First Responders During COVID-19: Career Calling, PTSD, and Work Self-Efficacy

INTRODUCTION

During the COVID-19 pandemic, first responders were identified as a high-risk group for developing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, which are commonly associated with negative thoughts about oneself. This may pose risk to perceptions of work self-efficacy, an integral component of employee well-being and occupational functioning. In line with the Job Demands-Resources Model (Demerouti et al., 2001), the present study examined whether the degree to which first responders' perceived career calling (i.e., a "summons" to work) served as a protective factor in the relationship between PTSD symptoms associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and perceptions of self-efficacy in the workplace.

METHODS

Participants were 138 first responders from local county police and fire departments who completed online screening measures for probable PTSD and depression, as well as self-reports of work self-efficacy and career calling, between May and June 2020. Statistical analysis occurred between 2020 and 2021.

RESULTS

Moderation analysis, controlling for depression and relevant covariates, revealed an interaction between PTSD symptoms and career calling, ΔR2=0.04, p=0.017. At low levels of career calling, there was a significant and negative relationship between PTSD symptoms and work self-efficacy (b=‒0.14, p=0.023), but not among first responders with average or high calling (p's>0.58). Positive screening rates were 22% for probable PTSD and 19% for depression.

CONCLUSIONS

Perceiving a career calling may help protect first responders during COVID-19 from the deleterious effects of PTSD symptomatology on work self-efficacy. Prevention efforts targeting first responders with low calling strength may be warranted.

Childhood Maltreatment and Adult Work Absenteeism: Work Meaningfulness as a Double-Edged Sword

The adverse impacts of childhood maltreatment (CM) on an individual's health and economic welfare are widely recognized, yet its occupational and organizational effects remain less explored. Employee absenteeism, known as absenteeism, is often a sign of workplace maladjustment and may be linked to a history of CM. Some individuals in the helping professions, who exhibit a strong sense of purpose in their employment and pursue it in demanding environments, are CM survivors. This study investigates whether a heightened sense of meaningfulness in their work is associated with increased absenteeism among this subgroup. We recruited 320 helping professionals from a variety of social and mental health settings, one third of whom reported experiencing CM. As hypothesized, CM was positively correlated with work absenteeism. Furthermore, the relationship between work meaningfulness and absenteeism was moderated by their CM history: among those with CM experiences, greater work meaningfulness was associated with higher absenteeism rates. Our findings highlight the possibility that work meaningfulness may operate as a double-edged sword, and the importance of better understanding the challenges that high-functioning survivors of CM face within organizational contexts.

How calling emerges and develops during COVID-19: a qualitative study of medical students

INTRODUCTION

The presence of calling in medicine has been shown to be related to a preponderance of positive outcomes among medical students. However, only a few studies examined the antecedents of calling. Of this group, little is known about how a calling emerges and develops in a crisis situation. This study examines the processes underlying the emergence and development of calling when confronted with COVID-19.

METHODS

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with medical students (N = 28) from China from February to March 2020. Medical students reported their experiences about the emergence of calling, its antecedents, and its outcomes in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using a thematic analysis approach.

RESULTS

Four main themes were identified: (1) the definition of calling, (2) the trajectories of calling development, (3) the factors leading to the emergence of calling, and (4) the outcomes of the emergence of calling. Medical students conceptualized calling as both self- and other-oriented regarding serving the common good. Three calling paths were revealed: significantly enhanced, growing out of nothing, and remaining unchanged. Work sense-making and identity formation interact to facilitate the emergence of calling. The emergence of a calling affects career and study-related outcomes.

DISCUSSION

Our findings advance the concept of how the calling of medical students emerges and develops in response to life events through work sense-making and identity formation. Academic institutions and medical educators could leverage these events to facilitate calling discernment among medical students.

