Meaningful Work: An Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior Perspective

As interest in meaningful work is growing both from scholars and practitioners, it is of great importance to provide an overview of the meaningful work literature to date. In this chapter, we zoom in on the developments so far in the field of organizational psychology and organizational behavior. We first reflect on the conceptualization of meaningful work, the theoretical framework underlying research in the field, and methodological considerations. Then, we provide an overview of antecedents and outcomes of meaningful work in the form of an input-process-output model. Among antecedents, we discuss person-focused, relations-focused, work and occupational context-focused, organization-focused, and society-focused factors. In relation to the outcomes of meaningful work, we highlight the range of them researched to date, focusing on work-related attitudes, behavioral work outcomes, work-family-non-work interplay, and health and wellbeing. As we provide an overview of the extant research so far, we critically reflect on key problematic gaps, challenges, and assumptions. In doing so, we provide ideas for important future research directions that aim to promote interdisciplinary and forward-looking development of the meaningful work field.