Work-family Guilt Research Articles

Work–family conflict and behavioral outcomes of Chinese female leaders: the mechanisms of work–family guilt and family centrality

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of work-to-family conflict (WFC) on unethical pro-family behavior (UPFB) and work engagement (WE) among Chinese female leaders. In addition, this study investigates the mediating role of work-to-family guilt (WFG) and the moderating role of family centrality (FC) in these relationships. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative approach was adopted, involving the collection of data through online questionnaires administered at three time points. These data were analyzed using hierarchical regression and the bootstrapping method to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings WFC exhibited a significant positive correlation with UPFB and a negative correlation with WE; WFG played a mediating role in the relationships between WFC and both UPFB and WE; and FC had a significant moderating effect on the relationship between WFC and WE. Originality/value This study sheds light on a model of WFC and its related effects, reveals how WFC affects UPFB and WE and uncovers the mediating role of WFG and the moderating role of FC; pays attention to a unique organizational behavior, UPFB, which enriches research on the antecedents influencing such behaviors; and examines Chinese female leaders in organizations, their current experience of WFC and the resulting psychological and behavioral outcomes.

Parenting During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Portugal: The Mediating Role of Work-Family Guilt in the Relationship Between Self-Compassion and Mindful Parenting in a Sample of Working Mothers.

The current study explored the mediating role of work interference on family guilt (WIFG) and family interference on work guilt (FIWG) in association with parents' self-compassion and mindful parenting during the COVID-19 pandemic, while controlling for the effects of educational level and marital status. In May 2020, a sample of 398 mothers (26-50years) participated in the study and completed an online survey that included a sociodemographic form and measures of self-compassion, work-family guilt, and mindful parenting. A parallel multiple mediation model was tested to explore the indirect effect of parents' self-compassion on mindful parenting through WIFG and FIWG. Independent samples t-tests were performed to compare study variables by mothers' working conditions during the pandemic. The mediation analysis indicated that parents' higher levels of self-compassion were indirectly associated with higher levels of mindful parenting through lower levels of WIFG/FIWG. Comparison analyses indicated that mothers who were working in their workplace during the pandemic reported higher levels of WIFG than those working from home; conversely, mothers who were working from home reported higher levels of FIWG than those working in their workplace. These data highlight the importance of research in this field and support the development of intervention community programs for promoting mindful parenting, by developing more adaptive emotional regulation strategies such as self-compassion, which specifically target parents who experience higher levels of guilt associated with work and family conflict. This study is not pre-registered.

Exploring the reciprocal nature of work-family guilt and its effects on work/family-related performance

ABSTRACT The present study explored the bidirectional and reciprocal nature of work-family guilt by testing a non-recursive model that treats work-family guilt as the mediator connecting the work-family interface. The sample was composed of 627 Chinese employees. The findings confirmed the reciprocal nature of work-family guilt (work-to-family and family-to-work guilt), which indicated that employees would not only have one form of guilt in the work-family interface. In addition, the findings revealed that time spent on work/family domains is indirectly related to work-family guilt via the increased work-family conflict and that there was a positive relationship between work-to-family guilt and work performance. As the first study investigating the bidirectional nature of work-family guilt, this study has refined and enriched our understanding of work-family guilt as well as contributed to future work-family interface, emotion, and performance studies.

How Work-Family Guilt, Involvement with Children and Spouse's Support Influence Parents' Life Satisfaction in a Context of Work-Family Conflict.

Work-family guilt (WFG) is sometimes perceived as an adaptive characteristic, since it has been found to encourage working parents to engage in more activities with their children in off-work time (Cho & Allen, 2012). However, while it may be an adaptive characteristic for the parent-child relationship, the same may not be true for parents’ psychological health. Using insights from the work-home resources model (W-HR), this study aims to determine WFG’s influence on parents’ life satisfaction. This study also investigates if parents’ belief regarding the investment of their spouse in recreational activities with their children is a resource that could foster their life satisfaction. A cross-sectional design was used with a sample of 289 working parents with at least one child aged between 5 and 10. A path analysis shows a significant moderated mediation model. Parent-child activities were found to partially mediate the relationship between strain-based work interference with family and parents’ life satisfaction. Furthermore, WFG moderated this mediation. Specifically, it worsened the detrimental effect of doing fewer parent-child activities on parents’ life satisfaction. Results also show that a spouse’s investment in activity with their child is a resource that motivates parents to invest more in their children and directly contributes to parents’ life satisfaction.

