Energy, attentional resources and work–family conflict over the meso‐term: Resource loss spirals revisited

Abstract

AbstractResource‐based theories specify personal resources as a central cause and outcome of work–family conflict wherein low personal resource levels beget further resource losses, in part through increased work–family conflict. Yet, adaptation and trait theories suggest chronic factors drive stability in personal resources and work–family conflict, potentially making resource loss spirals unlikely for most workers. Despite being fundamental tenets of resource‐based theories of work–family conflict, the causal relationships among personal resources and work–family conflict over the meso‐term (i.e., several months) have been unclear in previous empirical research. We test theory by examining causal relationships over the meso‐term using a general cross‐lagged panel model (GCLM), which, unlike the cross‐lagged panel model used in prior research, accounts for chronic factors and tests the persistence of changes. We tested these effects by surveying school administrators (N = 1418) over four consecutive months. Despite finding some small reciprocal relationships, GCLM results provided no evidence for meso‐term loss spirals in which personal resource losses were followed by further losses, independent of or via work–family conflict. These findings challenge resource‐based theories of work–family conflict over the meso‐term and suggest the need to examine chronic factors and adaptation in work–family conflict research to understand meso‐term dynamics.