Relationship of Dyadic Closeness With Work‐Related Stress: A Daily Diary Study

Abstract

We examined the association between workrelated stress of both spouses and daily fluctuations in their affective states and dyadic closeness. Daily diary data from 169 Israeli dual-earner couples were analyzed using multilevel modeling. The findings indicate that work stress has no direct effect on dyadic closeness but rather is mediated by the spouses' negative mood. Evidence was found for spillover of stress from work to mood at home, as well as negative crossover among couples with higher marital quality, resulting in greater distance on stressful days. Such increased distance may reflect either a deleterious effect of work stress on marital relationships or a protective mechanism used by couples in times of stress.

Crossover of Exhaustion between Dentists and Dental Nurses

“…The results support the novel and counterintuitive idea that positive interpersonal relationships may sometimes have a compromising impact on employee well-being in a work dyad. Previous studies conducted in work teams (Totterdell et al, 1998;Westman et al, 2011) and among spouses (Lavee & Ben-Ari, 2007;Westman et al, 2011) have found conceptually similar results. Positive interaction such as social support usually protects from burnout (Halbesleben, 2006) and may buffer against the negative impact of job demands .…”

“…Interestingly, a few studies also suggest that good interpersonal relationships may be related to a higher rather than a lower risk of strain crossover. Lavee and Ben-Ari (2007) found among Israeli working couples that the negative mood of a wife (husband) and the stress of a husband (wife) were associated only among couples who rated their marital quality as high. In addition, Song, Foo, Uy, and Sun (2011) investigated couples in which one partner was unemployed and found that marital satisfaction moderated the crossover of distress so that for unemployed husbands, higher marital satisfaction increased the probability of 'catching' wives' distress.…”

Work Stress and Marital Quality in Dual Earner Couples: A Test of Three Mediation Models

“…of being stressed at work have been related to self-reports of distress (Lavee & Ben-Ari, 2007) and poor marital relationships (MacEwen, Barling, & Kelloway, 1992;Sears & Galambos, 1992). Similar results were obtained in studies in which a daily diary method, or observations of actual interactions between marital partners were carried out (Crouter & Helms--Erikson, 1997).…”

Adult Health in the Context of Everyday Family Life

“…Interestingly, higher levels of support from wives augmented the behavioral and emotional withdrawal response to daily workload [54]. Social withdrawal following high-stress workdays has been observed in other samples [11,48,49]. For example, selfreports and observations of working mothers' daily reunions with their preschool children at daycare over a week showed that mothers were less talkative and affectionate with children following demanding or socially stressful workdays [51].…”

“…The simple act of sharing information about a positive event is associated with an improvement in the mood of both members of a couple, the one who disclosed the information as well as the one who received it [10]. Feelings of closeness and other positive feelings about the relationship are connected to short-term declines in negative mood, an effect that may be especially strong when the couple is confronting a stressor [11,12]. In a diary study of older couples' daily life, both husbands' and wives' mood improved on days when the couple worked together to cope with a daily stressor [13].…”