Many people desire work that is meaningful. However, research in this area has attracted diverse ideas about meaningful work (MW), accompanied by an equally disparate collection of ways of assessing MW. To further advance study in this area, the authors propose a multidimensional model of work as a subjectively meaningful experience consisting of experiencing positive meaning in work, sensing that work is a key avenue for making meaning, and perceiving one’s work to benefit some greater good. The development of a scale to measure these dimensions is described, an initial appraisal of the reliability and construct validity of the instrument’s scores is reported using a sample of university employees (N = 370) representing diverse occupations. MW scores correlated in predicted ways with work-related and general well-being indices, and accounted for unique variance beyond common predictors of job satisfaction, days reported absent from work, and life satisfaction. The authors discuss ways in which this conceptual model provides advantages to scholars, counselors, and organizations interested in fostering MW.
AllenN. J.MeyerJ. P.1990. The measurement and antecedents of affective, continuance, and normative commitment. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 63, 1–18.
2.
AmabileT. M.HillK. G.HennesseyB. A.TigheE. M. (1994). The Work Preference Inventory: Assessing intrinsic and extrinsic motivational orientations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 950–967.
3.
ArbuckleJ. L. (2005). AMOS 4.01 [Software]. Chicago, IL: Small Waters.
4.
ArnoldK. A.TurnerN.BarlingJ.KellowayE. K.McKeeM. C. (2007). Transformational leadership and psychological well-being: The mediating role of meaningful work. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 12, 193–203. doi:10.1037/1076-8998.12.3.193
5.
AshmosD. P.DuchonD. (2000). Spirituality at work: A conceptualization and measure. Journal of Management Inquiry, 9, 134–145.
6.
AshforthB. E. (2001). Role transitions in organizational life: An identity-based perspective. Mahwah: Erlbaum.
7.
BellahR. N.MadsenR.SullivanW. M.SwidlerA.TiptonS. M. (1986). Habits of the heart: Individualism and commitment in American life. New York, NY: Harper & Row.
8.
BlauG. (1985). The measurement and prediction of career commitment. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 58, 277–288.
9.
BlauG. (2000). Job, organizational, and professional context antecedents as predictors of intent for interrole work transitions. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 56, 330–345. doi:10.1006/jvbe.1999.1718
10.
BlusteinD. L. (2008). The role of work in psychological health and well-being: A conceptual, historical, and public policy perspective. American Psychologist, 63, 228–240. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.63.4.228
11.
BrittT. W.AdlerA. BBartoneP. T. (2001). Deriving benefits from stressful events: The role of engagement in meaningful work and hardiness. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 6, 53–63. doi:10.1037/1076-8998.6.1.53
12.
BrittT. W.DickinsonJ. M.MooreD. M.CastroC. A.AdlerA. B. (2007). Correlates and consequences of morale versus depression under stressful conditions. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 12, 34–47. doi:10.1037/1076-8998.12.1.34
13.
ChenP. Y.SpectorP. E. (1991). Negative affectivity as the underlying cause of correlations between stressors and strains. Journal of Applied Psychology, 76, 398–407. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.76.3.398
14.
ClarkL.LeedyS.McDonaldL.MullerB.LambC.MendezT.KimS.SchonwetterR. (2007). Spirituality and job satisfaction among hospice interdisciplinary team members. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 10, 1321–1328. doi:10.1089/jpm.2007.0035.
15.
DerogatisL. R. (1993). BSI: Administration, scoring, and procedures for the Brief Symptom Inventory (3rd ed.). Minneapolis, MN: National Computer Systems.
16.
DienerE.EmmonsR. A.LarsenR. J.GriffinS. (1985). The Satisfaction with Life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71–75.
17.
DikB. J.DuffyR. D. (2009). Calling and vocation at work: Definitions and prospects for research and practice. The Counseling Psychologist, 37, 424–450. doi:10.1177/0011000008316430
18.
DikB. J.EldridgeB. M.StegerM. F.DuffyR. D. (2012). Development and validation of the Calling and Vocation Questionnaire (CVQ) and Brief Calling Scale (BCS)[Special Issue]. Journal of Career Assessment, 20, 242–263.
19.
DikB. J.SargentA. M.StegerM. F. (2008). Career development strivings: Assessing goals and motivation in career decision-making and planning. Journal of Career Development, 35, 23–41. doi:10.1177/0894845308317934
20.
DikB. J.StegerM. F. (2008). Randomized trial of a calling-infused career workshop incorporating counselor self-disclosure. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 73, 203–211. doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2008.04.001
21.
DuffyR. D.SedlacekW. E. (2007). The presence of and search for a calling: Connections to career development. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 70, 590–601. doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2007.03.007
22.
FloydF. J.WidamanK. F. (1995). Factor analysis in the development and refinement of clinical assessment instruments. Psychological Assessment, 7, 286–299. doi:10.1037/1040-3590.7.3.286
23.
GadermanA. M.ZumboB. D. (2006). Investigating the intra-individual variability in trajectories of subjective well-being. Social Indicators Research, 81, 1–33.
24.
GrantA. M. (2007). Relational job design and the motivation to make a prosocial difference. Academy of Management Review, 32, 393–417.
25.
HackmanJ. R.OldhamG. R. (1976). Motivation through the design of work: Test of a theory. Organization Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 16, 250–279.
26.
HarpazI.FuX. (2002). The structure of the meaning of work: A relative stability amidst change. Human Relations, 55, 639–667. doi:10.1177/0018726702556002
27.
