THE MEANING OF WORK AND HOME

Abstract

In contemporary society, work and home represent the two most significant domains in the life of a working individual. Changes in family structures and technological changes (e.g. mobile phones and portable computers) that enable job tasks to be performed in a variety of locations have blurred the boundaries between work and home. This all suggests that the meaning that people may have attached to these domains has changed also. The present research uses in-depth qualitative interviews with 10 employees from an Information Technology company to explore the meaning of each persons work and home domain, and the ways in which they interact. Interviews were transcribed into text documents and analysed. Frequency of word use provided a socio-linguistic profile of the words that participants used when asked to talk about their work and home domains. Content analysis of the sentences relating to work and home provided a measure of how frequently respondents talked about their home-life when asked about work, and vice versa. In addition, each participant filled out an adapted version of the PANAS, which assessed affective state in both the work and home domains specifically. Results are discussed in relation to the generation of future hypotheses.

En la sociedad contemporánea, el trabajo y el hogar representan los aspectos más importantes de la vida de una persona que trabaja. Cambios en la estructura familiar y cambios tecnológicos (e.g. teléfonos móviles y ordenadores portátiles) que permiten que diversos trabajos sean realizados en diferentes lugares, han alterado los límites entre la casa y el trabajo. Esto supone que el significado que la gente tiene asociado con estos dominios puede haber cambiado también. La presente investigación utiliza entrevistas cualitativas ‘en profundidad’ con diez empleados de una compañía de Información Tecnológica para explorar el significado que cada persona atribuye a su trabajo y hogar, y la forma en que estos dominios interactúan. La entrevistas fueron transcritas en texto y analizadas. La frecuencia del uso de palabra proporcionó un perfil socio-lingüístico de las palabras que cada participante empleó cuando hablaba de su trabajo y de su hogar. Análisis de contenido de las frases relacionadas con el trabajo y el hogar proporcionaron una medida de la frecuencia con que los participantes hablaron acerca de su hogar cuando se les preguntó acerca de su trabajo, y viceversa. Además, cada participante rellenó una versión adaptada del PANAS, el cual evaluó el estado afectivo relacionado con el trabajo y el hogar respectivamente. Los resultados son discutidos en relación con la generación de hipótesis futuras.

Keywords:

• work
• home
• linguistic analysis
• trabajo
• casa
• análysis linguística

Notes

Anthony Montgomery received his PhD from Utrecht University in the Netherlands and is presently a post-doctoral fellow at the Department of Economics in Aristotle University of Thessalouiki, Greece. His research interests include work-personal life integration, emotional labour and burnout. Address for contact: Svolouz, 54622 Thessaloniki, Greece. [email: [email protected]]

Dr Efharis Panagopoulou is a research fellow with the Medical School of Thessaloniki, Greece. Her research areas include emotions and health.

Dr Maria C. W. Peeters is assistant professor at the Department of Social and Organizational Psychology at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. Her research area is occupational health psychology and more particularly job stress, work–family conflict and social support.

Professor Wilmar B. Schaufeli is full professor of clinical and organizational psychology at Utrecht University, the Netherlands and director of the research institute Psychology & Health. His research area is occupational health psychology and more particularly job stress, job engagement and burnout.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Anthony J. Montgomery

Anthony Montgomery received his PhD from Utrecht University in the Netherlands and is presently a post-doctoral fellow at the Department of Economics in Aristotle University of Thessalouiki, Greece. His research interests include work-personal life integration, emotional labour and burnout. Address for contact: Svolouz, 54622 Thessaloniki, Greece. [email: [email protected]] Dr Efharis Panagopoulou is a research fellow with the Medical School of Thessaloniki, Greece. Her research areas include emotions and health. Dr Maria C. W. Peeters is assistant professor at the Department of Social and Organizational Psychology at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. Her research area is occupational health psychology and more particularly job stress, work–family conflict and social support. Professor Wilmar B. Schaufeli is full professor of clinical and organizational psychology at Utrecht University, the Netherlands and director of the research institute Psychology & Health. His research area is occupational health psychology and more particularly job stress, job engagement and burnout.