THE OTHER SIDE: OCCUPATIONAL INTERACTIONAL REQUIREMENTS AND WORK-HOME ENRICHMENT

We examine how occupational interactional requirements influence work-home enrichment. We conceptualize "occupational interactional requirements" as restorative properties of jobs that provide employees with resources that they transfer to the home domain. We identify two manifestations of work-home enrichment: (1) through objective indicators of how employees allocate their time at home, and (2) through employees' perceptual reflections of their work-home enrichment. In terms of objective indicators, our results indicate that employees transfer these resources by spending more time in resource-draining activities such as caring for family, and less time in resource-replenishing activities such as socializing and relaxing. This suggests that occupational interactional requirements facilitate a reallocation of time in the home domain. In terms of perceptual reflections, we observe that occupational interactional requirements spark employees' vitality, which, in turn, enriches their life at home. Our results attest to considering workplace interactions as resource-replenishing features of jobs that provide benefits across the work-home interface.