%0 Conference Paper %1 stockhomburg2014directions %A Stock-Homburg, Ruth %A Entringer, Theresa %A Bieling, Gisela %B Academy of Management Proceedings %C Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA %D 2014 %E Humphreys, John %I AOM %K SocialLink %R doi:10.5465/AMBPP.2014.16462abstract %T New Directions for Work-Life Balance Research: A Conceptual, Qualitative Approach %X Within the last decade, changes in individuals’ needs and work conditions have altered what constitutes a satisfactory work-life balance and how individuals manage their engagement in various life activities. In response to these changes, this paper presents a conceptual framework that integrates three established theories to develop a better understanding of what and how individuals are balancing today. Drawing on social identity theory, we broaden the established conceptualization of work-life balance by distinguishing role-prescribed life activities and self-time activities that individuals engage in for their own sake, without feeling demanded to do so. Integrating boundary theory and self-regulation theory, we propose that individual management of work-life balance is a process of permanent self-regulation, which allows individuals to adapt to changing conditions for managing their work-life balance by applying different adaption strategies. Qualitative data from 28 knowledge workers provide first empirical evidence for our theoretical deliberations. In addition, we use the interview data to identify different categories of self-time activities and develop a model that explains under which conditions individuals opt for which adaption strategy. Finally, based on our theoretical reasoning and findings, we derive several propositions for future research on work-life balance.

@inproceedings{stockhomburg2014directions, abstract = {Within the last decade, changes in individuals’ needs and work conditions have altered what constitutes a satisfactory work-life balance and how individuals manage their engagement in various life activities. In response to these changes, this paper presents a conceptual framework that integrates three established theories to develop a better understanding of what and how individuals are balancing today. Drawing on social identity theory, we broaden the established conceptualization of work-life balance by distinguishing role-prescribed life activities and self-time activities that individuals engage in for their own sake, without feeling demanded to do so. Integrating boundary theory and self-regulation theory, we propose that individual management of work-life balance is a process of permanent self-regulation, which allows individuals to adapt to changing conditions for managing their work-life balance by applying different adaption strategies. Qualitative data from 28 knowledge workers provide first empirical evidence for our theoretical deliberations. In addition, we use the interview data to identify different categories of self-time activities and develop a model that explains under which conditions individuals opt for which adaption strategy. Finally, based on our theoretical reasoning and findings, we derive several propositions for future research on work-life balance.}, added-at = {2016-04-18T10:29:30.000+0200}, address = {Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA}, author = {Stock-Homburg, Ruth and Entringer, Theresa and Bieling, Gisela}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2bf34618732a080216f38ddb0c5f4f0e2/comtec_pub}, booktitle = {Academy of Management Proceedings}, doi = {doi:10.5465/AMBPP.2014.16462abstract}, editor = {Humphreys, John}, interhash = {20e2cc373dfc6436c0ce60732e273a7b}, intrahash = {bf34618732a080216f38ddb0c5f4f0e2}, keywords = {SocialLink}, month = {January}, publisher = {AOM}, timestamp = {2016-04-21T10:10:06.000+0200}, title = {New Directions for Work-Life Balance Research: A Conceptual, Qualitative Approach}, year = 2014 }