The impact of work group culture on work and family stress

This research explores the impact of the immediate working environment, as it is manifested in the shared beliefs, values and assumptions of the working group, on work and family role stress. Much of the existing research and theory on work and family role relations focuses on the individual characteristics of workers or the impact of organizational and societal level forces. This study seeks to address this relative lack of research on the impact of the immediate working environment on work and family issues.;This research utilizes a grounded theory methodology to generate hypotheses regarding the impact of work group culture on work and family stress. The research focuses on the impact of work group culture on (1) how work and family role stressors are perceived, (2) how such stressors are coped with, and (3) how work group members utilize social support in dealing with work and family stressors.;Four non-contiguous work groups, from within the same organization and geographical location, participated in the research. Clinical methods and interview data were utilized to address the three research questions. Data were analyzed by treating the four groups as comparative case studies. Group level forces within each work group were explored by studying each group as an open system and gaining access to information regarding each group's cultural assumptions regarding the nature of the groups' work. The impact of group level forces on work and family stress was studied by examining the patterns of work and family role relations and conflicts reported by group members.;Three work group cultural types were identified: a work role dominant culture, a family role dominant culture, and a work/family role balance culture. The shared assumptions characteristic of each type were shown to have an important impact on how work and family stressors are perceived by the members of each group and on the coping options available for dealing with work and family stress as well as group members' utilization of social support. The research supports the view that work group culture must be given greater attention by work and family researchers and management practitioners.