Testing the Spillover-Crossover Model between Work-Life Balance and Satisfaction in Different Domains of Life in Dual-Earner Households

• Published in: Applied Research in Quality of Life 2021-08, Vol.16 (4), p.1475-1501
• Main Authors: Schnettler, Berta, Miranda-Zapata, Edgardo, Grunert, Klaus G., Lobos, Germán, Lapo, María, Hueche, Clementina
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescents; Affect (Psychology); Children; Couples; Dual career couples; Employees; Families & family life; Family work relationship; Food; Gender roles; Households; Husbands; Job satisfaction; Life satisfaction; Political Science; Quality of Life Research; Social Sciences; Socioeconomic status; Sociology; Structural equation modeling; System theory; Wives; Work life balance
• ISSN: 1871-2584; 1871-2576
• DOI: 10.1007/s11482-020-09828-z

This study explored the spillover and crossover associations between work-life balance and satisfaction with life, food-related life and family life in dual-earner parents. Questionnaires were administered to 303 dual-earner couples with adolescent children in Temuco, Chile. Both members of the couples answered the Work-life Balance (WLB) scale, Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), Satisfaction with Food-related Life scale (SWFoL) and the Satisfaction with Family Life scale (SWFaL). Using the actor-partner independence model and structural equation modeling and having controlled for the effects of age, number of children, number of family members and family socioeconomic status, we found that the man’s work-life balance was positively associated with his own levels of satisfaction with life, family life and food related life, as well as with his partner’s (the woman’s) levels of satisfaction with life, food related life and family life. Likewise, the woman’s work-life balance was positively associated with her own levels of satisfaction with life, family life and food related life, as well as with her partner’s (the man’s) levels of satisfaction with food related life and family life, but not with his level of life satisfaction. These findings suggest the need to improve work-life balance for employees of both genders in order to enhance their overall life satisfaction, as well as their satisfaction in the family and food domains.