2012 PROCEEDINGS - Public Relations Society of America

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Tuning in to the Rhythm: The Role of Coping in Strategic Management of Work-Life Conflicts in the Public Relations Profession Yan Jin, Ph.D. Virginia Commonwealth University yjin@vcu.edu Bey-Ling Sha, Ph.D., APR San Diego State University bsha@mail.sdsu.edu Hongmei Shen, Ph.D. San Diego State University hshen@mail.sdsu.edu Hua Jiang, Ph.D. Towson University hjiang@towson.edu Abstract How public relations practitioners cope with work-life conflict was studied through a national survey of a random sample of PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) members. These active practitioners reported strong preferences in using more proactive conflict coping strategies, such as rational action and positive thinking. Women and those with a graduate degree tend to report more coping behaviors than others. Three types of stressors are identified as sources of work-life conflict: behavior-driven, work-driven, and life-driven. According to our findings, while behavior-driven work-life stressors are associated with proactive coping strategies such as rational action and positive thinking, work-driven stressors tended to trigger more avoidance. Non-work driven stressors seem to predict more passive coping tendencies, such as denial and avoidance. Organizational factors are found to be important in understanding how practitioners cope with work-life conflict. As organizational demands increased to separate life from work, more instructions seemed necessary for employees to better cope with work-life conflicts. Positive thinking, as a type of cognitive coping, tends to increase when there is more immediate supervisor support and to decrease when an organization‘s work-life culture is skewed toward promoting work as the sole priority. Introduction Work-life balance has been a critically important issue in business management and employee communication. In the past decade, business and communication professionals have discussed this topic and its impact on employee performance and business outcomes from different perspectives. Some perceived it as a constraining factor, as a The Strategist (2006) article mentioned, ―The overriding factor in [senior executives] choosing not to be CEO is the absence of a positive work/life balance‖ (p. 19). Some framed it as ―a myth‖ (Gordon, 2012, p. 7) in the sense that many professionals might have never been able to balance the scales of work and life on a day-to-day basis. The more constructive view may be that ―the dance between work and life is more about rhythm than balance‖ and to compare ―the rhythms of work and life with the rhythms of nature‖ (Gordon, 2012, p. 7). 88
In the context of the public relations profession, Jin (2010) pointed out that although public relations practitioners often effectively help organizations handle stressful situations internally and externally, they nevertheless are themselves often caught in work-life conflicts. Those conflicts bring stress. If not managed or coped with effectively, these work-life conflicts could negatively affect practitioners‘ work efficiency and life satisfaction. Research has been conducted to explore the nature of work-life balance, as well as the determinants and outcomes thereof in different circumstances. For example, Bloom, Kretschner, and van Reenen (2011) studied the determinants and consequences of a family-friendly workplace, emphasizing human capital as a potential firm resource. They found that familyfriendly cultures do not directly affect the workplace, but rather enhance the ability of employees to combine their work and personal life. Wang and Verma (2012) emphasized that different industries vary in the adoption of work-life balance programs, which supports the institutional theory of organizational responsiveness to work-life balance issues. As Sha (2011a) summarized, the public relations profession has changed greatly over the years in terms of the practice and required professional competencies, which emphasizes the need for ―communication skills, knowledge of media and management, problem-solving abilities, motivation, and intellectual curiosity‖ (Broom, 2009, p. 48). Among the knowledge, skills and professional competencies for public relations practice (see Sha, 2011a), stress coping skills are necessary for practitioners to better manage work-life conflicts (Jin, 2010). According to Jiang (2012), the significance of work-life conflict and how to manage it has been recognized by increasingly numbers researchers. However, there is still a scholarship gap when it comes to systematically exploring work-life conflict and how the public relations profession should address it effectively (Aldoory, Jiang, Toth, & Sha, 2008). One key facet of this scholarship gap is to fully understand coping and the role of this complex psychological process in practitioners‘ effective management of work-life conflicts, in contrast or in addition to the existing predominant theoretical framework based on the institutional theory of organizational responsiveness (see Wang & Verma, 2013). Coping, as a relatively new construct in public relations research, has been integrated and applied primarily to understanding crisis and strategic conflict management (e.g., Jin, 2009, 2010; Jin & Hong, 2010). In Aldoory et alia‘s (2008) pioneering work on work-life conflict, practitioners‘ coping strategies were studied and examined qualitatively. Literature Review Defining Work-Life Conflict and Balance Work-life conflict, with varied degrees, occurs when the requirements from employees‘ work and the obligations from their personal life become incompatible (Reynolds, 2005). The definition of work-life conflict is grounded in conflict theory (see ten Brummelhuis & van der Lippe, 2010), which provides a theoretical perspective to assess effectiveness of work-life policies. As ten Brummelhuis and van der Lippe (2010) stated, ―Conflict theory proposes that using human time and energy in one role (e.g., family) decreases the time and energy remaining for other roles (e.g., work), thereby undermining performance in that role (Edwards & Rothbard, 2000; Parasuraman & Greenhaus, 2002)‖ (p. 175). According to Aldoory et alia (2008), work-life conflict and work-life balance ―describe efforts by male and female employed persons who juggle various personal, home and work responsibilities‖ (p. 2). As Aldoory et alia (2008) specified, ―While ‗balance‘ is not necessarily the result of this juggling, it is often a desire, and thus, researchers continue to include ‗balance‘ 89
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2 0 1 2 P R O C E E D I N G S S A N
