The Role of the Relationship with Parents with Respect to Work Orientation and Work Ethic

• Published in: The Journal of general psychology 2017-01, Vol.144 (1), p.16-34
• Main Authors: Leenders, Monique V. E., Buunk, Abraham P., Henkens, Kène
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Father-Child Relations; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Mother-Child Relations; Netherlands; Quality; Relationship with parents; Sex Factors; Social Support; Social Values; Spouses - psychology; Statistics as Topic; Work ethic; Work Performance; work values
• ISSN: 0022-1309; 1940-0888
• DOI: 10.1080/00221309.2016.1258386

We examined the extent to which individual relationships with mother and father, social support from partner, and quality of the relationship with the partner, are related to work orientation and work ethic. Survey data were obtained from 3841 respondents from the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study (wave 2). The results showed that, overall, people with a more positive relationship with their parents had a more positive work orientation and a stronger work ethic. A positive relationship with the father had a greater influence on these work aspects than a positive relationship with the mother, particularly for men. Partner support and the quality of the partner relationship partially mediated the association between the relationship with one's parents and work orientation only for women. There were no significant relationships between partner support or the quality of the partner relationship, and work ethic. Research on the relationship with parents and work-related variables is discussed.