and this relation was mediated by parental stress, by a stronger cognitive prevention focus aimed at avoiding mistakes as a mother, and by higher maternal gatekeeping behaviors taking over family tasks from one’s partner. Moreover, pressure toward perfect mothering had a positive direct effect on career ambitions; and a negative indirect effect, such that mothers with higher felt pressure toward perfect mothering experienced lower work-family balance, which in turn related to lower career ambitions.Conclusion: The findings suggest that intensive mothering norms might have severe costs for women’s family and work outcomes, and provide insights into where to direct efforts to reduce motherhood hardships and protect women’s career ambitions.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Feeling Pressure to Be a Perfect Mother Relates to Parental Burnout and Career Ambitions

2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The highest level of family to work interference in women comes from the different implication of women and men in household chores, including the care of children. This different implication has been proven by various studies and research ( Bianchi et al, 2000 ; Korabik, 2015 ; Borelli et al, 2017 ) and still persists in society as has been found in different surveys ( Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD], 2014 ; Eurobarometer, 2015 ). In concrete, this model keeps very persistent in Spain, where women spend almost double the amount of time on unpaid work as men National Institute of Statistics (INE), 2018 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Gender Inequality in Household Chores and Work-Family Conflict

2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The fact that the permeability between family and work scopes produces work-family conflict (WFC) is well established. As such, this research aims to check whether the unequal involvement in household chores between men and women is associated with increased WFC in women and men, interpreting the results also from the knowledge that arise from gender studies. A correlational study was carried out by means a questionnaire applied to 515 subjects (63% men) of two independent samples of Spanish men and women without emotional relationship, who lived with their heterosexual partner. As expected, results firstly show unequal involvement in household chores by women and men as it is higher in women that in men, and the perception of partner involvement is lower in women that in men. Secondly, those unequal involvements relate differently to men and women on different ways of work-family interaction. They do not increase WFC in women comparing to men, although there are tangentially significant differences in work conflict (WC) and statistically significant in family conflict (FC). However, perception of partner involvement on household chores increases WFC both in men and in women but not WC nor FC. Nevertheless, increase on marital conflict (MC) by domestic tasks neither affect in a significant way WFC in women nor in men, but increase WC in both women and men and FC only in women. Results also confirm that subject involvement on household chores is not a significant predictor of WFC in women nor in men, and that MC by domestic tasks is a statistically significant predictor in women of WFC and FC, but not in men. Thus, results show that traditional gender roles still affect the way men and women manage the work and family interaction, although the increased WFC due to involvement in housework is not exclusive to women, but also occurs in men. Personal and institutional recommendations are made on the basis of these results to cope with these conflicts.

show abstract

“…Negative emotions assessed included guilt, sadness, anger, neediness, and separation distress. We chose to examine these dimensions of negative emotion based on evidence supporting their salience in terms of parenting, attachment, and reunions (Adam et al., ; Borelli, Nelson, River, Birken, & Moss‐Racusin, ; Crowell & Feldman, ). Second, to measure SBS content, we adapted the extant coding system from Waters and Waters () for the context of autobiographical reunion narratives rather than hypothetical attachment scenarios.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examining Parents’ Romantic Attachment Styles and Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms as Predictors of Caregiving Experiences

River

Borelli

Nelson‐Coffey

2016

Infant Mental Health Journal

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Evidence has suggested that parental romantic attachment style and depressive and anxiety symptoms are related to experiences of caregiving (Creswell, Apetroaia, Murray, & Cooper, 2013; Jones, Cassidy, & Shaver, 2014; Lovejoy, Graczyk, O'Hare, & Neuman, 2000), but more research is necessary to clarify the nature of these relations, particularly in the context of attachment-salient events such as reunions. In a cross-sectional study of 150 parents of children ages 1 to 3 years, we assessed participants' attachment styles (self-reported anxiety and avoidance) and depressive and anxiety symptoms. Participants generated a narrative describing their most recent reunion with their child, which we coded for caregiving outcomes of negative emotion and secure base script content. Attachment style and depressive and anxiety symptoms separately predicted each caregiving outcome. Depressive and anxiety symptoms mediated the associations between attachment style and caregiving outcomes. These results suggest that parental attachment insecurity and depressive and anxiety symptoms contribute to negative emotion and reduced secure base script content. Further, depressive and anxiety symptomatology partially accounts for the relation between attachment insecurity and caregiving outcomes, suggesting that parental mental health is a critical point for intervention.

show abstract

Gender Differences in Work-Family Guilt in Parents of Young Children

Cited by 113 publications

References 71 publications

Feeling Pressure to Be a Perfect Mother Relates to Parental Burnout and Career Ambitions

Feeling Pressure to Be a Perfect Mother Relates to Parental Burnout and Career Ambitions

Gender Inequality in Household Chores and Work-Family Conflict

Examining Parents’ Romantic Attachment Styles and Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms as Predictors of Caregiving Experiences

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About