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This paper examines the concept of “contributing to society” in the context of meaningful work and calling. While previous studies have identified it as a significant dimension within these concepts, little attention has been paid to trying to conceptualize it. Also, with “self-oriented” fulfillment being an important aspect of the experience of meaningfulness, the understanding of contribution to society might be more complex than being simply an “other-oriented” concept. In response to this conceptual unclarity, we define contributing to society as a belief individuals hold about whether tasks positively impact work beneficiaries. We integrate this with Situated Expectancy-Value Theory (SEVT) to determine the expected task value of such belief. Our argument is that fulfillment of a contribution depends on three factors: (1) the expectation of a contribution based on someone’s calling and expected meaningfulness; (2) the extent to which the employee is invested in the task, the costs of such task, whether the beneficiary and impact value and the utility for the self and beneficiary match the preference; (3) the extent to which this contribution is sufficient considering someone’s expectation. Therefore, the expected task value can differ between individuals concerning the number and types of beneficiaries and the extent and value of the impact. Moreover, in this way contributions to society should also be perceived from a self-oriented perspective to be fulfilling. This original concept offers a theoretical framework and a research agenda that proposes new avenues of inquiry for calling, meaningful work, contributing to society, and related fields such as job design, and public policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the concept of “contributing to society” in the context of meaningful work and calling. While previous studies have identified it as a significant dimension within these concepts, little attention has been paid to trying to conceptualize it. Also, with “self-oriented” fulfillment being an important aspect of the experience of meaningfulness, the understanding of contribution to society might be more complex than being simply an “other-oriented” concept. In response to this conceptual unclarity, we define contributing to society as a belief individuals hold about whether tasks positively impact work beneficiaries. We integrate this with Situated Expectancy-Value Theory (SEVT) to determine the expected task value of such belief. Our argument is that fulfillment of a contribution depends on three factors: (1) the expectation of a contribution based on someone's calling and expected meaningfulness; (2) the extent to which the employee is invested in the task, the costs of such task, whether the beneficiary and impact value and the utility for the self and beneficiary match the preference; (3) the extent to which this contribution is sufficient considering someone's expectation. Therefore, the expected task value can differ between individuals concerning the number and types of beneficiaries and the extent and value of the impact. Moreover, in this way contributions to society should also be perceived from a self-oriented perspective to be fulfilling. This original concept offers a theoretical framework and a research agenda that proposes new avenues of inquiry for calling, meaningful work, contributing to society, and related fields such as job design, and public policy.

