ABSTRACT
For most men and women today, work and family are central institutions in life, and the
work-family relationship has been the object of much research. Perhaps because of the
increased percentage of women, of dual-earner couples, and of single-pair ents in the
workplace, many recent studies have focused on work-family conflict (e.g., Doby &
Caplan, 1995; Frone, Russel, & Cooper, 1992, 1997; Higgins & Duxbury, 1992; Kossek
& Oseki, 1998). Data have shown that role conflicts caused by simultaneous demands
from work and nonwork life domains are both stressful and costly to individual
employees and to organizations. Lost workdays, unproductive work time, and high health
insurance claims contribute to the significant economic costs associated with work-family
tensions (e.g., Frone, Russel, & Cooper, 1997; Vanderkolk & Young, 1991; Yang, 1993).
Effects of work-family conflict have created a new emphasis on balancing life across the
two domains. Where, by tradition, families have always been dependent on the product of
work (e.g., earning income through employment), the contemporary socioeconomic
paradigm has presented a new reality: Organizational productivity and competition have