Examining the Pro-Self and Prosocial Components of a Calling Outlook: A Critical Review

Work on callings has burgeoned in the past 20 years, yet recent reviews exposed a lack of conceptual clarity and disagreements around its definition, components and measures. One lingering point of contention revolves around the element of prosociality: is a calling orientation primarily motivated by self-interest, prosocially orientated, or a mix of both? This conceptual paper reviews and examines the pro-self and prosocial component of a calling outlook, by examining and comparing the ways in which they feature in different calling subtypes: classic, neoclassic and modern callings. Our analysis suggests that these subtypes vary in where they are located on a pro-self-prosocial continuum: classic callings are located on the prosocial side of the axis, modern callings are located on pro-self side of the axis, and neoclassic callings can be situated in the middle of the continuum, integrating self-orientated and other-orientated motivations. Our analysis further suggests that these calling subtypes draw on divergent value systems: classic callings are propelled by self-transcendent values, modern callings are driven by self-actualization motivations, and neoclassic callings integrate both value systems. We therefore argue that the subjective experiences of pursuing a calling within each subtype pathway differ, although they may culminate in similar outcomes. The paper offers a novel framework for analyzing people's calling that draws on their values.

Meaningful Work, Well-Being, and Health: Enacting a Eudaimonic Vision

Work is one of the most enduring and consequential life domains regarding how meaning and purpose impact health and well-being. This review first examines scientific findings from the MIDUS (Midlife in the U.S.) national longitudinal study that have linked work to well-being and health. Most have focused on adverse work or work conditions as influences on poor health, with a few recent findings investigating links to purpose and other aspects of eudaimonic well-being. Organizational scholarship is then selectively reviewed to show how meaningful work is often linked to motivation, performance, and commitment. Paradoxically, meaning can also lead to the exploitation and erosion of health and well-being when managed without regard for decent working conditions. Recent workplace phenomena known as the Great Resignation and Quiet Quitting underscore the societal consequences of work without meaning or adequate working conditions. Both the scientific and organizational literature are enriched by a vision of meaningful work rooted in Aristotle's writings about virtue, ethics, and the realization of potential. Evidence-based practices tied to these eudaimonic ideals are examined at multiple levels, including the societal context (public policy), organizational conditions (culture, human resource practices, leadership), and individual strategies to find meaning, engagement, and fulfillment in work. A concluding section highlights strengths and omissions in the scientific and organizational literature and, going forward, calls for greater interplay among researchers, practitioners, and policymakers in enacting eudaimonic ideals.

Changes in Nurses' Sense of Calling During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study

This study investigated changes in nurses' sense of calling during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as possible reasons for these changes. A total of 440 nurses in Turkey responded to a single open-ended question about their work attitudes and experiences. Emergent Qualitative Document Analysis (QDA) was used to analyze the responses. Results demonstrated that nurses experienced both positive and negative changes to their sense of calling, sometimes simultaneously. The most frequently cited reasons for positive changes were nurses' perceived job significance, their desire to serve humanity, and a sense of meaningful work. In contrast, terms describing their reasons for experiencing negative changes include exhaustion, underpaid, unappreciated, overwork, disengagement, risky, stress, and anxiety. This study provides the first evidence on how a sense of calling experienced by Turkish nurses has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Implications for theory, research, and practice are explored.

Calling for a meaningful contribution? Bridging contributing to society with motivation theory

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.

Ethics and the Future of Meaningful Work: Introduction to the Special Issue

The world of work over the past 3 years has been characterized by a great reset due to the COVID-19 pandemic, giving an even more central role to scholarly discussions of ethics and the future of work. Such discussions have the potential to inform whether, when, and which work is viewed and experienced as meaningful. Yet, thus far, debates concerning ethics, meaningful work, and the future of work have largely pursued separate trajectories. Not only is bridging these research spheres important for the advancement of meaningful work as a field of study but doing so can potentially inform the organizations and societies of the future. In proposing this Special Issue, we were inspired to address these intersections, and we are grateful to have this platform for advancing an integrative conversation, together with the authors of the seven selected scholarly contributions. Each article in this issue takes a unique approach to addressing these topics, with some emphasizing ethics while others focus on the future aspects of meaningful work. Taken together, the papers indicate future research directions with regard to: (a) the meaning of meaningful work, (b) the future of meaningful work, and (c) how we can study the ethics of meaningful work in the future. We hope these insights will spark further relevant scholarly and practitioner conversations.

