Beyond conflict: Functional facets of the work–family interplay

The present paper deals with three positive facets of the work–family interplay, i.e., transfer of competencies, transfer of positive mood, and cross-domain compensation. The latter refers to the experience that engagement in one domain helps dealing with failures in the other domain. In two correlational studies (N1 = 107 working mothers, N2 = 146 working men and women), cross-domain compensation predicted domain-specific well-being even when we controlled for work–family conflicts and the two other positive facets (viz., transfer of competencies and positive mood). In an additional experiment (N3 = 63 working men and women), which exclusively focused on compensation, participants were asked to remember a job-related failure. Then they were instructed to think about a positive job-related experience (i.e., intradomain compensation) or family-related experience (i.e., cross-domain compensation). Compared to a control group, both experimental groups showed faster emotional recovery, with cross-domain compensation being a slightly more effective strategy at the beginning of that recovery.