Processes linking work and family: a critical review and research agenda
Abstract
This paper critically reviews the theoreticalframeworks currently used to explain the processes through which work and family are linked, i.e., segmentation, compensation, and spillover. In the literature, these processes are treated as competing explanations, even though evidence and logic suggests that all three operate to link work and family. Moreover, it is likely that other processes also link the two. Most notably, workers may limit their involvement in work, or in family life, so that they can better accommodate the demands of the other. Clarified causal models and suggestions for advancing knowledge in this area are presented and discussed. It is argued that a fuller understanding of the processes linking work and family life is necessary to adequately evaluate the effectiveness of the family supportive policies currently being implemented by many U.S. firms, as well as to identify additional strategies for helping workers find satisfaction in both their work and personal roles.
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Work-nonwork interface research usually seeks to determine when spillover or compensation effects dominate.
“In addition, research on the work-nonwork interface typically sets out to identify when either the effects of spillover or compensation will manifest over one another (Kabanoff and O'Brien, 1980;Lambert, 1990).”
From Work hard or play hard: the effect of leisure crafting on opportunity recognition and venture performance (2023) · cites this paper as Lambert, 1990
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- Authors
- Lambert, S. J.
- Affiliations
- University of Chicago (US)
- Corresponding author
- Lambert, Susan J.
- ORCID
- Lambert, Susan J.
- Venue
- Human Relations
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 1990-03
- Volume
- 43
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 239-257
- ISSN
- 0018-7267 (ISSN-L)
- 1741-282X
- OpenAlex
- W2162558476
- Cited by
- 592
- References
- 46
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 21 · 2015: 27 · 2014: 25 · 2013: 30 · 2012: 25
- FWCI
- 30.07
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Human Relations (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Work-Family Balance Challenges
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Employment, Labor, and Gender Studies
- Social Sciences › Demography › Family Dynamics and Relationships
- Keywords
- segmentation, compensation, spillover effects, work-family balance, causal models
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