Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Working From Home and Work–Family Conflict: The Importance of Role Salience

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Social Indicators Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Amid the rising prevalence of working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, scholarly interest in the effects of working from home on the fit between work and family life has regained momentum. However, little is known about whether these effects depend on workers’ role salience levels. This study examines the association between the frequency of working from home and two types of work–family conflict: (a) work-to-family conflict (WTFC) and (b) family-to-work conflict (FTWC). We also examine whether these associations are moderated by the salience workers assign to their work and family roles, as well as by workers’ gender and parenting status. To explore these issues, we apply linear regression analyses to data from 4067 employees in Wave 12 (2019���2020) of the German Family Panel Survey. Results show that working from home more frequently is generally associated with both higher WTFC and FTWC for women but not for men. However, among fathers, we found a significant association between working from home and higher WTFC. A moderated association by role salience, where higher work-role salience reduced the positive effect of working from home on FTWC, also only emerged among women. These results suggest that the link between working from home and the fit between one’s work and family is heterogenous: it varies not only by gender and parenthood status, but also partly by the importance workers assign to their various life roles.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
EUR 32.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or Ebook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. We only use wave 12 as the questions on role salience were only included in this wave. While data collection for wave 12 began by means of face-to-face (CAPI) interviews, these were replaced by telephone interviews (CATI) in Spring 2020 due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, in supplementary analyses, we added a dummy variable for survey mode to capture this change in data collection in our full regression analyses. 80% of our sample used CAPI and 20% used CATI as their interview mode. The results showed that whereas those with CAPI mode reported higher levels of WTFC and FTWC than those using the CATI mode, adding this dummy variable does not change the main findings.

  2. The share of missing values on all the variables we used ranged from 0.1% to around 2%, with the exception of the income variable, which had around 7% missing cases. Therefore, we only imputed the income variable, using the average income to impute the missing cases. We also added a dummy variable for respondents who were missing information on income. For all the other variables, we performed listwise deletion.

  3. We compared our final analytic sample with the sample from the first wave of pairfam. Results show that the sample from wave 1 had lower education, less income, a lower percentage of workers in high-skilled occupations, and fewer respondents with employed partners. On the other hand, the sample from wave 1 had more respondents with a preschool child and more respondents with non-employed partners. We believe these results can be explained by the fact that our analytic sample is older than the wave 1 sample. However, the differences between the two samples are generally minor and range between 4% points (the share of those with low education) and 9% points (the share of those with a preschool child in the household). We account for these differences by including these characteristics as control variables in the regression models.

  4. It has been argued that ordinal variables can be treated as continuous (Robitzsch, 2020), and that using an ordinal measure is expected to produce similar results vs. treating it as continuous, especially if the original variable has 6 or more categories (Rhemtulla et al., 2012).

  5. The alternative measure was created using the following items: "Now think about your job and family. To what extent do the following statements apply to you? (1) Most of the important things that happen in my life are related to my job. (2) Most of my interests revolve around my family. (3) Others see me as a family person. (4) Most of my interests revolve around my job. (5) Most of the important things that happen in my life are related to my family. (6) Others see me as a career person." The answer categories range from 1 = completely disagree to 5 = completely agree. The first, fourth, and sixth items were averaged to create a scale for work-role salience. The second, third, and fifth items were averaged to create a scale for family-role salience. Then, we combined both scales into a categorical measure with four categories: dual high salience (i.e., those with high levels of work- and family-role salience), dual low salience (i.e., those with low levels of work- and family-role salience), predominant work role (i.e., those with high levels of work-role salience and low levels of family-role salience), and predominant family role (i.e., those with high levels of family-role salience and low levels of work-role salience). These categories are consistent with prior research (Erdogan et al., 2021). High work-role or family-role salience is denoted for those who are in the 75th or higher percentile, i.e., those who score at least 3 for work-role salience and 4 for family-role salience.

