Expanding working parent's boundary through active parenting

Parenting is often perceived as a depleting experience that drains working parents' cognitive and emotional resources. The demands of managing children's needs, addressing behavioral challenges, and engaging in educational activities are frequently linked to working parent's exhaustion, heightened role stress, and career constraints. However, despite these challenges, parenting may also serve as a powerful source of cognitive and behavioral enrichment. This study seeks to examine the often-overlooked positive effects of active parenting on working parents, particularly in fostering cognitive flexibility and prosocial workplace behaviors.Drawing on self-expansion theory (Aron & Aron, 1986), we propose that the novel and challenging nature of active parenting broadens parents' cognitive repertoires, enhancing their ability to adapt to new situations and perspectives. This increased cognitive flexibility, in turn, activates compassionate goals—motivating parents to engage in helping behaviors at work. Using a multi-source experience sampling methodology (ESM), we will collect daily data from working parents and their coworkers and conduct a retrospective experiment to test our model. By shifting the focus from depletion to self-expansion, this research provides a nuanced understanding of parenting's role in shaping workplace behaviors and offers insights for organizations seeking to support working parents.