Positive Psychology Perspective: Self-Efficacy, Gender Identity And Social Support As Predictors For Work-Family Enrichment Among Employed Parents

Background: The aim of the article is to focus on the concept of work-family interface in terms of its positive consequences and their predictors. Usual stressful consequence of the work and family roles combination is the work/family conflict defined by the perceived difficulties in balancing work and family demands. In addition to the issue of work/family conflict, there is also possibility of positive consequences resulting from the interconnection of these areas represented by the construct of work/family enrichment that can contribute to higher quality and efficiency of the individual performance in different roles. The research focused on self-efficacy, gender identity and social support as antecedents of perceived links between work and family in terms of enrichment. Methods: Quantitative research approach was used. In a sample of 213 employed parents (101 men and 112 women), the relationship of self-efficacy, gender identity and social support to the work/family enrichment has been examined by questionnaire methods. Namely, Work/family Enrichment (Carlson et al., 2006), Self efficacy for Work/family Conflict Management Scale (Cinamon, 2006), Masculinity/Femininity Scale (Kusa, 2000), Work Support Measure and Family Support Measure (Hennessy, 2007) were used. Results: Self-efficacy, gender identity and social support are related to perceived consequences of work-family interface in terms of enrichment, but there are gender differences. Enrichment was predicted by self-efficacy (14.9%), social support from family environment (11.9%), masculinity (6.5%) and social support from work environment (1.8%) in men. Enrichment was predicted by self-efficacy (5.5%), masculinity (9.6%) and social support from family (5.7%) as well in women. Conclusions: Based on the findings, personality (or certain personality traits) and social support appear to be crucial for the extent of perceived enrichment. Furthermore, a more attentive examination of the perceived work/family enrichment in relation to gender identity has confirmed these relations, however, in the group of employed fathers and mothers, they do not assume the same importance.