Abstract Purpose Going further on a broad understanding of nonwork besides family, this study aims to analyze differences between women and men considering work-nonwork conflict (WNWC) in the Brazilian context, investigating time spent in eight nonwork dimensions and the dimensions more affected. Design/methodology/approach The study was quantitative and descriptive. A survey was conducted, based on a validated WNWC scale. The sample consisted of 338 professionals working in Brazil. Data analysis was conducted through descriptive statistics and analysis of variance. Findings Compared to men, women declare higher levels of WNWC considering the eight nonwork dimensions, present greater differences in stress-based conflicts and in more collective dimensions and have marriage or no children associated with more WNWC. Research limitations/implications The study highlights the need to include more nonwork aspects into career and management studies to influence organizational practices and individual choices. The main limitation is the non-probabilistic sample (results not generalizable). Practical implications Know more about WNWC will help organizations to improve lives by creating practices and a cultural environment to preserve women’s and men’s nonwork times. It may also help people to choose places to work for, matching their nonwork needs. Social implications The study reinforces demands from new family arrangements, more couples in dual-career and an aging society: organizations must prepare to have workers that want or need to dedicate time to other interests besides family or children. Originality/value It goes further on a broad understanding of nonwork besides family to understand WNWC and how it may affect differently men and women.

No presente trabalho tem-se por objetivo discutir, por meio de uma revisão da literatura, o conceito de contratos psicológicos e sua importância para o entendimento das relações de trabalho, apresentando seu conteúdo, categorização, principais correntes e resultados encontrados nas pesquisas nacionais e internacionais, para, em seguida, apresentar os desafios a serem explorados por futuros pesquisadores sobre o tema.

This paper discusses, through a review of the literature, the concept of psychological contracts and its importance for the understanding of labor relations, presenting their contents, categorization, key research studies and results in domestic and in international terms, to then present the challenges to be explored by future researchers of the subject.

Este trabajo tiene por objetivo analizar, por medio de una revisión de la literatura, el concepto de contratos psicológicos y su importancia para la comprensión de las relaciones laborales. Se examinan su contenido, categorización, principales corrientes y resultados de investigaciones nacionales e internacionales. Se presentan, además, los retos a las futuras investigaciones sobre el tema.

Nós examinamos, neste artigo, as representações sociais de estudantes de graduação em administração para situações em que a ética e a competitividade estão presentes de forma paradoxal. O objetivo do estudo é identificar como o sentido construído pelos estudantes sobre o que é a administração, a organização e o papel do administrador os leva a um determinado posicionamento simbólico acerca deste paradoxo. Tal problemática é examinada à luz da Critical Management Education e da Teoria das Representações Sociais. Nosso estudo é de natureza qualitativa e utilizamos como procedimentos metodológicos o teste de associação de palavras, o completion test para a análise de cinco casos noticiados pela mídia escrita e televisiva e a construção de desenhos-tema. Os resultados evidenciam o posicionamento simbólico ambíguo e contraditório dos estudantes em relação ao papel do administrador e à prática de gestão adequada nas referidas situações.

In this article we examine the social representations of Brazilian graduate students of Business Administration regarding situations in which ethics and competitiveness are paradoxically present. The aim of this study is to identify how the meaning, constructed by students, of what Administration is, as well as an organization, and the role of the administrator leads them towards certain symbolic positions concerning this paradox. This problematization is examined by means of the Social Representation Theory, as well as by Critical Management Education. Our study is qualitative in nature, and the methodological procedures used are: a word association test, a completion test for the analysis of five cases reported by the printed and televised media, and the construction of theme drawings. The results show that students have an ambiguous and contradictory symbolic position regarding not only the role of the administrator, but also the appropriate management practice in these situations.