Believing in Achieving: The Impact of Role Salience and Anticipated Work–Family Conflict on Self-Efficacy Beliefs in Emerging Adult Women

Abstract

Emerging adulthood is a formative phase of development when women’s expectations of success can influence their opportunities for mastery experiences in career and family domains. Women prioritize varying life roles (career, family, and relationships) and these roles potentially intersect with the conflict between work and family that women forecast for their future selves. We used a social cognitive career theory framework to examine how anticipated work-family conflict impacts self-efficacy beliefs. Specifically, we examined whether anticipated work-family conflict moderated the association between women’s life role salience and self-efficacy beliefs. Results indicated that across all salient life roles, higher levels of anticipated work-family conflict were associated with lower self-efficacy beliefs, but contrary to hypotheses, there was no evidence of moderation. Demographic factors also explained significant amounts of variance in self-efficacy. Results suggest that maximizing opportunities for self-efficacy can contribute to women’s sense of achievement and fulfillment in multiple life domains.