Susan E. Mannon

Examining the “Neglected Side of the Work-Family Interface” Antecedents of Positive and Negative Family-to-Work Spillover

This study extends previous research by Dilworth by examining antecedents of both positive and negative family-to-work spillover—a long-neglected area of research. It also uses an extended definition of domestic labor that includes emotion work and status enhancement. Using data from a random sample of dual-earner couples, the study found gender differences and similarities in the antecedents of family-to-work spillover. For both men and women, family cohesion and emotion-work satisfaction enhanced positive family-to-work spillover. For men, relationship satisfaction was associated with positive family-to-work spillover, whereas satisfaction with the housework arrangement was related to women’s positive spillover. The factors associated with negative family-to-work spillover are different for men and women. For men, satisfaction with the status enhancement they perform in support of their partner’s career was related to decreased negative family-to-work spillover. For women, the presence of preschool-aged children was associated with increased negative family-to-work spillover.

Keepin’ This Little Town Going Gender and Volunteerism in Rural America

Past studies have shown that women’s volunteer work benefits communities but that women themselves tend to minimize their efforts. Most of these studies, however, have been limited to women volunteering in suburban and urban contexts. Drawing on a study of women volunteers in rural Iowa, the authors find that women frame their volunteer experiences in three ways: (1) as an expression of their maternal nature, (2) as a way to socialize, and (3) as a contribution to the local economy. The authors’ findings depart from past research in that the women in their sample do not downplay the importance of their volunteer work; rather, they recognize the importance of their unpaid labor for the social and economic vitality of the community. The authors argue this recognition stems from the particular context in which their volunteerism takes place, namely, in a devastated rural economy in which future economic potential rests on women’s hospitality work.

Pipeline or personal preference: women in engineering

Although the number of women in the engineering field has increased since the 1960s, those increases have largely stagnated over the last few years. This paper re-examines the pipeline for bringing women into engineering and, based on survey data, examines the attitudes, motivations, and interests of 969 male and female engineering students. Gender similarities and differences are identified, and their implications for recruitment and retention of women are considered.

Family Work Performance and Satisfaction: Gender Ideology, Relative Resources, and Emotion Work

Abstract Using data taken from a random sample of married and cohabiting couples (N =96), we examine the factors associated with a couples division of unpaid family work. We extend the usual analyses by testing, in addition to gender ideology and relative resource factors, the role of a partners emotion-work performance. We find that all three perspectives are relevant to the discussion of unpaid family work: gender ideology and relative resources are associated with the division of housework and child care, and partners emotion-work performance is the most predictive of domestic-labor satisfaction. doi:10.1300/J002v40n04_04

Love in the Time of Neo-Liberalism: Gender, Work, and Power in a Costa Rican Marriage

Households around the world have shifted structurally from a breadwinner/homemaker model to dual-income earning arrangements. What this trend means for marital power has been a contested issue among scholars. Most studies suggest that household power is determined by a complex interplay between each spouses economic contributions to the household and existing gender norms. Few scholars, however, have examined how this interplay is worked out under particular political-economic conditions. Responding to the dearth of research on the developing world in this area, the author examines a community in Costa Rica where neo-liberal economic restructuring has led to an increase in womens informal work and a decrease in mens income-earning power. Drawing from ethnographic and interview data on married life in Costa Rica, the author analyzes the effect that these trends have on marital power and the division of household labor. The author argues that changing economic circumstances may blur the traditional gender boundaries in Costa Rican households but they do not necessarily erase them.

EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TYPES OF FAMILY WORK AND MARITAL WELL-BEING

We use an expanded definition of family work and test its association with marital well-being. Using a gender perspective, we examine the role of the respondents and partners performance of family work for both husbands and wives. Data are taken from a sample of couples with dependent children under age 18 (N = 96), and separate regression equations are estimated by gender. Though housework is cited as one of the most contentious issues reported by couples, it is not significant in our analysis of marital well-being. In our analysis, other forms of family work are considered, and childcare, emotion work, and formal volunteering are significantly associated with marital well-being. The role of partners provision of emotion work is particularly salient. Discussion of the gendered nature of our findings follows.

NEIGHBORHOOD FAMILY-FRIENDLINESS AND ITS EFFECT ON FAMILY RELATIONS: EVIDENCE FROM UTAH

This article explores the effect of neighborhood family-friendliness on three measures of family relations: marital burnout, marital satisfaction, and parent-child relations. Regression analyses of survey data from northern Utah provide some support that neighborhood family-friendliness, measured here as neighborhood cohesion and neighborhood assessment, positively affects family functioning. For men, neighborhood cohesion was negatively associated with marital burnout and positively associated with marital satisfaction. For both men and women, neighborhood assessment was positively associated with marital satisfaction. These relationships were stronger for men than for women.

Does it Take a Village to Make a Marriage? Exploring the Relationship between Community and Marital Satisfaction

Abstract This paper explores the relationship between community and marital satisfaction using evidence from Utah. To do so, we analyze the effects of three sets of independent variables on marital satisfaction: demographic variables (number of children, education, household income, age, and religious affiliation), neighborhood quality (neighborhood assessment and perceptions of informal helping at the neighborhood level), and community integration (use of community services, volunteer work, and length of community residence). Seemingly Unrelated Regression analyses of survey data from northern Utah demonstrate that religious affiliation (negative association) and perceptions of informal helping at the neighborhood level (positive association) are significantly associated with womens marital satisfaction. For men, neighborhood assessment and perceptions of informal helping at the neighborhood level are positively and significantly associated with marital satisfaction.

Tending to the Emotions of Children: Predicting Parental Performance of Emotion Work with Children

Scholars, recognizing emotion work as a type of domestic labor, have examined whether domestic labor theories explain emotion work. Few studies, however, have investigated the predictors of emotion work with children. In this study, the authors examine the usefulness of 3 domestic labor theories (i.e., time availability, relative resources, and gender ideology) in explaining relative emotion work with children. Data are from a random sample of couples with children (N = 96 couples). The results suggest that mens labor force hours are negatively related to mens relative performance of emotion work with children and positively related to womens relative performance. Further, womens traditional gender ideologies are related to increased relative emotion work performance with children for women and decreased relative performance for men. Relative income is also a significant predictor of womens performance of emotion work with children. The authors discuss the implications of the study.

Getting by with a Little Help from Workplace Friends: Workplace Culture, Social Support, and Family Cohesion

Studies have shown a negative association between certain aspects of workplace culture and family functioning. Using a neo-institutional framework, we examine whether workplace social support moderates the influence of three features of workplace culture—time demands, work pressure, and work strain—on family cohesion. Analyzing survey data from 312 individuals in dual-earner relationships, we control for number of children, education, income, employment status, and occupational status. We find that workplace social support is directly associated with family cohesion but does not serve as a buffer between dimensions of workplace culture and family cohesion.