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Table of Contents Research Papers A
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RESEARCH PAPERS 5
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campus public relations agency. Wor
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involves researchers reviewing the
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showed generalizibility. Therefore,
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References Allen, M. J. (2004). Ass
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Table 2 Small sample of the evoluti
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Table 4 Instrument Refinement Data
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Table 5 Instrument Refinement Data
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Appendix Firm‟s Logo Client Satis
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This section addresses how you feel
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Communication Tools/Tactics Created
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Communication Skills of the Student
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Additional Comments This section al
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Hope for the Future: Millennial PR
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difference with their work, and the
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with participants lacking discretio
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Page 43 and 44: 2011). The lack of control some Mil
Page 45 and 46: References Berger, B. K., & Reber,
Page 47 and 48: Looking Back, Looking Forward: A Th
Page 49 and 50: Internet and Web would help democra
Page 51 and 52: In 2010, Smith (2010b) used Twitter
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Page 59 and 60: Conclusion Figure 1 on the followin
Page 61 and 62: How can new media be used to increa
Page 63 and 64: DiStaso, M.W. (2012). Measuring pub
Page 65 and 66: Johnson, M.A. (1997). Public relati
Page 67 and 68: McKeown, C.A., & Plowman, K.D. (199
Page 69 and 70: Sweetser, K.D. (2007). Blog bias: R
Page 71 and 72: Yang, A., & Taylor, M. (2010). Rela
Page 73 and 74: effective public relations practiti
Page 75 and 76: Additionally, many public relations
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Page 79 and 80: As indicated in the literature revi
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Page 97 and 98: Organizational factors are importan
Page 99 and 100: extend one‘s social capital; in c
Page 101 and 102: Duhachek, A. (2005). Coping: A mult
Page 103 and 104: 5. Instrumental Support I tried to
Page 105 and 106: Table 2 Hierarchical Regressions Pr
Page 107 and 108: elations effects are generally long
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Page 113 and 114: David, P., Kline, S., & Dai, Y. (20
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Page 119 and 120: Communication Excellence and Public
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Page 125 and 126: One participant expressed her perce
Page 127 and 128: Dozier, D. M., Grunig, L. A., & Gru
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Page 131 and 132: Freidson, 2001; Krause, 1996). Moll
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Page 135 and 136: Table 1 Professionalism Dimensions:
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Figure 3: Coefficients are unstanda
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Bowen, S.A. (2007). Ethics and publ
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Krause, E. A. (1996). Death of the
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Weis, D., & Schank, M.J. (1997). To
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environments: inclusive and transfo
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Purpose How do PRSSA faculty advise
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Findings The descriptive data indic
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advisers were ethical values and or
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The recognition for long-term facul
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PEDAGOGICAL POSTERS 157
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Professional Development Assignment
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shadow a professional opened my eye
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Building Student Networking Skills:
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incentive for demonstrating great i
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Populating the E- Portfolio: Reflec
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Table 1: Management, Message Design
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Students were assigned 25 minute bl
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Some basic Google Analytics reports
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4. Some keywords generate more clic
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Do this Click on “Content,” the
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Preparing Backgrounders and Proposa
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going out to eat. But what does tha
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Teaching and Mentoring Through Soci
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prevalent in journalism students wh
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normalization was utilized as the r
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But what about the students in grou
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“How a Graduate Practicum Class H
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O How did the client feel about the
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students practice skills and educat
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References Bagglione, S. (2006) Rol
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etween client preferences, practice
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References Austin, L.L., & Toth, E.
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webinars that will be used in one o
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Assessing the State of Public Relat
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adequately prepares students for la
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eviewed articles; the other two may
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The remaining points possible were
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2012 PROCEEDINGS - Public Relations Society of America

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