Occupational Characteristics and Males' Role Performance in the Family

Abstract

A review of the literature linking men's occupational activities to their performance of marital and parental roles shows a number of intriguing relationships. The usual dichotomization of occupational and family role demands is questioned in the discussion which focuses on the effect of occupational characteristics on the male's role performance in the family. The man's participation in the family initially appears to depend upon his holding some sort of job. Beyond this, such occupational characteristics as job salience, the synchronization of its demands with those of the family, the overlap in personnel and ecological location between family and work settings all affect intrafamily dynamics. A GREAT deal has been written on the differentiation of work from family roles in modern industrial societies. The general separation in time and space of family and occupational role performance is readily apparent. In addition, the formal requirements of the work group are often at variance with those of the family. Increasingly men, and women too, are playing their occupational roles in settings with bureaucratic characteristics. Here there are a number of supervisory levels. Obtaining a job and job advancement are determined by rules