A meta‐analysis of the antecedents of work–family enrichment

• Author: Jeffrey H. Greenhaus,Ping Shao,Laurent M. Lapierre,Ho Kwong Kwan,Yanhong Li,Marco S. DiRenzo
• Date: 01 May 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/job.2234
• Published date: 01 May 2018

RESEARCH ARTICLE

A meta‐analysis of the antecedents of work–family enrichment

Laurent M. Lapierre

1

|Yanhong Li

1

|Ho Kwong Kwan

2

|Jeffrey H. Greenhaus

3

|

Marco S. DiRenzo

4

|Ping Shao

5

1

Telfer School of Management, University of

Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

2

School of Economics and Management,

Tongji University, Shanghai, China

3

LeBow College of Business, Drexel

University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

4

Graduate School of Business and Public

Policy, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey,

California, U.S.A.

5

Department of Management, California State

University at Sacramento, Sacramento,

California, U.S.A.

Correspondence

Laurent M. Lapierre, University of Ottawa,

Telfer School of Management, 55 Laurier

Avenue East, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5,

Canada.

Email: lapierre@telfer.uottawa.ca

Funding information

National Natural Science Foundation of China,

Grant/Award Number: 71672108

Summary

This study meta‐analytically examined theoretically derived antecedents of both directions of

work–family enrichment (sometimes labeled facilitation or positive spillover), namely, work–

family enrichment and family–work enrichment. Contextual and personal characteristics

specific to each domain were examined. Resource‐providing (e.g., social support and work

autonomy) and resource‐depleting (e.g., role overload) contextual characteristics were consid-

ered. Domain‐specific personal characteristics included the individuals' psychological involve-

ment in each domain, the centrality of each domain, and work engagement. Results based

on 767 correlations from 171 independent studies published between 1990 and 2016 indicate

that several contextual and personal characteristics have significant relationships with enrich-

ment. Although those associated with work tend to have stronger relationships with work–

family enrichment and those associated with family tend to have stronger relationships with

family–work enrichment, several antecedent variables have significant relationships with both

directions of enrichment. Resource‐providing contextual characteristics tend to have stronger

relationships with enrichment than do resource‐depleting characteristics. There was very little

evidence of gender being a moderator of relationships between contextual characteristics and

enrichment. Lastly, meta‐analytic structural equation modeling provided evidence that a theo-

retical path model wherein work engagement mediates between several contextual character-

istics and enrichment is largely generalizable across populations.

KEYWORDS

antecedents, facilitation, meta‐analysis, positive spillover, work–family enrichment

1|INTRODUCTION

Recent decades have witnessed changing employment patterns and

family roles. Increasing representation of dual‐earner families and the

growing number of employees with multigenerational caring responsi-

bilities (Fox, Han, Ruhm, & Waldfogel, 2013; Fredriksen & Scharlach,

1999) have attracted researchers to devote their work to understand-

ing and explaining the work–family interface (Barnett, 1998; Edwards

& Rothbard, 2000; Lambert, 1990). Until recently, the work–family lit-

erature was heavily skewed towards the conflict perspective, which

assumes that the multiple roles of an individual inevitably lead to the

experience of conflict and stress (Casper, Eby, Bordeaux, Lockwood,

& Lambert, 2007; Eby, Casper, Lockwood, Bordeaux, & Brinley,

2005; Lapierre & McMullan, 2015). With growing attention given to

positive psychology, which emphasizes strengths and health rather

than weakness and illness, work–family scholars have increasingly

recognized the positive side of the work–family interface (Carlson,

Kacmar, Wayne, & Grzywacz, 2006; Frone, 2003; Greenhaus & Powell,

2006). As a result, a substantial body of empirical research has

emerged on work–family enrichment (WFE), which Greenhaus and

Powell (2006) define as “the extent to which experiences in one role

improve the quality of life in the other role”(p. 73). Other labels have

been given to positive linkages between work and family roles, such

as positive spillover, enhancement, and facilitation (Fisher, Bulger, &

Smith, 2009; Grzywacz & Butler, 2005; Hammer, Cullen, Neal, Sinclair,

& Shafiro, 2005), although they all capture the core of WFE (Carlson

et al., 2006; Greenhaus & Powell, 2006).

A meta‐analytic review has shown that employees experiencing

greater enrichment tend to report superior satisfaction at work, at

home, and in life; higher commitment to the organization; reduced

turnover intentions; and better physical and mental health (McNall,

Nicklin, & Masuda, 2010). Given these potential benefits, a review of

Received: 6 April 2016 Revised: 7 August 2017 Accepted: 14 August 2017

DOI: 10.1002/job.2234

J Organ Behav. 2018;39:385–401. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/job 385

the existing empirical literature is warranted to shed light onto the

variety of factors potentially enabling enrichment. Reviewing empirical

literature via meta‐analysis allows researchers to identify and account

for different possible sources of variation across studies that report

relationships between the same variables, including sampling error,

the reliability of measures used, and/or true differences in the popula-

tions from which study samples were drawn. Meta‐analysis thus

provides more accurate estimates of relationships between WFE and

its plausible antecedents and offers insight into the generalizability of

those estimates.

