© Academy of Management Journal

2009, Vol. 52, No. 4, 704-730.

BALANCING BORDERS AND BRIDGES: NEGOTIATING THE

WORK-HOME INTERFACE VIA BOUNDARY WORK TACTICS
GLEN E. KREINER
The Pennsylvania State University

ELAINE C. HOLLENSBE
University of Cincinnati

MATHEW L. SHEEP
Illinois State University

We investigated how people manage boundaries to negotiate the demands between

work and home life. We discovered and classified four types of boundary work tactics
(behavioral, temporal, physical, and communicative) that individuals utilized to help
create their ideal level and style of work-home segmentation or integration. We also
found important differences between the generalized state of work-home conflict and
"boundary violations," which we define as behaviors, events, or episodes that either
breach or neglect the desired work-home boundary. We present a model based on two
qualitative studies that demonstrates how boundary work tactics reduce the negative
effects of work-home challenges.

"Balance" between work and home lives is place in the modern organization (Kossek & Lam-
a much sought after but rarely claimed state of bert, 2005; Poelmans, 2005a). Clearly, more is
being. Work-family researchers have successfully known now about the interaction between
encour- aged organizations, families, and work and home, yet significant knowledge gaps
individuals to recognize the importance of remain. Also, "the workplace" is no longer
tending to their needs for balance. Over 30 years necessarily a discrete physical location, a
ago,theKanter
of "myth(1977) spoke worlds" and called atten-
of separate circumstance
ing a need for suggest-
understanding more complex
tion to the reality that work and home are inexora- work- interactions. Today, technology has
home
bly linked. Yet, she argued, organizations are often brought changes to the ways people work,
profound
structured in such a way that their leadership for- with
boundaryless organizations, virtual
gets or ignores employees' outside lives. Although workspaces,
and the potential for constant wireless
organizational leaders and managers generally tend connection
to one's work.
more to employees' nonwork needs than they did What do scholars know so far about the
when Kanter wrote her landmark work, struggles to interac-
tion between work and home? Much of the
balance work and home demands are still common- atten-
tion in this field over the past few decades
has
focused on documenting the clashes between
work
and home demands, with "work-family
conflict"
being a key operationalization of this tension.
We express our gratitude to Blake Ashforth, Bill
Crad- dock, Gay Jennings, and our colleagues at the Over
of Cincinnati and Penn State for their insights on this 180 academic
work-family articlesusing
conflict havediverse
been samples
published
project. We are also indebted to AMJ editor Sara Rynes from
over a dozen countries (MacDermid, 2005).
and our anonymous reviewers for their developmental Work-
family conflict has been linked with such
feedback throughout the review process. We also thank undesir-
able outcomes as stress, turnover,
our research participants, whose graciousness and gen- absenteeism,
erosity with their time provided the bedrock for our burnout,
life and dissatisfaction
(Edwards & Rothbard, 2000;with job, family,
Kreiner,
findings. An earlier version of this work received the Best 2006;
Parasuraman & Greenhaus, 2002; Rice, Frone,
Conference
Behavior PaperinAward
Division 2006, from the AOMwere
and portions Organizational
presented &
McFarlin, 1992). Recent work (e.g., Kreiner, 2006)
at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the Society for Industrial
has used the term "work-home conflict" (as
op-
posed to "work-family conflict") to cast a wider
and Organizational Psychology; we appreciate the feed-
back received from our audience members at those net include a broader array of individuals and
and
pre- sentations. This project was funded in part by life
The
CREDO Institute, Inc. circumstances,
as and work-home
well. We define we adopt this later as a
conflict
subset
704
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 720 Academy
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of role conflict (Van Sell, Brief, & Schuler, 1981) we refer the reader to some recent, thorough com-
and as a generalized state of tension that results pendia and literature reviews (e.g., Eby, Casper,
from incompatible expectations and challenges as- Lockwood, Bordeaux, & Brinley, 2005; Frone, 2003;
sociated with work and home. Kossek & Lambert, 2005; Parasuraman & Green-
We agree with previous researchers that studying haus, 2002; Poelmans, 2005a.) Given our concern
this conflict is important. Yet researching this out- with unearthing actionable advice, we then de-
come alone can take the field only so far toward cided to follow the stream of research that frames
understanding achieving balance. As Stroh noted, the work-home interface as a "socially constructed"
"While we now better understand the problems boundary between the life domains of work and
surrounding work-life integration, we are far from home. This approach offered considerable promise,
providing the necessary solutions to create a sense as it identifies tactics individuals can utilize; it
of work-life equilibrium" (2005: xvii). Hence, we provides actionable knowledge that can empower
must better understand how organizations and in- individuals by acknowledging the control they
dividuals adapt to and manage these conflicts. have over how they experience, interpret, and
However, to date, research looking for solutions has shape the world (Clark, 2000; Nippert-Eng, 1996).
focused more on the organizational level rather The social construction approach contrasts starkly
than the individual level, with an emphasis on with other work-home theories and approaches
studying human resource policies (such as flex- that treat the individual as a passive reactor to
time, family-friendly benefits, etc.) and other mac- environmental conditions. Instead, with the social
rolevel variables (Stebbins, 2001). This research construction approach, the individual is an active
has been disappointing, showing very mixed re- agent in the "co-construction" of boundaries in ne-
sults and often a limited impact of policies on gotiated interaction with others. One's work-home
employees' lives (Kossek & Lambert, 2005). Recent boundary, its features, and its ascribed meanings
work has therefore begun to refocus attention on are crafted as an ongoing, "situated" accomplish-
individual-level processes; flexibility enactment ment, meaning they are negotiated and transformed
theory (Kossek, Lautsch, & Eaton, 2005) and deci- through social interactions and practices among
sion process theory (Poelmans, 2005b) exemplify various actors over time. Within the social con-
this research trend. However, research on the work- struction tradition is a particularly useful lens for
home interface at the individual level tends to ex- studying work-home relations: boundary theory.
amine stable and/or difficult-to-change variables,
such as personality and demographic differences
(see Byron [2005] and Eby, Casper, Lockwood, Bor- Boundary Theory
deaux, and Brinley [2005] for reviews). A clear Boundary theory focuses on the ways in which
weakness of most of the approaches that study con- people create, maintain, or change boundaries in
flict is that they do not offer actionable knowledge order to simplify and classify the world around
or guidance to either the individuals or the manag- them (Ashforth, Kreiner, & Fugate, 2000). Boundary
ers seeking to improve work-home balance or ame- theory has been applied in diverse contexts-in-
liorate stress. Actionable knowledge allows indi- cluding art, architecture, psychology, political sci-
viduals "to make informed choices about practical ence, organization theory, and anthropology-and
problems and to implement solutions to them ef- has been used successfully to answer a wide variety
fectively" (Cummings & Jones, 2003: 2). Clearly, of research questions, including those dealing with
individuals play a crucial role in affecting work- role transitions (Ashforth et al., 2000); the healthi-
home outcomes; they are not mere automatons re- ness of interpersonal relationships (Katherine,
acting helplessly to the pressures around them. 1991); and the interface between individual and
Hence, we sought to (1) better understand the chal- organizational identity (Kreiner, Hollensbe, &
lenges associated with balancing work and home Sheep, 2006). In general, boundaries delimit the
and (2) explore what steps individuals take to im- perimeter and scope of a given domain (e.g., a role,
prove their work-home balance, even amid less- a country, a home, a workplace). Boundaries can be
than-ideal working conditions. constructed along a continuum from "thin" (weak)
to "thick" (strong). Thin/weak boundaries are "per-
WORK AND HOME INTERFACE meable" (open to influence) and "integrating"
(prone to merging aspects of categories), whereas
With these broad goals in mind, we first re- thick/strong boundaries are "impermeable" (closed
searched numerous conceptualizations and theo- to influence) and "segmenting" (prone to dividing
retical lenses regarding work-home balance. As it is aspects of categories) (Ashforth et al., 2000; Hart-
beyond the scope of this article to review them all, mann, 1991).
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In her landmark study on work-home relations, environment. Much as Bouchikhi (1998) proposed,
Nippert-Eng (1996) outlined how boundary theory structural phenomena such as boundaries are both
can provide a lens for understanding the interface the medium and outcome of interacting social pro-
between work and home. She used work and home cesses between an individual and his or her envi-
as examples of domains that can be treated as inte- ronment (cf. Giddens, 1984). According to person-
grated or segmented to varying degrees. Since environment fit theory, congruence between
boundaries are co-constructed accomplishments, individual and situational variables yields gener-
how individuals perceive their work-home bound- ally positive outcomes, such as satisfaction, and
ary vis-a`-vis others' perceptions of those incongruence produces negative ones, such as
bound- aries can be critically important. In strain and conflict (Kulka, 1979).
addition to individuals framing boundaries Although work to date has advanced understand-
differently, collec- tives can develop shared norms ing of important criteria for improving work-home
about the perme- ability of given domains (Kreiner balance, two other important areas remain unex-
et al., 2006). For example, families and workplaces plored. First, what are the dimensions of incongru-
vary in the de- gree to which they treat the work- ence for work-home boundaries? That is, with what
home boundary as permeable or impermeable. and whom can a person experience incongruence
Specific ways in which workplaces manifest their in regard to work-home boundaries? Previous work
values regarding work-home boundaries are has measured work-family congruence only at a
through programs and policies that allow highly abstract level, asking general questions
employees to negotiate these boundaries more about fit preferences in regard to the workplace in
fluidly (Rothbard, Phillips, & Du- mas, 2005). So- general instead of drilling down to various dimen-
called family-friendly programs and benefits are of sions. A greater level of specificity would have im-
growing interest and importance in human resource portant implications for both research (e.g., a more
management, and the available data show an detailed and nuanced view of the congruence pro-
expansion of these practices over the past several cesses) and practice (e.g., helping individuals target
years, despite mixed results as to whether they the sources of problems). Hence, we desired to un-
improve work-home balance (Kossek & Lambert, cover these components or aspects of incongruence.
2005; Osterman, 1995). The second unexplored area we wished to under-
Once boundaries are socially shared, they can stand better involves the effects of work-home in-
become institutionalized to the point that they are congruence. That is, how will incongruence in-
very difficult to change or erase (Zerubavel, 1991). crease conflict and reduce satisfaction? Although
Further, work and home cultures can create strong the link between incongruence and conflict has
expectations about rules, attitudes, and behaviors been established, little is known of the explanatory
that are often quite different from one another (Clark, mechanisms linking the two. Previous research has
2000). When these cultures are perceived as contrast- focused on conflict, but we sought to explore addi-
ing, their members ("cultural members") tend to con- tional potential consequences of incongruence. In
struct a psychological boundary that exacerbates other words, what important elements of the incon-
tran- sitions between them (Ashforth et al., 2000). gruence-conflict link might have gone heretofore
The interaction, strife, and negotiation at this unrecognized, and how would understanding them
boundary then become useful phenomena to shed light on work-family relations and potentially
examine. We sought to examine these boundary improve outcomes? Our desire to address these two
conflicts and to document ways that individuals unexplored areas led us to our first two research
manage the work- home boundary successfully, in questions:
response to conflict- ing demands in the workplace
Research Question 1. What are the dimensions
and at home. of work-home boundary incongruence?
Research Question 2a. What are the conse-
Incongruence between Individual quences of work-home boundary incongruence
and Environment beyond work-home conflict?
What might be at the heart of these boundary Research Question 2b. How do these conse-
conflicts? We suggest that person-environment quences interrelate?
(P-E) fit (or "congruence") theory provides an ex-
cellent framework for understanding boundary
Boundary Work
conflicts because it sets the stage for viewing
boundaries as sites of ongoing negotiation. Exam- Within the broader boundary theory arena, Nip-
ining congruence and incongruence helps one to pert-Eng (1996) coined the term "boundary work"
understand the interaction between an individual's
preferences and his or her interpretations of the
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to describe how individuals engage in the effort of Sample

constructing, dismantling, and maintaining the
work-home border. This personal boundary work To better observe the process of boundary work
occurs "within greater or lesser margins of discre- and its nuances, we studied a population that faces
tionary territory, which are set by the people and ongoing and particularly challenging boundary
situations of work and home" (Nippert-Eng, 1996: work: Episcopal parish priests. Most Episcopal
152). Through her qualitative study of laboratory priests are classified as "parish priests," meaning
workers, Nippert-Eng documented the nature of in- they work directly with a congregation of church
dividuals' boundary work and identified ways that members. Because of the intense demands their
people segment or integrate their work and home occupation makes on their time, Episcopal priests,
lives. For example, she found that some individu- like clergy of many other faiths, represent a rather
als, labeled "segmenters," kept separate calendars extreme case of difficult work-home demands. Ex-
for work and home activities and/or kept two dif- treme cases are often tremendously helpful for
ferent key rings, one for each domain. These indi- building or elaborating theory since their dynamics
viduals would rarely (if ever) bring elements of one tend to be highly visible, bringing into sharper fo-
domain into the other. In contrast, "integrators" cus the processes that can exist in other contexts
would put work and home activities on the same (Eisenhardt, 1989; Pettigrew, 1990; Pratt, Rock-
calendar, have one set of keys for work and home, mann, & Kaufmann, 2006). As Yin (1989: 21) noted,
invite work friends home for dinner, keep family the goal in studying extreme cases is to "expand
pictures on their desks at work, and so forth. Recent and generalize theories (analytic generalization)
quantitative work has documented this variance in and not to enumerate frequencies (statistical gener-
individual preferences toward segmentation or in- alization)" (1989: 21). Our sample also has more
tegration (Kreiner, 2006; Rothbard et al., 2005). In typical characteristics, promoting transferability of
this study, we sought to extend these findings by findings. For example, the vast majority of Episco-
uncovering, documenting, and classifying specific pal priests are married and live what many would
boundary work tactics. Further, we built on Kossek, consider to be "traditional" family lives; hence,
Noe, and DeMarr's (1999) admonition to examine they experience many of the same work-home de-
boundary management strategies as part of work- mands as the incumbents of most occupations. Par-
home role synthesis. With this aim, we also fol-
ish priests also engage in many prototypical man-
lowed recent calls to "focus more on 'how' and less
agerial activities, such as budgeting, hiring, firing,
on 'how much'" when studying work-home rela-
conducting meetings with stakeholders, and man-
tions (MacDermid, 2005: 36). In sum, we were in-
aging paid and volunteer staff. Further, the priests
terested in better understanding both the problem
we studied reported many similarities between
at hand and how individuals successfully navi-
their work and that of other demanding occupa-
gated the work-home boundary. Our final research
tions (e.g., physician, lawyer, business owner), in-
questions, then, were:
cluding the occupations they held prior to
Research Question 3. What boundary work tac- the priesthood.
tics do individuals employ to ameliorate the One of the members of our research team had
negative consequences of work-home boundary several years of previous research experience with
incongruence? Episcopal clergy, providing us deep knowledge
Research Question 4. What discernible patterns about the population as a starting point for our
in these tactics can be observed and used to project. We also read numerous books and articles
create a boundary work framework? on the lives and careers of priests and clergy of
several denominations to further sensitize us to the
METHODS population we were studying. In addition, during
the time of the research, all members of the re-
This work is based on two qualitative studies. search team attended and engaged in participant
Qualitative research allows for more detailed ac- observation at various conference and training ses-
counts of the processes and nuances under inves- sions for Episcopal clergy, including leadership
tigation. Few of the extant studies on work-family meetings, wellness conferences, and worship ser-
relations have used qualitative methods-approxi- vices (though none of the members of the research
mately 10 percent, according to Eby et al. (2005)- team is an Episcopalian). This background context
and recent research has called for the use of more and ongoing inquiry, coupled with the two studies
qualitative and mixed methods to study the work- described below, yielded a multimethod approach
home interface (Neal, Hammer, & Morgan, 2006).
to the project that helps to assuage the weaknesses
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that can derive from relying exclusively on one things "I wish I had learned years ago" about sep-
source of data (Alvesson, 2003). arating work and home.
For proximity of home to church, we created two
Study 1 categories: "on site," for individuals living adjacent
to or near the church (e.g., in a church-owned rec-
Study 1 was a preliminary study that spurred the tory), and "off site," for individuals living at least
design of Study 2 by offering insights into the pop- half a mile from the church in their own home.
ulation and the work-home issues its members Boundary and privacy issues for priests living in a
faced. For Study 1, we analyzed written responses rectory (which is generally adjacent to the church
to open-ended questions obtained from 220 Epis- or within a half mile of it) are often problematic
copal priests. These responses were collected as (Hill, Darling, & Raimondi, 2003). This stratifica-
part of a training program for the priests; questions tion allowed us to study a subpopulation that
for our study (dealing with the challenges and op- highly intertwines the physical location of home
portunities of work-home balance) were included and work. Interestingly, this work arrangement is
in training evaluation materials. (The training was becoming more popular, given a dramatic recent
not related to work-home balance.) Each of the increase in telecommuting, home-based busi-
authors read through all of the written responses nesses, etc., a phenomenon that suggests further
from the 220 respondents. We each independently applications for our work.
coded these responses, using a coding scheme that Responses from Study 1 also provided us with an
emerged over time, and placed portions of text (e.g., initial foundation for several themes to pursue
a phrase, sentence, or paragraph) into broad codes. more closely in Study 2. Many of the questions in
In some cases, these broad codes mirrored concepts Study 2's protocol were derived from the interest-
studied in the organizational literature (e.g., ing issues that arose during our analysis of Study 1
"stress," "support," and "role conflicts"), but in responses. For example, in response to a Study 1
many cases, codes matched the lexicon of the question ("What does well-being mean to you?"),
priests (e.g., "problem parishioners," "glass house," several priests mentioned "balance" or "bound-
and "being present"). aries." One priest noted he sought "a kind of bal-
Our primary goal with Study 1 was to sensitize ance . . . the opportunity to be productive, to play
us to work-family issues faced by the priest popu- . . . and for there to be a balance between my work
lation in order to design Study 2 more thoroughly. and my profession and my relationship with my
The broad coding system we used allowed us to family, especially my spouse," and another re-
find the major themes regarding work-life balance sponded, "I separate and have established bound-
that were important to respondents. From the anal- aries, . . . dress differently, live by day timer, re-
ysis of the written responses in Study 1, our knowl- view how many hours a week I work, do not bring
edge of the population, and consideration of possi- work home." Therefore, in Study 2 we made bal-
ble divisions that we thought could best help us ance and boundaries a major theme of the ques-
address our research questions, we determined two tions, asking priests about how they balanced de-
dimensions that appeared important in affecting mands and managed boundaries. Similarly, we
respondents' attempts to negotiate work-home coded the following Study 1 text as "problem
boundaries: (1) tenure in the priesthood and (2) parishioners": "When parishioners make really pissy
proximity of the home to church. Following theo- remarks . . . I have to be quiet and listen. . . . And
retical sampling methodology (Corbin & Strauss, then, I go home and say 'Do you know what that
2008), we were guided in this stratification (Study JERK said to me?!'" From passages such as this, we
2) by our first wave of data (Study 1). Thus, the were sensitized to the role that other people play in
sample was stratified on the two dimensions to helping or hurting the work-home boundary and
"maximize opportunities to discover variations thus made that part of our protocol in Study 2.
among concepts" (Strauss & Corbin, 1998: 202). To
study tenure, which is one way to consider the
effects of time and temporal components on behav- Study 2
ior and attitudes (McGrath, 1988), we created three For Study 2, we conducted hour-long telephone
classifications: 1-5 years, 6 -19 years, and 20 years conversations with 60 Episcopal priests. The
or more. In Study 1, many priests reported learning priests were randomly selected within the follow-
to appreciate boundaries more the longer they were ing parameters: 20 priests in each tenure group and
in the priesthood. For example, one priest reported 30 priests in each home location group, creating a
becoming "more intentional" over time about two by three matrix with 10 priests in each cell.
work-home balance, and another noted learning Forty percent of the priests in our sample were
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women. Priests were distributed over U.S. loca- Ashforth, Kreiner, Clark, & Fugate, 2007; Pratt
tions including urban, rural, and suburban commu- et al., 2006).
nities. Each author conducted one-third (20) of the To analyze each interview, we used a two-step
interviews and interviewed priests in each tenure coding system, first deriving codes inductively
group and location group. Interviews were semi- from the interviews and ultimately agreeing upon
structured; we consistently asked approximately 15 them. With coding, each word, sentence, para-
questions dealing with work-home balance and ca- graph, and passage is considered as a viable unit of
reer background (in order to have a common base of text-all or any of which can be coded. Codes are
data from all interviews), but each interviewer was short-hand terms (such as "planning," "technol-
free to pursue interesting comments and themes in ogy," and "violations" in our study) that are used to
more detail (allowing for greater depth and individ- categorize units of texts. Upon creating a new code,
uality in each interview). Questions asked appear to document its meaning and parameters we placed
in the Appendix. Each interview was tape recorded it into an emerging dictionary that built and took on
and professionally transcribed verbatim. Tran- structure throughout the coding process. In the first
scripts had an average length of 20 single-spaced step, two of the three authors (the person who had
pages and totaled 1,175 pages from all 60 conducted the interview and one other author) read
interviews. and independently coded each transcript. Each
We used grounded theory techniques (Glaser & coder read the entire transcript, marking up words,
Strauss, 1967; Strauss & Corbin, 1998) in our anal- sentences, paragraphs, and passages according to
ysis. As Strauss and Corbin noted, grounded theory the codes in the developing dictionary as well as
and other qualitative methods "can be used to un- creating new codes to fit the emerging data. Multi-
cover and understand what lies behind any phe- ple codes were placed on the same block of text
nomenon about which little is yet known. It can be when multiple phenomena were observed.
used to gain novel and fresh slants on things about In the second step, we analyzed transcripts in
which quite a bit is already known" (1990: 19). joint coding meetings, wherein the independent
Thus, we sought to expand what is known about codes were compared and the final codes to be used
the work-home interface as well as to uncover new on each transcript were determined. Three scenar-
insights into areas where research had largely been ios could occur for any given text block: (1) both
silent. We began by creating an interview protocol coders marked a certain code on the text; (2) only
that was derived from the insights gained during one coder marked a certain code on the text; (3) no
our previous research experience with the priest codes were placed on the text. In the second situ-
culture, the themes analyzed from Study 1, as well ation, the individual who did not code the text with
as sensitivity to gaps in extant literature. Having a certain code would reread the passage. If the
conducted a preliminary study, we did not assume individual agreed, then the passage was marked
a tabula rasa but used our previous learning to accordingly. If the person disagreed, a discussion
about the meaning of the text would ensue. The
guide and build our protocol (Glaser & Strauss,
noncoding author served as a "judge" whenever the
1967). Essentially, we relied on an "orienting the-
coders wanted a third set of eyes to examine a text
oretical perspective" to inform our understanding
in order to aid in the final code assignment; in these
of the complex social reality of the clergy and work-
cases, the judge would read the passage in question
home issues we were studying; as Locke pointed
(and often larger blocks of texts for context) and
out, in grounded theory, an orienting theoretical
offer an opinion on the appropriate codes. This
perspective "guides researchers in what they
discussion often produced rich opportunities for
should pay attention to but does not focus research
theory building, as the disagreements would spur
so narrowly as to exclude data whose importance dialogue about the underlying issues facing the in-
may not be recognized at the outset of a project" terviewees. Minor discrepancies (such as slightly
(2002: 20). Therefore, although we approached our shorter or longer passages coded) were resolved
setting with an orienting theoretical perspective between the two coders; the role of judge alternated
and sensitizing research questions, we remained at each joint coding session. The NVivo 2.0 soft-
open to what our respondents were telling us, iter- ware program was used to enter all codes, facilitate
atively adjusted our interpretations, and added coding links, perform text searches, and find in-
emergent codes as we analyzed their responses. stances and intersections of codes during analysis.
This type of grounded theory approach, which The coding dictionary evolved (e.g., new codes
"recognizes the mutual creation of knowledge by were added; some codes were changed) throughout
the viewer and the viewed" (Charmaz, 2000: 510), the data analysis process on the basis of iterative
has been used successfully in past research (e.g., comparisons between the newly analyzed and pre-
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viously coded data (Strauss & Corbin, 1998), as well boundary work, followed by the specific findings
as ongoing discussions among the research team related to major aspects of the model. In the model,
members. As we analyzed new transcripts, we which is presented in Figure 1, and in this Findings
merged a few codes that were found to overlap section, we illustrate that (1) individual prefer-
conceptually, and we subdivided others when we ences for work-home segmentation or integration
saw distinctive patterns emerging. The nature of combine with environmental influences (such as
this coding process made traditional interrater re- work and home climates and other individual pref-
liability tests impractical because new codes erences) to create various dimensions of work-
emerged and others were removed throughout the home boundary (in)congruence; (2) work-home
process; a full dictionary was not determined a boundary incongruence leads to boundary viola-
priori. Yet our coding process ensured that multi- tions (episodes of breaching the preferred work-
ple perspectives were offered on each transcript, home boundary) and work-home conflict; (3)
which helped alleviate bias in the analysis. After boundary violations also lead to work-home con-
coding 52 interviews, we found no new codes to flict; and (4) individuals invoke boundary work
add to the dictionary, indicating some evidence for tactics to reduce and manage incongruence, viola-
"theoretical saturation," the point at which "subse- tions, and conflict.
quent data incidents that are examined provide no
new information" (Locke, 2001: 53). To move from
the dictionary codes to the final categories (e.g., the Work-Home Boundary Incongruence
multiple types of work-home boundary incongru-
Our first research question addresses potential
ence, the various categories of boundary work strat-
dimensions of work-home boundary incongruence.
egies, etc.) and the model presented here, during
In this section, we demonstrate how individuals'
data analysis we engaged in ongoing comparisons
preferences for work-home boundaries interact
of emerging ideas from the data to identify themes
with environmental influences to create various
while remaining mindful of how and what our data
dimensions of (in)congruence.
might contribute to extant theory and vice versa,
Individual's work-home boundary
using each to inform interpretation of the other.
preferences and environmental influences. As
Although interrater reliability checking was not
mentioned, in- dividuals vary in their preferences
possible, given the emergent nature of codes during
for segmenting or integrating aspects of work and
the primary coding phase, we did engage in a sec-
home (Edwards
ondary coding process after theoretical saturation
& Rothbard, 1999; Kreiner, 2006; Nippert-Eng,
was reached to test the fidelity of our final catego-
1996). "Segmenters" prefer to keep the two do-
ries. That is, we used secondary coding to deter-
mains as separate as possible, creating and main-
mine whether "the emergent categories fit the data"
taining a boundary or "mental fence" (Zerubavel,
(Butterfield, Trevin˜ o, & Ball, 1996: 1484).
1991); "integrators," on the other hand, prefer to
Follow- ing Butterfield et al. (1996), we gave two
combine elements of both domains, essentially re-
doctoral students who were unfamiliar with the
moving boundaries between the two and blending
study a dictionary of categories that had
facets of each. Of course, most individuals are not
emerged in the study, along with passages of text
"pure types"-rather, their position on the contin-
from a represen- tative sample (43 percent) of
uum bounded by complete integration and com-
our transcripts in which each of the categories was
plete segmentation depends on the particular cir-
represented. They were instructed to write by
cumstances and individuals involved. An example
each text passage the category (from the
from our data of each preference follows:
dictionary) they believed best represented the
passage. We calculated the overall percentage of [Integration preference] I feel like my life is my life.
agreement between the two coders was .96, well It doesn't have compartments. It's not separate. I'm
above the minimal .70 threshold sug- gested clear about what my boundaries are, but . . . they are
(Cohen, 1960). pretty permeable. My husband is very understand-
ing that work is work. It's not all that scheduled and
predictable. (priest 9-F)1
FINDINGS
In this section, we provide details about several
aspects of our findings, including boundary incon- 1
Identifying numbers (1-60) are used for each inter-
gruence, the consequences of boundary incongru-
viewee. Gender is denoted by "M" for "male" and "F" for
ence, and the boundary work tactics that individu- "female." Priests 1-20 are short-tenured; 21-40 are me-
als employ in response. We now present a brief dium-tenured; and 41-60 are long-tenured. Priests 1-10,
synopsis of our grounded model of work-home 21-30, and 41-50 are on site (living in their church's
 720 Academy
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FIGURE 1
A Model of Work-Home Boundary Work
Boundary Work
Individual's Tactics
Work-Home • Behavioral
Boundary
• Temporal
Preferences
• Physical
Work-Home •
Boundary P4a Communicative P4c
(In)Congruence
Dimensions
P4b
•Family members
•Superiors Work-Home
Work-Home Conflict
•Subordinates P1a, P2 P3
Boundary
•Clients
Violations
•Occupation
• Intrusion
Environmental • Distance
Work-Home
Boundary
Influences P1b

Generalized Behavior/Event/Episode Generalized

States
State

[Segmenting preference] I kidded you when I said degree of mismatch between what an individual
that we have a moat with alligators in it around the desires regarding work-home segmentation/inte-
rectory. But there is a certain sense that there is a
gration and what the individual perceives he or she
psychological moat there. . . . I think because I've
been doing this long enough I know how to care is afforded by various aspects of the environment
about people, but not let them run all over me. I (e.g., other individuals or groups). We found five
have a good sense of boundaries. I always have. dimensions of (in)congruence: family member, su-
(priest 43-M) pervisor/superior, subordinates/staff, customers/
clients, and occupation.
Not only do individuals differ in their preference
Person-family member congruence refers to the
for integration or segmentation-there is also vari-
ation in the degree to which workplaces, homes, degree of match between an individual's boundary
and the individuals who populate them foster ei- preferences and boundaries as co-constructed by
ther an ideal or antagonistic environment for seg- others in the individual's home domain. The level
mentation or integration (Kreiner, 2006; Nippert- of congruence or incongruence on this dimension
Eng, 1996). Not all environmental influences help to could derive from relationships with children,
create what the individuals perceive as the "right" spouses, partners, elderly parents, or others resid-
level or type of segmentation (Edwards & Rothbard, ing in the home domain. Consider the following
1999; Rothbard et al., 2005). Hence, the combination example, illustrating incongruence with children:
of individual preferences and environmental influ-
ences will either match or not, a state we call work- You know my kids call sometimes, but they are
really supposed to call their dad because he is more
home boundary (in)congruence.
flexible, and he can leave work if they need to be
Dimensions of work-home boundary (in)con- picked up or something. . . . Sometimes I remind my
gruence. We define work-home boundary (in)con- kids it's like being a lifeguard. You can talk to the
gruence as a relatively stable state reflecting the lifeguard when they are not in the chair, but if the
lifeguard is in the chair, you really can't talk to
them. So sometimes I am just like, this is not a good
rectory), and 11-20, 31-40, and 51-60 are off site (living time for what you want to talk to me about, and
away from the church). there will be time to talk about it later. (priest 11-F)
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Person-superior congruence refers to the level of ual and those of whatever clientele is part of that
congruence between the boundary preferences of individual's occupation. A priest's "customers" or
an individual and the boundaries as co-constructed clientele are parishioners, and several of our inter-
by his or her superior(s). As examples, some priests viewees told stories of parishioners expecting the
had superiors (e.g., head rectors or bishops) who, priest to be available constantly (even during vaca-
because of their own inclinations toward integra- tions) for all situations, whether emergencies or
tion of work and home domains, expected the not. One respondent noted, "There have been times
priests working for them to do things that violated when people have said, 'You really should be avail-
the priest's work-home boundary preferences, such able 24/7. I don't understand why you are not.' I
as place his or her home phone number in the just say, 'The idea is to have a life that includes a
weekly bulletin; have his or her spouse attend all job rather than a job that is your life.' It's part of
church and social functions; be available for ap- policing the boundaries" (priest 48-M). Conversely,
pointments even on days off; and rearrange his or at other times stakeholders requested more segmen-
her schedule at the whim of parishioners. One tation than a priest desired. Priest 21-F told us that
priest (13-M) noted of his superior, "He doesn't her church vestry had recently informed her that
respect [my] boundaries. . . . He doesn't buy into her "two-year-old was not welcome in church,
it. . . . He sees that as a sign of laziness more than that she was disruptive. . . . She's the only kid un-
anything." der seven [in the parish]."2 The consequence of this
Conversely, some individuals were faced with highly segmenting action by the vestry was that the
superiors who preferred more segmentation of per- priest could no longer bring her child to her own
sonal and professional aspects of life. A woman sermons; either her husband or a babysitter had to
who, tellingly, disclosed to the interviewer that she tend the child. She noted, "It hit so many levels
had been nursing her baby during our phone inter- that it has been reverberating in the marriage."
view shared this vignette: Of course, not all stories were of incongruence.
Right now, I'm carrying a baby with me everywhere. Several interviewees noted that finding a congrega-
I went to a meeting at the bishop's office yesterday tion whose members shared their desired level of
with my three-month-old. On the one hand, I kind of boundary segmentation was a welcome relief. One
felt unprofessional in doing that, but on the other priest told us this story of when she was interview-
hand, I thought, well, if I can't do this in the church, ing for the job of rector at a new parish:
then there is something wrong with the church-
When I was interviewing, my two-year-old got
just feeling a little self-conscious about having both
deathly ill with croup and had to be hospitalized
of those roles at the same time. I guess right now
down here. I just ended the interview. I just said,
because my baby is so young, I'm nursing him all the
"Good-bye, I'm now a mom." I thought that was the
time-literally nursing him in the bishop's office or
end of my career in this parish because I just so
in my meetings with my rector, whatever. My rector,
definitely said, "I can't talk to you anymore. I really
he's older; he's close to retirement. He's not always
have to see what is happening with my daughter."
comfortable with that. He kind of like turns his head
They were really wonderful. They were very eager
away. He's like, "Oh, excuse me." I'm like, "No, it's
to make it work. When I would say to them, after we
okay. You don't have to. I'm not really showing any
got down here, "I thought that you would never call
skin here." (5-F)
me after that, that it was sort of the exhibition of
Person-subordinate congruence is found to the your worst fears about calling a woman with small
degree that subordinates are able to help construct children." They said, "No, it was really clear to us
that you had your priorities in order." (priest 38-F)
the desired level of segmentation or integration be-
tween work and home. One example of incongru- Person-occupation congruence, or occupational
ence was given by a priest (42-M) who told us, "My fit is, of course, an established construct in organ-
administrative assistant . . . is always buzzing me izational behavior. Desirable outcomes, such as sat-
about this, that and the other thing . . . that he could isfaction, have been linked to the correspondence
write up and wait until I get back to the office. . . . between individual preferences about an occupa-
He's the one most likely to interrupt me or annoy tion and the degree to which aspects of those pref-
me at home." Conversely, others reported that staff erences are manifest in the occupation (Converse,
members were excellent "screens" or "firewalls"
between the priest and others (such as needy pa-
rishioners), thus helping to preserve boundaries as 2
Vestries, the governing bodies of parishes, hold con-
desired. siderable power regarding operational and financial de-
Person-client congruence refers to the level of cisions; vestry meetings often involve heated debates and
congruence between the preferences of an individ- are described as often taxing.
 720 Academy
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Oswald, Gillespie, Field, & Bizot, 2004). As are As implied in our definition, we found that these
many occupations, particularly professional ones, violations could be manifest in two ways. The first,
the priesthood is replete with role expectations and and perhaps more obvious, is "intrusion," which
demands that others in the profession place upon occurs when the individual desires segmentation
incumbents. These demands can be congruent or but the violation forces an integration (Hill, Dar-
incongruent to varying degrees with the individu- ling, & Raimondi, 2003). This kind of violation
als' preferences for work-home segmentation. Our "punctures" the boundary, although usually tem-
interviewees consistently noted that the priesthood porarily. Examples from our data include phone
as an occupation makes work-home demands that calls or visits to a priest's home that were either
are greater than the average, which often creates unwanted or made at inappropriate times; ques-
work-home boundary incongruence. As one priest tions that were overly personal or probed too
(28-M) noted, "The priesthood is unique because deeply into the priest's family life; brief periods
you stand up in front of an altar and in front of God that temporarily placed extraordinary demands on
on two separate occasions, and you promise you'll the individual (such as Holy Week); job relocations
put this thing first in your life: one is when you that forced drastic changes in family life; and idio-
are married and one is when you are ordained." syncratic but extreme expectations about availabil-
Hence individuals can find greater or lesser de- ity for work. Boundary violations also occur when
grees of work-home segmentation fit from varying an individual is simply unable to prevent un-
occupations. wanted spillover from one domain to another. This
can take many forms, including negative emotions
Consequences of Work-Home and physical exhaustion. Essentially, the "intru-
Boundary Incongruence sion" boundary violation creates more integration
than is desired. The following quote from an assis-
With our second research question, we sought to tant rector demonstrates how the rector (his super-
understand the consequences of work-home bound- visor) violated the priest's desired work-home
ary incongruence and the relationship among these boundary:
consequences. In this section, we discuss two such
There was a day where [the rector] wanted to meet
consequences: boundary violations and work-home
with the new director of Christian education and
conflict. talk about this fall. She came in and I wasn't going to
Work-home boundary violations. In psychol- come in because I was on vacation. I didn't tell him
ogy, the term "boundary violation" historically has that I was going to be here [in town during a vaca-
referred to inappropriate behavior in such contexts tion]. I just wanted him to think that I was away.
as the psychiatrist-patient relationship (e.g., a psy- Then he said something that made me just slip, I
chologist having sexual relations with a client). guess, and say, "Well, oh yeah, I will be here"; and
However, the notion of boundary violation has he went, "You are going to be in town? Well then
more recently been used in the boundary theory you can come in." Then he said, "You never tell me
literature to also refer to instances in which a when you are going to be in town if you are going to
be in town because I will call you and have you do
boundary is not treated in the way an individual
something even when you are off." He does that.
prefers. For example, Katherine (1991) and Kreiner (priest 13-M)
et al. (2006) distinguished between "intrusion" and
"distance" violations. Intrusion violations consist The second kind of violation, which we label
of one's boundaries being breached, whereas dis- "distance," occurs when an individual desires in-
tance violations result from creating too much dis- tegration, but segmentation is forced. Clergy mem-
tance between entities (e.g., people, domains). We bers are particularly susceptible to this phenome-
found a similar pattern of boundary violations in non, given that they are "put on this pedestal of
our sample, but with specific regard to the work- invincibility . . . [that] also leaves them feeling
home boundary. That is, we found clear differences lonely and isolated" (Hill, Darling, & Raimondi,
between the generalized, ongoing state of work- 2003: 157). One priest told us, "I've seen this . . .
home conflict and stories from interviewees of over and over again when I was single in my last
events or episodes that violated the work-home parish. I remember the first Sunday, they had a nice
boundary in some particular way. We therefore in- reception for me after the service and everything.
troduce the term work-home boundary violation Then everybody went home and had lunch. It never
and define it as an individual's perception that a occurred to them that this is a single person; she
behavior, event, or episode either breaches or ne- doesn't have anybody to have lunch with; we
glects an important facet of the desired work-home should invite her to lunch. I was talking with a
boundary. friend of mine. . . . He said, 'Well, you have to tell
 720 Academy
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them. They won't know.'" In this instance the vio- are perceived more often than intrusion
lation involved parishioners creating too much violations.
"space" between the work and home domains for
the priest. Linking boundary violations to work-home con-
Work-home conflict. Recall that work-home con- flict. We argue that boundary violations and work-
flict is a generalized state and a subset of role con- home conflict are not independent, but rather, that
flict that results from the incompatibilities between an increase in boundary violations can lead to in-
role expectations and the consequences of such creased work-home conflict. Violations of the pre-
incompatibilities. While work-home conflict is an ferred level of segmentation can serve as repeated,
existing construct, we found two interesting nu- poignant reminders of a generalized state of con-
ances in our data: occupational demands and cy- flict, rubbing salt on the proverbial wound. Hence,
clical intensity. Many of our interviewees pointed the salience of the conflict increases with repeated
to particular structural components of the priest- violations. In the following example of this linkage,
hood as placing unusually high demands on indi- the continuing threat of interruption while on va-
viduals. These demands are not unlike those expe- cation is increased with, and the conflict made
rienced by many other individuals who see their more salient by, actual calls back to reality:
jobs as callings. As one interviewee (priest 28-M) It's funny for vacations, every vacation time that I've
noted, "I also feel that tension between work and gone away for so far this year, I've gotten called back
family. Probably anybody who has figured out what for a funeral. Like, I'm supposed to leave for vaca-
their real calling in life is has experienced a similar tion tomorrow. Somebody died earlier this week, so
tension." In addition, the experience of work-home I leave tomorrow and then I'll drive back tomorrow
conflict often followed cycles of intensity, with night, do a funeral on Saturday and then go back on
more conflict being experienced during certain pe- vacation. This summer has been vacations inter-
riods of the year, such as Easter or Christmas. rupted. I return from vacation; I've got a wedding
that weekend-the weekend that I return. So it's like
Our data also clearly suggest a linkage between
I'm boxed in on both sides. I can't help the sched-
work-home boundary incongruence and work- uling. It's been actually that way for each of the
home conflict. For example, one priest told us how three different weeks that we have gone away on
it was difficult living in church-owned housing vacation- called back for a funeral and then come
because, inevitably, there would be discrepancies back to a wedding. It's hard. (priest 16-M)
between family and parish expectations. She com-
mented that because the church paid for the utility The following example illustrates how the effects
bills, she and her husband would constantly worry: of a particular event (a vestry meeting) go far be-
"Is the heat turned up too high or is the air condi- yond the event itself and into a longer-lasting state:
tioning on too long?" She also noted, "This church Respondent: Sometimes when I come home from
really loves its property and flowers and cares for vestry meetings, I will be so depressed. Please, you
its property just lovingly and beautifully. Neither said this was all confidential.
my husband nor I are gardeners or good people
Interviewer: It surely is. Definitely.
with flowers. I've lived in fear of killing every bush
on the property-them burning me at the stake after Respondent: I'll be so depressed. I'll come home. I'll
I leave because I've destroyed their [place]" (priest have a glass of wine. I'll get in bed and my wife will
14-F). Here, the incongruence between the priest be begging me to make love to her and I'll just tell
and the parishioners is associated with a more gen- her, "No way. It is just not in the cards tonight. I'm
not able. I'm just too upset about what is happening
eralized state of ongoing tension or conflict.
in the church."
The preceding discussion leads us to the follow-
ing two propositions: Interviewer: So there is some seepage or overflow
from it?
Proposition 1. As incongruence increases, (a)
boundary violations increase and (b) work- Respondent: Oh, absolutely. (priest 12-M)
home conflict increases. We believe that the teasing apart of violations
Proposition 2. Incongruence is related to viola- from conflict represents an important and fruitful
tions in such a way that (a) when incongruence finding, as it allows researchers to examine the
reflects an individual desiring greater segmen- conflict (general state) and the violations (specific
tation, intrusion violations are perceived more events) separately and thereby understand the
often than distance violations, whereas (b) work-home balance process more fully. This could
when incongruence reflects an individual de- translate to a higher level of specificity in work-
siring greater integration, distance violations home research as well as more precise recommen-
 720 Academy
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dations. It is also important to note that not all describes these four types and gives examples from
boundary violations are created equal. We found a the data. We found evidence of these types for the
wide range of both the intensity and the reported full range of work-home boundary challenges.
frequency of violations. For example, a phone call
from a spouse or child while at work was typically
framed as a minor violation with minimal impact Behavioral Tactics
on work-home conflict, whereas more severe viola- Our interviewees engaged in social practices
tions (e.g., a drunk parishioner in the priest's living (which we have identified as behavioral tactics)
room) were more likely to affect the generalized to decrease work-home boundary incongruence,
state of conflict. Similarly, our interviewees varied boundary violations, and work-home conflict. These
in their descriptions of the frequency of violations, behavioral tactics underscored the negotiated and
with increased frequency setting the stage for stron- constructed character of the work-home boundary
ger conflict. Hence, we propose: and included using other people, leveraging tech-
nology, invoking triage, and allowing differential
Proposition 3. Boundary violations influence
permeability. Each of these tactics is outlined
the relationship between incongruence and
below.
work-home conflict in such a way that work-
Using other people. In addition to focusing on
home conflict increases as (a) the frequency of
the individual him-/herself, previous research has
violations increases and/or the (b) intensity of
argued that scholars must also examine how other
violations increases.
people affect an individual's work-home boundary
negotiation. Specifically, Clark (2000) highlighted
Boundary Work Tactics the role of "border-keepers"-the other individuals
who either help or hinder an employee's attempts
Are the negative effects of work-home boundary at work-home balance, such as spouses, children,
incongruence cast in stone? Are individuals merely coworkers, and supervisors. Our interviewees fre-
passive recipients of the less-than-ideal conditions quently mentioned people in their lives who
of incongruence? We suspected not. However, pre- helped them perform work-home boundary work.
vious research on fit and work-family relations has Recall that one priest (52-M) described staff mem-
taken a rather dire view of the effects of incongru- bers, who could answer phones, intercept in-office
ence, with its focus on reduced satisfaction and visitors, and so forth, as a "firewall" against un-
increased stress and conflict (e.g., Edwards & Roth- wanted intrusions. Another priest (23-M) told his
bard, 1999; Kreiner, 2006). Hence, as mentioned in parish administrator not to call him on his day off
our third research question, we sought to discover "unless something is on fire or someone is bleeding
how individuals could respond to incongruence in from the temples."
positive ways. We therefore asked interviewees to It's important to note here that the "other people"
describe what they did in response to work-home being used are often the very people who comprise
problems and challenges, and to provide examples a portion of the work-home boundary environmen-
of any specific tactics that they found useful in tal influences. We therefore make an important dis-
ameliorating the effects of these conflicts. We tinction: the tactic of using other people necessarily
found that individuals enacted a wide variety of constitutes an active, conscious choice to somehow
boundary work tactics in response to incongruence, utilize the resource of another individual. As op-
boundary violations, and conflict. These tactics are posed to earlier discussions of boundary influ-
the various "work-family decisions" (Greenhaus & ences, which depict other people more passively,
Powell, 2006b) that individuals make to recalibrate as merely available, this tactic illustrates how indi-
the work-home boundary negotiation. Our data viduals actually engage and use others strategi-
suggest an interesting reciprocal relationship be- cally.
tween the challenges of work-home boundaries and
Leveraging technology. Recent technological
the tactics employed-namely, that the challenges
advances have translated into new ways for the
cued the need for the tactics, and that enactment of
work and home domains to interact and into both
these tactics successfully reduced the challenges. challenges and opportunities for work-home bal-
Through our grounded theory process, we docu- ance. On the one hand, being constantly available
mented several distinct tactics. For our fourth re- to both work and family through technology can
search question, we sought to identify patterns of breed work-home conflict and boundary violations
tactics to create a boundary work framework. Four (Boswell & Olson-Buchanan, 2007); on the other
broad tactic types emerged in our data: behavioral, hand, technology can facilitate desired integration
temporal, physical, and communicative. Table 1 and work-home balance (Valcour & Hunter, 2005).
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TABLE 1
Work-Home Boundary Work Tactics

Name Description Example Situations and Quotes

Behavioral tactics
Using other people Utilizing the skills and "My wife is very good. She answers the phone and helps me to discern
availability of other whether or not it is an emergency. If it's not, she takes a message; if
individuals who can help it's my day off, for example. My church administrator, who takes all
with the work-home the calls at the church, is very good about helping me keep my
boundary (e.g., staff members boundaries up. There are also three clergy on staff here so we are able
screen calls) to share emergencies that come up. That is a great help."

Leveraging Using technology to facilitate "Well, I'll tell you one thing that has really transformed our ability to
technology boundary work (e.g., keep things separate and coordinated is a Palm Pilot. That's much
voicemail, caller ID, e-mail) better than a calendar. . . . That has really helped us."
"Caller ID is a big help with the phone calls."

Invoking triage Prioritizing seemingly urgent "I try and sort out between what I have to do, and what I should do, and
and important work and what I want to do. It is kind of a triage. You know, you have to do
home demands (e.g., pastoral what you have to do. Then sometimes what you have to do is what
emergency and childcare you want to do, but not necessarily. Then eventually you can work
emergency) down to the stuff that you want to do. . . . Like tomorrow, my kids are
in this big swim meet. I would love to be there for the swim meet. I
was supposed to have a volunteer job at it. But, a long-time member of
our parish died, and we are going to have an enormous funeral with
500 people. . . . So, there is just no question. . . . I wish I could be at
the swim meet, but I can't. On the other hand, if it was an optional
sort of 'Can you come in and do this on a Saturday?' You know I
would say, 'You know, I have this big swim meet to go to. I'll come in,
in the afternoon.'"

Allowing differential Choosing which specific aspects "I try to leave the work, the emotional and spiritual side of the work,
permeability of work-home life will or will if at all possible, at the church. So the politics and all that, I try not
not be permeable to bring that home. The actual physical stuff of letters and sermons
and correspondence and newsletters and all that stuff, the office is
just too busy of a place to be creative and concentrate. So, I tend to
do a lot of the creative work at the house, rather than in the
office. . . . I try to build an emotional wall to not bring the baggage
of the church or too much of it . . . but the actual physical work
part [is different]."

Temporal tactics
Controlling work Manipulations of one's regular "The biggest thing was to try to have some flexibility about taking
time or sporadic plans (e.g., advantage of being able to be home in the middle of the day, for
banking time from home or periods of time when there was nothing special going on in the church
work domain to be used later, building. Then trading that for times when I was obligated to be in the
blocking off segments of time, church building that maybe didn't fit in the pattern that I had kept
deciding when to do various before, of pretty much nine-to-five availability."
aspects of work) "We always return phone calls, of course. We always respond, but it's
not always when the people want. When people need, yes. There is a
big difference between what a person wants and what they actually
need."

Finding respite Removing oneself from work- "I find that increasingly on my day off, I like to get out of town just to
home demands for a change the optics. Home is a way that, even with policing the
significant amount of time boundaries, the experience of home can sort of become contaminated
(e.g., vacations, getaways, with the spillover from work. I find that just on a regular basis it is
retreats) good to get away and go someplace else. When I get up in the morning
and raise the shades in the bedroom, I'm looking across the parking lot
at my office. I'd rather be looking at [a] river or something. Yeah, there
is some contamination there."
"When I am away at my cabin, I am away and the boundary is there."
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TABLE 1
Continued

Name Description Example Situations and Quotes

Physical tactics
Adapting physical Erecting or dismantling physical This respondent made building a fence between the church and the
boundaries borders or barriers between rectory a formal part of her contract upon moving to a new parish: "I
work and home domains wanted to have a place that is private. To do that, the fence that they
are going to put up will be a white stockade fence, six feet tall, but the
last foot is going to be a lattice top so that there is privacy and some
kind of open place at the top. I imagine that we will have some really
beautiful gardens. I'm going to buy an arbor that has gates and
latticework to grow roses on. It may sound kind of silly, but I really
wanted the transition between home and work and back again to be a
point of kind of health and beauty. In my imagination, I have climbing
roses over the arbor and in the wintertime we will put Christmas
lights on it. I really want it to be clear that there is a boundary, but
that the passage back and forth is good. I have thought a lot about it."

Manipulating Creating or reducing a physical Long-term example: "You know when we moved to [this town] . . . ,
physical space distance or "no man's land" there was a house for sale right next door to the church. We
between the work and home intentionally chose not to [buy it]. . . . We intentionally chose to put
domains some distance between us and the church. That's been a good thing.
It's kind of an oasis, too. It's out in the country and so it's kind of a
very natural boundary. People don't trek out there. . . . So there is a
physical, it feels like a physical barrier, boundary between us and the
town and us and church."
Short-term example: "About three weeks ago I had a huge wedding. The
rehearsal ran three hours. . . . It was such a complicated wedding. It
was like everything but the kitchen sink, plus the kitchen sink. The
wedding itself was very long, too. So, one thing I did after the
wedding was over, I not only went home, but I said let's go out to
dinner. Like, let's literally get out of here. I didn't think anybody
would come back for any reason, but if they did, I didn't want to be
around."
Managing physical Using tangible items such as "Sometimes the mailman leaves a bundle of mail in our post box for the
artifacts calendars, keys, photos, and office and I just dump it off in the office so it doesn't come home. We
mail to separate or blend are vigilant about working in whatever way we can to prevent much
aspects of each domain cross-contamination between home and work."

Communicative tactics
Setting expectations Managing expectations in "Thursdays are sacred time. Everybody in this church knows it. I am
advance of a work-home absolutely not available unless you have just been run over by an 18-
boundary violation (e.g., wheeler. If you are headed to the emergency room, you call me, I'll be
stating preferences to parish there, but don't you call me if you want to know whether something
or family ahead of time) ought to be in the bulletin or not. Everybody knows it. I've never had
to be mean about it. I've just been real clear."

Confronting violators Telling violator(s) of work-home "Your problem parishioner, you learn to deal with that, and put your
boundaries either during or arms around that. For some people you've got to set boundaries. You
after a boundary violation need to say, 'Well, you need to make an appointment and come and
(e.g., telling a parishioner to see me. At the appointment we will talk about that.'"
stop calling at home for
frivolous reasons)

Our study confirms this notion and provides sev- also shows "using other people," the previously
eral specific ways that this facilitation can occur if mentioned tactic).
technology is actively managed. One priest told us, Several others in our sample mentioned using
for example, that he takes his cell phone on vaca- "caller ID" to screen calls during nonwork hours
tion in order to be accessible to parishioners (an and giving out their cell phone numbers to only a
integration approach) but has his wife answer the select few. One respondent chose to have an an-
phone to ascertain whether the call is important swering machine (as opposed to voice mail) so that
enough to take (a segmentation approach, which he could listen to each message while it was being
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left and pick up the phone if it was important making quick but efficient diagnoses of which cri-
and/or urgent enough. This was a noteworthy hy- sis or problem is the most important and/or the
brid of segmenting and integrating: the priest most likely to be fixed, then acting accordingly.
wanted to integrate enough to be able to meet pa- Our term for this tactic derived from the following
rishioners' needs but also wanted to segment respondent's comments:
enough to keep nonemergencies out of the home.
Asking parishioners and staff members to use e- I try and sort out between what I have to do, and
what I should do, and what I want to do. It is kind of
mail instead of telephone calls gave several priests
a triage. You know, you have to do what you have to
more flexibility as to when requests could be met. do. Then sometimes what you have to do is what
Some interviewees created multiple e-mail accounts, you want to do, but not necessarily. Then eventually
one for personal use, the other for parishioners to you can work down to the stuff that you want to do.
use. One respondent noted his Palm Pilot had a That comes down to, like tomorrow my kids are in
profound effect on his work-home integration, this big swim meet. I would love to be there for the
saying it "has really transformed our ability to keep swim meet. I was supposed to have a volunteer job
things separate and coordinated." He went on to say: at it. But, a long-time member of our parish died,
and we are going to have an enormous funeral with
That's much better than a calendar. We just got that 500 people, and the rector is on vacation. So, there is
six months ago. That has really helped us. One of just no question. . . . It's ongoing triage. . . . You
the things that I do is I schedule in time for my wife know, it's a situation-by-situation thing, who gets
on my calendar. There are times that she and I know the most attention. (priest 11-F)
we will have together. We work very hard at that.
My days off, I try to keep as my days off. One of the Part of the efficacy of the triage tactic is having a
main things is that I really try to be attentive to my basic priority set established before the crisis. Sev-
scheduling. I make plenty of time for my priest eral of our interviewees offered hierarchies or peck-
work, but I also put in a lot of time for my wife. I ing orders for their priorities in life that they used
respect those times. as guidelines in making on-the-spot decisions
Interviewer: You do all your scheduling on that one about where to spend their time and energy. For
Palm Pilot? example, one priest told us:
Respondent: I do. (priest 8-M) Family has always been important. From the outset
of my ministry when I would interview with par-
Invoking triage. Part of modern living, and an
ishes, I would always inform them up front that my
inherent part of the work-home struggle, is not priorities were God, family and church, in that or-
merely balancing multiple demands, but manag- der. So, I would try to set the expectation that some-
ing multiple simultaneous demands (Hochschild, times family is going to be more important than the
1997). These conflicts can be known in advance parish. It is interesting that every parish I have gone
(such as having an important personal event sched- into, it's always been the expectation that clergy will
uled at the same time as an important work event) drop everything for a parish need or demand. That's
or can emerge suddenly. Many occupations (the been a tough stream to fight against. . . . I would
priesthood certainly included) contain elements of have to fight for family time and family priorities,
urgency, as deadlines must be met, clients must be first. I coached, for years, my daughter in soccer. I
tried to make all my son's concerts and his activities
satisfied, or emergencies must be dealt with. Simi-
and when he was playing sports. Sometimes that
larly, demands from the home domain are often meant that I wasn't always available for something
urgent and important, such as children or elderly in the parish. (priest 27-M)
parents becoming ill, or cars breaking down. Indi-
viduals must therefore choose which domain Allowing differential permeability. Any given
(work or home) will receive attention when both border can be treated in different ways by different
domains are salient and pressing. The limited people. For example, different individuals in the
empirical work in this area has demonstrated that same home domain (e.g., a husband and wife) can
individuals are able to prioritize work-family vary in the permeability they invoke for that do-
demands by "in- tentional allocation decisions" main, creating "asymmetrically permeable bound-
(Edwards & Roth- bard, 2000), and that role aries" (Pleck, 1977). Previous research has demon-
pressure, role salience, and role support each factor strated differences in the direction of permeability
into a person's mental calculus (Greenhaus & (e.g., allowing permeability from home to work, but
Powell, 2003; Hill, Darling, not vice versa) (Hill, Darling, & Raimondi, 2003;
& Raimondi, 2003). We uncovered a strategy for Speakman & Marchington, 2004). Kossek et al.
dealing with such conflicts that we termed "invok- noted that future work-home research should "ex-
ing triage." amine the implications of integrating on some parts
Like medical triage, work-home triage involves
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of the boundary but not others" (2005: 257). Our sense? . . . That sounds rather exclusive. It's really
data reveal an important step in this direction. Spe- not. As with any priest, there are some pastoral
cifically, we documented ways that individuals can circumstances and people that are quite needy and
both segment and integrate their work and home require a lot of care. They don't have access to my
domains. This is an important step, because previ- family or to my house. We made the boundaries,
draw the boundaries pretty clear when it comes to
ous research has primarily examined very general
that. At the same time, we sponsor a newcomers'
tendencies toward integrating or segmenting, rather party at our house once a quarter because we want
than exploring the nuances bound to exist within people to know that we are accessible. So we try to
individuals (Kreiner, 2006). We call this phenom- do both things. (priest 40-M)
enon "allowing differential permeability" because
individuals discriminate about precisely what will The elaboration of processes behind this tactic is
or will not pass through the work-home boundary, particularly important for theory building in the
as well as which direction (work-to-home or home- work-home research area. Previous research too of-
to-work) passage is allowed. ten has oversimplified the way individuals manage
One area in which this was most evident was that the work-home boundary as either segmenting or
the priests tended to be careful to choose in what integrating. Yet we found ample evidence that
aspects of the ministry they involved their spouses many individuals are not only capable of, but pre-
and family. For example, many of our interviewees fer, a mixture of both. This finding suggests that
said they do not use family stories or vignettes in future research should continue to tease out differ-
their sermons, yet their family members are deeply ences in the dimensions or criteria people use to
involved in the work of the church. The difference? decide what aspects of life to integrate or segment.
In the former case (the priest bringing in family
examples to the sermon), involvement of family
violates family members' volition or privacy,
Temporal Tactics
whereas in the latter case, family members choose
their involvement. (Interestingly, other priests, Today's society makes temporal challenges partic-
however, specifically mentioned how they con- ularly salient for the modern worker, including
sciously chose to use those family stories in their clergy (Hill, Darling, & Raimondi, 2003; Hochschild,
sermons, and cited doing so as a benefit of integrat- 1997). Technological and competitive trends,
ing home with work.) Another example occurring changes in the nature of professional work,
frequently in our data deals with the aforemen- increasing workloads, and shifting expectations
tioned "pastoral emergencies," those crises needing about how time is spent all affect work-home
a priest's immediate attention (such as a death or balance and its pursuit (Milliken & Dunn-Jensen,
serious accident). These emergencies were often 2005). Individuals can make strategic choices about
cast as acceptable exceptions to otherwise strong the temporal issues surrounding work, such as
segmentation norms, making them a kind of trump when and how much time to devote to it (Moen
card to typical boundary management tactics. Inter- & Sweet, 2003). Our grounded theory ap- proach
estingly, the aforementioned tactic of invoking tri- yielded multiple boundary work strategies that
age can be used in tandem with differential perme- dealt with time and how individuals manipulate it.
ability; it is often during such crisis modes that We categorized these into two broad tactics that
individuals make finer-grained distinctions about reflect both short- and long-term strategies collec-
what can and what cannot puncture the work-home tively: controlling work time and finding respite.
boundary. At the heart of differential permeability Controlling work time. Like many other profes-
is that the individual is consciously choosing sions, the priesthood is replete with demands on
which aspects of work and home to integrate, and job incumbents' time. Managing this time, there-
which to segment, and then acting accordingly. fore, becomes crucial to professional success and
In the example below, a respondent discusses personal satisfaction. We documented several ways
how he decides to enact differential permeability that priests controlled their work time and how that
and follows up that decision with a behavioral reduced boundary violations and/or work-home
response. We also found examples of interviewees conflict. One approach involved manipulating
consciously choosing to create boundary perme- one's schedule to maximize time with family. This
ability distinctions among emotional, spiritual, and often meant creating and utilizing "blocks" of time
physical aspects of their work. that met both work and home schedules' demands.
One version of this manipulation was enacted for
We don't just open the door [at home] for anybody fairly regular scheduling, and another dealt with
that decides they want to show up. Does that make special occasions or sporadic but important events.
For example:
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The biggest thing was to try to have some flexibility time off from their ministry. Consider the following
about taking advantage of being able to be home in example of a seemingly simple recommendation
the middle of the day, for periods of time when there
from a long-tenured priest:
was nothing special going on in the church building.
Then trading that for times when I was obligated to Interviewer: What would you recommend to a brand
be in the church building that maybe didn't fit in the new priest about balancing work and family?
pattern that I had kept before, of pretty much nine-
to-five availability. That had been given attention in Respondent: Well, I guess the way I deal with it is
the past, because of course, there were lots of when I'm beginning to feel like I'm not up to date on
evening and weekend church duties that didn't fit my personal life, whether it's taking care of my yard
into the nine-to-five, and made my spouse mad. or taking care of my finances or spending time with
Now there is a way that I can give on that where I my wife or something, then you need to just stop
still have those evening and weekend duties, but I'm and say, "I just need to find two days where I can get
also much more accessible and available for short caught up." In other words, just pay as much atten-
periods of time during the day when there's nothing tion to your own stuff as you do to everybody else's.
particular going on at church. Again, I'm learning to I can tell when I've gone too many days in a row and
do a very new thing here, but so far to the extent that too many evening meetings and all of a sudden I
I've tried to do that, it's worked well. (priest 28-M) look at my desk at home and I haven't filed anything
or my wife and I haven't gone out or anything. I just
Another common tactic involved "banking" time know that I have to just say, "No, I'm going to do
from one domain to be used later. For example, if a something different for the next two days, if I can."
respondent had to work on a night normally re- I think that works for me. It's like an alarm goes off
served for family, he or she would bank that time and I say, "No, I've worked for the Lord enough. I'm
and take it out of work time later. This created a going to work for me for two days." (priest 51-M)
temporal equilibrium so that one domain did not To use this temporal tactic successfully, the
suffer (over the long term) at the expense of the priests had to leave the city where they lived. A day
other. Flextime programs in many organizational off or a meaningful vacation was impossible unless
contexts can facilitate this tactic. Another way that a certain physical distance was established. Later,
priests controlled their temporal boundaries was in we will discuss the tactic of creating physical space
being firm about certain days or hours that they between home and work, which is also often used
would not work. One noted (priest 14-F), "I'm clear with the finding respite tactic. However, physical
about my boundaries at work in terms of when it is distance is not required for respite, nor is it a guar-
my day off. I prefer not to be called, unless it is an antee for respite. For example, even though some
absolute emergency and no one else can be priests pursued a finding respite strategy, work re-
reached." Our interviewees also mentioned choos- sponsibilities continued to tug at them, as this story
ing when to perform work tasks, a choice that was demonstrates:
viewed as empowering and particularly important
in an occupation that is often viewed as "on call One of the struggles I have had is, what do I do [for
the funeral] if I'm away and someone dies? I'm on
24/7."
vacation. Should I come back? Should I have bound-
Finding respite. Taking breaks from work, along aries? Last summer this woman . . . kept saying, "I'm
with other recovery mechanisms, can have positive going to die when you're away. I just know it."
benefits for work engagement and overall well-be-
ing (Sonnentag, 2003). Our data showed that these And I said "Oh, no, you're not." And sure enough-
she did.
breaks could ameliorate work-home conflict as well
as create a reprieve from the opportunities for You know, I didn't come back, and I had arranged
boundary violations. A temporal boundary work for another priest to do [the funeral]. People haven't
tactic we documented dealt specifically with the complained, but inside I wonder a little bit if I
priests' need to remove themselves from the work should have come back. It's interesting talking to
people. They'll say, "Well, I don't think you should
domain for significant amounts of time. In our sam-
come back," and then they'll say, "but I would want
ple, the time needed varied from as little as one or
you to come back." (priest 16-M)
two days to sabbaticals of one year. Though at first,
one day might not seem like a significant amount of One way to accomplish respite involves the in-
time, for many of the priests we spoke with, carving dividual leaving both the work and home domains.
out one or two full days seemed to them a difficult Unlike most other tactics, it removes the individual
task, and one that they sometimes congratulated from both domains rather than from just one or the
themselves for achieving. This was particularly ev- other. Yet, in most instances of this tactic, family
ident as later-career priests reflected on their early members were present as part of the respite, con-
careers, noting they had often felt guilty for taking sequently bringing some of the demands of the
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home domain along. For those with highly inte- a white stockade fence, six feet tall, but the last foot
grated lives (in our sample, this was often the is going to be a lattice top so that there is privacy and
priests who lived on site in a rectory), truly leaving some kind of open place at the top. I imagine that we
necessarily meant leaving both domains, as this will have some really beautiful gardens. I'm going to
comment illustrates: buy an arbor that has gates and latticework to grow
roses on. It may sound kind of silly, but I really
I find that increasingly on my day off, I like to get wanted the transition between home and work and
out of town just to change the optics. Home is a way back again to be a point of kind of health and beauty.
that, even with policing the boundaries, the experi- In my imagination, I have climbing roses over the
ence of home can sort of become contaminated with arbor and in the wintertime we will put Christmas
the spillover from work. I find that just on a regular lights on it. I really want it to be clear that there is a
basis it is good to get away and go someplace else. boundary, but that the passage back and forth is
When I get up in the morning and raise the shades in good. (priest 20-F)
the bedroom, I'm looking across the parking lot at
my office. I'd rather be looking at the Potomac River Interestingly, this example once again shows the
or something. Yeah, there is some contamination complexity of the integration-segmentation contin-
there. (priest 49-M) uum: she wanted elements of both integration and
segmentation to be physically manifested in the
fence, and she invoked a boundary work tactic to
Physical Tactics
improve the congruence between her preferences
The physical and anthropological characteristics and environment. Further, it illustrates the power
of the work-home interface have shifted many of the social construction approach to understand-
times throughout history (Richardson, 2006). Over ing the work-home interface by showing how the
a century ago, "the workplace" was typically one's meaning of this physical artifact as a work-home
home or farm; the industrial revolution shifted the boundary is not inherent in the object, but is in-
location of much work away from home to factories stead a product of the priest's perceptions about
and offices. In the current cultural climate, many and intentions for it. Otherwise, it is merely a
have returned to the working-at-home model (e.g., wooden artifact with flowers growing on it.
telecommuters, entrepreneurs), while others still In another example of physical boundaries, one
keep workplace and home as separate physical en- priest described the awkwardness he felt in living
tities. Physical boundaries might be a wall, a com- next to the church:
mute distance, a window, a door, or a line. Yet,
The weird thing is that I'm in the back of the rectory
despite the tangible or "real" feel of physical
that is adjacent to the parking lot and someone
boundaries and objects, our data suggest that they comes by the church, let's say just coming by to pick
can be manipulated both literally and metaphori- something and drop something. There is that awk-
cally, which is consistent with our social construc- wardness. Do they stop? Do they wave to me? Do
tion lens. We documented three primary ways this they stop in and chat? Do I feel it incumbent on me
can be done: by adapting physical boundaries, ma- to say, "Hi, how are you?" That whole social ill ease.
nipulating physical space, and managing physical (priest 30-M).
artifacts.
In direct response to this dilemma, the priest had a
Adapting physical boundaries. Physical bound-
fence built between the church and the rectory. He
aries, which involve the where of the work-home
noted,
interface, were often built or used to create a sepa-
ration of work and home, or dismantled to create [Now] you can go out the back door and sit in the
integration between work and home. Some priests back and not see the church. That's nice. . . . I just
who lived next to their churches created physical felt like having privacy. My teenager daughter wants
barriers between rectory (home) and church (work). to sit outside with her friends in their bathing
One priest who was about to move into a home suits. . . . With the fence, you don't have to deal with
adjoining the church building described how she it. I hear a car go by, but I don't have to see who it is.
was building a high fence and gate with a garden Note the multifunctionality of this tactic, as the
between the church and the house. She wanted to building of a fence helped reduce all three work-
walk through a "physical barrier" as she went to home boundary challenges: incongruence was re-
and from work. In her words: duced by bringing personal preferences more in
Part of the great thing is going to be being so close, line with the environment, and the potential for
but part of the hard thing is going to be so close, too. boundary violations as well as the generalized dis-
So, I wanted to have a place that is private. To do comfort associated with work-home conflict were
that, the fence that they are going to put up will be reduced.
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Although these examples illustrate the creation use physical artifacts (often subconsciously) as
of physical boundaries, several other interviewees ways to negotiate the work-home border. The
in our study described ways that they tried to re- power of the artifacts as cues or signals is shown in
duce the impact of physical boundaries between this example: "My children are young so I will
work and home. Typically, these priests desired often take off at 3:00 p.m. to go to ballet or soccer or
greater integration of their work and home lives, baseball or whatever and then come back and work
and they dismantled or lessened physical bound- in the evening. Even my two-year-old knows when
aries to achieve that goal. For example, several I put on a collar that I'm going to a meeting" (priest
interviewees spoke of inviting parishioners to their 21-F).
homes for socials, dinners, meetings, and parties in We found specific examples of many types of
order to blur the boundary between their homes artifacts being used instrumentally, which was con-
and the church building. sistent with previous observational work on artifact
Manipulating physical space. In addition to ma- use (Nippert-Eng, 1996). For example, some people
nipulating the actual physical boundaries between put all events on one calendar, and others had
work and home, individuals can manipulate the separate calendars for home and work. Some indi-
space between these domains as well. Those desir- viduals used one key ring for all doors and func-
ing greater segmentation increased the space be- tions; others used separate key rings for work and
tween work and home, whereas those desiring home. Postal mail was also a physical artifact that
greater integration decreased the space. One note- some of our interviewees consciously managed,
worthy bifurcation that we observed in these data is such as by (dis)allowing work-related mail to come
that this tactic can be used as part of long-term to the home. One priest (49-M) who lived adjacent
planning or as a short-term response to an imme- to his church explained how he dealt with having a
diate problem. The following example demon- shared mailbox that received both personal and
strates the former, as a priest creates a physical work mail: "Sometimes the mailman leaves a bun-
distance between the work and home domains by dle of mail in our post box for the office and I just
choosing to live farther away from the church dump it off in the office so it doesn't come home.
building. (This is a dilemma for some parish We are vigilant about working in whatever way we
priests, as occasionally, parishes give priests the can to prevent much cross-contamination between
choice of living in church-owned property or in home and work."
their own home.) In his words:
You know when we moved [here], there was a house Communicative Tactics
for sale right next door to the church. We intention-
ally chose not to [buy it]. . . . We intentionally chose The final of our four boundary work tactic clas-
to put some distance between us and the church. sifications consists of communicative strategies,
That's been a good thing. It's kind of an oasis, too. which include setting expectations and confronting
It's out in the country and so it's kind of a very violators.
natural boundary. People don't trek out there. Even Setting expectations. The majority of the priests
though it is six miles, people think that is in the next we interviewed found managing expectations to be
county because you have to go out into the country. a helpful technique in balancing work-home de-
So there is a physical, it feels like a physical barrier, mands. One priest (53-M) commented that parish-
boundary between us and the town and us and
ioners are "looking for a clue from us as to what is
church. It really, yeah, is a natural barrier, but it
hasn't proved to be a problem. It's not far enough appropriate and what is not" and therefore he had
away that if somebody is at the emergency room, it's "chosen, and very intentionally, to communicate a
still just 12 minutes to the emergency room. It hasn't sense of boundary." Communicating expectations
impeded the ministry. It's been a nice thing. (priest typically meant outlining preferences regarding the
40-M) work-home boundary to important stakeholders
such as spouse, children, staff members, parishio-
Managing physical artifacts. Artifacts-the ners, and vestry. This tactic could involve nuanced
physical representations of cultures-are ubiqui- signals, or direct conversations or church bulletin
tous in organizational life (Rafaeli & Pratt, 2006). announcements, and it involved communication
Artifacts are visually salient, typically tangible before a violation of the work-home boundary had
markers that serve as cues about a culture, a do- occurred (in contrast to our next code, "confronting
main, or an identity (Elsbach, 2004). Artifacts can violators"). The following example illustrates the
be found in, and come to symbolize, both work and importance of sending clear boundary messages as
home domains. In her original study on boundary well as the linkage between tactic usage and re-
work, Nippert-Eng (1996) found that individuals duced boundary violations:
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The most important thing, I think, is from the very nicate with them and try to train them that they
beginning when you are in a congregation to send need to work around our schedules here, not nec-
the right messages to people. . . . If you establish
essarily expect that we drop everything." The di-
boundaries quick, like up front, and if you send
messages that you want to be truly present to peo-
rectness of such confrontations varied consider-
ple, but you do not need to be needed, then they ably. The following two examples both deal with
don't. There is an ethos or a culture that gets quickly parishioners calling priests at home. On the more
established about where you stand with respect to compassionate end of the continuum, one priest
the whole community and where the boundaries lie. said, "Your problem parishioner, you learn to deal
(priest 35-M) with that, and put your arms around that. For some
people you've got to set boundaries. You need to
Several priests discussed including work-home say, 'Well, you need to make an appointment and
boundary issues as part of their negotiation process come and see me. At the appointment we will talk
in getting their jobs. That is, they made known about that'" (priest 54-M) Conversely, one respon-
their expectations about work-home balance to dent spoke of people who would (at first) call him
potential church members and leaders prior to multiple times a day at his home:
being hired. Sometimes this was through
informal conversa- tions, and at other times it What I used to say to someone after the second call
involved formal com- munications or even was, "Look, I've already talked to you twice today. I
inclusion in an employment contract. Generally, need to go out now. I have some other appoint-
the process involved negotia- tion about ments. I don't want you to call me again today. If
particular expectations, regarding the work-home you have a problem, I'd be happy to talk to you later
in the week." I try to be a little bit considerate of
interface (e.g., the number of hours to be worked
their feelings, but at the same time letting them
each week, the flexibility of those hours). This know, you can't pick up the phone every two hours
give-and-take process illustrates how boundaries and give me a call. Especially when there is nothing
are co-constructed: the work-home preferences of going on and they just want to talk to somebody.
both the individual and salient oth- ers are (priest 52-M)
implicated in the process of boundary con-
struction and maintenance. One respondent shared Several priests noted that a key part of confront-
this story, which deals with a prearrival letter he ing violators was helping them see that their prob-
sent to parishioners in his new parish; it demon- lem was not urgent-sometimes even sarcastically.
strates the tactic's efficacy in reducing conflict: Priest 43-M noted his response to a parishioner
who came to his home at night: "I try to say, 'Oh,
The biggest thing was that a letter went out to all the how long have you had this problem? Okay, you've
parishioners saying that this was a very new situa- been drinking for 20 years. Well, how about if we
tion in this church rectory, because a priest was talk tomorrow morning?'"
coming who had a family that included young kids,
Beyond the more obvious violations, such as pa-
and that their expectations and hopes about the
space was that it would be more private than maybe
rishioners or staff calling on a priest's day off or
had been the case with past priests who had lived showing up at the priest's home at inappropriate
here. One way that we could be made to feel espe- times, our interviewees reported that they were some-
cially welcome was to respect that privacy. The times faced with having to explain why seemingly
letter was written by the senior warden and checked innocuous instances were actually work-home viola-
over with us before it was sent, but we gave the tions in their eyes. For example, one priest noted:
green light. I know that a couple people felt of-
fended that that kind of boundary was being drawn When I first came here many people saw me walking
even before we had arrived, but I think so far it's my dog or taking walks and several parishioners
really served us well. I think people have been very asked if they could walk with me. Initially, I found
respectful. (priest 28-M) that some people were hurt when I said, "No." I had
to do a lot of kind of explaining about the impor-
Conjronting violators. In contrast to the previ- tance of time away for me. . . . It was both physical
ous tactic of communicating expectations, the tac- exercise as well as a time for me with God, being
tic of confronting violators occurs after a problem alone and outside. It took a lot of education and
has occurred with work-home boundaries. These sometimes hurt feelings and some clear kind of com-
problems can take the form of boundary violations, munication about boundaries for me. I think it is
pretty well understood, now. Most people under-
as described above, or ongoing tensions. This tactic
stand that and accept it. (priest 14-F)
is used to try to correct what an individual per-
ceives as other people's disregard for an appropri- Note how the efficacy of this tactic is revealed in
ate boundary. Priest 15-M illustrated the intention the quote: after her intervening and explaining, peo-
of this tactic in noting that the idea is "to commu-
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ple understood her preferences and accepted them. DISCUSSION

In this example, the priest interpreted the
parishioners' requests to walk with her during her Although previous research on the conflict be-
private time as a boundary violation; she framed that tween work and home has been fruitful, this liter-
private time as bounded and wanted to preserve ature has lacked a cohesive approach to under-
the boundary. Clearly, not all individuals would standing how individuals experience and attempt
frame this episode as a boundary violation, which to ameliorate the conflict. Rather, previous work
illustrates the subjec- tive nature of boundary work. has tended to focus on rather static or stable indi-
vidual differences or situational factors. We there-
fore began with research questions seeking to ex-
The Role of Boundary Work Tactics plore various dimensions of work-home boundary
The preceding sections illustrate the power and incongruence, the consequences of this incongru-
diversity of boundary work tactics. We have seen ence, how individuals can negotiate the work-
evidence from these stories and vignettes that the home boundary to their liking, and how boundary
boundary work tactics are clearly multifunctional. tactics might be categorized effectively. Our
In our classification scheme, we divided the tactics grounded theory approach to addressing these
into four meaningful types. These types were de- questions yielded a classification scheme of bound-
rived from our analysis, which involved ary work tactics as well as a conceptual model of
discussion among the research members, boundary work, and it has provided a foundation
comparing and con- trasting the details of the upon which to develop a more comprehensive the-
tactics, and comparing the tactics with material in ory and research stream on boundary work. In the
the existing literature (Eisenhardt, l989). We also first portion of the model, we show how an indi-
urge caution about not "overinterpreting" our vidual's work-home boundary preferences combine
typology as absolute (the only way these tactics with environmental influences to create five di-
could be categorized) or final (an exhaustive list of mensions of work-home boundary incongruence.
possible tactics). In reality, and as would be We then illustrate how incongruence in one or
expected, the four types exhibit some conceptual more of the dimensions can lead to boundary vio-
overlap. lations (Propositions la, 2) and work-home conflict
How, then, might we predict the impact of the (Proposition lb) and how boundary violations can
interplay among the tactics? As several vignettes in increase work-home conflict (Proposition 3). Fi-
the preceding sections have demonstrated, we nally, we show how individuals can invoke bound-
found evidence that the tactics are often comple- ary work tactics to ameliorate the negative effects of
mentary. That is, we suggest that the tactics rein- work-home boundary incongruence, boundary vio-
force each other, creating a multipronged approach lations, and work-home conflict (Propositions 4
to negotiating the work-home boundary. In addi- and 5).
tion, one behavior can cue multiple tactics. For
example, multiple interviewees told us that they
had consciously chosen to live far away from work, Implications for Theory
which typifies the physical tactic of manipulating Our study contributes a more holistic and com-
physical space, yet it also aids in finding respite (a prehensive picture of work-home boundary work
temporal tactic) by providing a longer commute to that integrates antecedents, tactics, and pertinent
work. These overlaps create, in essence, multifunc- outcomes. We now discuss why and how this is
tional boundary tactics. We believe the interplay important. First, we view the construct of work-
between tactics is synergistic, in that it amplifies home boundary violations as particularly promis-
the overall utility or benefit of the strategies used to ing. As noted, the vast majority of research inves-
the individuals. To articulate, then, the role that tigating the problems of the work-home interface
these tactics play in the boundary work model, we has been focused on the construct of work-family
suggest the following propositions: conflict. Whereas work-family conflict is a general-
Proposition 4. Use of boundary work tactics de- ized and fairly consistent state, we introduce and
creases (a) boundary incongruence, (b) define boundary violations as episodes or events
boundary violations, and (c) work-home that violate an individual's work-home boundary
conflict. preferences. We believe it can prove quite useful to
separate specific events from the generalized state,
Proposition 5. The implementation of multiple
as it creates opportunities for exploring the differ-
boundary work tactics (within and between
ential roles of each construct in work-home rela-
categories) has a synergistic effect: the reduc-
tion of incongruence, violations, and conflict is tions and has the potential to account for additional
magnified.
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variance in the work-home balance relationship. As texts) the ability of individuals to ameliorate their
an example of how such a distinction can prove to work-home conflicts. Previous research has fo-
be vitally important for future research, we draw a cused so much on organization-level influences or
comparison to affective events theory, which has fairly stable or unchangeable individual differences
been one of the most influential theories in the that the role of an individual's own actions in shap-
emotions research area, stimulating research on job ing his or her work-life balance has often been
satisfaction (Weiss, Nicholas, & Daus, 1999), ag- neglected (Kossek & Ozeki, 1998). Identifying and
gression (Glomb, Steel, & Arvey, 2002), emotional filling this gap is particularly important- both con-
dissonance (Abraham, 1999), and other emotion- ceptually and practically- because informal means
related topics. Indeed, as Ashkanasy, Zerbe, and of work-home facilitation have been demonstrated
Hartel noted, affective events theory is "revolution- to explain a greater share of variance in important
izing our view of behavior in organizations" be- employee outcomes than formal mechanisms do
cause it has "alerted researcher and managers alike (Behson, 2005). Our work, therefore, provides a key
to the importance of emotional states in organiza- insight into how individuals can adapt to and
tional settings" (2002: 7) as distinct yet related to shape their work and home experiences.
affective events. According to affective events the- Fourth, we have gone well beyond previous work
ory, individuals experience generalized emotion that conceptualizes and operationalizes work-
states, yet daily hassles and uplifts (affective home congruence very generally by identifying par-
events) punctuate and are proximal causes of their ticular dimensions within the work, home, and oc-
emotional states over time (Weiss & Cropanzano, cupational domains in which incongruence occurs.
1996). The accumulation of a succession of positive This finer specification adds richness and depth to
or negative affective events leads to positive or the previously very broadly defined category of
negative affective states in employees that, in turn, antecedents to work-home conflict. The important
presage attitudinal states and behaviors (Ashka- implication of our contribution is that it allows
nasy, Hartel, & Daus, 2002). In our model, boundary researchers to pinpoint particular problem areas
violations and work-home conflict are analogous to and examine both the dysfunctions and positive
affective events and emotional state, respectively. potential of the work-home interface with greater
From a social construction view, over time the so- precision. Again, this specificity also provides ac-
cial processes of successive violation events (nego- tionable knowledge to individuals as they diagnose
tiations between violators and the violated either to their own work-family balance or that of others
maintain or challenge a boundary) are what con- (e.g., teammates, subordinates).
struct the state that is then classified and described
as "conflict." Hence, work-home boundary events,
layer upon layer, can strongly influence the state of Implications for Practice
conflict, and we believe they should be studied in Clearly, engaging in any occupation requires
their own right. Separation of a punctuated event managing work-home demands to varying degrees.
(boundary violation) from a generalized state More fully understanding the nature of these de-
(work-family conflict) could lead to reframing and mands and the tactics for managing them has many
expansion of more focused questions in work-fam- practical applications. First, we believe the tactics
ily research, as it has in the area of emotion. presented here are relevant to employees in many
Second, we have identified several specific contexts. Applications can be made to occupational
boundary work tactics, filling an important gap in situations that share difficult work-home boundary
the literature. Nippert-Eng's (1996) work laid excel- negotiation (such as home businesses, telecommut-
lent groundwork for the notion of boundary work, ing, and even jobs involving heavy travel) as well as
yet relatively little was known about what specific to other more typical work-home boundary chal-
tactics individuals could use. Through our study, lenges (such as those confronting individuals in
we have expanded understanding of work-home any occupation who might want to find ways to
boundary management by finding a fuller array of integrate or segment their work and home domains
options available to individuals. This expansion more effectively). Second, our findings suggest that
provides actionable knowledge that individuals, boundary work tactics represent actionable knowl-
managers, and family members can use to make edge that can be taught to others for more success-
informed choices about the very practical and per- ful self-management. We have laid out a set of
vasive problem of boundary work. Third, because tactics that individuals can use and that manage-
of this increased understanding of the diversity of ment can facilitate and integrate in wellness train-
boundary work tactics, we can now more fully ap- ing to improve people's lives. Indeed, the Episcopal
preciate and further explore (in this and other con- Church-an international organization comprised
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of over two million members- has incorporated have been found in various work arrangements,
our research into presentations and curriculum on such as working at home versus virtual work
work-home balance given at wellness conferences versus the traditional office (Hill, Ferris, & Mar-
and workshops for multiple constituencies. tinson, 2003), and future researchers could exam-
Although it might be tempting to consider work- ine how boundary work tactics might operate
home tensions as a negative only for individuals, differently depending on the particular type of
significant negative consequences for workplaces work arrangement.
can also be considered (Edwards & Rothbard, 2000; Third, our study stimulates additional research
Parasuraman & Greenhaus, 2002). Similarly, multi- questions regarding the interplay of tactics and
ple positive outcomes of successfully managing the how tactics might change over time. Regarding the
work-home interface have been documented, such interplay among tactics, we suspect that when tac-
as increased creativity and commitment (Madjar, tics are geared directly toward reducing work-home
Oldham, & Pratt, 2002; Pratt & Rosa, 2003). Prevent- boundary incongruence (as opposed to violations
ing the negative outcomes while fostering the pos- or conflict), they will be the most effective overall,
itive ones is an important goal for managers, and because they reduce the root problem that is the
our study provides new ideas about how these im- driving force behind the model and the precursor to
portant tasks can be accomplished. In sum, an un- boundary violations and conflict. Focusing their
derstanding of boundary work tactics may move energy here likely gives people "more bang for their
individuals and organizations closer to success- buck." Similarly, future research could examine
fully negotiating the elusive but often-sought "bal- how tactics change over time. Our data were cross-
ance" between work and home. sectional; thus, any documentation of tactical
changes was necessarily retrospective, but highly
Future Research suggestive of interesting change dynamics. For ex-
ample, our interviewees reported instances of cy-
What next? In addition to the implications men- clical intensity in work-home conflict, and future
tioned above, we offer here four more specific sug- researchers might investigate patterns in cycles
gestions for future work. The first involves individ- over time. The process of adaptation over time
ual and group differences that affect boundary could yield important information that is useful
work. Although we stratified the sample in our both to academic and practitioner audiences. As
research design for Study 2, the broad themes and one interviewee (priest 31-F) put it, while contrast-
classification of boundary work tactics proved ing an earlier phase of her professional life with the
more intriguing than focusing on subgroup differ- current one, "For the first ten years of my ministry,
ences in the sample. Future research, however, I was single . . . so, all of my friends were from the
could more closely examine various individual and church. I really did work all the time. I didn't have
group differences that affect boundary work. In par- much of a separation." Another avenue for poten-
ticular, we envision that individuals' occupational tial research stemming from our model would be to
and job tenure, gender, race/ethnicity, and work- link the boundary work tactics we have identified
home demography (e.g., married or not, children at with (1) specific types of incongruence and (2) var-
home, distance from home to work) would be of ious outcomes. That is, our qualitative research
key interest. Similarly, future research might inves- design lends itself to developing exploratory mod-
tigate potential cross-cultural differences in work- els, but other research designs (such as a survey or
home boundary challenges and tactics used. experience sampling) could empirically link the
As mentioned, to varying degrees, all occupa- strategies we documented with each of the dimen-
tions face work-home demands. Our research has sions of work-home incongruence (family mem-
documented these pressures and responses within bers, subordinates, etc.) as well as with critical
a particularly problematic occupation. Hence, a outcomes such as reduced stress, reduced work-
second suggestion for future research is that it ex- home conflict, and increased satisfaction with life,
amine less challenging occupations as a point of job, or family.
comparison with our findings (Eisenhardt, 1989). Fourth, though our focus has been on work-home
Similarly, although our respondents tended toward conflict, we also anticipate that researchers would
desiring more segmentation, future research could get a significant payoff by examining the role of
purposefully sample those groups who would work-family enrichment in our model. Some recent
likely tend toward desiring more integration. In- attention has turned to the potentially positive ef-
deed, research with additional samples could un- fects of intertwining work and home (e.g., Green-
cover even more nuanced boundary work tactics haus & Powell, 2006a; Rothbard, 2001; Voydanoff,
than our sample revealed. Important differences 2001; Wayne, Grzywacz, Carlson, & Kacmar, 2007),
 720 Academy
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and we see the exploration of the ways this would Byron, K. 2005. A meta-analytic review of work-family
unfold as holding potential for better understand- conflict and its antecedents. Journal of Vocational
ing our model. We did find evidence of work-home Behavior, 67: 169 -198.
enrichment in our study; however, we deemed the Charmaz, K. 2000. Grounded theory: Objectivist and con-
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Corbin, J., & Strauss, A. 2008. Basics of qualitative re-
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APPENDIX
Sonnentag, S. 2003. Recovery, work engagement, and
proactive behavior: A new look at the interface be- a
Questions from the Interview Protocol
tween nonwork and work. Journal of Applied Psy-
chology, 88: 518.
1. We'd like to know a bit about your background.
Speakman, S., & Marchington, M. 2004. The bounded
a. How long have you been ordained a priest?
workplace: Defense, development, and domestica-
b. What did you do before the priesthood? What led
tion strategies amongst male shiftworkers. Industrial you to become a priest?
Relations Journal, 35: 122-138. 2. We'd like to know a bit about your current home and
Stebbins, L. F. 2001. Work and family in America: A work life.
reference handbook. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, a. Do you have children? Do they live at home?
Inc.
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. 1990. Basics of qualitative re-
search: Grounded theory procedures and tech- a
niques. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Interviews were semistructured. These represent ques-
tions asked of most interviewees. However, interviewers
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. 1998. Basics of qualitative re- also asked a variety of impromptu questions that derived
search: Techniques and procedures for developing from respondents' answers to questions, thus allowing us
grounded theory (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: to probe more fully into interesting and emerging lines of
Sage. inquiry.
 720 Academy
Kreiner, of
Hollensbe,
Management
and Aug7