References

  • Abendroth, A.-K., & Reimann, M. (2018). Telework and work-family conflict across workplaces: Investigating the implications of work-family supportive and high-demand workplace cultures. In S. L. Blair & J. Obradović (Eds.), Contemporary perspectives on family research: v. 13. The work-family interface. Spillover, complications, and challenges (pp. 323–348). Emerald Publishing Limited.

    Google Scholar 

  • Adema, W., Clarke, C., Frey, V., Greulich, A., Kim, H., Rattenhuber, P., & Thevenon, O. (2017). Work/life balance policy in Germany: Promoting equal partnership in families. International Social Security Review, 70(2), 31–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allen, T. D., Johnson, R. C., Kiburz, K. M., & Shockley, K. M. (2013). Work-family conflict and flexible work arrangements: Deconstructing flexibility. Personnel Psychology, 66(2), 345–376. https://doi.org/10.1111/peps.12012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Altintas, E., & Sullivan, O. (2017). Trends in fathers’ contribution to housework and childcare under different welfare policy regimes. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 24(1), 81–108. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxw007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2007). The job demands-resources model: State of the art. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22(3), 309–328. https://doi.org/10.1108/02683940710733115

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bakker, A. B., ten Brummelhuis, L. L., Prins, J. T., & van der Heijden, F. M. (2011). Applying the job demands–resources model to the work–home interface: A study among medical residents and their partners. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 79(1), 170–180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2010.12.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrero, J. M., Bloom, N., & Davis, S. J. (2021). Why working from home will stick (NBER Working Paper No. 28731). Cambridge, Mass. Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/papers/w28731

  • Beckel, J. L. O., Kunz, J. J., Prasad, J. J., Finch, H. M., & Kaldahl, K. N. (2023). The impact of telework on conflict between work and family: A meta-analytic investigation. Occupational Health Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41542-023-00158-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bellmann, L., & Hübler, O. (2020). Working from home, job satisfaction and work–life balance – robust or heterogeneous links? International Journal of Manpower, ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print), 34. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-10-2019-0458

  • Beutell, N. J., & Wittig-Berman, U. (1999). Predictors of work-family conflict and satisfaction with family, job, career, and life. Psychological Reports, 85, 893–903.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brüderl, J., Drobnič, S., Hank, K., Neyer, F.J., Walper, S., Alt, P., Borschel, E., Bozoyan, C., Garrett, M., Geissler, S., Gonzalez Avilés, T., Gröpler, N., Hajek, K., Herzig, M., Huyer-May, B., Lenke, R., Lorenz, R., Lutz, K., Minkus, L., Peter, T., Phan, T., Preetz, R., Reim, J., Sawatzki, B., Schmiedeberg, C., Schütze, P., Schumann, N., Thönnissen, C., Timmermann, K., & Wetzel, M. (2021). The German Family Panel (pairfam). GESIS Data Archive, Cologne. ZA5678 Data file Version 12.0.0. https://doi.org/10.4232/pairfam.5678.12.0.0

  • Bujard, M., Laß, I., Diabaté, S., Sulak, H., & Schneider, N. F. (2020). Eltern während der Corona-Krise: Zur Improvisation gezwungen. (BiB.Bevölkerungs.Studien 1/2020). Wiesbaden: BiB. https://doi.org/10.12765/bro-2020-01

  • Carlson, D. S., & Kacmar, K. M. (2000). Work–family conflict in the organization: Do life role values make a difference? Journal of Management, 26(5), 1031–1054. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920630002600502

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carlson, D. S., Kacmar, K. M., & Williams, L. J. (2000). Construction and initial validation of a multidimensional measure of work-family conflict. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 56(2), 249–276. https://doi.org/10.1006/jvbe.1999.1713

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chang, A., Chen, S.-C., & Chi, S.-C.S. (2014). Role salience and support as moderators of demand/conflict relationships in China. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 23(6), 859–874. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2013.821739

