For Work / Against Work

Cummings, Mary L; Gao, Fei; Thornburg, Kris M (2016). Boredom in the workplace: A new look at an old problem: A new look at an old problem

Fri, 14 Aug 2026 00:27:55 GMT

OBJECTIVE: We review historical and more recent efforts in boredom research and related fields. A framework is presented that organizes the various facets of boredom, particularly in supervisory control settings, and research gaps and future potential areas for study are highlighted. BACKGROUND: Given the ubiquity of boredom across a wide spectrum of work environments--exacerbated by increasingly automated systems that remove humans from direct, physical system interaction and possibly increa...

Fisherl, Cynthia D (1993). Boredom at work: A neglected concept

Fri, 14 Aug 2026 00:27:55 GMT

Nearly everyone experiences episodes of boredom at work from time to time, regardless of the nature of their job. Previous research on industrial monotony is unable to explain boredom on any but the simplest of tasks. A broader view of the causes of boredom, including attributes of the task, environment, person, and person-environment fit, is proposed. Individual choices of response to feelings of boredom are also considered, and a number of research propositions are suggested.

Hegel, G W F (1983). Hegel and the Human Spirit: A translation of the Jena Lectures on the Philosophy of Spirit (1805-6)

Thu, 13 Aug 2026 22:50:08 GMT

Since work is performed only [to satisfy] the need as abstract being-for-itself, the working becomes abstract as well. … Each individual, because he is an individual here, thus labors for a need. [Yet] the content of his labor goes beyond his need, he labors for the needs of many, and so does everyone. Each satisfies the needs of many, and the satisfaction of one’s own many particular needs is the labor of many others. Since his labor is abstract in this way, he behaves as an abstract I … hav...

Hegel, G W F (1979). System of Ethical Life and First Philosophy of Spirit

Thu, 13 Aug 2026 22:50:08 GMT

[T]he satisfaction of the totality of [the individual’s] needs is a labor of everyone. Between the range of needs of the single [agent], and his activity on that account, there enters the labor of the whole people, and the labor of any one is in respect of its contents, a universal labor for the needs of all, so as to be appropriate for the satisfaction of all of his needs.

Hegel, G W F (1979). System of Ethical Life and First Philosophy of Spirit

Thu, 13 Aug 2026 22:50:08 GMT

Labor is of all and for all, and the enjoyment [of its fruits] is enjoyment by all. Each serves the other and provides help.

Hegel, G W F (1979). System of Ethical Life and First Philosophy of Spirit

Thu, 13 Aug 2026 22:50:08 GMT

Technique is a universal mode, a rule of all labor, something that subsists on its own account, that appears as an external, as inorganic nature, and something that must be learned.

Hegel, G W F (1979). System of Ethical Life and First Philosophy of Spirit

Thu, 13 Aug 2026 22:50:08 GMT

In the tool the subjectivity of labor is raised to something universal. Anyone can make a similar tool and work with it. To this extent the tool is the persistent norm of labor... This is why, on Hegel’s view, ‘all peoples living on the natural level have honored the tool.

Hegel, G W F (1983). Hegel and the human spirit: A translation of the Jena lectures on the philosophy of spirit (1805-6)

Thu, 13 Aug 2026 22:50:08 GMT

In the tool … I possess a possibility, a content as something universal. Thus the tool [as] means is of greater value than the goal of desire, which goal is particular; the tool encompasses all such particularities.

Hegel, G W F (1979). System of Ethical Life and First Philosophy of Spirit

Thu, 13 Aug 2026 22:50:08 GMT

The tool is that wherein laboring has its permanence, that which alone remains over from the laboring and the product of work, that wherein their contingency is eternalized.

Hegel, G W F (1979). System of Ethical Life and First Philosophy of Spirit

Thu, 13 Aug 2026 22:50:08 GMT

In labor, desire wrenches the object to be nullified entirely out of its context, specifies it, and posits it as connected with a desiring.

