How individual gender role beliefs, organizational gender norms, and national gender norms predict parents’ work-Family guilt in Europe

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive Statistics and Correlations Among Dependent, Independent, and Background Variables.

	Mean (SD)^a	Correlations
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7
1. Gender^b	0.47 (0.50)	—
2. Work-family guilt	2.15 (1.13)	−.05*	—
3. Age (youngest) child	10.42 (6.82)	.05**	−.07**	—
4. Living with partner^c	0.91 (0.28)	−.11**	.04*	−.21**	—
5. Education^d	5.75 (1.45)	.09**	.08**	−.26**	.05*	—
6. Working hours	42.65 (9.47)	−.25**	.15**	−.03	.04	.10**	—
7. Gender role beliefs	1.80 (0.62)	−.17**	.03	.12	.04*	−.11**	.00	—

Note. N = 2601. ^aSD = Standard deviation; ^b Gender was coded: 0 for men and 1 for women; ^cLiving with partner was coded 0 for no and 1 for yes; ^dEducation was coded: 1 not completed primary education, 2 Primary education, 3 Lower level secondary education, 4 Upper secondary education, 5 Post-secondary non-tertiary education, 6 First stage of tertiary education, 7 s stage of tertiary education, 8 Doctoral degree.

*p < .05; **p < .01.

Table 2. Correlations Among Dependent, Independent, and Background Variables Separately for Mothers and Fathers.

	1	2	3	4	5	6
1. Work-family guilt	—	−.01	.02	.11**	.09**	.04
2. Age (youngest) child	−.13**	—	−.25**	−.35**	−.06*	.14**
3. Living with partner^b	.06*	−.14**	—	.14**	.04	−.02
4. Education^c	.07*	−.19**	−.04	—	.21**	−.09**
5. Working hours	.21**	−.03	−.03	.05	—	−.06*
6. Gender role beliefs	.02	.13	.07**	−.11**	−.03	—

Note. N = 2601. Correlations for fathers are presented below the diagonal; Correlations for mothers are presented above the diagonal. ^aGender was coded: 0 for men and 1 for women; ^bLiving with partner was coded 0 for no and 1 for yes; ^cEducation was coded: 1 not completed primary education, 2 Primary education, 3 Lower level secondary education, 4 Upper secondary education, 5 Post-secondary non-tertiary education, 6 First stage of tertiary education, 7 s stage of tertiary education, 8 Doctoral degree.

*p < .05; **p < .01.

Table 3. Multilevel Analyses for Predicting Parents’ Work-Family Guilt in Nine European Countries (Control Variables in Appendix A).

	Model 1	Model 2 (Step 1)	Model 2 (Step 2)	Model 2 (Step 3)	Model 3 (Step 1)	Model 3 (Step 2)	Model 3 (Step 3)
Main effects
Working hours	0.146 (0.024)**	0.146 (0.241)**	0.139 (0.036)**	0.138 (0.036)**	0.150 (0.025)**	0.185 (0.038)**	0.154 (0.039)**
Gender	0.146 (0.088) †	0.146 (0.088) †	0.140 (0.088)	0.148 (0.088) †	0.159 (0.090) †	0.172 (0.090) †	0.177 (0.091) †
Gender role beliefs		0.001 (0.024) †	0.006 (0.031)	0.015 (0.0315)
Organizational gender norms					0.092(0.077)	0.079 (0.079)	0.095 (0.079)
Two-way interactions
Gender role beliefs * Working hours			−0.077 (0.038)*	−0.181 (0.052)**
Gender role beliefs * Gender			−0.022 (0.049)	0.000 (0.049)
Working hours * Gender			0.001 (0.049)	0.019 (0.049)		−0.020 (0.049)	0.027 (0.051)
Organizational gender norms * Working hours						0.085 (0.024)**	−0.006 (037)
Organizational gender norms * Gender						0.050 (0.089)	0.063 (0.090)
Three-way interactions
Gender role beliefs * Gender * Working hours				0.140 (0.047)**
Organizational gender norms * Gender * Working hours							0.154 (0.048)**
Explained variance individual level (level 1)	12.48%	12.48%	12.87%	13.50%	11.70%	11.93%	12.24%
Explained variance organizational level (level 2)	14.48%	14.45%	15.33%	16.49%	15.03%	15.17%	15.35%

Note. Standardized regression weights of Models 1, 2 and 3 are presented. Standard errors are in parentheses. An overview of the standardized regression weights of the control variables is presented in Appendix A. Gender was coded: 0 for men and 1 for women. Explained variance was computed with the formula of Snijders and Boskers (1994).

*p < .05, **p < .01, †p < .10.