Meaning in life through work: A cognitive-experiential self-theory (CEST) perspective

This article explores existential meaning-making from work using the cognitive-experiential self-theory (CEST). To start with, we use the tenets of CEST to elaborate on how the cues from archetype work environments—a realization facilitating work environment (RfWE) and justification facilitating work environment (JfWE)—are interpreted by information-processing systems to imbue meaning in life (MiL) as internal or external manifestations of coherence, purpose, and significance. Next, we explain how individual differences in work centrality and proactive meaning-crafting ability moderate the impact of JfWE, but not of RfWE, on MiL. Finally, we create a nomological network of existential meaning states emerging from the simultaneous presence or absence of RfWE and JfWE. In summary, by applying the information-processing lens of CEST, we develop an integrated model that explains how work drives MiL, elucidates the resultant existential states, and assesses the role of individual differences in meaning-making.

Plain Language Summary

This article develops an integrated model that outlines how work environments can augur human well-being by fostering a sense of meaning in life (MiL). Based on the cognitive-experiential self-theory (CEST), expounding parallel-competitive processing of information through the working of the experiential and rational system, we explore how the cues from archetype work environments—a realization facilitating work environment (RfWE) and justification facilitating work environment (JfWE)—influence the varied flavors of MiL and meaninglessness in life. We build the argument that RfWE activates the functioning of the experiential system to induce a feeling of internal MiL as internal coherence, internal purpose, and internal value significance. At the same time, JfWE triggers the functioning of the rational system to construct a judgment of external MiL as external coherence, external worthy purpose, and external value significance. However, the interaction between RfWE and JfWE can result in intricate scenarios, including favorable states such as holistic meaning, positive existential feelings, and positive existential narratives. Still, it can also lead individuals into meaninglessness in life through existential fatigue, existential cocoon, or existential futility. Nonetheless, individual differences in work centrality and proactive behavior to craft meaning can act as moderators to alter the intensity of work’s impact on MiL in a JfWE but not in an RfWE.

The Association Between Work as a Calling and Turnover Among Early Childhood Education Professionals

Turnover of early childhood education (ECE) professionals negatively impacts program costs, staff morale, and relationships with children. We determined whether the presence of work as a calling was associated with less intention to leave the ECE field. From an online survey administered to 265 ECE professionals in Pennsylvania, a calling score based on the Calling and Vocation Questionnaire was used to create sample-defined tertiles of low (< 38), medium (38-44), and high (> 44) presence of calling. Those intending to leave the ECE field reported that, given the option, they would most likely "find a position or get training in a completely different field," or "stop work, stay home, or retire." Analysis was restricted to 194 respondents currently employed in ECE and under age 60, of whom 94.8% were female and 53.9% were non-Hispanic White. After adjusting for race/ethnicity and workplace stress, the prevalence (95% CI) of intention to leave decreased as calling increased, from low (28.6% [17.8%, 38.4%]) to medium (12.2% [4.3%, 20.1%]) to high (9.1% [1.5%, 16.6%]). The presence of call was associated with less intention to leave the ECE field. Identifying, building, and sustaining call among ECE professionals may decrease turnover.

Living a Calling During COVID-19: A Resource Gain Perspective

Massive disruptions to work and threats to employee well-being due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have highlighted the need to identify resources which enable employees to gain other valuable resources. Using a resource gain perspective, we examined the role of living a calling as a potentially robust resource, enabling employees to gain work readiness during the COVID-19 pandemic, and, in turn, resulting in a greater well-being in the form of lower job strain. Using a sample of clergy (N = 216) from various denominations, we provide initial evidence that living a calling may be associated with lower levels of job strain through increased COVID-19 work readiness. This study underscores the relevance of living a calling in a time of high potential or actual loss of resources.

Work Identity and Future Research on Work as a Calling

Research on work as a calling is gaining momentum, and work-as-a-calling theory is providing a helpful deductive structure to the consistent evidence that people who view their work as a calling and can actively live out that calling usually experience both career-related and general well-being. What is less clear are the key processes that may lead people to perceive a calling in the first place. By bringing work identity into sharper focus, we propose an especially promising framework for constructing a sense of calling, one that uses a cognitive approach. This cognitive approach to eliciting a sense of calling builds on four key work-identity precursors: effort calculation, reflection, appraisal, and fusion. These forward-looking processes are supported by extant research and are promising areas for future research that can illuminate how people may come to perceive a calling.