Hegel, G W F (1983). Hegel and the Human Spirit (Jena Lectures 1805-06)

Thu, 13 Aug 2026 22:50:08 GMT

In the element of being as such, the existence and range of natural needs is a multitude of needs. The things serving to satisfy those needs are worked up [verarbeitet], their universal inner possibility posited as outer possibility, as form.

Geldenhuys, Madelyn; Bakker, Arnold B; Demerouti, Evangelia (2021). How task, relational and cognitive crafting relate to job performance: a weekly diary study on the role of meaningfulness

Fri, 31 Jul 2026 03:50:34 GMT

Job crafting has gained prominence in research and organizational practice as an important work behaviour that can cultivate positive workplace outcomes. The present study uses job crafting theory to argue that experienced meaningfulness plays a mediating role in the link between task, cognitive and relational crafting behaviours and peer-ratings of job performance over time. Additionally, this study validates the weekly version of the Job Crafting Questionnaire (JCQ). A total of 134 employee...

Di Fabio, Annamaria; Blustein, David L (2016). Editorial: From meaning of working to meaningful lives: The challenges of expanding decent work

Fri, 31 Jul 2026 03:50:25 GMT

Cheney, George; Zorn, Theodore E; Planalp, Sally; Lair, Daniel J (2008). Meaningful work and personal/social well-being organizational communication engages the meanings of work

Fri, 31 Jul 2026 03:50:25 GMT

This chapter argues for a broadening of organizational communication scholarship through the consideration of meanings of work including meaningful work. First, we define meaningful work especially within the frame of a broader examination of meanings of work. Along the way, we consider the concept of meaningful work within a constellation of terms that includes job enrichment, work-life balance, career path, leisure, life satisfaction, and so forth. Second, we consider the historical-cultura...

Britt, T W; Adler, A B; Bartone, P T (2001). Deriving benefits from stressful events: the role of engagement in meaningful work and hardiness

Fri, 31 Jul 2026 03:50:25 GMT

This research explored the relationship between the meaningfulness of work, personality hardiness, and deriving long-term benefits from a stressful event. U.S. soldiers participating in a peacekeeping mission to Bosnia completed measures assessing the meaning of their work and personality hardiness midway through a 1-year deployment (mid-deployment) and completed a measure of deriving benefits from the deployment 4-5 months after it was over (postdeployment). Structural equation modeling reve...

Allan, Blake A; Duffy, Ryan D; Collisson, Brian (2018). Helping others increases meaningful work: Evidence from three experiments

Fri, 31 Jul 2026 03:50:25 GMT

The aim of the current research was to examine whether manipulating task significance increased the meaningfulness of work among students (Study 1), an online sample of working adults (Study 2), and public university employees (Study 3). In Study 1, students completed a typing task for the benefit of themselves, a charity, or someone they knew would directly benefit from their work. People who worked to benefit someone else, rather than themselves, reported greater task meaningfulness. In Stu...

Shimizu, Adelyn B; Dik, Bryan J; Conner, Bradley T (2019). Conceptualizing calling: Cluster and taxometric analyses

Fri, 31 Jul 2026 03:49:32 GMT

Research on work as a calling has proliferated within the last decade, but researchers continue to conceptualize the construct in diverse ways, potentially creating confusion and a lack of coherence as research accumulates. This study applies two typological research strategies to better understand the latent structure of calling, and differences among people who find the construct personally relevant. First, using a sample of 588 U.S. undergraduate students who self-identified as having a ca...

Lysova, Evgenia I; Dik, Bryan J; Duffy, Ryan D; Khapova, Svetlana N; Arthur, Michael B (2019). Calling and careers: New insights and future directions

Fri, 31 Jul 2026 03:49:32 GMT

Leufstadius, Christel; Eklund, Mona; Erlandsson, Lena-Karin (2009). Meaningfulness in work - experiences among employed individuals with persistent mental illness

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:09:09 GMT

The aim of the present study was to investigate how people with persistent mental illness, with various types of work and employment conditions, experience and describe the meaningfulness of work. The study had a qualitative approach and twelve informants living in the community were purposefully selected and interviewed according to overarching themes. The interviews were analysed using qualitative content analysis, and all of the authors were involved in the analysis process. The findings r...

