ABSTRACT
Since the late 1970s, when Rosabeth Kanter (1977) debunked the 'myth of separate worlds', there has been increasing interest (and concern) expressed by researchers, social commentators, the media, and people generally, in the interface between job-related activities and off-the-job life, especially family life. Numerous commentators (e.g., Burke and Greenglass, 1987; Edwards and Rothbard, 2000; Frone, 2003; Grzywacz and Marks, 2000; see also Chapters 1 and 3) have observed that changing demographics, conditions of work, family role expectations and other factors have contributed to a closer relationship between the domains of employment and family and to greater permeability between these domains. It is also apparent that increasingly sophisticated technologies (such as cell phones and laptop computers) have enabled greater flexibility in work patterns, and at the same time have contributed to a closer linkage between work and family lives, as the notion of 'work anytime, anywhere' becomes a reality for more and more people. Although these technologies do increase flexibility in terms of the capacity to fulfill job-related responsibilities, they also may create a blurring of boundaries between job and off-job roles. Consequently, as demonstrated in recent studies, conflict or interference between the two domains is increasingly likely for many individuals, as they endeavor to strike a balance between their work and family commitments. However, it is also the case that engagement in job roles and family roles can contribute positively to each other, and lead to an enhancement of people's lives (Grzywacz and Bass, 2003; Kirchmeyer, 1992a), although there has been less systematic research on this positive spillover effect than (here has been on negative spillover between work and family roles.
