Career callings manifest when work is viewed as a vital part of one’s identity. Employees who experience a career calling tend to report beneficial outcomes (e.g., career self-efficacy, job satisfaction, and work engagement), but researchers know much less about the factors that shape the presence of a career calling. This study seeks to understand what induces women working in domestic violence services to experience the presence of a career calling. We draw upon basic psychological need theory to hypothesize that the satisfaction of the basic needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness will promote calling presence. Two-wave survey data were collected from 207 women working in domestic violence services. Cross-lagged panel modeling results showed that satisfaction of the basic needs for competence and relatedness (but not autonomy) were positively associated with calling presence. Our findings provide key insights into the utility of basic psychological need theory for understanding the antecedents to the presence of a career calling. Limitations, directions for future research, and implications are discussed.
BemillerM.WilliamsL. S. (2011). The role of adaptation in advocate burnout: A case of good soldiering. Violence Against Women, 17(1), 89–110. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801210393923
2.
BlusteinD. L.LysovaE. I.DuffyR. D. (2023). Understanding decent work and meaningful work. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 10(1), 289–314. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-031921-024847
3.
BuisB. C.KluemperD. H.WeismanH.TaoS. (2024). Your employees are calling: How organizations help or hinder living a calling at work. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 149, Article 103958. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2023.103958
4.
BundersonJ. S.ThompsonJ. A. (2009). The call of the wild: Zookeepers, callings, and the double-edged sword of deeply meaningful work. Administrative Science Quarterly, 54(1), 32–57. https://doi.org/10.2189/asqu.2009.54.1.32
5.
ChangP.RuiH.LeeA. Y. (2020). How having a calling leads to job crafting: A moderated mediation model. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, Article 552828. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.552828
6.
ConwayN.ClintonM.SturgesJ.BudjanovcaninA. (2015). Using self determination theory to understand the relationship between calling enactment and daily well being. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 36(8), 1114–1131. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2014
7.
CortinaL. M.AreguinM. A. (2021). Putting people down and pushing them out: Sexual harassment in the workplace. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 8(1), 285–309. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-012420-055606
8.
DeciE. L.RyanR. M.GagnéM.LeoneD. R.UsunovJ.KornazhevaB. P. (2001). Need satisfaction, motivation, and well-being in the work organizations of a former Eastern bloc country: A cross-cultural study of self-determination. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27(8), 930–942. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167201278002
9.
DettmersJ.BredehöftF. (2020). The ambivalence of job autonomy and the role of job design demands. Scandinavian Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 5(1), 8. https://doi.org/10.16993/sjwop.81
10.
DikB. J.EldridgeB. M.StegerM. F.DuffyR. D. (2012). Development and validation of the calling and vocation questionnaire (CVQ) and brief calling scale (BCS). Journal of Career Assessment, 20(3), 242–263. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072711434410
11.
DobrowS. R.HellerD. (2015). Follow your heart or your head? A longitudinal study of the facilitating role of calling and ability in the pursuit of a challenging career. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(3), 695–712. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038011
12.
DobrowS. R.WeismanH.HellerD.Tosti-KharasJ. (2023). Calling and the good life: A meta-analysis and theoretical extension. Administrative Science Quarterly, 68(2), 508–550. https://doi.org/10.1177/00018392231159641
13.
DuffyR. D.AllanB. A.BottE. M. (2012). Calling and life satisfaction among undergraduate students: Investigating mediators and moderators. Journal of Happiness Studies, 13(3), 469–479. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-011-9274-6
14.
DuffyR. D.DikB. J. (2013). Research on calling: What have we learned and where are we going?Journal of Vocational Behavior, 83(3), 428–436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2013.06.006
15.
DuffyR. D.DikB. J.DouglassR. P.EnglandJ. W.VelezB. L. (2018). Work as a calling: A theoretical model. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 65(4), 423–439. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000276
16.
DuffyR. D.EnglandJ. W.DouglassR. P.AutinK. L.AllanB. A. (2017). Perceiving a calling and well-being: Motivation and access to opportunity as moderators. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 98(1), 127–137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2016.11.003
17.
DuffyR. D.SedlacekW. E. (2007). The presence of and search for a calling: Connections to career development. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 70(3), 590–601. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2007.03.007
18.
GazicaM. W.SpectorP. E. (2015). A comparison of individuals with unanswered callings to thos with no calling at all. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 91, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2015.08.008
19.
Gil-FlórezA.LlorensS.Acosta-AntognoniH.SalanovaM. (2022). Basic psychological needs at work: Their relationship with psychological well-being and healthy organisational outcomes with a gender perspective. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(5), 3103. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19053103
20.
Gómez-BayaD.Lucia-CasademuntA. M.Salinas-PérezJ. A. (2018). Gender differences in psychological well-being and health problems among European health professionals: Analysis of psychological basic needs and job satisfaction. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(7), 1474. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15071474
21.
HamakerE. L.KuiperR. M.GrasmanR. P. P. P. (2015). A critique of the cross-lagged panel model. Psychological Methods, 20(1), 102–116. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038889
22.