Lepisto, Douglas A (2022). Ritual work and the formation of a shared sense of meaningfulness

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:09:09 GMT

Drawing from a 21-month field study of an athletic footwear and apparel company, I build theory about how a shared sense of meaningfulness forms through interaction ritual and emotion. I find that ...

Pratt, Michael G; Pradies, Camille; Lepisto, Douglas A (2013). Doing well, doing good, and doing with: Organizational practices for effectively cultivating meaningful work

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:09:09 GMT

Horowitz, Carol R; Suchman, Anthony L; Branch, William T; Frankel, Richard M (2003). What do doctors find meaningful about their work?

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:09:09 GMT

Medical Writings6 May 2003What Do Doctors Find Meaningful about Their Work?Carol R. Horowitz, MD, MPH, Anthony L. Suchman, MD, William T. Branch Jr., MD, and Richard M. Frankel, PhDCarol R. Horowitz, MD, MPHFrom Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York; Rochester, New York; Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia; Regenstrief Institute, Indianapolis, Indiana., Anthony L. Suchman, MDFrom Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York; Rochester, New York; Emory Univ...

Geldenhuys, Dirk J; Johnson, Sarah (2021). Experience of meaningful work for self-employed individuals

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:09:09 GMT

Orientation: This article is about the experience of meaningful work for self-employed individuals. Research purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore how meaningful work is experienced by self-employed individuals. Motivation for the study: Research tends to focus on meaningful work from either the formally employed individual or the organisational perspective, and very little research has included the perspective of self-employed individuals. The number of employed individuals consi...

Lips-Wiersma, Marjolein (2018). Where meaning meets organisation

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:08:43 GMT

Bailey, Catherine; Lips-Wiersma, Marjolein; Madden, Adrian; Yeoman, Ruth; Thompson, Marc; Chalofsky, Neal (2019). The five paradoxes of Meaningful Work: Introduction to the special Issue ‘Meaningful Work: Prospects for the 21st century’

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:08:43 GMT

Abstract In this introduction to the Journal of Management Studies Special Issue on Meaningful Work, we explain the imperative for a deeper understanding of meaningfulness within the context of the current sociopolitical environment, coupled with the growing use of organizational strategies aimed at ‘managing the soul’. Meaningful work remains a contested topic that has been the subject of attention in a wide range of disciplines. The focus of this Special Issue is the advancement of theory a...

Lips-Wiersma, Marjolein; Haar, Jarrod; Wright, Sarah (2020). The effect of fairness, responsible leadership and worthy work on multiple dimensions of meaningful work

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:08:43 GMT

The present study extends the meaningful work and ethics literature by comparing three ethics-related antecedents. The second contribution of this paper is that in using a multi-dimensional MFW construct we offer a more fine-tuned understanding of the impact of ethical antecedents on different dimensions of MFW, such as expressing full potential and integrity with self. Using an international data set from 879 employees and structural equation modelling, we confirmed an updated seven-dimensio...

Lips-Wiersma, Marjolein; Haar, Jarrod; Cooper-Thomas, Helena D (2023). Is meaningful work always a resource toward wellbeing? The effect of autonomy, security and multiple dimensions of subjective meaningful work on wellbeing

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:08:43 GMT

PurposeUsing conservation of resources as a theoretical lens, the paper aims to investigate distinct objective meaningful work (OMW) and subjective meaningful work (SMW) domains as resources that contribute to wellbeing.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional questionnaire was conducted with 879 employees, measuring OMW resources (job security and autonomy), SMW using the well-validated multidimensional Comprehensive Meaningful Work Scale (CMWS) focusing on five dimensions (integrity wit...

