Prior to the first handbook in 2003, there was discussion of balance in the literature but little consensus about how to define it. In this chapter, we review previous definitions of work-nonwork balance and then present our own dual process model. Marks and MacDermid (1996) first defined role balance as "the tendency to become fully engaged in the performance of every role in one's total role system, to approach every typical role and role partner with an attitude of attentiveness and care" (p. 421). While this definition of balance impacted the academic literature, with 6,330 citations in Google Scholar (as of September 26, 2022), scholars continued to offer alternative conceptualizations of balance (Casper et al., 2018).
PREVIOUS DEFINITIONS OF WORK-NONWORK BALANCEOne reason Marks and MacDermid's (1996) definition failed to become the single accepted one in the literature may be that it was not well integrated with early theories of the work-family interface. For instance, the spillover model (Staines, 1980) suggested that positive or negative affective experiences in one