Stressors at the work-family interface and satisfaction with the quality of the couple relationship: a comparative analysis of men and women

ABSTRACT

This study examined the contribution of stressors deriving from the work-family interface to explaining two aspects of the quality of the couple relationship among men versus women: satisfaction with sexual life and satisfaction with couplehood. The sample comprised 276 heterosexual Israeli participants (136 men, 140 women). The examined stressors included objective overload at home and at work (assessed by the number of hours devoted daily to each domain), subjective overload, and the experience of role conflict (family interferes with work [FIW], and work interferes with family [WIF]). The data were analyzed using structural equation modelling. For both genders, satisfaction with the daily amount of time that the partner devotes to the home and family domains explained satisfaction with sexual life and satisfaction with couplehood. Among women, satisfaction with sexual life was explained by the experience of WIF conflict, whereas satisfaction with couplehood was explained by the experience of FIW conflict. Furthermore, egalitarian gender-role attitudes correlated positively with men’s sexual satisfaction and negatively with the intensity of FIW conflict. We concluded that for women, work-family stressors affected the quality of the couple relationship, whereas the impact of egalitarian gender-role attitudes on the quality of the couple relationship was greater for men.

KEYWORDS:

• FIW conflict
• WIF conflict
• subjective overload
• objective overload

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.