Bailey, Catherine; Madden, Adrian; Lips-Wiersma, Marjolein (2025). Experiencing meaningful work through worthwhile contributions: A critical discourse analysis

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:08:43 GMT

Why do individuals find their work meaningful and what is the role of worthwhile contributions in this experience? We undertake an analysis of accounts related by individuals working as nurses, creative artists and lawyers in which they explain why they find their work meaningful. Drawing on the traditions of critical discourse and narrative analysis, and informed by French pragmatic sociology, we move beyond a focus on what is said to consider how accounts are structured in explanations of m...

Eidevall, Kristina; Leufstadius, Christel (2014). Perceived meaningfulness of music and participation in a music group among young adults with physical disabilities

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:08:43 GMT

Leufstadius, Christel; Gunnarsson, Birgitta A; Eklund, Mona (2014). Meaningfulness in day centers for people with psychiatric disabilities: Gender and empowerment aspects

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:08:43 GMT

This study investigated the experience of meaningfulness in occupations at day centers among people with psychiatric disabilities from an empowerment and gender perspective. One hundred eight participants, from eight day centers in Sweden, completed instruments measuring experienced meaning, empowerment, psychosocial functioning, and socio-demographic factors. Mixed methods were used, combining statistical analyses and content analysis. Gender differences were found concerning principal occup...

Nilsson, Ingeborg; Argentzell, Elisabeth; Sandlund, Mikael; Leufstadius, Christel; Eklund, Mona (2011). Measuring perceived meaningfulness in day centres for persons with mental illness

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:08:43 GMT

RATIONALE: As support in leading a meaningful and active life, a person with mental illness is often given the opportunity to attend a day centre. However, few studies have investigated the meaningfulness perceived by the person visiting a day centre. For such a purpose, a self-report instrument was developed. AIMS: To explore whether perceived meaningfulness, as expressed in the recently developed instrument Evaluation of Perceived Meaning in Day Centers (EPM-DC), could be viewed as one dime...

Leufstadius, Christel; Erlandsson, Lena-Karin; Björkman, Tommy; Eklund, Mona (2008). Meaningfulness in daily occupations among individuals with persistent mental illness

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:08:43 GMT

This study investigated how people with persistent mental illness who work or study, attend a community‐based activity centre or have no regular activities, experience and describe the meaningfulness of their daily occupations. Data were gathered from 102 randomly selected individuals who were interviewed regarding their daily occupations and perceived meaningfulness using a ‘yesterday activity diary’. Content analysis revealed five main themes of meaningfulness: 1) Connection with others and...

Boura, Maria; Zyglidopoulos, Stelios C; Michaelson, Christopher Wong (2025). The promise of meaningful work and the associated peril of corruption

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:07:40 GMT

Drawing on the meaningful work and normalization of corruption literatures, we develop a theoretical model to explain how in corrupt organizations meaningful work can, perhaps counterintuitively, contribute to the perpetuation of corruption in at least three related ways. One way typically involves appealing to a higher purpose to rationalize one’s own participation in corruption. A second way involves the use of meaningful work by corrupt leaders to manipulate others to participate in or exc...

Gallup, Annabelle; Hymer, Christina; Smith, Anne W; Wrzesniewski, Amy; Michaelson, Christopher Wong; Nagpal, Mahak; Tosti-Kharas, Jen; Kautz, Jason; Sciarappa, Shannon Leigh; Gallup, Annabelle (2026). Beyond the individual: Macro influences on meaningful work

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:07:40 GMT

Michaelson, Christopher (2017). A moral absolutist definition of meaningful work

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:07:40 GMT

Many researchers and laypersons agree on at least two conventional propositions about meaningful work: first, it means different things to different people; and second, it is worthwhile. Separately from each other, the definitions of meaningful work implied by these propositions do not provide enough knowledge about what meaningful work is to help people make decisions about meaningful work and to help scholars study it. Yet it is also not clear that these propositions are logically compatibl...

Michaelson, Christopher (2019). A normative meaning of meaningful work

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:07:40 GMT

Research on meaningful work has not embraced a shared definition of what it is, in part because many researchers and laypersons agree that it means different things to different people. However, subjective and social accounts of meaningful work have limited practical value to help people pursue it and to help scholars study it. The account of meaningful work advanced in this paper is inherently normative. It recognizes the relevance of subjective experience and social agreement to appraisals ...

