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With Greater Power Comes Greater Stress? Authority, Supervisor Support, and Work‐Family Strains
Author(s) -
Badawy Philip J.,
Schieman Scott
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of marriage and family
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.578
H-Index - 159
eISSN - 1741-3737
pISSN - 0022-2445
DOI - 10.1111/jomf.12714
Subject(s) - supervisor , stressor , psychology , work–family conflict , social psychology , work (physics) , occupational stress , stress (linguistics) , demographic economics , political science , clinical psychology , economics , engineering , mechanical engineering , linguistics , philosophy , law
Objective This study investigates how status gains in job authority over time are related to three work‐ and family‐related stressors: job pressure, role blurring, and work‐to‐family conflict. Background Family scholars have long been interested in identifying work conditions as sources of change and stress in family life. Sociologists have devoted much effort in understanding the consequences of stratification for stress exposure—especially for those individuals with status‐based disadvantages. The present study advances work–family research by shifting focus to the status‐based stress exposure of individuals who transition into higher status positions in the workplace. Method This study uses four waves of panel data from the Canadian Work, Stress, and Health Study from 2011 to 2017 ( N = 8,240 observations in pooled analysis). We use fixed effects regression techniques to analyze this diverse sample of Canadian workers with multi‐item measures of focal variables. Results We find that increases in job authority are associated with increases in job pressure, role blurring, and work‐to‐family conflict. Moreover, we find that supervisor support is an effective workplace resource to alleviate some of the stress that comes with greater workplace power. Conclusion These findings highlight nuances embedded in the status boost of gaining greater authority in the workplace by revealing some of its downsides for work‐related pressures and strains in the work–family interface. We discuss the implications of these results for stratification and work–family stress research by integrating insights from the stress of higher status and job demands–resources models.