Family recognition of work as a source of meaningful work: Examining the roles of self-esteem and parental status

Research on meaningful work has highlighted social context as an important source of meaningful work but has primarily focused on the social context at work. This is surprising, given that much of the work-family research showed that family can enrich work experiences. To address this noticeable gap, this paper introduces the concept of ‘family recognition of work’ – a perception of family recognizing and appreciating one's work – as a critical, non-work-related social context contributing to meaningful work. Drawing on interpersonal sense-making theory, we argue that family recognition of work positively enhances meaningful work via increased self-esteem. Acknowledging shifts in life priorities and values when entering parenthood, we also argue that the indirect effect of family recognition of work on meaningful work via self-esteem is moderated by parental status. To test these hypotheses, we conducted two studies. In Study 1, a five-item scale for family recognition of work was developed and validated, utilizing two UK-based samples (N = 196 and N = 210). In Study 2, a cross-lagged panel analysis was conducted with the three-wave survey data from the UK (N = 466) to test the hypothesized model. The results of Study 2 confirmed a positive relationship between family recognition of work and work meaningfulness, and that this relationship was mediated by self-esteem. Additionally, parents, compared to non-parents, exhibited a stronger indirect effect of family recognition of work on work meaningfulness via self-esteem. The paper extends the literature on social context as a source of meaningful work by demonstrating the importance of family recognition of work.