Uncovering a Motherhood Advantage: How Parenthood Impacts Perceptions of the Meaning of Work and Work Outcomes

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Liao, Huiyao; Allen, Tammy D.; Liu, Zhaopeng; Ptashnik, Thomas; Wu, I-Heng (Ray)
• 署名单位: Chinese University of Hong Kong; State University System of Florida; University of South Florida; Shandong University; Providence College; University of New Mexico
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0021-9010
• DOI: 10.1037/apl0001355
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: organizational citizenship behavior; INTERDEPENDENT SELF; confidence-intervals; cultural-differences; FAMILY MOTIVATION; job-satisfaction; RELATIONAL SELF; ideal worker; IN-ROLE; performance

摘要

Working parents constitute a substantial segment of the workforce. Nevertheless, misconceptions surrounding how parental role impacts working parents, particularly working mothers, have perpetuated stigma and workplace discrimination. To better understand the contributions of parents in professional contexts, we developed the construct of family-centered symbolic meaning of work (FCSMW), which captures individuals' cognitive orientation to construe work meaning through its symbolic relevance to family. Specifically, it refers to individuals' perception of their work as a vehicle for expressing their professional ethics and principles to their family and serving as role models. We then draw upon self-construal theory to theorize that, in comparison to nonparents, working parents are more likely to develop higher FCSMW. We further posit that the positive association between parental status and FCSMW is more pronounced for women than for men. Additionally, we argue that FCSMW positively correlates with employees' display of exemplary behaviors at work, such as increased work effort and organizational citizenship behavior. Finally, we propose that the indirect effects of parental status on work outcomes via FCSMW are stronger for women than men. To assess our proposed model, we first developed and validated a scale for measuring FCSMW. We then tested our hypotheses using three sets of data: two multisource, field samples from China, and one field sample from the United States, all of which supported our hypotheses.