HaslamS. A.PowellC.TurnerJ. C. (2000). Social identity, self-categorization, and work motivation: Rethinking the contribution of the group to positive and sustainable organizational outcomes. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 49, 319–339.
28.
HuL.BentlerP. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indices in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1–55.
29.
JahodaM. (1979). The impact of unemployment in the 1930s and 1970s. Bulletin of the British Psychological Society, 32, 309–314.
30.
JudgeT. A.PiccoloR. F. (2004). Transformational and transactional leadership: A meta-analytic test of their relative validity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89, 755–768. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.89.5.755
31.
KamdronT. (2005). Work motivation and job satisfaction of Estonian higher officials. International Journal of Public Administration, 28, 1211–1240.
32.
MayD. R.GilsonR. L.HarterL.M. (2004). The psychological conditions of meaningfulness, safety and availability and the engagement of the human spirit at work. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 77, 11–37. doi:10.1348/096317904322915892
33.
MichaelsonC. (2005). “I want your shower time!”: Drowning in work and the erosion of life. Business and Professional Ethics Journal, 24, 7–26.
34.
MosierC. I. (1951). Problems and designs of cross-validation. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 11, 5–11.
35.
NordW. R.BriefA. P.AtiehJ. M.DohertyE. M. (1990). Studying meanings of work: The case of work values. In BriefA.NordW. (Eds.), Meanings of occupational work: A collection of essays. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
36.
Oscós-SánchezM. A.Oscós-FloresL. D.BurgeS. K. (2008). The Teen Medical Academy: Using academic enhancement and instructional enrichment to address ethnic disparities in the American healthcare workforce. Journal of Adolescent Health, 42, 284–293. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.08.023
37.
PiccoloR. F.ColquittJ. A, (2006). Transformational leadership and job behaviors: The mediating role of core job characteristics. Academy of Management Journal, 49, 327–340.
38.
PrattM. G. (2000). The good, the bad, and the ambivalent: Managing identification among Amway distributors. Administrative Science Quarterly, 45, 456–493.
39.
PrattM. G.AshforthB. E. (2003). Fostering meaningfulness in working and in work. In CameronK. S.DuttonJ. E.QuinnR. E. (Eds.), Positive organizational scholarship: Foundations of a new discipline (pp. 309–327). San Francisco, CA: Barrett-Koehler.
40.
RobersonL. (1990). Functions of work meanings in organizations: Work meanings and work motivation. In BriefA.NordW. (Eds.), Meanings of occupational work: A collection of essays (pp.107–134). Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
41.
RossoB. D.DekasK. H.WrzesniewskiA. (2010). On the meaning of work: A theoretical integration and review. Research in Organizational Behavior, 30, 91–127. doi:10.1016/j.riob.2010.09.001
42.
ShamirB. (1991). Meaning, self, and motivation in organizations. Organization Studies, 12, 405–424.
43.
SparksJ. R.SchenkJ. A. (2001). Explaining the effects of transformational leadership: An investigation of the effects of higher-order motives in multilevel marketing organizations. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 22, 849–869. doi:10.1002/job.116
44.
SpreitzerG. M. (1995). Psychological empowerment in the workplace: dimensions, measurement, and validation. Academy of Management Journal, 38, 1442–1465.
45.
StegerM. F.DikB. J. (2009). If one is searching for meaning in life, does meaning in work help?Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 1, 303–320.
46.
StegerM. F.DikB. J. (2010). Work as meaning. In LinleyP. A.HarringtonS.PageN. (Eds.), Oxford handbook of positive psychology and work (pp.131–142). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
47.
StegerM. F.DikB. J.ShimY. (in press). Measuring satisfaction and meaning in work. In LopezS. (Ed.), The oxford handbook of positive psychology assessment (2nd Ed.). Oxford, UK. Oxford University Press.
48.
StegerM. F.FrazierP.OishiS.KalerM. (2006). The meaning in life questionnaire: Assessing the presence of and search for meaning in life. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53, 80–93. doi:10.1037/0022-0167.53.1.80
49.
ŠverkoB.Vizek-VidovićV. (1995). Studies of the meaning of work: Approaches, models, and some of the findings. In SuperD. E.ŠverkoB. (Eds.), Life roles, values, and careers (pp. 3–21). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
50.
WeickK. E. (1995). Sensemaking in organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
51.
WeickK. E.SutcliffeK. M.ObstfeldD. (2005). Organizing and the process of sensemaking. Organization Science, 16, 409–421. doi:10.1287/orsc.1050.0133
52.
WilliamsL. J.AndersonS. E. (1991). Job satisfaction and organizational commitment as predictors of organizational citizenship and in-role behaviors. Journal of Management, 17, 601–618.
53.
WrzesniewskiA. (2003). Finding positive meaning in work. In CameronK. S.DuttonJ. E.QuinnR. E. (Eds.), Positive organizational scholarship: Foundations of a new discipline (pp. 296–308). San Francisco, CA: Barrett-Koehler.
54.
WrzesniewskiA.DuttonJ. E.DebebeG. (2003). Interpersonal sensemaking and the meaning of work. Research in Organizational Behavior, 25, 93–135. doi:10.1016/S0191-3085(03)25003-6
55.
WrzesniewskiA.McCauleyC.RozinP.SchwartzB. (1997). Jobs, careers, and callings: People’s relations to their work. Journal of Research in Personality, 31, 21–33. doi:10.1006/jrpe.1997.2162
56.
YuChong Ho (2003). Resampling methods: concepts, applications, and justification. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 8
. Retrieved May 13, 2008, fromhttp://PAREonline.net/getvn.asp?v=8&n=19