To date, there have been two published meta‐analytic reviews of

antecedents to WFE. One addressed the Big Five as well as other

closely related personality traits (Michel, Clark, & Jaramillo, 2011),

and the other investigated perceptions of leader–member exchange

(Litano, Major, Landers, Streets, & Bass, 2016). Although informative,

these reviews capture a relatively narrow range of factors that could

explain why employees experience enrichment. Several contextual

characteristics of each domain (e.g., social support received at work

or at home, family‐supportive organizational culture, having a more

enriched job, and one's marital status) have been considered determi-

nants of WFE (ten Brummelhuis & Bakker, 2012; Wayne, Grzywacz,

Carlson, & Kacmar, 2007). Furthermore, personal (psychological)

characteristics other than personality have been viewed as possible

antecedents to enrichment. Particular attention has been given to

individuals' psychological investment in each domain (e.g., work or

family involvement and work engagement; Grzywacz, Carlson, Kacmar,

& Wayne, 2007; Rothbard, 2001; Siu et al., 2010; Wayne et al., 2007).

By reviewing the 1990 to 2016 empirical literature reporting

relationships between these domain‐specific variables and WFE, we

contribute beyond the two existing meta‐analytic reviews of anteced-

ents to enrichment and address several antecedents that have often

been studied as determinants to work–family conflict. By comparing

our findings to those of a recent meta‐analysis of work–family conflict

antecedents (Michel, Kotrba, Mitchelson, Clark, & Baltes, 2011), we

aimed to examine the degree to which some antecedents differentially

relate to conflict and to enrichment. Pronounced differences would

help reinforce the view that enrichment and conflict involve distinct

processes (e.g., ten Brummelhuis & Bakker, 2012; Voydanoff, 2004).

Previous theoretical and empirical work implies that “directions”of

enrichment should be examined separately (Carlson et al., 2006;

Greenhaus & Powell, 2006; van Steenbergen, Ellemers, & Mooijaart,

2007; Wayne et al., 2007). Accordingly, we reviewed empirical studies

that measured one or both directions, namely, WFE and family–work

enrichment (FWE). WFE occurs when resources gained at work

improve the quality of life in the family role, whereas FWE occurs

when resources gained in the family role improve the quality of life

in the work role. By examining relationships between domain‐specific

antecedents and each direction of enrichment, we were in a position

to gauge the validity of the domain specificity principle underlying

much scholarship on the work–family interface. According to this prin-

ciple, work‐specific characteristics would be more salient to work

enriching family than to family enriching work, whereas family‐specific

characteristics would be more relevant to family enriching work than

to work enriching family (Greenhaus & Powell, 2006; ten Brummelhuis

& Bakker, 2012; Wayne et al., 2007).

Eby et al. (2005) concluded that gender is “deeply engrained”in

work–family relationships. Moreover, Wayne et al. (2007) proposed

that gender would be a demand characteristic influencing the degree

to which resource‐providing domain characteristics could lead to

enrichment. We tested whether gender moderates relationships

between domain‐specific antecedents and enrichment by examining

whether the proportion of women in each sample explains variation

in the relationships reported across studies.

Lastly, we employed meta‐analytic structural equation modeling

(MASEM) to test a theoretical model (Siu et al., 2010) that integrates

some of the antecedents we reviewed in relation to enrichment. We

examined whether work engagement mediates relationships between

characteristics of the work and family contexts and each direction of

enrichment.

1.1 |Theoretical framework

Scholars have advanced several theoretical models depicting the pro-

cess through which WFE occurs (Greenhaus & Powell, 2006; Grzywacz

et al., 2007; ten Brummelhuis & Bakker, 2012; Wayne et al., 2007). They

all capture the basic idea that WFE involves the acquisition of resources

in one domain (e.g., work) that can be used to improve the quality of life

in the other domain (e.g., family). They also describe the nature of those

resources. Greenhaus and Powell (2006) refer to skills and perspectives;

psychological and physical resources (e.g., self‐efficacy, optimism about

the future, and physical health); social–capital resources (influence,

information); flexibility in terms of the timing, pace, and location at

which work and/or family requirements are met; and material resources

(e.g., money). Those authors further propose that resources acquired in

one role can enrich the other role through instrumental and/or affective

paths. Instrumental enrichment would occur when resources gained in

one role have a direct instrumental effect on performance in the other

role. Affective enrichment would exist when resources gained in one

role produce positive affect (sometimes because they enhance perfor-

mance in that role), which then increase performance in the other role.

Others (Grzywacz et al., 2007; Wayne et al., 2007) propose similar

resources (termed catalysts by Grzywacz et al., 2007), such as new skills

and perspectives; positive emotions; economic, social, or health assets;

and efficiency gains. More recently, ten Brummelhuis and Bakker

(2012), drawing on Hobfoll's (1989) conservation of resources theory,

describe “personal resources”being gained in one role and available

for use in the other. These resources overlap considerably with those

described in earlier models (e.g., skills, health, mood, energy, and time).

Most of these various resources are captured in the item content of

scales developed to measure the experience of enrichment. For exam-

ple, Carlson et al.'s (2006) scales measure the degree to which perspec-

tives, skills, and knowledge (development items); positive emotions

(affect items); self‐esteem, fulfillment, and security (capital items); and

time and efficiency (efficiency items) are gained in one role and used

to enhance the quality of life in the other. Similarly, van Steenbergen

et al.'s (2007) scale items denote efficiency gains (time‐based items),

positive emotions and energy (energy‐based items), knowledge and

skills (behavioral items), and perspectives (psychological items) gained

in one role that improve experiences in the other.

386 LAPIERRE ET AL.