Do male

Do Male Psychologists Benefit psychologists

benefit from
from Organizational Values organizational
values supporting
Supporting Work-Personal work-personal life
balance?
Life Balance? 

by Ronald J. Burke, York University; Zena Burgess, Swinburne University;

and Fay Oberrlaid, Swinburne University
Abstract
This study examined the relationship of male psychologists’ perception of
organizational values supporting work-personal life balance in their work-
place and their work experiences, indicators of work and life satisfaction and
psychological well-being. Data were collected from 134 men using anony-
mous questionnaires. Male psychologists reporting organizational values
more supportive of work-personal life balance also reported more joy in
work, less job stress, lower intentions to quit, greater job, and career and
more optimistic career prospects, satisfaction, fewer psychosomatic symp-
toms and more positive emotional and physical well-being. Interestingly, or-
ganizational values supporting balance had no relationship with hours
worked on job involvement.
________________________________
As an increasing number of women entered the workforce, concerns
about balanced commitment to work and personal life have heightened
(Schwartz, 1992; Davidson & Burke, 1994). In addition, these concerns are
not only women’s concerns; as societal values change, men have expressed
interest in a more balanced work commitment as well (Burke & Nelson,
1998).
It has been suggested that it may be even more difficult now to manage a
balanced commitment (Hochschild, 1997). Organizations today face height-
ened competition on a worldwide basis, employees are experiencing increas-
ing performance pressures, and hours spent at the workplace - for managers
and professionals particularly – maybe increasing (Schor, 1991). High per-
formance organizations have raised their expectations regarding time, en-
ergy and work commitment from employees.
These expectations may be particularly difficult for women, since
women perform the bulk of household tasks (Hochschild 1989, 1997) and
men with families. This combination of factors may contribute to the rela-
tively slow influx of women into senior levels of corporate management
(Burke & McKeen, 1992) and high levels of work-family conflict reported
by both women and men (Burke & Greenglass, 1987).

Volume 23 Number 1/2 2004 97

Do male The phrase “family friendly” was coined to describe those firms at-
psychologists tempting to support work-personal life balance (Rodgers & Rodgers, 1989).
benefit from Many of these early efforts involved the creation of workplace policies more
organizational conducive to balanced investments in work and personal life. The efforts of
values supporting these innovative organizations have been chronicled in lists of best places to
work-personal life work as well as described in the more mainstream professional and aca-
balance? demic journals (see Burke, 1995, 1997, 1999). Unfortunately some of these
efforts have not made much difference or have not had staying power
(Bailyn, 1994). More promising are attempts to fundamentally address
workplace norms that both reduce work-personal life balance and organiza-
tional performance (Bailyn, Fletcher & Kolb, 1997; Fletcher & Bailyn,
1996; Fletcher & Rapaport, 1996). But these efforts are still rare.
This research project examines the relationship of male psychologists
perceptions of organizational values supporting a balanced commitment to
work and personal life and their work experiences, work and life satisfac-
tions and their levels of psychological well-being. The general hypothesis
underlying the study would be that managerial and professional men report-
ing organizational values conducive to a balanced commitment to work and
personal life would be more satisfied and healthier. It is not clear, however,
how values supporting work-personal life balance would influence more ba-
sic work experiences (e.g. hours worked, job involvement).
Why study the relationship of organizational values supporting work-
personal life balance in a sample of men? Aren’t managerial women more
likely than men to benefit from such values? There is some literature sug-
gesting that work-family conflicts are more likely to have adverse conse-
quences for women than men but the findings are by no means consistent
(see Burke and Greenglass, 1987, for a review). There is also evidence that
managerial and professional men experience work-family conflict to be dis-
tressing (Burke, 1988). Since managerial men receive less research consid-
eration on the work-personal life front (unlike women), finding benefits to
men from supportive organizational values might encourage more firms to
examine their values on these issues.
Method
Procedure
Questionnaires were mailed to 3561 members of the Australian Psychologi-
cal Association in the State of Victoria. A total of 658 completed surveys
were returned a 19% response rate. Respondents were similar to the total
membership of the Australian Psychological Society on some dimensions
(age, sex).
Respondents
Table 1 presents the demographic characteristics of the sample. Only male
psychologists working full-time (N=128) were included in this research.
Most of the respondents were married (79%), had children (72%), were be-

