How Job Demands Affect an Intimate Partner: A Test of the Spillover‐Crossover Model in Japan

Abstract

How Job Demands Affect an IntimatePartner: A Test of the Spillover-Crossover Model in Japan: Akihito SHIMAZU, et al. Department of Mental Health, The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Medicine-Objectives: The present study examined how job demands affect an intimate partner's well-being. We hypothesized that job demands have a negative influence on partner well-being through the experience of work-family conflict (WFC) and an impaired quality of the relationship (reduced social support and increased social undermining towards the partner). Methods: The participants of this study were 99 couples of dual-earner parents in Japan. Results: Consistent with hypotheses, men's job demands (i.e. overload and emotional demands) were positively related to their own reports of WFC, and indirectly to women's ratings of men's WFC. Consequently, women's ratings of men's WFC were negatively related to the quality of the relationship (i.e. decreased social support from and increased social undermining by men), which, in turn, led to women's ill-health (i.e. depressive symptoms and physical complaints). We found similar findings for the model starting with women's job demands; gender did not affect the strength of the relationships in the model. Conclusions: These findings suggest that high job demands initiate a process of work-family conflict and poor relationship quality, which may eventually affect the intimate partner's well-being in an unfavorable way. Research has suggested that Japanese employees are highly committed to their work 1) . Indeed, the Japanese work longer hours than employees in most other industrial nations 2) . These long work hours may become a problem for employees' intimate relationships with their partners when efforts to fulfill the demands of work interfere with the ability to fulfill the demands of the roles as a spouse, parent, or caregiver 3) . The present study among Japanese dual-earner couples will focus on the impact of job demands on partner wellbeing. Specifically, we will examine whether high job demands may initiate a process of work-family conflict and consequently affect the quality of the relationship (i.e., increased social undermining and reduced social support provided to an intimate partner), which eventually affects partner well-being in an unfavorable way. We will use the recently formulated Spillover-Crossover model 3,4) to test our hypotheses.The Spillover-Crossover model Earlier studies have identified two different ways in which strain is carried over from the work to the family domain 5,6) . Work-family conflict or spillover is a withinperson across-domains transmission of demands and consequent strain from one area of life to another. Previous research has primarily focused on how experiences in the work domain are transferred to and interfere with the non-work domain for the same individual 7) . In contrast, crossover involves transmission across individuals, whereby demands and their consequent strain have effects on between closely related persons 6) . Thus...

Work‐to‐family Conflict and Family‐to‐work Conflict among Japanese Dual‐earner Couples with Preschool Children: A Spillover‐Crossover Perspective

“…This suggests that psychological health of wives is influenced by the work-family balance of their partner (i.e., husbands) and their own work-family balance, whereas psychological health of husbands is not influenced by the work-family balance of their partner (i.e., wives). These results contradict previous studies that found bidirectional crossover effects in Western countries 7,34) and even in Japan 17) . This discrepancy can be explained by the characteristics of (especially female) the participants in the present study.…”

“…This discrepancy can be explained by the characteristics of (especially female) the participants in the present study. The working hours of our female respondents (37.1 hours/week) were longer than the average working hours of Japanese working women with preschool children (18.5 hours/week) 35) and those in the study of Shimazu et al (35 hours/week) 17) . Given that our female respondents believed that they should play the main role in childcare and housework, they may feel guilty when husbands experience work-family conflict (mainly FWC) due to increased household responsibilities among husbands.…”

“…Whereas work-family conflict or spillover is a within-person across-domains transmission of strain from one area of life to another, crossover involves transmission across individuals. For instance, Shimazu et al 17) showed that a husband's (wife's) WFC led to a poor relationship quality (reduced social support and increased social undermining towards the partner), which resulted in his (her) partner's diminished health (i.e., psychological distress and physical complaints). Thus, given that a person exhibits more social undermining towards their partner when that person experiences both WFC and FWC simultaneously according to COR theory, we can predict that dual experience of WFC and FWC will be more strongly related to psychological distress of the partner (Hypothesis 3).…”

The role of purpose in life and social support in reducing the risk of workaholism among women in Poland

“…volume 3(4), 5 Background Most researchers stress that being work-driven is one of the basic characteristics of workaholism and define this phenomenon as a disorder originating from the "compulsion or the uncontrollable need to work incessantly" (Ng, Sorensen, & Feldman, 2007;Oates, 1971;Shimazu, Bakker, & Demerouti, 2009;Shimazu, Demerouti, Bakker, Shimada, & Kawakami, 2011;Spence & Robbins, 1992), i.e. 1) work-obsession, characterized by self-imposed high standards, 2) an inability to regulate working habits, and 3) neglecting other activities (Killinger, 1991;Naughton, 1987;Oates, 1971;Poppelreuter, 1997;Robinson, 1998;Schaufeli & Salanova, 2011;Schaufeli, Shimazu, & Taris, 2009;Schwartz, 1982;van Wijhe, Peeters, Schaufeli, & Ouweneel, 2012;Wojdylo, 2007Wojdylo, , 2010aWojdylo, , 2010b.…”

How job and family demands impact change in perceived stress: A dyadic study

“…H3a, H3b -hypotheses 3a and 3b: the impact of women's (men's) T1 job and family demands on men's (women's) change in work-and family-related stress is mediated by women's (men's) T1 interrole conflict (partner effects). outcomes such as distress [28,29], health [30], and relationship tension [31] are predicted not only by individual's own interrole conflict but also that of their partners'. However, a few aspects of the current body of research require addressing.…”