It is important to identify the antecedents of newcomers' job crafting as it assists with their adjustment in the workplace. This study made use of transformational leadership and newcomers' calling as organizational and personal resources that predict job crafting. We hypothesized that transformational leadership would have an indirect relationship with newcomers' job crafting after 2 years through their occupational self-efficacy and that their calling would moderate this mediational path. A multi-wave approach was employed wherein data from 280 new employees were collected three times during the first 2 years of their careers. The survey was completed by 150 participants. The results illustrated that transformational leadership was positively related to newcomers' job crafting after 2 years of entry through their occupational self-efficacy. Additionally, newcomers' calling moderated the mediating effect of occupational self-efficacy between transformational leadership and job crafting. The theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Nurses working in the intensive care unit (ICU) clung tenaciously to their job during the COVID-19 pandemic in spite of enduring stressed psychological and physical effects as a result of providing nursing care for the infected patients, which indicates that they possessed a high degree of professionalism and career calling. The aim of this study was to explain the associations between resilience, thriving at work, and ethical leadership influencing the calling of ICU nurses. Methods: From December 2020 to January 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, a cross-sectional survey of 15 provinces in China was conducted using an online questionnaire. A total of 340 ICU nurses (effective response rate: 64.89%) completed sufficient responses to be used in the study. Sociodemographic factors, job demographic factors, resilience, calling, thriving at work, and ethical leadership were assessed using the questionnaire. General linear modeling (GLM), hierarchical linear regression (HLR) analysis, and generalized additive model (GAM) were performed to examine all the considered research hypotheses. Results: Resilience was positively and significantly associated with calling. Moreover, thriving at work partially mediated the relationship between resilience and calling. The indirect effect of resilience on calling was 0.204 (p < 0.0001), and the direct effect of resilience on calling through thriving at work was 0.215 (p < 0.0001). The total effect of resilience on calling was 0.419 (p < 0.0001). In addition, ethical leadership played a moderating role in the relationship between resilience and calling (β = 0.16, p < 0.05). Conclusion: Greater resilience can positively predict increased calling among Chinese ICU nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, thriving at work is a mechanism that partly transmits the positive effects of resilience on calling. Overall, nurses possessing greater resilience tend to maintain thriving at work in the face of such adversity, further resulting in subsequently increased calling. Besides, findings suggest that there is stronger influence of resilience on calling among nurses working in an organization managed by an ethical leader. The current findings may offer two insights for nursing practitioners and policymakers in the postpandemic world. First, resilience training and intervention are necessary to foster nurses' sense of thriving at work in the nursing industry, further promoting career calling. Second, better training and effort on the development of ethical leadership for leaders in nursing practice are essential to encourage followers to engage in social learning of ethical behaviors and abiding by normatively appropriate conduct, further enacting prosocial values and expressing moral emotions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing research has identified the importance of role models in the imitation of cooperative behaviors. This Pre-Study attempted to explore the contagion effects of cooperative models. Drawing on goal contagion theory, we proposed that encountering cooperative models could catalyze participants’ cooperation when participants joined new groups without role models, and that moral elevation and calling would play a chain-mediating role in this process. To test the hypothesis, we designed a four-person public goods game consisting of two phases in which participants were formed into teams with different people in each phase. We randomly assigned 108 participants to either a consistent contributor (CC) or control condition. The only difference was that participants in the CC condition encountered a cooperative role model (i.e., CC) in the first phase, while those in the control group did not. The results moderately supported all hypotheses. Briefly, our findings provide empirical evidence supporting the two processes of goal contagion theory: when individuals encounter a CC, they first make inferences about the CC’s goal, as reflected by moral elevation, and then adopt the model’s prosocial goals (i.e., calling), resulting in increased cooperative behaviors in new groups. These findings could extend our understanding of the contagion effect of cooperative modeling, but require high-powered replication studies before such conclusions can be drawn.

With the rapid development of technology and increasingly fierce competition in the global market, innovation has become the most important competitive advantage for enterprises. Employee creativity is widely considered the source of organizational innovation. This study explores the antecedents of employee creativity from the perspective of career development in the context of high-technology industry. Specifically, we examine the effects of calling on employee creativity through the mediation of career commitment and the moderation of responsible leadership. With data collected from a sample of 218 respondents from internet companies, a series of regression analyses was conducted to test the proposed hypotheses. In addition, a moderated mediation model was further examined. Discussion, implications, and limitations are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of technology and increasingly fierce competition in the global market, innovation has become the most important competitive advantage for enterprises. Employee creativity is widely considered the source of organizational innovation. This study explores the antecedents of employee creativity from the perspective of career development in the context of high-technology industry. Specifically, we examine the effects of calling on employee creativity through the mediation of career commitment and the moderation of responsible leadership. With data collected from a sample of 218 respondents from internet companies, a series of regression analyses was conducted to test the proposed hypotheses. In addition, a moderated mediation model was further examined. Discussion, implications, and limitations are presented.

The hotel manager has the responsibility to stimulate the passion of the staff. The vision, hope/faith, and altruistic love advocated by spiritual leaders can meet the independent psychological needs of employees, thus enhancing their harmonious passion. This study is based on self-determination theory, intrinsic motivation theory and psychological capital theory, and explores the relationship between spiritual leadership and employees’ harmonious passion. This study uses 260 employees of star hotels in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Hefei, Huangshan, and other cities in China. Results show that spiritual leadership positively impacts employees’ harmonious passion, and calling plays an mediation role between spiritual leadership and employees’ harmonious passion. The results are helpful to clarify the formation mechanism of employees’ harmonious passion from the perspective of self-determination theory, intrinsic motivation theory and psychological capital theory and show that spiritual leadership can drive employees’ harmonious passion, especially when hotel vision and employee calling are consistent. Furthermore, the altruistic love of spiritual leaders for their followers also plays a key role in employee calling and promoting harmonious passion. Therefore, this study also emphasizes the importance of calling in improving the harmonious passion of employees. The theoretical and management implications that help to enhance the harmonious passion of employees are discussed in detail.

