Work and Family in Times of Crisis

Abstract

This chapter considers the effects of nonwork crises on the work–family interface. Drawing from Crisis Theory (Caplan, 1961, 1964), we develop a framework to understand how crisis events may affect work and family life over time. In so doing, we examine the short- and long-term work–family outcomes of crisis, and consider potential moderators of the associations between the experience of a crisis event and these outcomes. Next, we apply the framework to a number of exemplar nonwork crises internal and external to the individual and family, including addiction, relationship loss, natural disasters, and military deployment. We conclude by identifying research priorities related to understanding work and family in times of crisis.

Pandemics: Implications for Research and Practice in Industrial and Organizational Psychology

“…The majority of attention has focused on the topic of work-family conflict, defined as interrole conflict in which the demands of work and family are incompatible in some way (Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985). Unfortunately, little is known about work and family dynamics specifically during crisis situations (Eby, Mitchell, & Zimmerman, 2016).…”

Pandemics: Implications for research and practice in industrial and organizational psychology

“…The majority of attention has focused on the topic of work-family conflict, defined as interrole conflict in which the demands of work and family are incompatible in some way (Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985). Unfortunately, little is known about work and family dynamics specifically during crisis situations (Eby et al, 2016).…”

Divided When Crisis Comes: How Perceived Self–Partner Disagreements over COVID-19 Prevention Measures Relate to Employee Work Outcomes at Home

“…First, we contribute to the crisis literature by explaining how family experiences in times of COVID-19 crisis influenced people’s work outcomes from an interpersonal self-regulation perspective. Existing research has rarely incorporated non-work crisis events into the discussion of the work–family interface (Eby et al, 2016 ). Our results suggest that a family’s experience in times of crisis not only affected relationships among family members (manifested as a reduction in identification with the partner) but also further affected individuals’ work performance.…”

“…Negative family experiences may easily spill over to the work domain especially when work-family boundary becomes blurred (Barley et al, 2017 ). Therefore, it is valuable to incorporate crisis events into the discussion of the work–family interface and examine how negative family experiences in the context of crisis events produce spillover effects on employee work outcomes when employees work from home in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic (Eby et al, 2016 ).…”

“…Existing literature has generally analyzed family experiences in times of crisis, without extending the analysis to the work domain (MacDermid Wadsworth, 2010 ; Riggs & Riggs, 2011 ; Valentine & Hughes, 2010 ). Within the family domain, researchers have found that crisis has the potential to generate positive outcomes for family members, such as improvements in cohesion, resilience, communication, and intimacy (Eby et al, 2016 ). However, there is also a possibility that crisis may elicit fundamental differences between partners and even lead to relationship dissolution (Amato & Rogers, 1997 ; Dew et al, 2012 ; Neppl et al, 2016 ).…”