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chrisangika Perera, J. K. S., & Kailasapathy, P. (2020). Individual, spousal factors and work–family conflict: A study from Sri Lanka. South Asian Journal of Human Resources Management, 7(1), 91–120. https://doi.org/10.1177/2322093720923276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cinamon, R. G., & Rich, Y. (2002). Profiles of attribution of importance to life roles and their implications for the work-family conflict. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 49(2), 212–220. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-0167.49.2.212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crosbie, T., & Moore, J. (2004). Work–life balance and working from home. Social Policy and Society, 3(3), 223–233. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1474746404001733

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Day, A. L., & Chamberlain, T. C. (2006). Committing to your work, spouse, and children: Implications for work–family conflict. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 68(1), 116–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2005.01.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Demerouti, E., Bakker, A. B., Nachreiner, F., & Schaufeli, W. (2001). The job demands-resources model of burnout. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(3), 499–512.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dockery, A. M., & Bawa, S. (2014). Is working from home good work or bad work? Evidence from Australian employees. Australian Journal of Labour Economics, 17(2), 163–190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eagly, A. H., & Wood, W. (2011). Social role theory. In P. A. M. van Lange, A. W. Kruglanski, & E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Handbook of theories of social psychology. SAGE Publications Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erdogan, I., Ozcelik, H., & Bagger, J. (2021). Roles and work–family conflict: How role salience and gender come into play. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 32(8), 1778–1800. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2019.1588346

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eurostat. (2021). Employed persons working from home as a percentage of the total employment, by sex, age and professional status (%) [lfsa_ehomp]. Retrieved from https://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=lfsa_ehomp

  • Ford, M. T., Heinen, B. A., & Langkamer, K. L. (2007). Work and family satisfaction and conflict: A meta-analysis of cross-domain relations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(1), 57–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fox, M. L., & Dwyer, D. J. (1999). An investigation of the effects of time and involvement in the relationship between stressors and work-family conflict. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 4(2), 164–174. https://doi.org/10.1037/1076-8998.4.2.164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • French, K. A., Dumani, S., Allen, T. D., & Shockley, K. M. (2018). A meta-analysis of work-family conflict and social support. Psychological Bulletin, 144(3), 284–314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frone, M. R., & Rice, R. W. (1987). Work-family conflict: The effect of job and family involvement. Journal of Occupational Behaviour, 8(1), 45–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frone, M. R., Russell, M., & Cooper, M. L. (1992). Antecedents and outcomes of work-family conflict: Testing a model of the work-family interface. Journal of Applied Psychology, 77(1), 65–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gajendran, R. S., & Harrison, D. A. (2007). The good, the bad, and the unknown about telecommuting: Meta-analysis of psychological mediators and individual consequences. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(6), 1524–1541. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.92.6.1524

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goode, W. J. (1960). A theory of role strain. American Sociological Review, 25(4), 483–496.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenhaus, J. H., & Beutell, N. J. (1985). Sources of conflict between work and family roles. The Academy of Management Review, 10(1), 76–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenhaus, J. H., & Kopelman, R. E. (1981). Conflict between work and nonwork roles: Implications for the career planning process. Human Resource Planning, 4(1), 1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greer, T. W., & Egan, T. M. (2012). Inspecting the hierarchy of life roles: A systematic review of role salience literature. Human Resource Development Review, 11(4), 463–499. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534484312445322

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hill, E. J., Hawkins, A. J., & Miller, B. C. (1996). Work and family in the virtual office: Perceived influences of mobile telework. Family Relations, 45(3), 293–301. https://doi.org/10.2307/585501

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hook, J. L. (2006). Care in context: Men’s unpaid work in 20 countries, 1965–2003. American Sociological Review, 71(4), 639–660. https://doi.org/10.1177/000312240607100406

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, J., Henly, J. R., Golden, L. M., & Lambert, S. J. (2020). Workplace flexibility and worker well-being by gender. Journal of Marriage and Family, 82(3), 892–910. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12633

