Abstract
Motherhood stress has developed as a substantial yet underexplored outcome of present-day employment practices, particularly in organizational contexts where flexibility is increasingly individualized. While prior research has examined motherhood stress, flexible work arrangements, and idiosyncratic deals largely in isolation, limited attention has been given to how personalized flexibility shapes the psychological experiences of working mothers. This study attempts to bridge this gap by examining how I-deals influence motherhood stress through psychological and relational mechanisms embedded within organizational and socio-cultural contexts. Drawing on interdisciplinary literature, this study positions I-deals as context-dependent resources whose effects on motherhood stress are mediated by work– family enrichment and where workplace dignity has a moderating role. The study adopts a quantitative survey approach across 410 female employees in the Indian IT sector to test the proposed hypotheses among working mothers. The study establishes a direct and negative association between Idiosyncratic deals and work to family enrichment which further plays a mediating role with motherhood stress. It also found that workplace dignity plays a significant role in moderating the association between I-deals and work to family enrichment. The study contributes by integrating organizational behaviour and motherhood research, reconceptualizing flexibility as a psychologically contingent practice, and highlighting the importance of work to family enrichment and dignity in shaping stress outcomes. The findings offer an understanding and practical insights for organizations looking to design flexibility policies that genuinely support working mothers without inadvertently intensifying stress.
Keywords: Idiosyncratic Deals, Motherhood Stress, Work–family Enrichment, Working Mothers, Workplace Dignity