Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

acceptedVersion

Publication Date

4-2016

Abstract

Recent management research has indicated the importance of family, sleep, and recreation as nonwork activities of employees. Drawing from entrainment theory, we develop an expanded model of work-life conflict to contend that macrolevel business cycles influence the amount of time employees spend on both work and nonwork activities. Focusing solely on working adults, we test this model in a large nationally representative dataset from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that spans an 8-year period, which includes the “Great Recession” from 2007 through 2009. We find that during economic booms, employees work more and therefore spend less time with family, sleeping, and recreating. In contrast, in recessionary economies, employees spend less time working and therefore more time with family, sleeping, and recreating. Thus, we extend the theory on time-based work-to-family conflict, showing that there are potential personal and relational benefits for employees in recessionary economies.

Keywords

business cycles, recovery activities, sleep, work-family conflict, work-life conflict

Discipline

Human Resources Management | Organizational Behavior and Theory

Research Areas

Organisational Behaviour and Human Resources

Publication

Journal of Occupational Health Psychology

Volume

21

Issue

2

First Page

235

Last Page

249

ISSN

1076-8998

Identifier

10.1037/a0039896

Publisher

American Psychological Association

Copyright Owner and License

Authors

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039896

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