Job Burnout and Couple Burnout in Dual-earner Couples in the Sandwiched Generation

We use existential theory as a framework to explore the levels of and relationship between job and couple burnout reported by dual-earner couples in the "sandwich generation" (i.e., couples caring both for children and aging parents) in a sample of such couples in Israel and the United Sta...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social psychology quarterly 2011-12, Vol.74 (4), p.361-386
Main Authors: Pines, Ayala Malach, Neal, Margaret B., Hammer, Leslie B., Icekson, Tamar
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adults
Aging
Aging (Individuals)
Americans
Biological and medical sciences
Burnout
Caregivers
Child care
Children
Comparative analysis
Couple and family
Couples
Cross Cultural Studies
Crossovers
Cultural Conflict
Cultural factors
Cultural Influences
Dual career couples
Evidence
Family Work Relationship
Focus groups
Foreign Countries
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gender Differences
Generations
Hammers
Husbands
Interpersonal Relationship
Israel
Job Satisfaction
Job stress
Marital Satisfaction
Marriage
Mental stress
Occupational psychology
Occupational Stress
Parent care
Parents
Predictor Variables
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Rewards
Sex
Social psychology
Spouses
Stress
Stress Variables
U.S.A
United States
Wives
Work condition. Job performance. Stress
Working conditions
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Summary:We use existential theory as a framework to explore the levels of and relationship between job and couple burnout reported by dual-earner couples in the "sandwich generation" (i.e., couples caring both for children and aging parents) in a sample of such couples in Israel and the United States. This comparison enables an examination of the influence of culture (which is rarely addressed in burnout research) and gender (a topic fraught with conflicting results) on both job and couple burnout in this growing yet understudied group of workers who are reaching middle age and starting to face existential issues as part of their own life cycle. Results revealed significant differences in burnout type (job burnout higher than couple burnout); gender (wives more burned out than husbands); and country (Americans more burned out than Israelis). Job related stressors and rewards as well as parent care stressors predicted job burnout, and marital stressors and rewards predicted couple burnout. In addition, there was evidence for both crossover and spillover.
ISSN:0190-2725
1939-8999
DOI:10.1177/0190272511422452