Highly Oppositional Occupations and Cognitive Behavioral Script-Based Mechanisms of Work–Home Conflict

We introduce novel theory to explain how and why some forms of work are particularly likely to foster work–home conflict. While all occupations have entrenched and prescriptively normative cognitive behavioral scripts that guide effective work task execution, we argue that some occupations’ scripts are predominantly oppositional in nature, and largely inappropriate outside of the work domain. We articulate four forms of oppositional thoughts and behaviors (physical, interpersonally hostile, authoritarian, and intellectual) that are learned and reinforced at work. We explain how performing these scripts can desensitize workers to enacting oppositional behaviors, and how these scripts can be inadvertently cued and enacted at home. We introduce moderators to consider for whom this process might be more or less likely. Our theory enhances understanding of how work can conflict with home through cognitive behavioral processes, beyond known temporal and affective mechanisms. We also contribute to boundary theory perspectives on work–home conflict to theorize a novel detractor to effective work–home role segmentation, beyond boundary flexibility and permeability: role cue similarity across work and home. We conclude with a discussion of how our theory can generate research across work–home conflict, boundary theory, and occupations literatures, as well as practical implications.