ABSTRACT
Spillover, compensation, segmentation, and accommodation are but a few of the terms that have been developed over the past few decades to describe relationships between work and family life (Lambert, 1990; Zedeck, 1992). But the construct in this domain that has received the most attention from both researchers and the popular press is work-family conflict (Greenhaus & Powell, 2003). A search in the PsycINFO database for the terms “work-family conflict” or “work-family interference” yielded 184 citations (not including dissertations), compared to 95 for studies of life satisfaction or well-being where work and family were also mentioned; 27 for work-family or negative spillover; and 25 for anxiety or depression in association with work and family. These numbers understate the case, as the citations for life satisfaction or well-being are spread over the past 76 years (a rate of 1.25 articles or chapters per year), while the citations for work-family conflict begin only 18 years ago (a rate of about 10.2 articles per year). The citations also indicate that the study of work-family conflict has spread to diverse samples including the military, expatriate workers, postpartum mothers, Presbyterian clergy, nurses, police officers, and Native Americans as well as around the globe to Australia, Canada, China, Finland, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Norway, Singapore, and Spain.
