Work–Family Enrichment: A Systematic Review of Antecedents, Outcomes, and Mechanisms

While based on ideas initially introduced in the 1970s (e.g., Sieber, 1974), the concept of work–family enrichment was first proposed by Greenhaus and Powell in 2006. This framework asserts that enrichment is experienced either through an instrumental path or an affective path. Enrichment occurs by means of the instrumental path when individuals have the belief that engagement in one role has directly increased their ability to perform in the other role. According to Greenhaus and Powell (2006), role experiences offer five categories of resources that may be acquired by an individual: skills and perspectives (e.g., interpersonal skills), psychological and physical resources (e.g., self-efficacy), social-capital resources (e.g., networking, information), flexibility (e.g., flexible work arrangements), and material resources (e.g., money). Enrichment occurs by way of the affective pathway when an increase in resources in one role enhances mood, spilling over, and permitting for increased functioning in the other role. In this way, a parent who plays with children before work, developing a good mood, may then bring those emotions into the workplace. This, in turn, may increase their ability to interact positively with coworkers, thus improving performance.