Successful Resolutions to the Career‐Versus‐Family Conflict

One hundred and twenty husbands and wives (60 couples) were individually assessed on how conflicted (or resolved) they were about the career‐versus‐family conflict in their lives. Their written resolutions were also content‐analyzed to extract specific themes and conflict‐resolution strategies. Data on participants' self‐esteem, conflict‐related anxiety, life satisfaction, and demographic variables were also collected. Results of t tests, chi‐squares, Pearson correlations, and a stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that high self‐esteem and life satisfaction best predicted being resolved about the conflict. The only theme that discriminated between the most and least resolved spouses was “my family comes first” (held by the most resolved). Wives were more rationally resolved about the conflict than their husbands. 1991 American Counseling Association