A Theoretical Development of the Gender Embodiment of Enrichment: A Study of Gender Norms in Enrichment and Factors Related to Enrichment in a Sample of the Swedish Working Population.

Emma Hagqvist,Constanze Leineweber,Anna Nyberg

doi:10.3389/fsoc.2021.669789

Emma Hagqvist, Constanze Leineweber + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2021.669789

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Abstract

Enrichment is a phenomenon described as the synergistic and beneficial effects of participating in both work and private life. Far too few studies have acknowledged the role of gender in enrichment. By applying a gender theoretical approach, this article has two aims; first, we aim to study the role of gender in enrichment by examining the factorial structure of enrichment in men and women; secondly, we aim to study the relationship between enrichment and work and private life factors in an approximately representative sample of the Swedish working population. A multigroup confirmatory factor analysis with measurement in variance was performed and this resulted in a two-factor solution for enrichment for both men and women, representing the two directions of enrichment: work-to-life enrichment (WLE) and life-to-work enrichment (LWE). Factor loadings differ across genders, indicating that men and women construct and value items of enrichment differently. Next, linear mixed models were used to answer the second aim. Results show that gendered cultural norms in work and private life manifest in the relationship between factors in the work and home sphere and enrichment. Factors in work and private life with more or less masculine or feminine epithets relate differently to WLE and LWE for men and women. The main conclusion is that masculine and feminine norms are embodied in the values and experiences of enrichment and factors related to enrichment.

Highlights

While in the past most of the literature concerning the work–life interface has concentrated on the negative effects of having multiple roles, in recent years, an increasing number of studies have focused on the positive effects
In accordance with the second part of the aim, we study the relationship between enrichment and factors in work and private life that are presented as gendered constructs
The results confirm the previous findings of a two-factor structure representing the two directions of enrichment, namely work-to-life enrichment (WLE) and life-to work enrichment (LWE) (Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985)

Summary

Introduction

While in the past most of the literature concerning the work–life interface has concentrated on the negative effects of having multiple roles (i.e., work-life interference), in recent years, an increasing number of studies have focused on the positive effects. The concept of work–life (or work–family) enrichment has grown as a perspective that focuses on the synergistic and beneficial effects of participating in both work and private life (Greenhaus and Powell, 2006; Allen and Martin, 2017). It has been proposed that multiple roles are more constructive for women than for men (Cinamon and Rich, 2002). This statement is based on the general assumption that men and women have different qualities and attributes, creating a spatial and functional separation between women and men.

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