Work Socialization and Adolescents' Work-Related Values in Single-Mother African American Families

This study examined African American mothers' work socialization messages in relation to adolescents' work-related values. Moderation effects of mother-adolescent relation quality on the linkage between maternal socialization messages and adolescents' outcomes were also examined. Participants were 245 single African American mothers and their seventh- and eighth-grade children. Results showed that for boys, greater frequency of conventional messages (e.g., importance of discipline, hard work, and skills for job success) was associated with stronger endorsement of hard work for success, whereas for girls, this association was found only for those who perceived positive relations with their mothers. Race-related messages (e.g., the notion that African Americans have to work harder than Anglo Americans to get ahead) predicted girls' effort in schoolwork, but only among those who had less positive relations with their mothers. The importance of mother-child relations in the transmission of mothers' socialization messages to children is discussed.