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.

中文翻译：

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家庭承认工作是有意义工作的来源：审视自尊和父母地位的作用


对有意义工作的研究强调社会背景是有意义工作的重要来源，但主要关注工作中的社会背景。这令人惊讶，因为许多工作-家庭研究表明，家庭可以丰富工作经历。为了解决这一明显的差距，本文引入了“家庭对工作的认可”的概念——即家庭认可和欣赏一个人的工作的看法——作为一个关键的、与工作无关的社会环境，有助于有意义的工作。借鉴人际意义建构理论，我们认为家庭对工作的认可通过提高自尊来积极增强有意义的工作。承认在为人父母时生活优先事项和价值观的变化，我们还认为，家庭通过自尊认可工作对有意义工作的间接影响受到父母地位的调节。为了检验这些假设，我们进行了两项研究。在研究 1 中，利用两个英国样本 （N = 196 和 N = 210） 开发并验证了家庭对工作的认可五项量表。在研究 2 中，使用来自英国的三波调查数据 （N = 466） 进行了交叉滞后面板分析，以检验假设的模型。研究 2 的结果证实了家庭对工作的认可与工作意义之间存在正相关关系，并且这种关系是由自尊介导的。此外，与非父母相比，父母通过自尊表现出更强的家庭对工作认可对工作意义的间接影响。本文通过证明家庭认可工作的重要性，扩展了关于社会背景作为有意义工作来源的文献。