When work and life boundaries are blurred—P2P accommodation hosts’ work-life integration and consequences

Abstract

Being a peer-to-peer accommodation host (P2P host) has become a popular career choice in China due to its believed advantages in balancing work and life. This option, however, has blurred the boundary between work and life and has been known to elicit a series of negative consequences in both domains. Building on boundary theory and conservation of resources theory, this study proposed and examined how work-life integration can influence P2P hosts’ perceived work-family conflict, role overload, emotional depletion, and social exchanges with customers. Using data collected from 304 P2P hosts in China, the findings of the study found that work-life integration can lead to higher levels of role overload, work-family conflict, and emotional depletion of hosts, which in turn affect their social exchange with customers.