Men's work and family lives in India: The daily organization of time and emotion

This article examines daily patterns of work and family life for a sample o f middle-class men in northern India. One hundred fathers of 8th graders pr ovided information on their hour-to-hour time use and subjective states, by means of the experience sampling method. They reported little time spent o n family work but substantial amounts of time with their children and think ing about their families. At their jobs, they reported high levels of atten tion but more negative emotion. By contrast, the home sphere elicited lower attention, more favorable affect, and more feeling of choice. Unlike for A merican samples, little relationship was found between experience at work a nd home, including little influence of men's work emotions on the family in the evening. These findings reflect how strong traditional family roles in India shape men's daily lives.