When work-family guilt becomes a women's issue: Internalized gender stereotypes predict high guilt in working mothers but low guilt in working fathers.

Gender stereotypes prescribe mothers, but not fathers, to prioritize their family over their work. Therefore, internalization of gender stereotypes may predict higher guilt among mothers than fathers in situations in which they prioritize their work over their family. Study 1 (135 mothers and 116 fathers) indeed revealed that the stronger fathers' implicit gender stereotypes (measured with a gender-career implicit association task) the less guilt fathers reported in a fictitious work-interfering-with-family situation. Although mothers on average reported higher guilt than fathers, this effect was not moderated by their implicit gender stereotypes. Study 2 (daily diary study among 105 mothers), however, did reveal evidence for the moderating effect of implicit gender stereotypes on working mothers' guilt. The stronger mothers' implicit gender stereotypes the more work-family conflict and guilt they reported on days that they worked long hours. These results show that implicit gender stereotypes shape how parents feel about their work-family choices.

COVID-19 Onset, Parental Status, and Psychological Distress among Full-time Employed Heterosexual Adults in Dual-earning Relationships: The Explanatory Role of Work-family Conflict and Guilt

We propose that the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions to daily life that followed had greater negative impact on the mental health, as measured by psychological distress, of employed parents than nonparents, because of an associated increase in both directions of work-family conflict and work-family guilt among this group of the population. To test this argument, we examined pooled data from two cross-sectional online surveys administered to heterosexual adults in dual-earning relationships living in the United States. The first data set was collected before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic ( N = 616), and the second data set was collected during the early months of the pandemic ( N = 454). Results of multivariate analyses show that distress increased between the two surveys, but only among parents, as compared with nonparents, irrespective of gender of the respondent, or age of the youngest child. This association is due to a change in work-family conflict and guilt between the two surveys: among parents, the COVID-19 onset was associated with higher family-to-work conflict, work-to-family guilt, and family-to-work guilt; among nonparents the pandemic was associated with lower work-to-family conflict and work-to-family guilt. Our results suggest that the COVID-19 onset had contrasting effects on the lives of employed parents and nonparents.

Association of Work-Family Conflict With Depression, Parenting Behaviors, and Socio-Behavioral Development of Children

This study investigated the associations of work-family conflict with the psychological well-being, parenting behaviors, and socio-emotional development of children aged between 2 and 6 (M = 4.14, SD = 1.30) and their working mothers. The sample was constructed with a random sampling method from Turkey, with nationally representative 700 working mothers. The age of the mothers ranged from 20 to 49 (M = 34.02, SD = 5.46). The data was based on maternal reports. The data was collected through the Organizational Support Scale, Work-Family Conflict Scale, Parenting Questionnaire, Temperament Scale, Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory, Adaptive Social Behavior Inventory, Child Behavior Checklist, Brief Symptoms Inventory, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and Work-Family Guilt Scale. The results of the study showed that (i) the mothers who reported higher levels of guilt due to working and lower levels of social support experienced higher levels of work-family conflict; (ii) the higher levels of work-family conflict increased the depression level and negative parenting behaviors in mothers while decreased the positive social-behavioral development in children, (iii) the social support had a buffering role in decreasing the negative effects of depression in mothers. This is the first study conducted with a nationally representative sample from Turkey to investigate an extensive ecology from mothers’ work-family conflict to their children’s socio-emotional development. The need for supporting policies to ameliorate working conditions and labor divisions for working mothers were emphasized by the study results. Keywords: Work-family conflict, parenting, support, socio-behavioral development

Work-Family Guilt in Spanish Parents: Analysis of the Measurement, Antecedents and Outcomes from a Gender Perspective.

This research work had three objectives: (1) to analyze the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Work–Family Guilt Scale, (2) to examine its invariance according to gender, and (3) to study the relationship between work–family guilt (WFG) and the different proposed antecedent (e.g., hours spent working, social support, rumination, and personality) or consequential factors (e.g., life satisfaction), noting any gender differences. The incidental sample comprised 225 parents who were in paid work and had at least one child attending nursery school (49.1% women; age of total sample = 36.88 on average). Multiple-group and confirmatory factor analyses, correlations, multiple regression, and moderation analyses were carried out. The WFGS reflected the same factorial structure in men and women, with two main factors: work interfering with family guilt (WIFG) and family interfering with work guilt (FIWG). No gender differences were found. The discrepancy associated with perfectionism was the only variable that was found to be a predictor of FIWG. The major predictors of WIFG were brooding from rumination and the number of hours spent working. WIFG was also associated with lower life satisfaction in women. The implications of these results are discussed, stressing the need to promote work–family reconciliation policies.