Figure 1. Fathers’ and mothers’ work-family guilt predicted by their traditional gender role beliefs (egalitarian = −1 SD; traditional = + 1 SD) and their working hours (low = −1 SD; high = + 1 SD). * p < .05; ** p < .01.

Figure 2. Fathers’ and mothers’ work-family guilt predicted by the gender norms of their organization (egalitarian = −1 SD; traditional = + 1 SD) and their working hours (low = −1 SD; high = + 1 SD). * p < .05; ** p < .01.

Table 4. Multilevel Analyses for Predicting Parents’ Work-Family Guilt in Country Clusters (Standardized regression weights are presented).

	National gender culture
	Egalitarian	Traditional
Gender	0.052 (0.114)	0.223 (0.127)†
Working hours	0.113 (0.056)*	0.149 (0.047)**
Gender X Working hours	0.013 (0.073)	0.024 (0.065)

Note. Standard errors are in parentheses. Control variables are presented in Appendix B. Gender was coded: 0 for men and 1 for women.

*p < .05, **p < .01, †p < .10.

Table

Control variables	Model 1	Model 2 (Step 1)	Model 2 (Step 2)	Model 2 (Step 3)	Model 3 (Step 1)	Model 3 (Step 2)	Model 3 (Step 3)
Individual level
Age (youngest) child	−0.062 (0.053)	−0.062 (0.053)	−0.061 (0.053)	−0.070 (0.053)	−0.060 (0.054)	−0.067 (0.054)	−0.071 (0.054)
Age (youngest) child squared	−0.038 (0.051)	−0.037 (0.052)	−0.039 (0.052)	−0.031 (0.052)	−0.039 (0.052)	−0.034 (0.052)	−0.028 (0.052)
Partner	0.048 (0.079)	0.048 (0.079)	0.048 (0.079)	0.047 (0.079)	0.047 (0.079)	0.058 (0.081)	0.066 (0.081)
Level of education	0.057 (0.017)**	0.082 (0.025)**	0.081 (0.025)**	0.819 (0.025)**	0.082 (0.081)**	0.084 (0.026)**	0.083 (0.026)**
Industry^a
Manufacturing	0.035 (0.232)	0/035 (0.232)	0.036 (0.231)	0.031 (0.229)	0.100 (0.250)	0.122 (0.250)	0.100 (0.250)
Healthcare	0.119 (0.129)	0.119 (0.129)	0.120 (0.128)	0.121 (0.127)	0.170 (0.138)	0.164 (0.138)	0.175 (0.138)
Higher education	0.068 (0.079)	0.068 (0.079)	0.069 (0.079)	0.068 (0.078)	(0.083) (0.026)	0.085 (0.083)	0.084 (0.084)
Transport	0.081 (0.069)	0.081 (0.069)	0.081 (0.069)	0.078 (0.068)	0.081 (0.072)	0.088 (0.072)	0.080 (0.072)
Financial services	−0.020 (0.610)	−0.020 (0.061)	−0.020 (0.061)	−0.018 (0.060)	−0.038 (0.065)	−0.034 (0.065)	−0.037 (0.065)
Country^b
Bulgaria	−0.209 (0.300)	−0.209 (0.301)	−0.212 (0.299)	−0.207 (0.297)	−0.251 (0.309)	−0.220 (0.309)	−0.251 (0.309)
Finland	−0.066 (0.372)	−0.066 (0.372)	−0.072 (0.370)	−0.074 (0.367)	−0.037 (0.372)	−0.007 (0.371)	−0.037 (0.371)
Germany	−0.331 (0.381)	−0.331 (0.381)	−0.344 (0.378)	−0.341 (.375)	−0.274 (0.385)	−0.232 (0.385)	−0.302 (0.385)
Hungary	0.005 (0.314)	0.004 (0.314)	0.012 (0.312)	0.024 (0.310)	-0.151 (0.326)	−0.151 (0.325)	−0.170 (0.325)
Netherlands	−0.079 (0.291)	−0.080 (0.291)	−0.065 (0.289)	−0.039 (0.287)	−0.160 (0.293)	−0.154 (0.292)	−0.157 (0.292)
Portugal	−0.008 (0.359)	−0.008 (0.359)	−0.002 (0.357)	0.009 (0.354)	0.025 (0.372)	0.049 (0.371)	0.025 (0.371)
Sweden	−0.002 0.330	−0.002 (0.330)	0.005 (0.328)	0.016 (0.325)	-0.013 (0.335)	−0.005 (0.334)	−0.013 (0.335)
Spain	−0.152 (0.394)	−0.152 (0.394)	−0.139 (0.392)	−0.113 (0.389)	−0.091 (0.412)	−0.065 (0.411)	−0.091 (0.412)

Note. Standardized regression weights are presented. Standard errors are in parentheses.

