The Influence of Couple Emotional Intimacy on Job Perceptions and Work–Family Conflict

The purpose was to investigate the influence of couple emotional intimacy on job perceptions (job concerns and job rewards) and work–family conflict (both work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict). Data on 567 couples came from a subset of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development’s Study of Early Child Care taken when the target children were fifth graders. The researchers used an actor–partner interdependence model (APIM) to examine mothers’ and fathers’ couple emotional intimacy and its influence on self- and partner perceptions of job concerns and job rewards as well as work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict. Both mothers’ and fathers’ couple emotional intimacy predicted fewer job concerns, more job rewards, less work-to-family conflict, and less family-to-work conflict for her- and himself. No partner effects were found in the model.