Attributed causes for work-family conflict: Emotional and behavioral outcomes

Work-family conflict may give rise to different emotional reactions, depending on the causal attributions people make for the experience of work-family conflict. These emotional reactions, in turn, may result in specific behavioral reactions, that may either be adaptive or maladaptive in nature. In this essay, we advance this thesis using attribution theory and theory of emotions that specifies different behavioral outcomes associated with different attribution-induced negative emotions. We develop a model of causal attributions for work-family conflict that includes differentiated emotional reactions (e.g., guilt and shame) and both adaptive (e.g., job crafting, self-development) and maladaptive (e.g., withdrawal, aggression, turnover) behavioral outcomes of work-family conflict. We conclude the article with directions for future research, guided by the proposed model.