The hotel manager has the responsibility to stimulate the passion of the staff. The vision, hope/faith, and altruistic love advocated by spiritual leaders can meet the independent psychological needs of employees, thus enhancing their harmonious passion. This study is based on self-determination theory, intrinsic motivation theory and psychological capital theory, and explores the relationship between spiritual leadership and employees' harmonious passion. This study uses 260 employees of star hotels in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Hefei, Huangshan, and other cities in China. Results show that spiritual leadership positively impacts employees' harmonious passion, and calling plays an mediation role between spiritual leadership and employees' harmonious passion. The results are helpful to clarify the formation mechanism of employees' harmonious passion from the perspective of self-determination theory, intrinsic motivation theory and psychological capital theory and show that spiritual leadership can drive employees' harmonious passion, especially when hotel vision and employee calling are consistent. Furthermore, the altruistic love of spiritual leaders for their followers also plays a key role in employee calling and promoting harmonious passion. Therefore, this study also emphasizes the importance of calling in improving the harmonious passion of employees. The theoretical and management implications that help to enhance the harmonious passion of employees are discussed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the mediating role of meaning in life in the effect of calling on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and posttraumatic growth (PTG) among navy soldiers of the Republic of Korea deployed to the Gulf of Aden, Somalia. Participants responded to the questionnaire survey three times (pre-deployment, deployment, and post-deployment) at 4-month intervals. From the first, second, and third surveys, data were collected for 223, 195, and 103 respondents, respectively. Results showed that calling had a negative effect on PTSD, fully mediated by meaning in life, whereas calling had a positive effect on PTG, partially mediated by meaning in life. Our findings suggest that calling acts as a positive psychological resource for maintaining the meaning in life throughout stressful events experienced during deployment, thereby reducing posttraumatic stress symptoms and promoting post-deployment psychological growth. Finally, theoretical and practical implications and the need for follow-up studies are discussed.

This study examines the association between calling and crafting behavior by proposing a moderated mediation model. Drawing from the job crafting perspective and self-determination theory (SDT), career commitment is identified as the mediator, and occupational self-efficacy and job autonomy are identified as the moderators in the model, respectively. The authors tested the proposed relationships with an SPSS macro that utilizes a sample of 338 employees in a three-wave procedure. Results support all the hypotheses. The findings reveal calling to be significantly associated with employees’ job crafting behavior. Such a process begins with one’s career commitment and is strengthened by the level of occupational self-efficacy in the first stage as well as the level of job autonomy in the second stage, thus yielding a pattern of moderated mediation. These findings answer recent calls for an integrative examination of calling in the workplace by demonstrating that career commitment along with occupational self-efficacy and job autonomy represent key mechanisms in transferring one’s calling into job crafting behavior. As such, this study complements existing literature on the theoretical and practical implications of calling.

