Is it better to receive than to give? Empathy in the conflict-distress relationship.
The moderating effect of partner empathy on the relationship between both directions of work-family conflict (work-to-family and family-to-work) and psychological distress of both the job incumbent and partner are examined in this study. Considering empathy as a specific dimension of emotional social support, we hypothesized that receiving empathy would buffer negative spillover to the job incumbent while giving empathy would exacerbate negative crossover to the partner. A study of 270 job incumbents and their partners revealed that receiving partner empathy fully moderated spillover effects due to family-to-work conflict but had no effects with work-to-family conflict. We also found it interesting that giving partner empathy moderated the crossover effects on family-to-work conflict but had no effects with work-to-family conflict. Implications of these findings and avenues for future research are discussed.
Ferguson
Merideth
M
Baylor University, Hankamer School of Business, Department of Management, One Bear Place #98006, Waco, TX 76798-8006, USA. merideth_ferguson@baylor.edu
Carlson
Dawn
D
Zivnuska
Suzanne
S
Whitten
Dwayne
D
D000328:Adult; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D004645:Empathy; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology*; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires