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Boundary spanning employees are essential to organizations due to the unique roles they play (Edmondson and Boyer, 2013). A boundary spanning employee is an employee who "engages in job-related interactions with a person who is considered part of the environment, who is not a member of the organization" (Robertson, 1995: 75). Boundary spanner positions include salespeople, customer service representatives, retail employees, teachers, and nurses (Edmondson and Boyer, 2013). Typically, boundary spanning employees are required to surface act by displaying organizationally desired emotions when transacting with customers even if these emotions do not exemplify their true feelings (Adelmann, 1996). Research has found that employees in boundary spanning roles are subject to higher levels of stress because they "are caught in a difficult position when they perceive that client demands cannot or will not be met by the organization" (Cordes and Dougherty, 1993: 644).
Males and females often react differently when experiencing work-related stress (Kahn et al., 1964). According to gender role theory, men and women often respond to situations based on stereotypes to the work and family roles they occupy (Eagly and Karau, 1991). When a boundary spanner is faced with numerous incompatible roles, conflict results. This conflict occurs when filling the expectations of one role reduces the individual's ability to adequately fulfill the expectations of the other role(s) (Kahn et al., 1964). In the workplace (based on gender social norms), extrinsic job attributes (e.g., workplace friendships and helping others) may be more highly valued by women. As a result, women are more likely to work in caregiving occupations (e.g., teachers, nurses, administrative occupations). Conversely, salary, autonomy, responsibility, and opportunities for advancement and leadership are valued more highly by men (Konrad et al., 2000), making it more likely that males will weigh different priorities when selecting an occupation. The presence of these social gender roles may contribute to males and females experiencing differing levels of conflict between their work and personal/family life.
Today's work family interface is complex, especially given the demands, resources, and behaviors characteristic of a typical family unit (Bird and Schnurman-Crook, 2005). Greenhaus and Beutell describe this complexity as resulting from "simultaneous pressures from both work and family which are mutually incompatible in some respect" (1985: 77). Driven by greater numbers of households...