Role stressors, social support, and well‐being among two‐career couples

TLDR

The study examined relationships among work and family role stressors, work–family conflict, social support, and well‑being using data from 119 men and 119 women in two‑career couples. Results indicated that within‑domain stressor–well‑being links were stronger than between‑domain links, with work stressors mainly affecting job satisfaction, family stressors affecting family satisfaction, and both stressor types and work–family conflict linked to overall life stress, while work support boosted job satisfaction and spouse support enhanced family satisfaction, with some gender differences noted.

Abstract

Abstract The study examined relationships among work and family role stressors, work—family conflict, social support, and well‐being using data gathered from 119 men and 119 women who were partners in a two‐career relationship. Results showed that within‐domain relationships of stressors with well‐being are stronger than between‐domain relationships. Thus, work and family role stressors were primarily related to job satisfaction and family satisfaction respectively, whereas work and family role stressors as well as work—family conflict were associated with overall life stress. Similar results were found for the relationships of social support with well‐being. Work support was associated with increased job satisfaction, while spouse support was associated with greater family satisfaction. Some gender differences were found in the relationships of stressors and social support with well‐being. Implications of the findings for future research on work—family dynamics were discussed.