Work-family spillover in the Spanish armed forces

ABSTRACT

Spillover theory refers to positive and/or negative influence of work environment on the family sphere or vice versa. This article shows presence of both types of spillover in the Spanish Armed Forces. The information analysed has been extracted from a survey on military’s couples, with a questionnaire that included a block of open-ended questions. These questions asked about the positive and/or negative repercussions of military profession in families. From discourse analysis, series of data have been analysed taking into account the five main factors that influence work-family relationship: work and/or economic; family; psychological/attitude; social; and institutional. It has been able to see that positive spillover occurs primarily in the work/economic factor, while negative spillover is located mainly in the family factor.

KEYWORDS:

• Spillover
• armed forces
• military family
• well-being

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The bodies that collaborated in the dissemination of questionnaire were the following: Asociación Unificada de Militares Españoles (AUME); Asociación de Suboficiales de las Fuerzas Armadas (AS-FAS); Asociación de Tropa y Marinería Española (ATME); Asociación de Tropa y Marinería (AMTM); Asociación de Familias de Militares Españoles (AFME); Familia Fuerzas Armadas; Mujeres de Militares Españoles and El Rincón de las Fuerzas Armadas.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

María Gómez Escarda

María Gómez Escarda, Ph.D. in Sociology, Assistant Professor of Sociology in National Distance Education University (UNED). The main line of research is studying the family in the military environment. Among her recent publications include “The Living Apart Together (LAT) Model and the Living Together Model in the Spanish Armed Forces Model” (co-authored) and “Family and sticky floor in the Spanish armed forces” (co-authored).

Yolanda Agudo Arroyo

Yolanda Agudo Arroyo, Ph.D. in Sociology, Associate Professor of Sociology in National Distance Education University (UNED). She has carried out her research work fully on analysing discrimination against women. Among her publications are “Systems of study grants in Spain, Catalonia and Valencia” (co-authored) and “The participation of women in the Spanish armed forces: from incorporation to integration”.

Rubén J. Pérez Redondo

Rubén J. Pérez Redondo, Ph.D. in Sociology, Assistant Professor of Sociology in King Juan Carlos University (URJC). His main research lines are Sociology of Organisations and Cultural Sociology. Some of his latest publications are “Backpacking Tourism. An approach from sociology and the anthropology of a globalised community” (co-authored) and “A trip from the imaginary to reality. An approach of the literary tourism profile in Spain.