Burning the candle at both ends: The role of financial contingency of self-worth and work-family conflict on job and parental well-being

Work and family reflect two key aspects of people's everyday lives. For some individuals, however, these two domains may be viewed as incompatible with each other, as duties associated with one role may be perceived as interfering with the other role. In the present study, we propose that the degree to which people base their self-worth on financial success, or have Financially Contingent Self-Worth (FCSW), is a unique risk factor for experiencing work-family conflict (WFC) and negative outcomes associated with this conflict. Supporting this idea, a study of 260 working parents in the U.S. found that individuals with higher FCSW were more likely to experience competing demands between work and family roles. Greater WFC was linked to problems in both jobs and parenting roles, including feeling more burned out and less attentive and engaged. Furthermore, these individuals felt less happy, less satisfied with life, and perceived less meaning and purpose in life. Findings emerged even after accounting for demographic variables, perceived economic pressures, and materialism. Together, these findings reveal that pursuing financial success for self-esteem reasons is a unique vulnerability factor for experiencing WFC, which incurs costs to people's job and parental adjustment as well as to their overall well-being.