98 Equal Opportunities International

tween 41 and 50 years of age (44%), worked 36-50 hours per week (68%), Do male
had been in their present jobs 5 years or less (66%), with their present organi- psychologists
zations 5 years or less (47%), worked in organizations having 100 or fewer benefit from
employees (55%) and earned between 41,000 and 60,000 Australian dollars organizational
(48% in 1999 and 45% in 2000). values supporting
work-personal life
Table 1 balance?
Demographic Characteristics

Age N % Marital N %

30 or less 6 4.5 Single, divorced 28 21.1

31-40 30 22.4 Widowed
41-50 57 42.5 Married 105 78.9
51-60 35 26.1
61 or more 6 4.5

Children Length of Marriage

Children 97 72.4 5 or less 13 12.4

Childless 37 27.6 6-10 24 22.9
11-15 19 18.1
16-20 17 16.2
21 or more 32 30.1

Number of Children Work Breaks

0 38 28.4 Yes 37 27.8

1 16 11.9 No 96 72.2
2 37 27.6
3 27 20.1
4 13 9.7
5 or more 3 2.2

Hours Worked Per Week Years Present Employer

35 or less 5 3.8 5 or less 62 47.3

36-40 32 24.0 6-10 28 21.4
41-45 26 19.6 11-15 15 11.5
46-50 32 24.0 16-20 8 6.1
51-55 8 6.0 21-25 8 6.1
56-60 17 12.8 Over 25 years 10 7.6
61 or more 13 9.8

Volume 23 Number 1/2 2004 99

Do male
Organizational Level N % Years Present Job
psychologists
benefit from
organizational Non-management 30 23.3 5 or less 88 66.2
values supporting Supervisor 11 8.5 6-10 26 19.5
work-personal life Lower management 10 7.8 11-15 12 9.0
balance? Middle management 28 21.7 16-20 4 3.0
Senior management 14 10.9 21 or more 3 2.3
Executive 20 15.5
Division head 2 1.6
CEO 14 10.9

1999 Income Organizational Size

$40,000 or less 19 15.8 Less than 25 37 28.2

$41,000-50,000 36 30.0 25-50 13 9.9
$51,000-60,000 21 17.5 51-100 22 16.8
$61,000-70,000 15 12.5 101-200 14 10.7
$71,000-80,000 7 5.9 201-500 9 6.9
$81,000-90,000 2 1.6 501-1000 11 8.4
$91,000-100,000 8 6.7 1001-2000 3 2.3
Over $100,000 12 10.0 2001-4000 7 5.3
4001-8000 1 .8
over 8000 14 10.7

2000 Income

$40,000 or less 15 2.4

$41,000-50,000 24 19.8
$51,000-60,000 30 24.8
$61,000-70,000 18 14.9
$71,000-80,000 9 7.4
$81,000-90,000 2 1.7
$91,000-100,000 5 4.1
Over $100,000 18 14.9

Measures
Organizational Values
Balance values was measured by a 9 item scale (∞=.86) developed by Kofo-
dimos (1993). Respondents indicated the extent to which each item was
positively valued in their organization or represented desirable qualities in
managers. Responses were made on a five-point scale (1=very negatively
valued, 3=neither positively nor negatively valued, 5=very positively val-
ued). An item was “Talking about personal life at work”. Imbalance values (

100 Equal Opportunities International

∞=.82) was measured by an 8 item scale (Kofodimos, 1993). Respondents Do male
indicated the extent to which each item was positively valued in their organi- psychologists
zation or represented desirable qualities in managers. The response format benefit from
was identical to the measure of balance values. One item was “Accepting organizational
work-related phone calls at home on evenings or weekends”. A composite values supporting
measure of Balance Values was created by combining these two measures work-personal life
(reversing Imbalance values). balance?

Work Experiences

Job Involvement was measured by an eight item scale (∞=.81) developed by

Spence and Robbins (1992). One item was “I am deeply committed to my
job”.

Time to job was assessed by seven items (∞=.82) developed by Spence and
Robbins (1992). An item was “I devote more time to my work than most peo-
ple”.

Job stress (∞=.89) was measured by nine items (e.g. “Sometimes I feel like
my work is going to overwhelm me”) developed by Spence and Robbins
(1992).

Extra hours worked (∞=.68) was measured by six items. Respondents indi-
cated how frequently they did each item (e.g. “go to work early”).

