The impact of poor work-life balance and unshared home responsibilities on work-gender identity integration

Abstract

The degree to which gender and organizational social identities are perceived as compatible has been proven a key factor in promoting creative performance, job satisfaction and organizational commitment of female workers. But what are the factors that help them develop a high level of Gender-Work Identity Integration (GWII)? Previous studies have focused on organizational aspects (i.e., gender stereotype threat, perceived respect in the organizational context). We focus on the relational and family sphere and tested a model where the perception of poor work-life balance (WLB) is used as a predictor of GWII. Then, this relationship was moderated by gender and the degree of shared responsibilities in the household (e.g., house chores, care for children and/or elderly, menial household duties, etc.). The model was tested in two separate studies. Study 1 (cross-sectional, N=916 employees living with a partner, 31% women) revealed that for women whose home responsibilities are not shared, achieving GWII proves more challenging. On the other hand, when home responsibilities are shared with a partner, the effect of poor WLB on GWII is not significant. Cross-lagged analyses in longitudinal Study 2 (N=82 female workers living with a partner) confirmed the findings in Study 1 and the direction of the hypothesized associations. These findings provide a better understanding of factors that contribute to gender equality in work and home life.

Moving from “balancing” to “blending”: The role of identity integration for working parents

“…Also work-life balance was strongly connected to workers' identities (e.g., Williams et al, 2016). Indeed, Reverberi et al (2021) found that work-life balance problems were associated with lower identity integration and that equitable division of care tasks was important for work identity, especially for women. Thus, identity integration may partially explain the associations of high care-load and workload, poor work-life balance, and unbalanced home responsibilities with parents’ well-being.…”

“…For example, communicative strategies partners use for negotiating (or resisting) change in their division of household labor mostly entail requests for behavioral change (e.g., persuading the partner to do more household tasks), but also communicative techniques targeting partner’s sense of self, in terms of competence and self-worth for their role (e.g., complimenting the partner on their ability to clean the bathroom or take care of children’s needs; Riforgiate & Boren, 2015). Indeed, studies have shown that work–life balance and shared home responsibilities had a crucial role, especially in dual-earner couples, for both their well-being (e.g., Rich et al, 2016) and identity integration (Reverberi et al, 2021). To understand the interplay between work and family factors, PWII, and working parents’ outcomes, examining the parental couple relationship and identity integration is essential.…”

A qualitative investigation of the work-nonwork experiences of dual-career professional couples without children

“…Evidence shows that work remains salient in men's identity and family in women's identity (Chowdhury and Gibson, 2019), despite women's increase in the workforce and men's increased family roles. This translates into difficulty managing work and nonwork roles (Reverberi et al, 2021). Career and family salience have been researched extensively (e.g.…”

Halangan Untuk Mencapai Keseimbangan Antara Kerjaya Dan Kehidupan Wanita Bekerja Di Sektor Awam

“…Selain itu, tahap tanggungjawab rumah tangga yang dikongsi antara pasangan dalam perhubungan dijangka mempunyai fungsi yang amat penting (Reverberi et al, 2021). Hal ini adalah kerana, berkongsi tanggungjawab di rumah membayangkan bahawa keseimbangan kerja-kehidupan lebih berkemungkinan dapat dicapai, serta menyebabkan wanita mengalami lebih sedikit konflik antara gender dan identiti kerja mereka.…”

“…Pada masa yang sama, memandangkan penjagaan lebih penting kepada wanita daripada identiti lelaki, wanita yang mengalami ketidakseimbangan kerja dan kehidupan yang lemah juga merasakan konflik antara gender dan identiti kerja mereka kerana kehidupan profesional mereka mengancam bidang yang sama pentingnya iaitu kehidupan keluarga. Sebaliknya, lelaki yang mengalami ketidakseimbangan kerja dan kehidupan yang lemah, walau bagaimanapun bermasalah, mungkin tidak semestinya menganggap bahawa peranan kerja mereka mengancam peranan gender mereka, dan oleh itu lelaki kurang berkemungkinan merasakan konflik antara gender dan identiti kerja mereka (Reverberi et al, 2021).…”