HirschiA.HerrmannA. (2013). Calling and career preparation: Investigating developmental patterns and temporal precedence. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 83(1), 51–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2013.02.008
23.
HuangJ. L.BowlingN. A.LiuM.LiY. (2015). Detecting insufficient effort responding with an infrequency scale: Evaluating validity and participant reactions. Journal of Business and Psychology, 30(2), 299–311. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-014-9357-6
24.
HuppertzA. V.HülshegerU. R.De Calheiros VelozoJ.SchreursB. H. (2020). Why do emotional labor strategies differentially predict exhaustion? Comparing psychological effort, authenticity, and relational mechanisms. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 25(3), 214–226. https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000179
25.
IlardiB. C.LeoneD.KasserR.RyanR. M. (1993). Employee and supervisor ratings of motivation: Main effects and discrepancies associated with job satisfaction and adjustment in a factory setting. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 23(21), 1789–1805. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.1993.tb01066.x
26.
KasserT.DaveyJ.RyanR. M. (1992). Motivation, dependability, and employee supervisor discrepancies in psychiatric vocational rehabilitation settings. Rehabilitation Psychology, 37(3), 175–187. https://psycnet.apa.org/buy/1993-03124-001
27.
KellerA. C.SpurkD.BaumelerF.HirschiA. (2016). Competitive climate and workaholism: Negative sides of future orientation and calling. Personality and Individual Differences, 96, 112–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.02.061
28.
LaguerreR. A.Barnes-FarrellJ. L. (2025). Bringing self-determination theory to the forefront: Examining how human resource practices motivate employees of all ages to succeed. Journal of Business and Psychology, 40(1), 1–37. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-024-09951-w
29.
LiF.JiaoR.LinX.LiuL. (2024). Interactive effects of basic psychological need satisfaction and frustration on career calling among Chinese kindergarten teachers: A person-centered approach. Current Psychology, 43(2), 1638–1650. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-04391-w
30.
LysovaE. I.AllanB. A.DikB. J.DuffyR. D.StegerM. F. (2019). Fostering meaningful work in organizations: A multi-level review and integration. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 110, 374–389. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2018.07.004
31.
MartelaF.Lehmus-SunA.ParkerP. D.PessiA. B.RyanR. M. (2023). Needs and well-being across Europe: Basic psychological needs are closely connected with well-being, meaning, and symptoms of depression in 27 European countries. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 14(5), 501–514. https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506221113678
32.
McGonagleA. K.HuangJ. L.WalshB. M. (2016). Insufficient effort survey responding: An under appreciated problem in work and organisational health psychology research. Applied Psychology, 65(2), 287–321. https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12058
NisicN.TrübnerM. (2024). Doing housework in context: Dyadic analyses of the division of domestic labor in contemporary couples. Journal of Family Issues, 45(6), 1378–1402. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X231172285
35.
OlafsenA. H.HalvariH.FrølundC. W. (2021). The basic psychological need satisfaction and need frustration at work scale: A validation study. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 697306. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.697306
36.
ParkJ.KimS.LimM.SohnY. W. (2019). Having a calling on board: Effects of calling on job satisfaction and job performance among South Korean newcomers. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1584. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01584
RyanR. M.DuineveldJ. J.Di DomenicoS. I.RyanW. S.StewardB. A.BradshawE. L. (2022). We know this much is (meta-analytically) true: A meta-review of meta-analytic findings evaluating self-determination theory. Psychological Bulletin, 148(11-12), 813–842. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000385
40.
SchabramK.MaitlisS. (2017). Negotiating the challenges of a calling: Emotion and enacted sensemaking in animal shelter work. Academy of Management Journal, 60(2), 584–609. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2013.0665
41.
StiglbauerB.PenzM. (2025). Beyond the resource perspective: Integrating appraisal to better understand job autonomy and its effects on well-being. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 30(4), 227–254. https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000403
42.
SturgesJ. (2020). In God’s name: Calling, gender and career success in religious ministry. Gender, Work & Organization, 27(6), 971–987. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12424
43.
ThompsonJ. A.BundersonJ. S. (2019). Research on work as a calling…and how to make it matter. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 6(1), 421–443. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-012218-015140
44.
TrumanJ. L.MorganR. E. (2014). Nonfatal domestic violence, 2003–2012 (special report). U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics. https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/ndv0312.pdf
Van den BroeckA.FerrisD. L.ChangC. H.RosenC. C. (2016). A review of self-determination theory’s basic psychological needs at work. Journal of Management, 42(5), 1195–1229. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206316632058
47.
VansteenkisteM.RyanR. M.SoenensB. (2020). Basic psychological need theory: Advancements, critical themes, and future directions. Motivation and Emotion, 44(1), 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-019-09818-1
48.
WalshB. M.BurrusA.Kabat-FarrD.McGonagleA. K.CallE.McIntireA.ShenF. C. (2020). Living a calling and perceived work ability in domestic violence services. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 67(2), 241–250. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000387
49.
ZhangL.JinT. (2019). Linking empowering leadership and career calling: The mediating role of psychological need fulfillment. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 29(5), 429–434. https://doi.org/10.1080/14330237.2019.1675998