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuntari, I. S., Janssens, J. M., & Ginting, H. (2017). Gender, life role importance and work-family conflict in Indonesia: A Non-Western Perspective. Academic Research International, 8(1), 139–153.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laß, I., & Wooden, M. (2023). Working from home and work–family conflict. Work, Employment and Society, 37(1), 176–195.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laß, I., Grunow, D., & Diabaté, S. (2023): In der Warteschleife. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/vereinbarkeit-von-beruf-und-familie-in-der-warteschliefe-18945152/ein-zweijaehriges-kind-spielt-18945184.html

  • Lott, Y. (2017). Stressed despite or because of flexible work arrangements?: Flexible work arrangements, job pressure and work-to-home conflict for women and men in Germany (Working Paper Forschungsförderung No. 046). Düsseldorf.

  • Lott, Y. (2019). Weniger Arbeit, mehr Freizeit?: Wofür Mütter und Väter flexible Arbeitsarrangements nutzen (WSI Report No. 47).

  • Meeussen, L., Veldman, J., & Van Laar, C. (2016). Combining gender, work, and family identities: The cross-over and spill-over of gender norms into young adults’ work and family aspirations. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1781. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01781

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Melo, P. C., & de Abreu e Silva, J. (2017). Home telework and household commuting patterns in Great Britain. Transportation Research Part a: Policy and Practice, 103, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2017.05.011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Noor, N. M. (2004). Work-family conflict, work- and family-role salience, and women’s well-being. Journal of Social Psychology, 144(4), 389–405. https://doi.org/10.3200/SOCP.144.4.389-406

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2021a). OECD employment outlook 2021: Navigating the Covid-19 crisis and recovery. OECD Publishing.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2021b). Teleworking in the COVID-19 pandemic: Trends and prospects. Paris.

  • Parasuraman, S., Purohit, Y. S., Godshalk, V. M., & Beutell, N. J. (1996). Work and family variables, entrepreneurial career success, and psychological well-being. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 48(3), 275–300. https://doi.org/10.1006/jvbe.1996.0025

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pearlin, L. I. (1989). The sociological study of stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 30(3), 241–256.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peters, P., & van der Lippe, T. (2007). The time-pressure reducing potential of telehomeworking: The Dutch case. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 18(3), 430–447. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585190601167730

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pfau-Effinger, B., & Sakac Magdalenić, S. (2009). Formal and informal work in the work-welfare arrangement of Germany. In B. Pfau-Effinger, L. Flaquer, & P. H. Jensen (Eds.), Formal and informal work. The hidden work regime in Europe (pp. 89–116). Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, S. (2020). Working through the pandemic: Accelerating the transition to remote working. Business Information Review, 37(3), 129–134. https://doi.org/10.1177/0266382120953087

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Powell, A., & Craig, L. (2015). Gender differences in working at home and time use patterns: Evidence from Australia. Work, Employment and Society, 29(4), 571–589. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017014568140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rhemtulla, M., Brosseau-Liard, P. É., & Savalei, V. (2012). When can categorical variables be treated as continuous? A comparison of robust continuous and categorical SEM estimation methods under suboptimal conditions. Psychological Methods, 17(3), 354–373. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029315

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robitzsch, A. (2020). Why ordinal variables can (almost) always be treated as continuous variables: Clarifying assumptions of robust continuous and ordinal factor analysis estimation methods. Frontiers in Education, 5, 589965.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwarz, A., Adams, A., & Golsch, K. (2023). Does telework mediate the impact of occupational status on work-to-family conflicts? An investigation of conditional effects of gender and the COVID-19 pandemic. In A. K. Abendroth & L. Lükemann (Eds.), Flexible work and the family (pp. 101–129). Emerald.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Statistisches Bundesamt. (2020). Erwerbsbeteiligung der Bevölkerung: Ergebnisse des Mikrozensus zum Arbeitsmarkt 2019 (Fachserie 1 Reihe 4.1). Wiesbaden: Statistisches Bundesamt

