CEOs' Joy of Working for the Family Firm: The Role of Psychological Ownership and Stewardship Behavior

Abstract

In this article, we examine the factors which lead to CEOs' joy of working for the family firm, as it is expected to contribute to their willingness to invest in its perpetuation and success. We focus on three such factors: CEOs' collective psychological ownership, their individual psychological ownership, and CEOs' stewardship behavior. We find that on the one hand, the relationship between CEOs' collective psychological ownership and their joy of working for the family business is mediated by their stewardship behavior, and on the other hand, stewardship behavior mediates the relationship between CEOs' individual psychological ownership and their joy of work. We make valuable contributions to psychological ownership literature, to stewardship literature, and to the literature on joy and joy at work.