Daily consequences of work interference with family and family interference with work

Abstract This study proposes that inter-role conflict and its consequences fluctuate on a daily basis, and that both family interference with work and work interference with family should be investigated. The authors propose a model in which the two types of inter-role conflict predict strain (cognitive difficulties, anxiety and depression), which in turn predicts marital behaviour (withdrawal and anger), Specifically, cognitive difficulties and anxiety are proposed to predict withdrawal from marital interactions, and depression to predict angry marital interactions. Also, the authors predict that interference of work with the family will be related to withdrawal from the family, and interference of the family with work to withdrawal from work. Using data collected from 19 men and 21 women over an average of 18 work days, overall support was found for the authors' model, which was tested using path analysis. There were some notable differences between the men and women in the pattern of the relationships between the two types of inter-role conflict and strain. It is concluded that a daily approach is a viable way to study inter-role conflict, that both directions of conflict should be studied, and that doing so may yield some insight into how men and women experience inter-role conflict differently.