Profiles of Calling and Their Relation to University-to-Work Transition Outcomes

In this study, we adopted a person-centered approach using latent profile analysis to explore whether profiles of calling based on the internal and external sources of a calling are identified and how these profiles relate to successful university-to-work transition outcomes (i.e., higher career satisfaction, higher person-job fit, and lower turnover intentions). We assessed a sample of 684 Chinese university graduates 1 week before and 6 months after graduation and found five profiles of calling: strongly undeveloped calling, moderately undeveloped calling, transcendent calling, highly transcendent calling, and modern calling. We found that a calling that was driven by internal and external sources (i.e., transcendent calling) or predominantly by internal sources (i.e., modern calling) was related to more successful university-to-work transition outcomes. Our findings contribute to the literature on calling by showing that the sources of calling are important to conceptualize different types of calling and differentiate the role of different callings.

Psychometric Properties and Measurement Invariance of a Short Form of the Unified Multidimensional Calling Scale (UMCS)

Abstract. This paper reports on the development of a unidimensional short scale for measuring career calling (UMCS-7). The scale has been developed drawing from the theoretical model behind the Unified Multidimensional Calling Scale (UMCS; Vianello et al., 2018 ), according to which calling is composed of Passion, Prosociality, Purpose, Pervasiveness, Sacrifice, Transcendent Summons, and Identity. The UMCS-7 integrates classical and modern conceptualizations of career calling and can be used when time constraints prevent using the UMCS. The UMCS-7 has been validated in a sample of Italian workers ( N = 1,246) using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. A sample of US employees ( N = 165) was used to estimate measurement invariance across languages, establishing the equivalence of factor loadings, all but two intercepts, and all error variances. The UMCS-7 demonstrated nearly perfect convergent validity with the UMCS ( r = .97), excellent internal consistency (αItaly = .86; αUS = .87), and satisfactory concurrent validity with job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and turnover intentions.

Calling: Never seen before or heard of - A survey among Swiss physicians

BACKGROUND

Research is needed to gain a deeper understanding of what motivates physicians to do their work and what keeps them in the profession.

OBJECTIVES

To explore calling as an approach to work in a sample of physicians.

METHODS

We designed an online survey addressing career choice and career calling among physicians in French-speaking Switzerland, and measured associations between calling and categorical variables (participant characteristics, motivations for choosing medicine, career choice(s) and consistency, and definition of calling).

RESULTS

The majority of physicians (n = 229) reported that a calling was not a career motivator. The main reasons for becoming a physician were to be useful (n = 173), the scientific aspects of medicine (n = 168), and altruism (n = 153). Viewing medicine as a calling was significantly associated with having been attracted specifically and only to the medical career and stability of this career choice. Physicians defined a calling as internal summons (n = 140), passion (n = 126), and sense of purpose in life (n = 101). Being in the right place, internal summons, and passion were significantly more often considered as a definition for calling by physicians with a calling.

CONCLUSIONS

A sense of calling influences career choice and professional stability, and might play a protective role in exhaustion or dissatisfaction at work.

Development of a Three-Dimensional Measure of the Calling Work Orientation: Assessing Craftsmanship, Kinship, and Serving

Although conceptualized as a multidimensional construct, the majority of measures of calling are unidimensional. In order to further expand the operationalization of calling, this study developed and validated a measure of the three dimensions of calling, namely, craftsmanship, kinship, and serving using three separate samples. Using a sample of 85 undergraduate students, the pilot study established content validity for the three dimensions of calling. Study 1 aimed to refine the developed measure while assessing its dimensionality across 379 participants from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Furthermore, Study 2 provided evidence of construct and criterion-related validity, as well as test-retest reliability over a period of 3 months across 301 MTurk participants. Recommendations for future research utilizing the more focused dimensions of calling are discussed.

