Emerging adulthood is a formative phase of development when women’s expectations of success can influence their opportunities for mastery experiences in career and family domains. Women prioritize varying life roles (career, family, and relationships) and these roles potentially intersect with the conflict between work and family that women forecast for their future selves. We used a social cognitive career theory framework to examine how anticipated work-family conflict impacts self-efficacy beliefs. Specifically, we examined whether anticipated work-family conflict moderated the association between women’s life role salience and self-efficacy beliefs. Results indicated that across all salient life roles, higher levels of anticipated work-family conflict were associated with lower self-efficacy beliefs, but contrary to hypotheses, there was no evidence of moderation. Demographic factors also explained significant amounts of variance in self-efficacy. Results suggest that maximizing opportunities for self-efficacy can contribute to women’s sense of achievement and fulfillment in multiple life domains.
AmateaE. S.CrossE. G.ClarkJ. E.BobbyC. L. (1986). Assessing the work and family role expectations of career-oriented men and women. Journal of Marriage and Family, 48(4), 831–838. http://doi.org/10.2307/352576
2.
ArnettJ. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist, 55(5), 469–480. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.5.469
3.
ArnettJ. J. (2016). Does emerging adulthood theory apply across social classes? National data on a persistent question. Emerging Adulthood, 4(4), 227–235. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696815613000
4.
ArnettJ. J.MitraD. (2018). Are the features of emerging adulthood developmentally distinctive? A comparison of ages 18–60 in the United States. Emerging Adulthood, 216769681881007. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696818810073
BanduraA. (2005). The evolution of social cognitive theory. In SmithK. G.HitM. A. (Eds.), Great minds in management (pp. 9–35). Oxford University Press.
CarrollJ. S.WilloughbyB.BadgerS.NelsonL. J.McNamara BarryC.MadsenS. D. (2007). So close, yet so far away: The impact of varying marital horizons on emerging adulthood. Journal of Adolescent Research, 22(3), 219–247. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558407299697
9.
ChenG.GullyS. M.EdenD. (2001). Validation of a new general self-efficacy scale. Organizational Research Methods, 4(1), 62–83. https://doi.org/10.1177/109442810141004
10.
CinamonR. G. (2006). Anticipated work-family conflict: Effects of gender, self-efficacy, and family background. Career Development Quarterly, 54, 202–215. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-0045.2006.tb00152.x
11.
CinamonR. G. (2010). Anticipated work-family conflict: Effects of role salience and self-efficacy. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 38(1), 83–99. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069880903408620
12.
CinamonR. G.RichY. (2002). Gender differences in the importance of work and family roles: Implications for work-family conflict. Sex Roles, 47, 531–541. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022021804846
13.
CoyleE. F.LeerE. VanSchroederK. M.FulcherM. (2015). Planning to have it all: Emerging adults’ expectations of future work-family conflict. Sex Roles, 72(11–12), 547–557. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-015-0492-y
14.
ErdoganI.OzcelikH.BaggerJ. (2019). Roles and work–family conflict: How role salience and gender come into play. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 32(8), 1778–1800. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2019.1588346
15.
EriksonE. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. W. W. Norton.
16.
LapourA. S.HeppnerM. J. (2009). Social class privilege and adolescent women’s perceived career options. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 56(4), 477–494. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017268.supp
17.
LentR. W.BrownS. D. (2019). Social cognitive career theory at 25: Empirical status of the interest, choice, and performance models. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 115, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2019.06.004
18.
LentR. W.BrownS. D.HackettG. (1994). Toward a unifying social cognitive theory of career and academic interest, choice, and performance. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 1, 79–122. https://doi.org/10.1006/jvbe.1994.1027
19.
MayselessO.KerenE. (2014). Finding a meaningful life as a developmental task in emerging adulthood: The domains of love and work across cultures. Emerging Adulthood, 2(1), 63–73. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696813515446
NelsonL. J.BarryC. M. N. (2005). Distinguishing features of emerging adulthood the role of self-classification as an adult. Journal of Adolescent Research, 20(2), 242–262. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558404273074
22.
NoorN. M. (2004). Work-family conflict, work- and family-role salience, and women’s well-being. Journal of Social Psychology, 144(4), 389–406. https://doi.org/10.3200/SOCP.144.4.389-406
23.
SchwartzS. J.ZamboangaB. L.LuyckxK.MecaA.RitchieR. A. (2013). Identity in emerging adulthood: Reviewing the field and looking forward. Emerging Adulthood, 1(2), 96–113. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696813479781
24.
SmoktunowiczE.CieslakR.DemeroutiE. (2017). Interrole conflict and self-efficacy to manage work and family demands mediate the relationships of job and family demands with stress in the job and family domains. Anxiety, Stress and Coping, 30, 485–497. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2017.1329932
WeerC. H.GreenhausJ. H.Nihal ColakogluS.FoleyS. (2006). The role of maternal employment, role-altering strategies, and gender in college students’ expectations of work-family conflict. Sex Roles, 55(7), 535–544. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-006-9107-y