Collegiate Athletic Trainers' Experiences With Work-Family Conflict and Work-Family Guilt Based Upon Organizational Factors.

The collegiate athletic setting has been described as having high workloads and working demands. The extensive time commitment required of athletic trainers working in this setting has been identified as a precursor to work-family conflict (WFC) and work-family guilt (WFG). Although individualized, experiences in the work-life interface can largely be affected by organizational factors (ie, elements specific to the workplace). Staff size and patient load may influence the athletic trainer's feelings of WFC and WFG, yet these factors have not been directly studied. To examine organizational factors and experiences of WFC and WFG among collegiate athletic trainers. Cross-sectional study. Collegiate setting. A total of 615 (females = 391, gender variant or nonconforming = 1, males = 222, preferred not to answer = 1) athletic trainers responded to an online survey. The average age of participants was 33 ± 9 years, and they were Board of Certification certified for 10 ± 8 years. A total of 352 participants (57.2%) worked in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I, 99 in Division II (16.1%), and 164 in Division III (26.7%). Participants responded to demographic and workplace characteristic questions (organizational infrastructure, staff size, and number of varsity-level athletic teams). They completed WFC and WFG scales that have been previously validated and used in the athletic trainer population. Work-family conflict and WFG were universally experienced among our participants, with WFC scores predicting WFG scores. Participants reported more time-based conflict than strain- or behavior-based conflict. No differences in WFC and WFG scores were found among organizational infrastructures. Weak positive correlations were present between staff size and WFC scores and WFG scores. The number of athletic teams was not associated with WFC or WFG scores. Organizational factors are an important component of the work-life interface. From an organizational perspective, focusing on improving work-life balance for the athletic trainer can help mitigate experiences with WFC and WFG.

Work-Family Guilt: The Perspective of Secondary School Athletic Trainers With Children.

The literature in athletic training has consistently demonstrated evidence of work-family-life conflict and the potential consequences of that conflict among athletic trainers (ATs) employed in the clinical setting. Parental responsibilities have been suggested to increase the conflict among work, family, and life. The emotions that occur because of this conflict have received little attention and warrant further study. To investigate perceptions and antecedents of work-family guilt (WFG) among secondary school ATs with children. Phenomenological qualitative study. Secondary schools. Twenty (13 women, 7 men) ATs with children (range = 1-3) employed in the secondary school setting. All but 3 were married (n = 17) at the time of the study. Their average age was 37 ± 11 years, and they were certified as ATs for 14 ± 11 years. Participants completed one-on-one semistructured phone interviews. Multiple-analyst triangulation and peer review were used to establish data credibility. General inductive analysis revealed that men and women participants experienced feelings of WFG despite having supportive work environments. The guilt for both sexes stemmed from work interfering with family and an altruistic mindset. Women indicated they felt pressure from their husbands that contributed to feelings of guilt. Secondary school ATs experienced WFG. Trying to balance parental and athletic training duties can cause an emotional response, and ATs' giving and caring nature may be a precursor to guilt.

How individual gender role beliefs, organizational gender norms, and national gender norms predict parents’ work-Family guilt in Europe

ABSTRACT The guilt that mothers feel about the time and energy that they invest in work instead of their family is often proposed to be an important reason for why mothers ‘opt-out’ the career track. We sought to understand if mothers indeed experience more work-family guilt than fathers and how this relates to both their own gender role beliefs and organizational gender norms across nine European countries. Analyses draw on the European Social Workforce Survey, with data from 2619 working parents nested in 110 organizations in 9 European countries. Results showed that when fathers and mothers work more than a full-time week (a) fathers with traditional gender role beliefs felt less guilty, and (b) especially mothers working in an organization with low support for the parent role of working fathers felt guilty. Explorative analyses showed no effect of national gender norms on gender differences in guilt. Our results are beneficial for organizations and policy makers by showing that guilt in working mothers can be reduced by developing egalitarian organizational norms, in which there is support for the parent role of mothers and fathers, potentially helping mothers to focus on their careers alongside their families.