The Conceptual Model of Role Stress and Job Burnout in Judges: The Moderating Role of Career Calling

Judges are the central actors in the organization and functioning of the judicial system. Concerns about work efficiency, driven by the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice, led countries to adopt a set of reforms in line with private sector ideals applied to the public field to better manage their financial and human resources. In the last decades, the Portuguese judicial system has undergone a reform based on New Public Management principles by adopting the new Law on the Organization of the Judiciary System (LOSJ), significantly altering judges’ duties, who beyond their traditional role of applying the law, perform the additional role of court-of-law judge-manager. The objective of this study is to explore the influence of role conflict and role ambiguity in occupational burnout among judges and to analyze the influence of calling orientation as a moderating variable, so as to present a conceptual model of role-stress management among the judiciary. Theoretically, this work contributes to the literature on role-stress management through its introduction of calling moderation, as well as to the literature on the positive influence of calling on burnout. In terms of its practical implications, the work contributes to a reconsideration of the current organizational structure of judicial work.

Career Calling as the Mediator and Moderator of Job Demands and Job Resources for Job Satisfaction in Health Workers: A Cross-Sectional Study

Job satisfaction of health professionals is a key determinant of the quality of health services and even affects the development of the healthcare system. In this study, we sought to explore the mechanism by which job demands, job resources, and career calling affect the job satisfaction of health professionals. Our findings may provide insights for increasing their job satisfaction and improving the quality of health services. We conducted a questionnaire survey of 1,117 health workers in Hangzhou; t-test, Chi-squared analysis, hierarchical linear regression was used to analyze the state of job satisfaction of health personnel and the associated factors; path analysis with the Structural Equation Model was used to explore and verify the effects of job resources, demands, and career calling on job satisfaction, as well as their mechanism. Social support, performance feedback, working conditions, and career calling had significant positive effects on job satisfaction of health professionals, whereas work-family conflict and emotional requirements for work had significant negative effects. Path analysis indicated that job resources, demands, and career calling directly affected job satisfaction; job resources and demands showed indirect effects on job satisfaction with career calling as a mediator. Career calling had a positive moderating effect in the path of "job resources-job satisfaction," and a negative moderating effect in the path of "job demands-job satisfaction." In conclusion, hospital administrators should provide more job resources for health workers and formulate reasonable job demands while paying close attention to work-related pressure. Hospital administrators and health departments need to improve hospital policies and inculcate a sense of belonging and career calling among health professionals. Education and evaluation of career calling need to be accorded more attention so that healthcare workers can perceive a stronger sense of calling and achievement, and hence a higher degree of job satisfaction.

Authentic Leadership and Taking Charge Behavior: A Moderated Mediation Model of Psychological Capital and Occupational Calling

To achieve sustainable development goals, it is necessary to establish a positive organization so that employees can pay attention to their strengths and talents and engage in more proactive behaviors, such as taking charge behavior. Taking charge behavior involves the voluntary and constructive effort of employees to make organizationally functional change, which may consume more scarce resources of employees. Previous studies have shown that support from leaders can promote employees' taking charge behavior, but most of them are from the perspective of social exchange. By drawing on the conservation of resources theory, we develop a theoretical model in which authentic leadership can provide employees with more positive resources and guide them into gain spiral of resources. We conducted two-wave questionnaire surveys to collect data from 199 employees and their supervisors at 16 companies in China. The results showed that authentic leadership was positively associated with employee taking charge via the mediation role of psychological capital. Furthermore, the direct and indirect relationship between authentic leadership and employee taking charge was demonstrated to be stronger when employees have a higher stage of occupational calling. This study provides a new explanation for the mechanism of authentic leadership and clarifies the boundary conditions of authentic leadership effectiveness.

How does COVID-19 pandemic strength influence work fatigue? The mediating role of occupational calling

Drawing on event system theory, this study explored the mechanism by which COVID-19 pandemic strength (including criticality, disruption, and novelty) influences work fatigue through the mediating role of occupational calling. A two-wave field study was conducted with 857 Chinese police officers using COVID-19 pandemic strength, occupational calling, and work fatigue questionnaires. The results showed that COVID-19 pandemic criticality had a positive effect on work fatigue and occupational calling, and that occupational calling mediated the direct link between COVID-19 pandemic criticality and work fatigue. Additionally, the first and second stages of the mediating effect were jointly moderated by COVID-19 pandemic disruption and novelty. When COVID-19 pandemic disruption and novelty were high, the positive relationship between COVID-19 pandemic criticality and occupational calling, and the mediating role of occupational calling, were stronger. The negative relationship between occupational calling and work fatigue was strengthened when COVID-19 pandemic disruption was high and novelty was low.

