When Work Interferes with Life: Work-Nonwork Interference and the Influence of Work-Related Demands and Resources
- 1 December 2009
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in American Sociological Review
- Vol. 74 (6), 966-988
- https://doi.org/10.1177/000312240907400606
Abstract
Using data from a 2005 survey of U.S. workers, we find that a high percentage of employed men and women report that work interferes with nonwork life. This research offers three main contributions: (1) we document the social distribution of work-nonwork interference across social statuses and dimensions of stratification; (2) we develop a conceptual framework that specifies the influence of a comprehensive set of work resources and demands on interference and their contributions to its social distribution; and (3) we advance a “stress of higher status” perspective to understand the paradoxical influence of some work conditions on work-nonwork interference. Findings generally support both the demands hypothesis and the stress of higher status hypothesis, with patterns from both factors contributing substantially to the social distribution of work-nonwork interference. This article refines and elaborates the job demands-resources model with insights from border theory.Keywords
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