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Using selection, optimization, and compensation to reduce job/family stressors: effective when it matters

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Abstract

Previous research has demonstrated that the use of general behaviors specified by a life-management strategy entitled Selection, Optimization, and Compensation (SOC) reduces, if only to a small extent, the perceived amounts of the main antecedents (i.e., job/family stressors) of work-family conflict. The results of the current study demonstrate that several variables that impact the amount of resources demanded of, or resources available to, an individual (e.g., supervisor support) moderate the relationship between SOC behaviors and job/family stressors. Specifically, SOC strategies are more effective than previously thought at reducing job/family stressors for precisely those individuals in the most demanding situations.

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Correspondence to Lindsey M. Young.

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Young, L.M., Baltes, B.B. & Pratt, A.K. Using selection, optimization, and compensation to reduce job/family stressors: effective when it matters. J Bus Psychol 21, 511–539 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-007-9039-8

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