This study examined the mediating role of meaning in life in the effect of calling on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and posttraumatic growth (PTG) among navy soldiers of the Republic of Korea deployed to the Gulf of Aden, Somalia. Participants responded to the questionnaire survey three times (pre-deployment, deployment, and post-deployment) at 4-month intervals. From the first, second, and third surveys, data were collected for 223, 195, and 103 respondents, respectively. Results showed that calling had a negative effect on PTSD, fully mediated by meaning in life, whereas calling had a positive effect on PTG, partially mediated by meaning in life. Our findings suggest that calling acts as a positive psychological resource for maintaining the meaning in life throughout stressful events experienced during deployment, thereby reducing posttraumatic stress symptoms and promoting post-deployment psychological growth. Finally, theoretical and practical implications and the need for follow-up studies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite increasing research on calling, how calling functions for those experiencing transition from school to work and how their calling prior to working relates to later well-being and job outcomes has been understudied. The current study explored effects of perceiving a calling on job satisfaction and job performance, as measured at organizational entry and 2 years after organizational entry. Using a time-lagged collection of a sample of South Korean newcomers, the results based on structural equation modeling revealed that perceiving a calling was positively related to supervisor-rated job performance. Job involvement, which was measured 1 year later, fully mediated the relation between perceiving a calling and job satisfaction, but the hypothesized mediating role of job involvement on the link between perceiving a calling and job performance was not supported. We also examined moderating roles of perceived organizational support and perceived person-job fit on the relation between perceiving a calling on job involvement and found that perceived organizational support facilitated the effects of perceiving a calling on job involvement. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Despite increasing research on calling, how calling functions for those experiencing transition from school to work and how their calling prior to working relates to later well-being and job outcomes has been understudied. The current study explored effects of perceiving a calling on job satisfaction and job performance, as measured at organizational entry and 2 years after organizational entry. Using a time-lagged collection of a sample of South Korean newcomers, the results based on structural equation modeling revealed that perceiving a calling was positively related to supervisor-rated job performance. Job involvement, which was measured 1 year later, fully mediated the relation between perceiving a calling and job satisfaction, but the hypothesized mediating role of job involvement on the link between perceiving a calling and job performance was not supported. We also examined moderating roles of perceived organizational support and perceived person - job fit on the relation between perceiving a calling on job involvement and found that perceived organizational support facilitated the effects of perceiving a calling on job involvement. Implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on meaningful work has proliferated in recent years, with an increasing understanding of the centrality of meaningfulness for work-related motivation, commitment, and well-being. However, ambiguity around the main construct, “meaningful work,” has hindered this progress as various researchers have used partly overlapping, partly differing conceptualizations. To bring clarity to this issue, we examine a broad range of various definitions of meaningful work and come to argue that meaningfulness in the broadest sense is about work significance as an overall evaluation of work as regards whether it is intrinsically valuable and worth doing. Furthermore, we argue that there are two key sub-dimensions to this work significance: Broader purpose as work serving some greater good or prosocial goals (the intrinsic value of work beyond the person in question). And self-realization as a sense of autonomy, authenticity and self-expression at work (the intrinsic value of work for the person in question). Previous definitions of meaningful work feature typically one or two of these elements—significance, broader purpose, self-realization –, but in the future it would be beneficial to clearly acknowledge all three elements in both definitions and operationalizations of meaningful work.

Research on meaningful work has proliferated in recent years, with an increasing understanding of the centrality of meaningfulness for work-related motivation, commitment, and well-being. However, ambiguity around the main construct, "meaningful work," has hindered this progress as various researchers have used partly overlapping, partly differing conceptualizations. To bring clarity to this issue, we examine a broad range of various definitions of meaningful work and come to argue that meaningfulness in the broadest sense is about work significance as an overall evaluation of work as regards whether it is intrinsically valuable and worth doing. Furthermore, we argue that there are two key sub-dimensions to this work significance: Broader purpose as work serving some greater good or prosocial goals (the intrinsic value of work beyond the person in question). And self-realization as a sense of autonomy, authenticity and self-expression at work (the intrinsic value of work for the person in question). Previous definitions of meaningful work feature typically one or two of these elements--significance, broader purpose, self-realization -, but in the future it would be beneficial to clearly acknowledge all three elements in both definitions and operationalizations of meaningful work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is believed that symbiotic visions can drive employees and organizations toward a common objective based on the premise that people have a high level of self-motivation and engagement when they are working toward something very personal. The field of organizational development has been aspiring to help organizations and people align their visions for decades without much, if any, empirical support for the role of personal purpose and goals in the symbiotic relationship with a company vision. This qualitative study examines the role personal purpose and goals play in how high performing leaders align to their company's vision. Whether and how senior managers articulate this alignment, and its correlation to their motivation and engagement, was examined. An observation was that most senior managers within organizations with a well-developed and widely known higher purpose vision are driven by something personal, identified as either personal goals or a personal purpose. One of the key findings is that personal purpose and goals, when aligned to a company vision, appear to impact motivation and engagement in different ways. When alignment is felt through the sense of the greater purpose, there is a deep, almost spiritual, commitment to making the world a better place and helping the organization contribute to that. This seems to motivate them to guide the organization toward its higher purpose vision. When alignment is felt through the organization's alignment to one's personal goals, there is a great sense of commitment to completing the steps or tasks necessary to move toward the vision, yet a clear delineation between work and life ambitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]