Prof Zhang Hong, Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Management at the Faculty of Business at Lingnan University, and her research team have received the prestigious Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award for Excellence in Work-Family Research 2025 for their pioneering study in the field of work-family dynamics. This international award, conferred by Purdue University’s Centre for Families and Boston College’s Centre for Work and Family, recognises the most outstanding interdisciplinary contributions to work-family research.
The award-winning paper, was written by Prof Zhang and her research team, and published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. The study examines how the interplay between work and family influences personality traits, particularly during the middle and latter stages of adulthood. The research team includes Prof Li Wendong, Associate Professor of the Department of Management at the Chinese University of Hong Kong; Prof Wang Jiexin, Assistant Professor of Shenzhen Audencia Financial Technology Institute, WeBank Institute of Fintech at Shenzhen University; Prof Tammy Allen, Professor of Department of Psychology at the University of South Florida; Prof Zhang Xin, Assistant Professor of the Department of Human Resource Management at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics; Yu Kaili, PhD candidate of the Department of Management at the Chinese University of Hong Kong; Prof Jason L. Huang, Professor of the School of Human Resources and Labor Relations at Michigan State University; Liu Mengqiao, senior research scientist at Amazon; and Prof Andrew Li, Professor of the Department of Management at West Texas A&M University.
Prof Zhang said “I am honoured to receive the Rosabeth Kanter Award for Excellence in Work-Family Research, a testament to the dedication, hard work, and collaborative spirit of my research team. I also extend my heartfelt gratitude to the Department of Management and the Faculty of Business at Lingnan University for their unwavering support and encouragement. It’s a great privilege to be recognised by a global panel that values both academic rigour and practical relevance, and this acknowledgement will inspire me to pursue research that pushes theoretical boundaries while resonating with those facing real-world challenges.”
The study examines how interactions between the key life domains - work and family - influence personality development in midlife and beyond. It explores how work-to-family conflict and facilitation, and family-to-work conflict and facilitation, impact the development of personality traits such as conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism through changes in anxiety. The research draws on two datasets from the United States: The Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study and the Health and Retirement (HRS) Study, and the findings indicate that the continued accumulation of negative work–family experiences increase individuals' changes of neuroticism significantly, weakening their changes of extraversion; conversely, positive work–family experiences can gradually alleviate neurotic tendencies and enhance individuals' extraversion traits.
Prof Zhang explained that these findings are relevant to Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area (GBA), noting that Hong Kong, as a fast-paced and ageing society, and the GBA, a technology-driven economic hub, must pay attention to the emotional and psychological needs of professionals in mid-to-late career. She emphasised that implementing targeted interventions or policies, such as flexible work arrangements and family-inclusive benefits, can reduce long-term neuroticism significantly and foster a healthier work-family dynamic, ultimately ensuring sustainable talent retention and enhancing overall quality of life. Tailoring an organisation’s human resource practices for employees can help improve their psychological resilience and work-family balance, which help to sustain a competitive and innovative workforce across the diverse cultural landscape of the GBA.
About the Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award
The Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award, established in 2000 by the Centre for Families at Purdue University and the Centre for Work and Family at Boston College, promotes awareness of high-quality work-family research among scholars, consultants, and practitioners. Applications are not accepted. The rigorous award process typically involves more than 5,000 articles published in over 60 scholarly English-language journals from around the world. This award recognises the finest research in this interdisciplinary domain each year, and is one of the most prestigious honours in the field of work-life.
