9 01 / 23 PERSONALquarterly generation ago (“follow your passion, live your purpose”), but perhaps if we get enough people who want to save the “human” and “life” elements of our world of work we can reconfigure this doomsday device we are caught within. PERSONALquarterly: Meaningful work is mainly a concept on the individual level: work is meaningful if it is perceived as meaningful. On the other hand, we judge jobs and occupations as more or less meaningful. This has been especially the case during the coronavirus pandemic, when we realized the importance of truck drivers or retailers for daily life. What do you think the linkage between the perception of meaningfulness by the society and the perception on the individual level? Michael F. Steger: I have always rejected the idea that meaningful work can be detected by job title. That is, why I pursued a psychological approach to meaningful work that places the judgement of meaningfulness in the minds of each worker. Not only is it quite evident in research that you can find people working meaningfully in every occupation studied (given human conditions), but you can find people strangled of meaning in “meaningful” jobs. In my opinion, we have seen such a shift in the kinds of occupations that were socially valued (teachers, nurses, civic leaders) in the past to those that are valued now (hedge fund managers, financial quants, entrepreneurs). One of the unfortunate set of choices we have made societally is to amply reward certain jobs with money, and continually throttle others. Compare the social contributions of a private equity firm analyst and a teacher in a struggling school. There is no contest, yet who do we reward with mountains of money, political influence, deference in the media and service industries, and prestigious invitations to panels where they can tell us how the world ought to be run? Well, at least teachers can have meaning! I think this is a consequence of using assigned meaningfulness by society rather than individual level perceptions. We seem to feel that we can get away with compensating teachers, nurses, elder and child care workers with meaning rather than money. These are historically jobs to which women have been allowed easier access in many societies as far as I understand, so make of that what you will in terms of equity. But we also have tended to reward other noble professions, which historically have been granted to men, with meaning rather than material support … military, police, firefighters. Yet, educated executives and moneymakers are given everything. PERSONALquarterly: Currently, many companies focus on corporate purpose. If we compare purpose and meaningful work: What are similarities? What are the main differences? Michael F. Steger: Purpose is highly goal directed, active, and motivating. Meaningful work really is more about the impact, stakes, and experience of working. You could imagine having either without the other. Currently, I am not optimistic about the efforts companies are putting into corporate purpose, and I think there is a lot of cynicism on the part of employees that at least in corporate hands at present corporate purpose is just a smoke screen for additional efforts to get people to work harder for less compensation, fewer benefits, and so on. In that sense, many corporate purpose programs lack meaning. They are focused on motivation and action and goals, I suppose, but they are not attending honestly enough to impact, stakes, and the experience of working. PERSONALquarterly: Giving an outlook: What are the most promising research topics currently? In which fields do you think we can expect major developments? Michael F. Steger: My expectation is that we will rapidly see meaningful work mapped out across a huge swath of occupations, and in truly globally diverse locations, as well. Frequently I am asked whether meaningful work is not simply some privileged concern of those who have enough leisure and material comfort to be able to sit around wondering what else they can get out of their jobs. I see where this line of thinking is coming from. If finding a job is a pressing concern, or paying bills is a constant stressor, meaning may not be the first priority. At the same time, I have to say I find the basic premise to be very disturbing. If you take it seriously, then you are essentially arguing that even asking about meaningful work ought only be reserved for those who already enjoy many advantages and privileges. I do not think that the questioners intend this to be their assumption, but as one in the position of considering this question quite deeply, I feel confident in saying that research already is showing that across all occupations studied so far, from cleaners to firefighters to tech mangers to teachers and on and on, (1) a notable segment already finds work to be meaningful (sometimes a large majority), (2) practices that interfere with meaningful work also appear to make people feel miserable, powerless, and dehumanized, (3) the benefits of meaningful work seem to hold regardless. To me, this says that we need additional research to hammer home this message – as much as it is a right or expectation for anyone, meaningful work is a right or expectation for everyone. REFERENCES Lysova, E. I./Allan, B. A./Dik, B. J./Duffy, R. D./ Steger, M. F. (2019): Fostering meaningful work in organizations: A multi-level review and integration. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 110, 374-389. Rose, N./Steger, M. F. (2017): Führung, die Sinn macht. Organisationsentwicklung – Zeitschrift für Unternehmensentwicklung und Change Management, 4, 41-45. Steger, M. F. (2016): Creating meaning and purpose at work. Oades, L. G./Steger, M. F./Delle Fave, A./Passmore, J. (Edts.): The Wiley Blackwell handbook of the psychology of positivity and strengths-based approaches at work, 60-81. Steger, M. F./Dik, B. J./Duffy, R. D. (2012): Measuring meaningful work: The work and meaning inventory (WAMI). Journal of Career Assessment, 20(3), 322-337. Steger, M. F./O’Donnell, M. B./Morse, J. L. (2021): Helping Students Find Their Way to Meaning: Meaning and Purpose in Education. Kern, M. L./Wehmeyer, M. L. (Edts.): The Palgrave Handbook of Positive Education, 551-579.
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