Work–life interface

Work–life interface is the intersection of work and private life. There are many aspects of one's personal life that can intersect with work including family, leisure, and health. Work–life interface is bidirectional; for instance, work can interfere with private life, and private life can interfere with work. This interface can be adverse in nature (e.g., work-life conflict) or can be beneficial (e.g., work-life enrichment) in nature.

Several theories explain different aspects of the relationship between the work and family life. Boundary theory and border theory are the two fundamental theories that researchers have used to study these role conflicts. Other theories are built on the foundations of these two theories.

Seven dominant theories have been utilized to explain this relationship on the boundary-border spectrum; These theories are: structural functioning, segmentation, compensation, supplemental and reactive compensation, role enhancement, spillover, and work enrichment model.

The roots of this theory can be traced back to the early 20th century, when industrial revolution was separating economic work from the family home. The 19th century’s technological advancements in machinery and manufacturing initiated the separation of work from family. However, it was not until the early 20th century that the first view of work-family theories started to shape. Structural-functionalism as one of the dominant sociology theories of early 20th century was a natural candidate. The structural functionalism theory, which emerged following WWII, was largely influenced from the industrial revolution and the changes in the social role of men and women during this period. This theory implies that the life is concerned mainly with two separate spheres: productive life which happens in the workplace and affective life which is at home. Structural functionalism theory believes in the existence of radical separation between work (institution, workplace, or market) and families. According to this theory, these two (workplace and family) work best "when men and women specialize their activities in separate spheres, women at home doing expressive work and men in the workplace performing instrumental tasks” (Kingsbury & Scanzoni, 1993; as cited in MacDermid, 2005: 18).

It has been argued that the work-family conflicts, in particular role conflicts, can be interpreted in terms of Lewis A. Coser's concept of "greedy institutions". These institutions are called "greedy" in the sense that they make all-encompassing demands on the commitment and loyalty of individuals, and tend to discourage involvement in other social spheres. Institutions such as religious orders, sects, academia, top level sports, the military and senior management have been interpreted as greedy institutions. On the other hand, also the family has been interpreted as a greedy institution in consideration of the demands placed on a caretaker. When a person is involved in two greedy institutions – be it child care and university, or family and the military, or others − task and role conflicts arise.

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