Work–Family Guilt of Collegiate Athletic Trainers: A Descriptive Study

Work–family guilt (WFG) is a measure used to assess guilt related to work interference with family and family interference with work. While work–family conflict (WFC) has been studied in the athletic trainer (AT) population, WFG has not. The purpose of this study was to gather descriptive data on WFG and to determine if WFC can predict WFG. There were significant positive associations between WFG and hours worked, but no sex differences in WFG or WFC exist. WFG was predicted by WFC. Results indicate higher levels of WFG and WFC are associated with a greater number of hours worked. Because guilt can negatively impact overall health, steps should be taken to mitigate WFC and WFG.

Work-family guilt as a straightjacket. An interview and diary study on consequences of mothers' work-family guilt

Working mothers often experience guilt when balancing work and family responsibilities. We examined consequences of work-family guilt with an interview study (N = 28) and daily diary study (N = 123). The interview study revealed that as a result of work-family guilt, parents tended to either reappraise the situation (e.g., emphasizing financial importance of work) or compensate for their guilt by adapting their parenting, adapting their work, and by sacrificing their leisure. Consistently, the diary study (where mothers completed online daily questionnaires over 8 consecutive days) revealed that higher work-family guilt was related to more traditional gender behaviors in mothers. Specifically, mothers (a) thought more about reducing their working hours, (b) reduced the time they planned for themselves, and (c) planned to reserve more time and energy for their children in the future although no changes in actual parenting behaviors were observed. Moreover, the diary study demonstrated that work-family guilt is associated with lower well-being for mothers. Together, these studies illuminate how work-family guilt may motivate mothers to comply with gender norms in which they prioritize caregiving tasks over their work.

Coping with Work-Family Guilt- A Qualitative Study on Dual Earning Parents in India

Present qualitative study has investigated different sources of work-family guilt and the coping mechanisms being deployed by employed parents in India. Data has been collected from 17 employed mot...

Tolerance of Infant Distress Among Working Parents: Examining the Roles of Attachment Anxiety and Work–Family Conflict

SYNOPSISObjective. Working parents of young children often face work–family conflict, but little is known about the impact of this stressor on distress tolerance in the parenting role. We examined whether work–family conflict is associated with heightened work–family guilt and reduced infant distress tolerance, and we tested whether these effects are strongest among parents high in attachment anxiety. Design. In an experimental study of 233 parents of children ages 1–3 years, parents first reported their attachment anxiety, then were randomly assigned to read a vignette depicting a subtype of work–family conflict—work-interfering-with-family (WIF) conflict—or to an attention control condition. Finally, parents reported their feelings of WIF-guilt and completed an infant distress tolerance paradigm. Results. Attachment anxiety predicted greater WIF-guilt and less distress tolerance cry task persistence and moderated associations between experimental condition and outcomes: Parents with low attachment anxiety reported less WIF-guilt when primed with WIF-conflict than parents with average or high attachment anxiety, and parents with high attachment anxiety displayed less distress tolerance when primed compared to parents with low or average attachment anxiety. Conclusions. Working parents with low attachment anxiety may fare better emotionally in the face of WIF-conflict than their peers with higher attachment anxiety. High attachment anxiety may represent a risk factor for the negative effects of WIF-conflict on distress tolerance in response to infant crying. Future work should explore interventions to support working parents with high attachment anxiety.

No Such Thing as a Baby: Responses to Infant Cry Paradigms Are Primarily Influenced by Parents’ Experiences and Behavior

SYNOPSISThis article builds on our previous work demonstrating that, when exposed to work–family conflict, parents with high levels of attachment anxiety exhibit greater work–family guilt and less tolerance of infant distress. We respond to commentaries suggesting that the theoretical model could be enhanced by better accounting for innate infant differences and parent psychopathology, arguing that it is possible that parents’ experiences of work–family conflict and attachment anxiety precede the development of psychopathology and may influence the development of infant temperament and behavior. We further explore clinical implications of our findings and identify key suggestions for future work, with an emphasis on the roles of parental experiences of childhood maltreatment and insensitive caregiving.

