Opening the doors for spillovers: a contingency view of the effects of work from home on the work–home interface
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Bölingen, Felix
Hermida Carrillo, Alejandro
Weller, Ingo
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Why do employees experience work from home (WFH) differently? We draw on boundary theory to explain how WFH influences employees’ work–home interface. WFH intensity increases negative spillovers (i.e., work-to-home conflict and home-to-work conflict) and positive spillovers (i.e., work-to-home enrichment and home-to-work enrichment) between the work and home domains. Negative spillovers can be mitigated through high-quality work equipment and beneficial spatial conditions at home. Domain centrality predicts who can benefit from increased WFH intensity. We test our theory with a sample of 545 employees, obtained through a two-step random sampling procedure in the city of Munich/Germany during the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that WFH intensity increases work-to-home conflict and home-to-work enrichment, affecting employees’ relationship satisfaction and job satisfaction. High-quality work equipment mitigates the detrimental effects of WFH. Employees with a high family centrality can reap benefits of more WFH because they experience more home-to-work enrichment. The simultaneous desirable and detrimental effects of WFH intensity can partly explain why studies have found heterogenous WFH experiences among employees.
Date Issued
2023-07-05
Date Acceptance
2023-06-19
Citation
Frontiers in Psychology, 2023, 14
ISSN
1664-1078
Publisher
Frontiers Media S.A.
End Page
119165
Journal / Book Title
Frontiers in Psychology
Volume
14
Copyright Statement
© 2023 Bölingen, Hermida Carrillo and Weller. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms
License URL
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
1191657
Date Publish Online
2023-07-05