Mindfulness, empathetic concern, and work–family outcomes: A dyadic analysis

Publication date: Available online 20 February 2020Source: Journal of Vocational BehaviorAuthor(s): Zheng Chen, Tammy D. Allen, Limin HouAbstractWe investigate the role of mindfulness and empathic concern as associated with positive work-family outcomes of dual-career couples. Informed by broaden-and-build and crossover theory, we hypothesized that employees' mindfulness is associated with empathic concern, which relates to the work-family enrichment and balance experiences of their spouses. We collected multi-wave data from 105 matched dual-career couples. We measured employees' mindfulness and empathic concern using partner ratings and controlled for marital quality. Based on the actor-partner interdependence model, we tested our hypotheses using hierarchical multilevel modeling. We found that employees' empathic concern mediated relationships between their own mindfulness and their spouses' positive work-family outcomes. We discuss implications for both research and practice.

Source: Journal of Vocational Behavior - February 21, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research