Career Calling and Task Performance: The Moderating Role of Job Demand

The Work as a Calling Theory (WCT) predicts that career calling fosters job performance. A quantitative summary of previous work supports this prediction and shows that the relation between calling and job performance is moderate in size ( ρ = .29, K = 11, N = 2286) . Yet, the environmental conditions that modulate this relation are completely unknown. According to an interactionist perspective, we argue that calling may predict performance only when job demand is low. Results of a multisource study on salesmen and managers dyads ( N= 965) partially supported this prediction. We observed that highly demanding work environments, characterized by pressure to perform, high workload, and unachievable deadlines, suppress the positive relation between calling and self-reported performance. Job demand directly impairs performance and suppresses the positive effect of career calling. Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

“Called” To Speak Out: Employee Career Calling and Voice Behavior

This study is the first one to explore the relation between career calling and employee voice and two potential mediators of this relationship, felt responsibility for constructive change and employee optimism about the future. Surveys from 406 employees of a law enforcement agency in the Midwest U.S. were analyzed using logistic regression and bootstrapping method with Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to examine support for the hypotheses’ main and mediating effects. A behavioral measure was used to capture employees’ promotive voice behavior. Results indicated that individuals with stronger career calling were more likely to engage in promotive voice, after controlling for personality, perceptions toward work, and organizational tenure. In addition, career calling was positively associated with both felt responsibility and employee optimism. Finally, felt responsibility for constructive change fully mediated the relationship between career calling and promotive voice. The implications of these findings for researchers and practitioners are discussed.

A Cultural Orientation Approach to Work Orientation: Mongolian Workers’ Jobs, Careers, and Callings

Culturally held beliefs about the self and its relations with others affect the way individuals view their work. In this study, we examined the associations between individualism-collectivism and the three work orientations (i.e., viewing work as a job, a career, or a calling). We also investigated whether the positive effects of a calling orientation can be generalized to a developing eastern country, Mongolia. Using a sample of 352 Mongolian workers, we found that those endorsing horizontal collectivism tended to view their work as a calling more than as a job or a career. Mongolians with a calling orientation reported having better satisfaction with job, salary, and life, more work meaningfulness, and less turnover intention than those viewing work as a job or a career. The results suggest that cultural orientations and work orientations are intertwined, and the positive roles of a calling orientation are generalizable to Mongolia.

Centering Matrices of Domination: Steps Toward a More Intersectional Vocational Psychology

The present paper responds to calls to integrate a more explicitly intersectional framework and agenda to vocational psychology. We elucidate how several matrices of domination (i.e., interlocking systems of oppression) may shape the working lives of Americans. Although vocational psychology has made limited progress in exploring two such matrices—the impact of White supremacy and Patriarchy—and expanding research, theory, and clinical work to increasingly diverse populations, we argue that other oppressive systemic forces have been largely overlooked. In response to this gap, a close analysis of how our economic system (i.e., late-stage capitalism, neoliberalism) and Christian hegemony (i.e., protestant work ethic, the prosperity gospel) have impacted the workforce is provided. Finally, to center intersectional perspectives on change, we argue that vocational psychology must pivot to a more activist stance and provide recommendations for research, training, and clinical work.

Jobs, Careers, and Callings: Exploring Work Orientation at Mid-Career

Mid-career is a time when work orientation (i.e., viewing ones’ work as a job, a career, or a calling) comes into sharper focus. Using Wrzeniewski et al.’s tripartite model, we conducted a discriminant function analysis to determine the combination of variables that best discriminates among people who are aligned with a job, a career, or a calling orientation in a sample of 251 full-time, North American mid-career employees. Compared to those who approach work as a job, those with a calling orientation were more engaged in work. The career-oriented stood apart from the others as a function of shorter job tenure, greater turnover intentions, work engagement, career satisfaction, and a tendency to engage in career self-comparisons. Work-orientation groups did not differ significantly in terms of family centrality, work–life balance, life satisfaction, or well-being. The results suggest that the work orientations represent distinct and equally valid ways to approach work.