Portuguese Mothers and Fathers Share Similar Levels of Work-Family Guilt According to a Newly Validated Measure

Transformations in family and work life have led to profound changes in the articulation of both spheres. The massive entry of women into the labor market, the decline of a family model based on the male provider, increasing job demands, and persistent gender inequality are factors that can generate work-family conflict and lead to feelings of guilt. Work-family guilt is a topic still rarely studied, particularly in Portugal. Given the importance of understanding the complexity of the relationships underlying the work-family interface and the lack of instruments in Portuguese to assess the feeling of guilt as it pertains to the work-family interface, our goal was to adapt the Work-Family Guilt Scale (WFGS) to the Portuguese population. Our results confirmed the two-dimensional structure of the scale with good reliability and validity. The WFGS was invariant between genders, with no significant mean differences between men and women. Convergent validity with the variables of work-to-family and family-to-work conflict and discriminant validity between the two dimensions of the WFGS was demonstrated. Use of this scale will allow the identification of feelings of guilt, which pose risks to the physical, emotional and psychological well-being of workers. Guilt feelings should, like conflict, be considered as a psychosocial risk that must be mitigated through policies and practices aimed at promoting a balance between family and working life.

Bringing Work Home: Gender and Parenting Correlates of Work-Family Guilt among Parents of Toddlers

Anecdotal evidence abounds suggesting that as compared to fathers, mothers report greater guilt regarding the negative impact of work on family (WIF-guilt), yet shockingly few quantitative studies have evaluated gender differences or correlates of WIF-guilt. In five studies, we provide an in-depth exploration of parents’ feelings of guilt regarding perceived negative impacts on their children that arise from addressing work over familial responsibilities. We accomplish the following: (1) examine the validity of a novel self-report questionnaire of WIF-guilt (Work-Interfering-With-Family Guilt Scale [WIFGS]), (2) assess gender differences in WIF-guilt in parents of young children (ages 1–3), as well as whether these differences are moderated by WIF-conflict and work demand (number of hours worked), and (3) examine whether higher WIF-guilt predicts more permissive parenting. WIFGS scores were predictably associated with related psychological constructs. Mothers reported significantly higher levels of WIF-guilt than fathers. These effects were enhanced among mothers with high WIF-conflict and a high number of working hours. Consistent with anecdotal accounts and theory, WIF-guilt was associated with higher parenting permissiveness. Results provide directions for additional research on parents’ emotional experiences.

Gender Differences in Work-Family Guilt in Parents of Young Children

The transition to parenthood is a watershed moment for most parents, introducing the possibility of intra-individual and interpersonal growth or decline. Given the increasing number of dual-earner couples in the United States, new parents’ attitudes towards employment (as well as the ways in which they balance employment and personal demands) may have an impact on their overall well-being. Based on anecdotal accounts, guilt about the conflict between employment and family (termed work-family guilt) appears particularly pervasive among U.S. mothers of young children; specifically, mothers, but not fathers, express high levels of a subtype of work-family guilt, that pertains to the negative impact their work has on their families (termed work-interfering-with-family guilt). However, little research within psychology has explicitly examined this phenomenon, and to our knowledge, no quantitative study has investigated gender differences in work-family guilt among U.S. parents of young children. In a cross-sectional, correlational study involving 255 parents of toddlers from the greater Southern California area, we coded parents’ narrative responses to a series of open-ended questions regarding employment and family for the presence of work-family guilt and work-interfering-with-family guilt (in the form of guilt about the negative impact of employment on children). Mothers had significantly higher work-family guilt and work-interfering-with-family guilt relative to fathers. We discuss our findings in terms of theory on gender roles, as well as the questions they generate for future areas of investigation.

The Association between Work–Family Guilt and Pro‐ and Anti‐Social Work Behavior

This article explores the behavioral outcomes of an understudied emotion, guilt, in the context of the work–family domain. Specifically, we propose that work–family guilt motivates both pro‐ and anti‐social behaviors in the workplace. Working undergraduate students in the United States completed qualitative and quantitative indicators of behavioral responses to work–family guilt. Results demonstrated that when individuals experienced family‐to‐work guilt, they responded with helping behaviors directed toward individuals. When individuals experienced work‐to‐family guilt, they responded by shirking of work responsibilities. Thus, work–family guilt may be a critical and underexplored determinant of extrarole behaviors and an important emotion to manage in order to sustain career and care roles.