Stress and Health Outcomes: Do Meaningful Work and Physical Activity Help?

an article by Suzanne H. Lease and Emily L. Brown (The University of Memphis, TN, USA) and Christina L. Ingram (Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA) published in Journal of Career Development Volume 46 Issue 3 (June 2019): June 1, 2019

Abstract

The negative effects of stress and burnout on mental and physical health are widely known, as are the beneficial effects of physical activity.

While the organizational literature emphasizes the value of meaningful work for employers and employees alike, the stress-buffering role of meaningful work in combination with physical activity is not known.

The present study examined the

1. mediating role of burnout in the relationships between perceived stress and health risk behaviors (i.e., poor diet, tobacco use, and alcohol use) and depressive symptoms and
2. moderating roles of meaningful work and physical activity on the relationships between perceived stress and health outcomes.

Participants were 229 employed adults. Perceived stress predicted physical health risk behaviors and depressive symptoms, but the direct and indirect negative effects of stress were stronger when meaningful work scores were lower. Findings offer support for the development of interventions that include enhancing work meaningfulness.

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Work conditions and financial difficulties in post-crisis Europe: Utility versus quality of working life

an article by Helena Lopes and Sérgio Lagoa (University Institute of Lisbon, Portugal) and Ana C Santos (University of Coimbra, Portugal) published in The Economic and Labour Relations Review Volume 30 Issue 1 (March 2019)

Abstract

This article critically examines the relation between work and utility and challenges the mainstream economic view of well-being as a hedonic state for which work is a less pleasurable trade-off.

It proposes a conception of work as a potential source of eudaimonic well-being, providing meaning and contributing to human flourishing and self-realisation.

Based on micro-level data, the article shows the relevance of distinguishing between hedonic and eudaimonic well-being by way of comparing the effects of increased financial difficulties and deteriorated work conditions on these two types of well-being in five European Union countries – Germany, Poland, Portugal, Sweden and the UK – in the post global financial crisis years between 2009 and 2014.

The article concludes by underlining the political importance of addressing aspects pertaining to the quality of working life and of creating jobs that serve to improve the eudaimonic well-being of citizens.

JEL Classification: I31, J28, J81

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Time reclaimed: temporality and the experience of meaningful work

an article by Catherine Bailey (University of Sussex, UK) and Adrian Madden (University of Greenwich, UK) published in Work, employment and society Volume 31 Issue 1 (February 2017)

Abstract

The importance of meaningful work has been identified in scholarly writings across a range of disciplines. However, empirical studies remain sparse and the potential relevance of the concept of temporality, hitherto somewhat neglected even in wider sociological studies of organizations, has not been considered in terms of the light that it can shed on the experience of work as meaningful.

These two disparate bodies of thought are brought together to generate new accounts of work meaningfulness through the lens of temporality. Findings from a qualitative study of workers in three occupations with ostensibly distinct temporal landscapes are reported.

All jobs had the potential to be both meaningful and meaningless; meaningfulness arose episodically through work experiences that were shared, autonomous and temporally complex.

Schutz’s notion of the ‘vivid present’ emerged as relevant to understanding how work is rendered meaningful within an individual’s personal and social system of relevances.

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Developing meaningfulness at work through emotional intelligence training

an article by Kathryn Thory (University of Strathclyde Business School, Glasgow, UK) published in International Journal of Training and Development Volume 20 Issue 1 (March 2016)

Abstract

To date, there remains a significant gap in the human resource development (HRD) literature in understanding how training and development contributes to meaningful work. In addition, little is known about how individuals proactively make their work more meaningful.

This article shows how emotional intelligence (EI) training promotes learning about sources of meaningful work and documents managers’ experiences of independently applying to the workplace what they have learnt about meaningfulness from their EI training.

Data is collected from participant observations and interviews with trainers and managers attending three externally provided, ‘popular’ EI training courses. Interpreting the data through Lips-Wiersma and Morris's model of meaningful work enables a clear articulation of managers’ capacity to shape their work environments to create four, interconnected sources of meaningfulness: inner development, expressing one's full potential, unity with others and serving others.

The findings also reveal structural and agential constraints when individuals attempt to create meaningful work. Practically, the study demonstrates the importance of training to enhance work of value and significance and offers recommendations for practitioners.

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Measuring Meaningful Work: The Work and Meaning Inventory (WAMI)

Note: I came across this article in a secondary source and could not quite believe that I hadn't already blogged it. If I have I can’td find it so thought I’ better do it now.

an article by Michael F. Steger (Colorado State University, Fort Collins, USA and North-West University, Vanderbijlpark, South Africa), Bryan J. Dik (Colorado State University, Fort Collins, USA) and Ryan D. Duffy (University of Florida, Gainesville, USA) published in Journal of Career Assessment Volume 20 Number 3 (August 2012)

Abstract

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, counsellors, and organizations interested in fostering MW.

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Development and Validation of the Calling and Vocation Questionnaire (CVQ) and Brief Calling Scale (BCS)

an article by Bryan J. Dik and Brandy M. Eldridge (Colorado State University, USA), Michael F. Steger (North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa) and Ryan D. Duffy (University of Florida, USA) published in Journal of Career Assessment Volume 20 Number 3 (August 2012)

Abstract

Research on work as a calling is limited by measurement concerns.

In response, the authors introduce the multidimensional Calling and Vocation Questionnaire (CVQ) and the Brief Calling scale (BCS), instruments assessing presence of, and search for, a calling.

Study 1 describes CVQ development using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in a cross-validated split-sample approach with 456 undergraduates. The CVQ contained six reliable sub-scales that form CVQ-Presence and CVQ-Search scores, which demonstrated moderate 1-month test–retest reliability, good fit to a six-factor structure, and initial support for construct validity.

Study 2 reports a multi-trait–multi-method analysis with 134 undergraduates and 365 informants.

Self-reported CVQ and BCS scores moderately to strongly correlated with informant reports and scores for both instruments correlated in hypothesized directions with work hope, prosocial work motivation, life meaning, and the search for meaning.

CVQ and BCS scores provide psychometrically sound measures of calling, with the CVQ offering the potential for more fine-grained, multidimensional analyses.

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