Lysova, Evgenia I; Tosti-Kharas, Jennifer; Michaelson, Christopher; Fletcher, Luke; Bailey, Catherine; McGhee, Peter (2023). Ethics and the future of meaningful work: Introduction to the Special Issue

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:07:40 GMT

The world of work over the past 3 years has been characterized by a great reset due to the COVID-19 pandemic, giving an even more central role to scholarly discussions of ethics and the future of work. Such discussions have the potential to inform whether, when, and which work is viewed and experienced as meaningful. Yet, thus far, debates concerning ethics, meaningful work, and the future of work have largely pursued separate trajectories. Not only is bridging these research spheres importan...

Michaelson, Christopher Wong; Tosti-Kharas, Jennifer (2024). The future of meaningful work

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:07:40 GMT

Michaelson, Christopher Wong; Tosti-Kharas, Jennifer (2024). Meaningful work for individuals

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:07:40 GMT

Michaelson, Christopher Wong; Tosti-Kharas, Jennifer (2024). Meaningful work and society

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:07:40 GMT

Lips-Wiersma, Marjolein; Morris, Lani (2013). Meaningful work at the foundation of the responsibility revolution

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:07:40 GMT

Lips-Wiersma, Marjolein (2014). A personal or systems concept? An investigation of meaningful work

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:07:40 GMT

Good evening ladies and gentlemen, staff & students of Kobe University. First of all, I would like to say thank you very much for coming tonight. It’s wonderful to see you all here and I would really like to say thank you very much to the Kobe University for hosting me. I feel very privileged for being at this beautiful university, which I know has a very good reputation. So, it’s a real honor to be here tonight. Also, I want to thank Kanbe-san, your Ph.D student, for bringing the work on mea...

Lips-Wiersma, Marjolein; Morris, Lani (2017). Meaningful work through integrated systems

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:07:40 GMT

Lips-Wiersma, Marjolein; Morris, Lani (2017). Meaningful work at the foundation of the responsibility revolution

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:07:40 GMT

Lips-Wiersma, Marjolein; Morris, Lani (2017). Background and guide to the map of meaning

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:07:40 GMT

Lips-Wiersma, Marjolein; Morris, Lani (2017). Meaningful work at the foundation of the responsibility revolution

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:07:40 GMT

Ciulla, Joanne B (2001). Working Life

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 08:52:28 GMT

Christensen, Robert; Thompson, Jeff; Bunderson, Stuart (2018). Managing the called in the public sector

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 08:50:20 GMT

Using calling scholarship we explore the practical benefits and challenges of leading public employees who view their work as a personal calling, rather than as “just a job.” How can leaders inspire the very best from public servants who view their work as calling? Using a Passion, Purpose, and Place framework to motivate our suggestions, we better equip public managers to identify employees who exhibit calling tendencies and how employees might enact a sense of calling in their work. For exa...

Thompson, Jeffery A; Bunderson, J Stuart (2019). Research on work as a calling…and how to make it matter

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 08:50:17 GMT

The concept of work as a calling has the potential to provide unique and powerful insights into how individuals relate to their work and organizations. However, although this concept may be one of the oldest in the study of work—harking back to the Protestant Reformation—its impact on mainstream OP and OB research has been limited. We review the research literature on work as a calling, and identify several issues that are preventing research in this area from reaching its potential—issues of...

Berg, Justin M; Grant, Adam M; Johnson, Victoria (2010). When callings are calling: Crafting work and leisure in pursuit of unanswered occupational callings

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 08:49:31 GMT

Scholars have identified benefits of viewing work as a calling, but little research has explored the notion that people are frequently unable to work in occupations that answer their callings. To develop propositions on how individuals experience and pursue unanswered callings, we conducted a qualitative study based on interviews with 31 employees across a variety of occupations. We distinguish between two types of unanswered callings—missed callings and additional callings—and propose that i...