Meaning, Purpose, and Job Satisfaction

Abstract

Finding meaning and purpose in one s life facilitates several important work outcomes. A global pandemic that changes both the lives of employees and the way they work likely affects the relationships between workers meaning in life and work. Making meaning salient to employees, despite the circumstances, may strengthen and preserve these relationships. To examine this, 71 employed adults completed a photo-taking task that either focused on objects of meaning (n = 36) or objects that were blue (i.e., the control;n = 35). The results suggested that meaning salience increased job satisfaction. In addition, it moderated the relationship between purpose (but not meaning) and job satisfaction. In all, this highlights the challenges of new working circumstances and the importance of continuously making meaning salient to employees. © 2021 Hogrefe Publishing GmbH. All rights reserved.