Empowered to Choose: Investigating Job Autonomy and Parental Burnout in the Context of Work-Family Conflict

From the lens of the self-determination theory, when individuals experience greater job autonomy, they tend to experience greater well-being, work satisfaction, and less job burnout (Autin et al., 2021; Deci & Ryan, 2000; Fernet et al., 2010). However, less is known about how job autonomy relates to family life. We built on previous research and considered the association between job autonomy and parental burnout along with work–family conflict. We hypothesized that greater job autonomy would be associated with less parental burnout, and that strain related to work–family conflict (i.e., hours worked outside the home, being unmarried, number of children under the age of 5, and higher percentages of childcare responsibility) would have a main effect on parental burnout. In an original survey of 243 U.S. parents recruited via Prolific, we found that higher job autonomy (β = –.21, p < .001, 95% CI = [-.39, -.15]) predicted significantly less parental burnout. This pattern remained even when controlling for other measures of work–family conflict. Other measures of work–family conflict did not significantly predict more parental burnout. These findings indicate the importance of job autonomy in the lives of working parents.