Citation

Steenbergen EF, Ellemers N, Haslam SA, Urlings F. J. Occup. Organ. Psychol. 2008; 81(3): 349-367.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Wiley-Blackwell)

DOI

10.1348/096317908X312669

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper examines whether cognitive appraisals regarding work-family role combination can be influenced by providing informational support. We conducted an experiment among female employees with young children working in a financial services organization (N=149). Participants received information communicating either a scarcity or an expansion perspective on human energy, prior to completing a survey. In support of our predictions, results showed that employees appraised the task of combining their work and family roles more positively after exposure to an expansion rather than a scarcity message. This research offers new theoretical insights into the role of cognitive appraisal in work-family research and offers scope for designing intervention programs that help employees to view role-combining more positively.