Meaning, Work, and Well-Being: Empirical Findings

Abstract

This chapter gives a comprehensive account of research state-of-the-art empirical findings on the positive links between finding meaning in work, personal health, and well-being. Von Devivere gives a detailed account of these results, their multitude of specific elements of meaning at work, individuals’ general meaning awareness, their sources of meaning, and the individual relevance of work for reaching individual meaning fulfillment. Von Devivere also highlights the effects of existential approaches on meaning at work, on perceived work load, and on individual work engagement. Moreover, this chapter also draws attention to Viktor Frankl’s differentiation between sources of meaning, to be empirically validated, and the construct of ultimate meaning, going beyond empirical testing, a distinction ever more relevant for a comprehensive understanding of meaning in today’s workplaces.