Work and nonwork relations: The conical structure of work and home life relationship

The major objective of the present study was to analyze the structure of work‐nonwork relations. A definitional framework of the work‐nonwork domain was first suggested, based on the extant literature. The definition was then empirically tested by applying Similarity Structure Analysis to analyze the data, collected from a sample of 106 Israeli workers. The results support the hypotheses of the study. An empirical double ordered conceptual system was obtained, reflecting the two facets of the definition: behavior modality (instrumental, affective and cognitive) and social environment (work and home). A general lawfulness of a conical type was found that relates the definitional framework with the empirical structure. The facet approach applied in this study suggests that the various aspects of the domain may be characterized by different patterns of relationships. The results showed a clear distinction between the work and home regions. Further analysis revealed a compensation type of relationship between home and work in the instrumental and cognitive items and segmentation in the affective items. The results thus support the facet approach rather than the conventional approaches which consider work and non‐work as unitary concepts and attempt to establish which of three proposed patterns: compensation, spillover or segmentation, best characterizes their relationships.