Hours worked was assessed by a single item. Respondents indicated the

number of hours they worked in a typical week.

Work Satisfactions Four work satisfactions were considered.

Job satisfaction was measured by a seven item scale (∞=.79) developed by

Kofodimos (1995). An item was “I feel challenged by my work”.

Career satisfaction was measured by a five item scale (∞=.91) developed by

Greenhaus, Parasuraman and Wormley (1990). One item was “I am satisfied
with the success I have achieved in my career”.

Career prospects was measured by a three item scale (∞=.66) used by Green-
haus, Parasuraman and Wormley (1990). An item was “I have a very good
prospect for promotion in this company.”

Intent to quit (∞=.83) was measured by two items (Burke, 1991). “Are you
currently looking for a different job in a different organization?”

Volume 23 Number 1/2 2004 101

Do male Life satisfactions Three aspects of life or extra-work satisfaction were in-
psychologists cluded.
benefit from
organizational Family satisfaction was measured by a seven item scale (=.89) developed by
values supporting Kofodimos (1993). One item was “I have a good relationship with my fam-
work-personal life ily members.”
balance?
Friends satisfaction was measured by 3 items (∞=.85) developed by Kofo-
dimos (1993). An item was “Friends and I do enjoyable things together.”

Community satisfaction was measured by 4 items (∞=.80) also developed

by Kofodimos (1993). A sample item was “I contribute and give back to my
community.”

Psychological well-being Three aspects of psychological well-being were

considered.
Psychosomatic symptoms was measured by a 19 item scale (∞=.84) devel-
oped by Quinn & Shepard, (1974). Respondents indicated how often each
symptom happened to them in the past year (1=Never, 4=Often). Items in-
cluded: “cramps in my legs”, “headaches” and “poor appetite.”
Lifestyle behaviors was measured by five items (∞=.72) developed by Kofo-
dimos (1993). One item was “I participate in a regular exercise program.”
Emotional well-being was measured by six items (∞=.77) developed by Ko-
fodimos (1993). An item was “I actively seek to understand and improve my
emotional well-being.”
Results
Organizational Values
The sample (N=126) had a mean value of 52.1 on the 17 item measure of or-
ganizational values supporting work-personal life balance (S.D.= 8.71). The
mean item value was 3.1 indicating that items were rated “Neither positively
nor negatively valued” (3). Items on the Balance scale averaged 3.4 (Neither
positively nor negatively valued = -.3.0) while items on the Imbalance scale
averaged 3.3 (Neither positively nor negatively valued =3). The Balance and
Imbalance scales, as expected were negatively and significantly correlated
(r=-.53, p=.001).
Organizational values, work experiences and satisfactions
Table 2 presents the correlations between the measure of organizational val-
ues supporting work-personal life balance and measures of work experi-
ence, satisfactions and psychological well-being for the sample of
managerial and professional men. It should be noted that the sample was
relatively large and many of the measures of work experiences, work and

102 Equal Opportunities International

extra-work satisfactions and psychological well-being were themselves Do male
positively and significantly intercorrelated. psychologists
benefit from
Table 2 organizational
Organizational values, work experiences and satisfaction values supporting
Work Experiences Organizational Values= work-personal life
balance?
Hours worked -.05
Extra-hours worked -.11
Job involvement -.16
Joy in work .26**
Time to job .08
Job Stress -.24**

Satisfactions

Career .32***
Career prospects .17*
Job .30***
Intent to quit -.28***
Family .11
Friends .14
Community .12

Psychological Well-Being

Psychosomatic Symptoms -.19*

Emotional .20*
Physical .28***
=
Ns range from 121 to 126
*** p<.001 ** p<.01 * p<.05

Men indicating organizational values more supportive of work-

personality balance also reported working fewer hours per week and extra
hours, less time to their jobs, greater joy in work, less job stress, greater satis-
faction with their jobs, careers and career prospects, less intent to quit, fewer
psychosomatic symptoms, more positive lifestyle behaviors and higher lev-
els of emotional well-being. Among these men, organizational values sup-
porting balance had no relationship with hours worked and levels of job
involvement and all areas of extra-work satisfaction.
Discussion
This research examined the relationship of perceptions of organizational val-
ues supporting work-personal life balance, work and job experiences and sat-
isfactions, extra-work satisfactions and aspects of psychological and
physical well-being. The data, obtained from a sample of male psycholo-
gists, provided considerable support for the general hypothesis linking

