The Differential Salience of Family and Community Demands and Resources for Family-to-Work Conflict and Facilitation

Abstract

This paper examines the differential salience of family and community demands and resources in relation to family-to-work conflict and facilitation. The study used interviews with 1567 employed, married, parents from the 1995 National Survey of Midlife Development (MIDUS). Family demands show relatively strong positive relationships to family-to-work conflict, whereas family resources are relatively impor- tant for family-to-work facilitation. Two community demands are positively related to family-to-work conflict and one community resource is positively associated with facili- tation. Community demands and resources generally do not moderate relationships between family demands and resources and family-to-work conflict and facilitation. The study suggests that processes associated with demands are relatively important for family-to-work conflict, whereas processes embedded in resources are relatively salient for family-to-work facilitation. Research over the past few decades has revealed that work and family are inter-connected domains. When the boundaries between the work and family domains are sufficiently permeable and flexible, processes occur through which characteristics associated with one domain influence the other domain. Work-family conflict and facili- tation are linking mechanisms in the processes through which work and family characteristics are related to individual, work, and family outcomes (Voydanoff, 2002). They are cognitive appraisals of the effects of one domain on the other domain. Lazarus and Folkman (1984) state that cognitive appraisal is the process of deciding whether an experience is positive, stressful, or irrelevant with regard to well- being. Stressful appraisals occur when individuals perceive that the demands of their environment exceed their resources and endanger