1. Centre for Families, Work, and Well-Being
What We Know About How Work-Family Guilt Affects Working Parents  And What We Can Do About It  
Karen Korabik
and
Grace Ewles
Centre for Families, Work, and Well-Being
University of Guelph

2. Introduction
“I always feel as though I am failing in some way, as though I am cheating my children, my husband, and myself. The guilt is very difficult to deal with.”
Work-family (W-F) guilt is a pervasive problem for working parents in Canada and around the globe (Korabik, 2015).
Will use findings from qualitative & quantitative research conducted in Canada and internationally to explain how W-F guilt affects employed parents.
Will offer suggestions about what can be done to alleviate the negative impact of W-F guilt.

3. Background
Guilt from attempting to balance work and family has been frequently discussed in the popular press and organizational behavior literature.
Despite this, empirical research on W-F guilt is still very limited.
Most theory and research has focused on guilt in general rather than on guilt as it applies specifically to the W-F interface.
Guilt is a negative emotion that arises when individuals violate their internalized standards about how to think, feel, or act.

4. Definitions of W-F Guilt
W-F Guilt has been defined as a negative emotion arising from:
Having to make a choice between work & family (Conlin, 2000; Pollock, 1997)
Allowing work to interfere with family (Glavin, Schieman, & Reid, 2011)
Failing to adequately balance work and family roles (Napholz, 2000)
Failing to adequately live up to prescribed gender role norms (Livingston & Judge, 2008; Simon, 1995)
A discrepancy between preferred and actual levels of role participation at home and at work (Hochwarter, Perrewé, Meurs, & Kacmar, 2007)

5. Types and Measurement of W-F Guilt
W-F guilt is bidirectional in the same way that W-F conflict is:
Work interference with family guilt (WIFG)
Family interference with work guilt (FIWG)
3 aspects (McElwain, 2008):
Physical- inability to be physically present for both work and family duties
Emotional- negative feelings experienced due to W-F conflicts
Psychological- psychological spillover from one role to the other
W-F Guilt Scale (McElwain, 2008): 24 item faceted and 7 item nonfaceted short form
Internal consistency & test-retest reliability
Content, factorial, convergent and discriminant validity
Measurement equivalence for gender and culture

6. Gender Differences in W-F Guilt
Most research has been qualitative and has used samples of only women.
Women around the world say they frequently experience W-F guilt.
Both men and women believe women are more likely than men to feel W-F guilt.
But, this is probably due to stereotypes because:
Qualitative studies that include men show that men also report W-F guilt.
Quantitative research indicates no gender differences

7. What Parents Feel Guilty About
Working too much or putting job before family
Not spending enough time with their children
Missing children’s important milestones
Not attending to their children’s needs or preparing them for the future
Delegating parenting responsibilities to others (e.g., baby sitter)
Neglecting other relationships (e.g., spouses, parents, friends, coworkers)
Taking time for themselves

8. What Makes Parents Feel Guilty
Social pressure to be constantly available and accessible to their children/families (i.e., the intensive mothering norm) (Guendouzi, 2006; Pocock, 2003)
Social pressure from coworkers about not pulling their weight at work
Feeling unable to do everything they need to
Not fulfilling their traditional gender roles- mothering for women; breadwinner for men, especially in traditional societies (Korabik, 2005).

9. How Parents Cope with their Guilt
Make amends by (Napholz, 2000; McElwain, 2008; Pocock, 2003):
Spending more time with their children
Doing something special for their children
Being a "cool" mother/father
Resorting to “Super-Syndrome”- trying to be everything to everybody (Napholz, 2000; Pocock, 2003).
Devising strategies that allow them to justify putting their own needs first (Elvin-Nowak, 1999).
Making life choices (realigning priorities or choosing more family-friendly work environments) that foster better W-F balance (McElwain, 2008)

10. Negative Outcomes
Detrimental individual & organizational outcomes of W-F guilt include:
Greater emotional depletion (e.g., feelings of anger, frustration, exhaustion, and resentment) (Elvin-Nowak, 1999; Seagram & Daniluk, 2002).
Greater depression and psychological distress (Aycan & Eskin, 2005; Korabik, forthcoming).
Lower family satisfaction and satisfaction with parenthood (Aycan & Eskin, 2005; Korabik & McElwain, 2011)
Lower job satisfaction and higher turnover intentions (Korabik & McElwain, 2011)
Lower satisfaction with organizational policies (Aycan & Eskin, 2005)
Lower life satisfaction (Korabik, forthcoming)
Greater pro- and anti-social workplace behaviors (Botsford & King, 2012)

11. Effects of Demands and Control
Higher work overload and higher family overload related to greater WIFG in Canada (Ewles, Korabik, & Lero, 2013) & US (Ishaya, Ayman, & Korabik, 2013)
Higher family overload associated with greater FIWG for men, but not women in Canada & US (Ewles et al., 2013; Ishaya et al., 2013)
Lack of job control predictive of higher WIFG in US (Ishaya et al., 2013)
Lack of family control predictive of higher WIFG for men and women in US (Ishaya et al., 2013), but only for women in Canada (Ewles et al., 2013)

12. Effects of Social Support
Emotional support can help alleviate guilt feelings (McElwain, 2008)
Work- and family-related emotional support from supervisors & coworkers reduces FIWG (Ewles, Korabik & Lero, 2014a)
Family-related emotional support from children, neighbours, relatives & friends reduces FIWG (Ewles, et al., 2014a)
Instrumental support can sometimes amplify guilt feelings (Guendouzi, 2006; McElwain, 2008)
Support from spouses, neighbours, relatives & friends for work duties increases WIFG for both genders (Ewles et al., 2014a)
Support from supervisors for household tasks increases WIFG more for men than women (Ewles, Korabik & Lero, 2014b)
Support from parents/in-laws for work & family tasks increases WIFG more for women than men (Ewles et al., 2014b)
Exception: Instrumental support from supervisors for work duties reduces FIWG (Ewles et al., 2014a)

13. What Can We Do About W-F Guilt?
The unfavorable effects of work-related guilt on job and life satisfaction were neutralized when there was an ability to manage resources (Hochwarter et al., 2007)
Reduce overload and enhance control in both the work and family domains.
Capitalize upon social support networks at home and at work, but make sure it is helpful support.
Institute beneficial family-friendly workplace policies and an understanding workplace climate.
Reduce social pressure to be perfect in all roles

14. Conclusion
Alleviating the W-F guilt experienced by employed mothers and fathers should:
Improve their health, happiness, and productivity at home and at work
Benefit the well-being of families and of society as a whole

15. Thank you !!! To join our virtual W-F Guilt Research Network please contact Dr. Karen Korabik at