Work Value Transmission From Parents to Children: Early Socialization and Delayed Activation

This study examines the transmission of work values from parents to children between mid-adolescence and early midlife. The authors propose that work-related values are transmitted from parents to children in two sequential and complementary processes stretched across adolescence and early adulthood...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Work and occupations 2020-02, Vol.47 (1), p.83-119
Main Authors: Johnson, Monica Kirkpatrick, Mortimer, Jeylan T., Heckhausen, Jutta
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescents
Adult children
Adults
Careers
Child development
Children
Delayed
Families & family life
Midlife
Parents
Parents & parenting
Socialization
Uncertainty
Work values
Young adults
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Summary:This study examines the transmission of work values from parents to children between mid-adolescence and early midlife. The authors propose that work-related values are transmitted from parents to children in two sequential and complementary processes stretched across adolescence and early adulthood. The first process of work value exposure and reception in the family context is captured by the socialization model. The second process is one of delayed value activation, long after initial socialization, when the young adult offspring engages with the demands and vicissitudes of their own emerging careers. The authors find evidence for family socialization in adolescence and also support for the delayed activation model during adulthood. Although parental values were measured more than two decades earlier, the authors find the strongest associations of parent and child values when the offspring were in their late 30s. In addition, parent–child value similarity is heightened when adult children navigate career uncertainty and change, consistent with a delayed activation process.
ISSN:0730-8884
1552-8464
DOI:10.1177/0730888419877445