Sweeping the Floor or Putting a Man on the Moon: How to Define and Measure Meaningful Work.

Jitske M C Both-Nwabuwe,Bianca Beersma,Maria T M Dijkstra

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01658

Abstract

Meaningful work is integral to well-being and a flourishing life. The construct of “meaningful work” is, however, consistently affected by conceptual ambiguity. Although there is substantial support for arguments to maintain the status of conceptual ambiguity, we make a case for the benefits of having consensus on a definition and scale of meaningful work in the context of paid work. The objective of this article, therefore, was twofold. Firstly, we wanted to develop a more integrative definition of meaningful work. Secondly, we wanted to establish a corresponding operationalization. We reviewed the literature on the existing definitions of meaningful work and the scales designed to measure it. We found 14 definitions of meaningful work. Based on these definitions, we identified four categories of definitions, which led us to propose an integrative and comprehensive definition of meaningful work. We identified two validated scales that were partly aligned with the proposed definition. Based on our review, we conclude that scholars in this field should coalesce rather than diverge their efforts to conceptualize and measure meaningful work.

Highlights

There is a famous story about President John F
The content analysis approach led us to identify four categories of definitions: (1) “positive significance or purpose,” the largest category with seven definitions of meaningful work, focusing on the experience of positive significance or purpose through work; (2) “constituents of meaningful work,” with four definitions, focusing on what meaningful work consists of; (3) “fit,” with two definitions, focusing on the fit between the individual and his/her work; and (4) “fulfillment,” with two definitions focusing on fulfilling a certain need or dimension
In order to bring consensus to the field of meaningful work, to conceptualize meaningful work more comprehensively, and to avoid tautology, we propose to define it on the basis of all the four categories we derived from our review, as follows: meaningful work is the subjective experience of existential significance resulting from the fit between the individual and work

Summary

Introduction

There is a famous story about President John F. Kennedy noticed a janitor carrying a broom He interrupted his tour, walked over to the man and asked: “What are you doing?” “Well, Mr President,” the janitor responded, “I’m helping to put a man on the moon.”. This story brings to life an image of how seeing a bigger purpose for one’s work than just the tasks at hand can make employees more engaged and satisfied in their work. It is unlikely that a person will flourish (Veltman, 2016) Considering these ideas and research findings, it is no surprise that meaningful work is receiving increasing attention from researchers as well as practitioners (Lips-Wiersma and Morris, 2009)

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