Called to Serve: Exploring the Relationship Between Career Calling, Career Plateaus, and Organizational Commitment in the U.S. Military

Experiencing career as a calling has implications for an individual’s career trajectory; yet, little is known about whether calling relates to career plateaus, which have the potential to stall an employee’s career path. This relationship is particularly interesting for members of the U.S. military, who have a relatively prescribed set of career experiences and opportunities. Serving in the U.S. military requires potential sacrifice, loyalty, and a sense of moral duty, all characteristics of what it means to experience one’s career as a calling. Yet, research has largely neglected to examine callings in the context of military service. We address these gaps by examining the relationships between career calling, career plateaus, and organizational commitment. We also examine whether social capital moderates these relationships via complementary or substitution effects. Using a two-wave survey sample of 237 officers, we found that calling negatively related to content career plateaus which in turn mediated calling’s positive relationship to commitment. Social capital moderated this mediation in a manner to suggest substitution effects. We discuss the implications of our findings for research on military careers, career as a calling, and affective commitment, as well as for practicing military officers and their leadership.

Living a Calling and Work–Family Interface: A Latent Profile Analysis

The positive outcomes of calling have been examined in a large and growing number of studies, yet little is known about how calling relates to the work-family interface. In this study, we adopted a person-centered approach using latent profile analysis to explore how living a calling relates to different work-family interface profiles. With a sample of 267 Chinese university counselors, we found three work-family interface profiles: slightly conflictual (51%), experiencing slightly higher than average levels of work-to-family conflict (WFC) and family-to-work conflict (FWC) and slightly lower than average levels of work-to-family enrichment (WFE) and family-to-work enrichment (FWE); work-to-family conflictual (15%), with higher levels of WFC and lower levels of FWC, WFE, and FWE; and enriched (34%), indicated by higher levels of WFE and FWE and lower levels of WFC and FWC. The results revealed that the greater the extent to which participants were living their calling, the more likely they were to be classified into the enriched profile. Our findings contribute to the literature on calling by offering person-centered insights on the relation between calling and the work-family interface.

Misaligned Meaning: Couples’ Work-Orientation Incongruence and Their Work Outcomes

This research investigates the relationship between couples’ work-orientation incongruence—the degree to which romantic partners view the meaning of their own work differently—and their ability to succeed in making job transitions and experiencing satisfaction with the jobs they hold. We use a social information-processing approach to develop arguments that romantic partners serve as powerful social referents in the domain of work. By cueing social information regarding the salience and value of different aspects of work, partners with incongruent work orientations can complicate each other’s evaluation of their own jobs and the jobs they seek. In a longitudinal study of couples in which one partner is searching for work, we find that greater incongruence in couples’ calling orientations toward work relates to lower reemployment probability, a relationship that is mediated by an increased feeling of uncertainty about the future experienced by job seekers in such couples. Calling-orientation incongruence also relates to lower job satisfaction for employed partners over time. We contribute to the burgeoning literature on the role romantic partners play in shaping work outcomes by examining the effect of romantic partners’ perception of the meaning of work, offering empirical evidence of the ways in which romantic partners influence key work and organizational outcomes. Our research also contributes to the meaning of work literature by demonstrating how work-orientation incongruence at the dyadic level matters for individual work attitudes and success in making job transitions.

The Search for and Presence of Calling: Latent Profiles and Relationships With Work Meaning and Job Satisfaction

Previous studies showed inconsistent results on the association between searching for calling and its psychosocial functioning outcomes (i.e., work meaning and job satisfaction). The link of searching for calling to its psychosocial functioning outcomes may be influenced by the presence of calling because the search for and presence of calling can co-exist within individuals. Thus, the present study employed a person-centered method (latent profile analysis) to identify subgroups combining the search for and presence of a calling and then explore the identified profiles' differences in work meaning and job satisfaction. Study participants were Chinese kindergarten teachers (n = 726). Latent profile analysis revealed four different groups: (1) actively maintaining calling (24.93%), (2) unsustainable calling (11.43%), (3) moderately increasing calling (23.14%), and (4) actively increasing calling (40.50%). Subsequent analyses showed notable differences across the four groups on work meaning and job satisfaction. Participants in profile 1 with both the highest searching for and presence of calling would experience more work meaning and job satisfaction than those in the other profiles whose strengths of searching for and presence of calling were relatively low. Participants in profile 4 had higher searching for and presence of calling than those in profile 3, and they experienced more meaningfulness at work and were more satisfied with their job. These findings indicate that actively searching for calling is closely associated with more work meaning and job satisfaction among people who already perceive intensive calling. Implications, limitations, and future directions of the results are discussed.