Volume 23 Number 1/2 2004 103

Do male work-life balance values with more positive work experiences, more satis-
psychologists fying job outcomes and more favorable well-being outcomes. More specifi-
benefit from cally, male psychologists indicating organizational values more supportive
organizational of work-personal life balance also reported less job stress, greater joy at
values supporting work, greater job and career satisfaction, less intent to quit, and higher levels
work-personal life of emotional well-being.
balance?
The presence of these organizational balance values had no relationship
with hours worked or levels of job involvement (see Table 2) nor with any
area of extra work satisfaction. We conclude that organizational values sup-
porting work-life balance have important work and personal consequences
for men. When such organizational values were present, managerial and
professional men reported greater satisfaction inside of work, and more
positive emotional and physical well-being.

What can organizations do to develop such work-life balance values?

The most common approach is to create workplace policies that promote
them. Accumulating evidence suggests that the presence of such policies
has produced inconsistent benefits (Bailyn, 1994; Schwartz, 1992). In some
cases these policies have brought about value, attitude and behavior
changes; in other cases, these policies have existed only on paper. These lat-
ter organizations have only paid token lip service to the existence of their
policies.

More recently several researchers have begun to describe and evaluate

more intensive collaborative projects with organizations interested in ad-
dressing work-family concerns. These projects make an explicit link be-
tween employee’s personal needs (e.g., family responsibilities) and
business objectives with the intention of changing work practices so that
both the organization and the employees benefit (Rapaport, Bailyn, Kolb &
Fletcher, 1998). The work of Bailyn and her colleagues describes several
“collaborative action research projects” in which researchers work jointly
with companies to bring about change in the work culture and the organiza-
tion of work that would facilitate work-family integration in a meaningful
way (Bailyn, Fletcher & Kolb, 1997; Fletcher & Bailyn, 1996; Fletcher &
Rapaport, 1996).

Several areas of workplace culture emerge as prime targets for change.

One involves the sheer number of hours individuals feel they must be pres-
ent at work (Schor, 1991). Managers and professionals feel a need to be visi-
ble in the workplace as long as their manager is physically present, a
phenomena termed “face time”. A second involves the use of performance
indivators that more directly assess quantity and quality of contribution in-
dependent of hours worked. A third involves closer scrutiny of the processes
that exitst in workplaces that interfere with both successful and timely com-
pletion of one’s work and time for family commitments. These included nu-
merous meetings that accomplish little but seen endless, the holding of

104 Equal Opportunities International

breakfast and dinner meetings, and the all-too-frequent workplace interrup- Do male
tions that interfere with getting one’s job done. psychologists
benefit from
Why should the presence of organizational values supportive of work- organizational
personal life balance matter so much for men? Why should the presence of values supporting
these values show significant relationships with such a wide variety of work work-personal life
experiences, work and life satisfactions and indicators of psychological and balance?
physical well-being?
Several explanations are possible. Men indicating more organizational
support for work-personal life balance were indeed less “involved” with
their work. This may have reduced aspects of work-family conflict. In sup-
port of this possibility, men indicating greater organizational support for bal-
ance also reported less job stress.
The greater availability of time outside of work may have contributed to
higher levels of both friend and community satisfaction. This was not found
to be the case for family satisfaction however. Lower levels of job stress, ac-
companied by higher levels of various satisfactions, in turn, were likely to
enhance levels of psychological health.
It is also possible that organizations more supportive of work-personal
life balance are “managed” in a more satisfying and effective way. Thus in
this case, it is the presence of sensitive, caring leadership, the presence of or-
ganizational values support work-personal balance being one manifestation,
that accounts for the results that were obtained here. Further research is nec-
essary to examine these possibilities.
In addition, both gender and family structure variables may play a role as
well. It is expected that the same patterns of findings would be present among
women managers and professionals but it is less clear whether the relation-
ships would be weaker or stronger, more extensive or less extensive. One
might also hypothesize different patterns of findings as a function of marital
and parental status as well.

Volume 23 Number 1/2 2004 105

Do male Endnote
psychologists
benefit from 1. This research was supported in part by the School of Business, York Uni-
organizational versity, Graeme Macdermid assisted with data collection and analysis. We
values supporting acknowledge the help of The Australian Psychological Society Victoria in
work-personal life collecting the data.
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