^aReference category is telecommunication; ^bReference category is United Kingdom.

*p < .05, **p < .01, †p < .10.

Table

	National gender norms
	Egalitarian	Traditional
Individual level
Age (youngest) child	0.206 (0.087)*	−0.147 (0.076)†
Age (youngest) child squared	−0.396 (0.105)**	0.059(0.065)
Partner	−0.146 (0.109)	0.256 (0.115)*
Level of education	0.129 (0.038)**	0.048 (0.034)
Industry^a
Manufacturing	0.413 (0.316)	-.091 (0.298)
Healthcare	0.204 (0.190)	0.109 (0.165)
Higher education	0.132 (0.110)	0.047 (0.107)
Transport	0.090 (0.088)	0.164 (0.097)†
Financial services	0.080 (0.080)	−0.065 (0.082)

Note. Standardized regression weights are presented. Standard errors are in parentheses.

^aReference category is telecommunication.

*p < .05, **p < .01, †p < .10.

Table

	Bulgaria	Finland	Germany	Hungary	Netherlands	Portugal	Spain	Sweden	UK
Gender	0.425 (0.191)*	0.259 (0.369)	0.198 (0.275)	0.199 (0.284)	0.138 (0.149)	0.458 (0.293)	0.028 (0.334)	−0.167 (0.210)	0.651 (0.497)
Working hours	0.098 (0.048)*	0.103 (0.069)	−0.064 (0.051)	0.139 (0.076)†	0.242 (0.049)**	0.195 (0.115)†	0.166 (0.143)	0.193 (0.101)†	0.420 (0158)*
Gender x working hours	0.229 (0.137)†	0.187 (0.530)	−0.037 (0.111)	0.349 (0.152)*	0.007 (0.097)	0.247 (0.251)	1.082 (0.272)**	−0.226 (0.214)	−0.743 (0.309)*
Individual level
Age (youngest) child	−0.174 (0.111)	−0.266 (0.572)	0.888 (0.189)**	−0.178 (0.138)	0.065 (0.100)	−0.241 (0.355)	0.619 (0.318)†	−0.742 (0.286)*	0.481 (0.494)
Age (youngest) child squared	0.085 (0.093)	0.346 (0.871)	−1.045 (0.229)**	0.109 (0.112)	−0.365 (0.119)**	−0.105 (0.420)	−0.709 (0.363)†	0.943 (0.380)*	−0.701 (0.687)
Level of education	0.012 (0.046)	−0.687 (0.204)**	0.062 (0.079)	0.270 (0.062)**	−0.089 (0.052)†	−0.321 (0.131)*	0.272 (0.104)*	0.447 (0.086)**	0.004 (0.136)
Partner	0.035 (0.183)	1.052 (0.502)*	−0.090 (0.224)	0.165 (0.196)	0.016 (0.149)	0.458 (0.296)	0.290 (0.359)	−0.602 (0.228)**	−0.256 (0.705)
Industry^a
Manufacturing	−0.156 (0.361)	−0.930 (0.987)	0^a	−0.118 (1.023)	0.008 (0.550)	−0.066 (0.624)	0^a	1.322 (0.533)*	0.952 (0.563)
Healthcare	−0.106 (0.205)	0^a	0.038 (0.222)	0.329 (0.533)	−0.069 (0.346)	−0.224 (0.322)	−0.750 (0.166)**	0.894 (0.309)*	0^a
Higher education	−0.012 (0.139)	0.032 (0.268)	0.090 (0.101)	0.092 (0.364)	0.190 (0.205)	0.111 (0.199)	−0.674 (0.098)**	0.495 (0.191)*	0^a
Transport	0.237 (0.146)	0.094 (0.234)	0^a	−0.138 (0.306)	−0.031 (0.147)	0^a	−0.459 (0.104)**	0.388 (0.178)†	0.458 (0.167)†
Financial services	0.056 (0.100)	0^a	0^a	0^a	−0.101 (0.147)	−0.115 (0.132)	0^a	0.220 (0.116)†	0^a

Note. In Step 1 of the multilevel regression analyses gender and working hours were entered, in step 2 the interaction effect between gender and working hours was entered. Standardized regression weights are presented. Standard errors are in parentheses. Gender was coded: 0 for men and 1 for women. Partner was coded 0 for no partner and 1 for partner. For industry, telecommunication was taken as reference category.

^aThis regression weight was set to 0 because it is redundant.

*p < .05, **p < .01, †p < .10.