Work-family guilt as a straightjacket. An interview and diary study on consequences of mothers' work-family guilt

Aarntzen, Lianne; Derks, Belle; Steenbergen, Elianne van; Ryan, Michelle K.; Lippe, Tanja van der

doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2019.103336

Cited by 46 publications

(96 citation statements)

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“…Despite all scientific and societal attention, this situation exists already for a long time, and therefore demands more insight in the mechanisms behind it. Recent research has suggested that working mothers' guilt about how their work affects their family underlies at least part of these gendered work-family decisions (Aarntzen, Derks, Van Steenbergen, Ryan, & Van der Lippe, 2019). The question remains, however, why women are more prone to experience this work-family guilt compared to men.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Stronger internalization of gender stereotypes, tying mothers to family and fathers to work, predicted high work-family guilt among working mothers and low work-family guilt among working fathers. Guilt may underlie gendered work-family decisions, making mothers wanting to work less and invest more time in their parenting (Aarntzen, et al, 2019). At the same time low guilt in fathers may allow them to keep prioritizing work.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is important because work-family guilt is detrimental for the well-being of working parents and contributes to gendered choices. Specifically, higher work-family guilt in mothers is associated with lower well-being, the decision to work less hours, and plans to intensify parenting (Aarntzen et al, 2019). Taking into account how 1) work-family guilt may arise from gender stereotypes in our society and how 2) gendered work-family choices may be a direct result of work-family guilt, a vicious cycle may be at play: As parents often see in their direct environment or through media portrayals that women take on the role of primary caregiver and men of primary breadwinner, gender differences in work-family guilt arise, which results in gendered choices, and again leads to an environment that is typified by caregiving mothers and breadwinning fathers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research shows that women's descriptions about how employment affected their family were coded by blind raters as including more references to work-family guilt than did men's descriptions (Borelli, et al, 2016). It has also been demonstrated that when mothers and fathers were asked to imagine an identical work-family conflict situation, mothers anticipated more guilt than fathers (Aarntzen, Derks, Van Steenbergen, Van der Lippe, 2019). Moreover, gender differences in guilt were not found in a more neutral workfamily situation, suggesting that it is not an innate tendency of mothers to experience more guilt, but rather that mothers experience more guilt in work-family conflict situations in which they violate the family prioritization norm.…”

Section: Consequences For Parentingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This may not only be helpful in improving the well-being of working mothers, but also be crucial in understanding why mothers and fathers often make different work and family decisions. Previous research showed that higher work-family guilt in mothers relates to gendered behaviors: mothers who feel more guilty think more about reducing their working hours, reduce the time they planned for themselves, and plan to reserve more time and energy for their children in the future (Aarntzen, et al 2019). Therefore, it is important to explore how implicit gender stereotypes may induce feelings of guilt in mothers and weaken feelings of guilt in fathers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Work-family guilt: A straightjacket keeping parents into traditional gender roles

Aarntzen¹

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Work-family guilt as a straightjacket. An interview and diary on consequences of mothers' work-family guilt 3 When work-family guilt becomes a women's issue: Gender stereotypes predict high guilt among mothers but low guilt among fathers 4 How individual gender role beliefs and organizational gender cultures predict parents' work-family guilt in Europe 5 How a gendered cost-benefit analysis explains gender differences in work-family guilt 6 Appendices Nederlandse samenvatting (Summary in Dutch) References Supplementary materials chapters 2 to 5 Dankwoord (Acknowledgements) Curriculum Vitae The KLI dissertation series Promotoren Prof. dr. B. Derks Prof. dr. E.F. van Steenbergen Prof. dr. A.G. van der Lippe chapter synthesis chapter synthesis 2 Work-family guilt as a straightjacket. An interview and diary study on consequences of mothers' work-family guilt Note.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Consequences For Parentingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Work-family guilt: A straightjacket keeping parents into traditional gender roles

Aarntzen¹

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Gender‐ethnicity intersectional variation in work–family dynamics: Family interference with work, guilt, and job satisfaction

Hwang

Hoque

2023

Human Resource Management

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Although guilt is often considered the most prevalent emotional outcome of work–family conflict (WFC), most work–family research focuses on family‐related guilt stemming from work interference with family, rather than job‐related guilt stemming from family interference with work (FIW). In addition, there is little understanding of how different employee social groups experience the implications of FIW in their daily lives. To address these research gaps, this study explores the relationship between daily FIW and job‐related guilt, and its subsequent impact on job satisfaction. It also investigates variation in these relationships by (1) gender and (2) the intersection of gender and ethnicity. Bayesian multilevel structural equation modeling using data from 5‐day diary surveys from 210 solicitors in Britain shows daily FIW is associated with higher job‐related guilt and subsequently lower job satisfaction. The relationship is stronger for women than men in general, but is also stronger for South Asian women than white British women (and men), and for South Asian men than white British men. This suggests that studies focusing on single social group characteristics (e.g., gender) are likely to obscure intersectional effects that might produce significant within‐group variation. The findings also highlight the importance of integrating workplace inequality arguments into theorization of WFC.

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How does work affect fathers' daily interaction with adolescents? An expanded self‐regulation perspective

French,

Liu,

Ohannessian

et al. 2024

J Organ Behavior

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SummaryThe management of the daily rhythm of work and childrearing, two central responsibilities of working fathers, has received limited research attention. Drawing from an expanded self‐regulation perspective, this study seeks to understand the within‐person depletion and compensation mechanisms that explain how fathers' daily work experiences spillover to influence their next‐day parenting interactions. We also posit that actual childrearing support by mothers and its unavailability may shape fathers' day‐to‐day caregiving rhythm by injecting resources and/or cuing demands for father parenting involvement. Using daily triadic data (N = 631 within‐person observations) from 96 fathers, mothers and their adolescent children in the United States, we found that the lagged relationship between fathers' negative work events and next‐day father–adolescent conflict was mediated by fathers' psychological distress. In addition, we found that negative work events were associated with increased father–adolescent routine activities the next day via time‐based work–family conflict, but only when mothers worked the next day. We further found that negative work events were associated with decreased father–adolescent interactive activities the next day via psychological distress, but only when mothers provided less routine care than normal the next day. Our study portrays fathers juggling work and parenting as a sequenced balancing act. Importantly, incorporating mothers' daily work status and routine parent–adolescent interactions enriches our understanding of fathers' daily work‐to‐parenting spillover process.

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Work-family guilt as a straightjacket. An interview and diary study on consequences of mothers' work-family guilt

Abstract: collection in Study 2 (FETC17-044).Informed Consent: Informed consent was obtained from all participants.Acknowledgement: We thank Melissa Vink and our undergraduate students for their help in data collection and we thank Irene Teulings for her help in data coding of the interviews.

Cited by 46 publications

References 40 publications

Work-family guilt: A straightjacket keeping parents into traditional gender roles

Work-family guilt: A straightjacket keeping parents into traditional gender roles

Gender‐ethnicity intersectional variation in work–family dynamics: Family interference with work, guilt, and job satisfaction

How does work affect fathers' daily interaction with adolescents? An expanded self‐regulation perspective

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