TWO TIMING WORK AND HOME, THE RELATIONSHIP OF INDIVIDUAL VALUES WITH BOUNDARY PERMEABILITY PREFERENCE AND BOUNDARY PERMEABILITY BEHAVIOR
Abstract
Boundary theory (Ashforth et al., 2000, Clark, 2000; Nippert-Eng, 1996) discusses how individuals build, keep, arrange, and cross the boundaries around work and family domains. However, the process through which people manage boundaries in work and home domains is not well-understood. In this study, I focused on boundary permeability as the key factor that explains how boundaries differ on the integration-segmentation continuum and investigated how people manage the boundaries of home and work domains. I proposed that individual values including achievement, hedonism, stimulation, and tradition are directly and indirectly associated with work-to-home and home-to-work permeability preference through work role identity salience and home role identity salience. Also, home and work permeability preferences were proposed to have positive relationships with their corresponding behaviors with work and home pressures for precedence weakening these relationships. Overall findings suggest that individual values directly and indirectly relate to work and home permeability preferences and role identity salience is often the mechanism through which this happens. Also, people strive to experience their preferred level of boundary permeability in work and home domains.