  • Stryker, S. (1968). Identity salience and role performance: The relevance of symbolic interaction theory for family research. Journal of Marriage and Family, 30(4), 558. https://doi.org/10.2307/349494

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stryker, S., & Burke, P. J. (2000). The past, present, and future of an identity theory. Social Psychology Quarterly, 63(4), 284. https://doi.org/10.2307/2695840

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, C., & Smithson, J. (2007). Perspectives of homeworkers and their partners on working flexibility and gender equity. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 18(3), 448–461. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585190601167797

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, O., Gershuny, J., & Robinson, J. P. (2018). Stalled or uneven gender revolution?: A long-term processual framework for understanding why change is slow. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 10(1), 263–279. https://doi.org/10.1111/jftr.12248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Super, D. E. (1980). A life-span, life-space approach to career development. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 16(3), 282–298. https://doi.org/10.1016/0001-8791(80)90056-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Super, D. E. (1982). The relative importance of work: Models and measures for meaningful data. The Counseling Psychologist, 10(4), 95–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trappe, H., Pollmann-Schult, M., & Schmitt, C. (2015). The rise and decline of the male breadwinner model: Institutional underpinnings and future expectations. European Sociological Review, 31(2), 230–242. https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcv015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van der Lippe, T., & Lippényi, Z. (2020). Beyond formal access: Organizational context, working from home, and work-family conflict of men and women in European workplaces. Social Indicators Research, 151(2), 383–402. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-018-1993-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Westman, M. (2001). Stress and strain crossover. Human Relations, 54, 717–751.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Westman, M. (2006). Models of work-family interactions: Stress and strain crossover. In R. K. Suri (Ed.), International encyclopedia of organizational behavior (pp. 498–522). Pentagon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiley, D. L. (1987). The relationship between work/nonwork role conflict and job-related outcomes: Some unanticipated findings. Journal of Management, 13(3), 467–472. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920638701300303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wöhrmann, A. M., & Ebner, C. (2021). Understanding the bright side and the dark side of telework: An empirical analysis of working conditions and psychosomatic health complaints. New Technology, Work and Employment, Early View. https://doi.org/10.1111/ntwe.12208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolff, H.-G., & Höge, T. (2011). Konflikte zwischen Arbeit und Familie: Eine deutschsprachige Adaptation der mehrdimensionalen Skala von Carlson, Kacmar und Williams (2000) [Work-family conflict: A German adaptation of the multidimensional scales by Carlson, Kacmar, and Williams (2000)]. Zeitschrift Für Arbeits- Und Organisationspsychologie, 55(3), 143–152. https://doi.org/10.1026/0932-4089/a000053

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood, W., & Eagly, A. H. (2009). Gender identity. In M. Leary & R. Hoyle (Eds.), Handbook of individual differences (pp. 109–128). Xxx: Guilford Press. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470561119.socpsy001017

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Yucel, D., & Chung, H. (2023). Working from home, work–family conflict, and the role of gender and gender role attitudes. Community, Work & Family, 26(2), 190–221.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Deniz Yucel.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declared no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Appendix

Appendix

See Tables

Table 4 Regression analyses predicting work-to-family conflict: unstandardized coefficients and SEs

4,

Table 5 Regression analyses predicting family-to-work conflict: unstandardized coefficients and SEs

5,

Table 6 Regression analyses predicting work-to-family conflict for fathers and mothers: unstandardized coefficients and SEs

6,

Table 7 Regression analyses predicting family-to-work conflict for fathers and mothers: unstandardized coefficients and SEs

7,

Table 8 Regression analyses predicting work-to-family conflict using alternative measure for role salience: unstandardized coefficients and SEs

8 and

Table 9 Regression analyses predicting family-to-work conflict using alternative measure for role salience: unstandardized coefficients and SEs

9.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Yucel, D., Laß, I. Working From Home and Work–Family Conflict: The Importance of Role Salience. Soc Indic Res 172, 947–983 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-024-03337-4

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-024-03337-4

Keywords

Navigation