b. Do you have paid staff helping? How many? What 14. What would you recommend to a brand new priest
about volunteers? regarding balancing work and home?
c. Where do you live in relation to the church? How 15. Are there any other issues that you've thought of
far away? Is it a church-owned rectory or your during our interview that you think might be impor-
own home? tant for me to know about regarding the topics we've
d. What is the size of your parish? How long have discussed today?
you been there? Is the church in a rural/subur-
ban/urban locale?
3. What things in your life do you find you need to
work especially hard on to balance? How do you
balance them?
Glen E. Kreiner ([email protected]) is an assistant
4. Some people like to separate their work and home
lives while others prefer to integrate them. How professor of management and organization in the Smeal
would you describe yourself in that regard? College of Business at The Pennsylvania State Univer-
5. Do you ever do parish work at home? Does your sity. Glen received his Ph.D. from Arizona State Univer-
family life ever enter into your parish work? Are sity. His research primarily focuses on the interaction
there particular things you actively try to keep sep- between individual and organizational/occupational
arate? . . . integrate? processes, especially through the lenses of social identi-
6. Do you have frequent interruptions (a) when at fication, work-home boundary management, role transi-
home; (b) while at work? Is it a problem? Do you tions, identity threats, identity growth, person-environ-
have tactics or strategies for dealing with that? ment fit, and emotion management. His research is
7. Does your proximity to the church building ever conducted in a variety of contexts, including with stig-
make a difference in the way you feel about your matized occupations, family businesspeople, contingent/
work or family life? Does the closeness/distance ever temporary workers, and people in religious vocations.
create a conflict? . . . with family members, parishio- Elaine C. Hollensbe ([email protected]) is an as-
ners or yourself ? How so? sociate professor of management in the College of Busi-
8. Do the demands of work ever take away from your ness at the University of Cincinnati. She received her
home life? Do the demands of home ever take away Ph.D. in organizational behavior from the University of
from your work life? Kansas. Her research examines how individuals balance
9. Are there certain people who either respect your self and social boundaries, and the interface between
work-home boundary or don't? Have there been individuals and human resource practices. Specific re-
times when others did not respect the boundary you search interests include identity and identification, emo-
were trying to keep? How did/do you deal with that? tion regulation and management, self-efficacy in well-
10. Do your family members have certain expectations ness and training contexts, and motivational aspects of
placed on them because of their relation to you? compensation.
What effect does that have on your home life? Work
life? Do you ever feel compelled to manage others' Mathew L. Sheep ([email protected]) is an assistant pro-
expectations of your family? Do you have certain fessor in the College of Business at Illinois State Univer-
expectations of your family? sity. He received his Ph.D. in management from the Uni-
11. Have you found that there are certain things you can versity of Cincinnati. His research interests center on
do to maintain the work-home boundary to your ways in which individuals construct their social world,
liking? for what purposes, and with what consequences. Areas of
12. Do you have friends within the parish? Outside the research include identity and identification, individual
church? What proportion of your friends/acquain- and organizational creativity, positive organizational
tances come from outside the church or parish? scholarship, workplace spirituality, business ethics, and
13. Have your attitudes about work-home balance discourse analytic approaches to organization.
changed over time? (From what to what?) If so, what
kinds of things prompted that change?