Prevalence and Demographic Differences in Work as a Calling in the United States: Results From a Nationally Representative Sample

Within the last two decades, social science research on work as a calling has rapidly grown. To date, knowledge regarding prevalence and demographic differences of calling in the United States derives from data collected mainly from regionally limited and/or occupationally homogenous samples. The present study used data from the Portraits of American Life Study, a nationally stratified panel study of religion in the United States (U.S.), to estimate calling’s prevalence in the U.S. Our findings represent the first known population estimates of seeking, perceiving, and living a calling in the U.S. Results revealed that calling is a relevant concept for many U.S. adults, with 43% endorsing “mostly true” or “totally true” to the statement “I have a calling to a particular kind of work.” Small differences for presence of and search for a calling emerged across age groups, employment statuses, and levels of importance of God or spirituality. For living a calling, significant differences were identified only for importance of God or spirituality, contrasting with previous findings that suggested that living a calling varies as a function of income and social status. Implications for research and practice are explored.

The Mediating Role of Meaning in Life in the Effects of Calling on Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms and Growth: A Longitudinal Study of Navy Soldiers Deployed to the Gulf of Aden

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.

Forget about the money? A latent profile analysis of calling and work motivation in Chinese employees

Purpose

Calling is typically associated with more intrinsic than extrinsic work motivation. This could give the impression that employees with a calling do not need or care about external rewards. To deepen the understanding of the relationship between calling and work motivation, the purpose of this paper is to test how calling is combined with different types of work motivation and how such combinations affect work outcomes differentially.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors applied latent profile analysis among Chinese employees with diverse occupations (N = 1,290), to identify calling and work motivation profiles and test their relations with work outcomes, assessed four months later.

Findings

Four profiles emerged: externally motivated low calling, moderately externally motivated calling, moderately motivated calling and highly motivated calling. Employees with weaker and stronger callings indicated being extrinsically motivated for work. Employees in the highly motivated calling profile exhibited highest job satisfaction, lowest cynicism and lowest turnover intentions, followed by employees in the moderately motivated calling profile, the moderately externally motivated calling profile and the externally motivated low calling profile.

Research limitations/implications

The findings imply that employees with a strong calling do care about external rewards and also benefit from external incentives to work.

Originality/value

This study is the first to explore the differential relationship between calling and work motivation. Moreover, the findings offer insights regarding the under-researched notion that different types of calling predict work outcomes differently.

Beyond-the-Self Callings: The Role of a Transcendent Summons for Undergraduates and Working Adults

Most scholars consider the “calling” construct to be multidimensional, yet very little research has examined the dimensions. Of the proposed dimensions, the most unique—and controversial—is a “transcendent summons” toward a particular career. In two studies, we investigated if a transcendent summons uniquely predicts individuals’ endorsement of having a calling, as well as their career-related and general well-being, beyond calling’s other dimensions. Participants were undergraduate students in the U.S. ( n = 492) and working adults drawn from a nationally representative, stratified U.S. panel study ( n = 767). Results suggested transcendent summons accounted for robust portions of unique variance in perceptions of calling for undergraduates and working adults. Results were mixed for other criterion variables, as a transcendent summons explained variance beyond calling’s other dimensions for three of the five career-related and general well-being variables for undergraduates, and two of five for working adults. Research and practice implications are discussed.

Surviving an infectious disease outbreak: How does nurse calling influence performance during the COVID-19 fight?

AIM

To assess the performance of front-line nurses, who believed they were living out their calling, during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

BACKGROUND

Although as a profession nursing generally requires high levels of performance, the disruption arising from an infectious disease outbreak increases the work stress and decreases the performance of front-line nurses. How this situation can be improved has yet to be thoroughly examined.

METHOD

We used a snowball sampling technique to recruit 339 nurses who were originally from outside Hubei but volunteered to join medical teams going to Hubei to tackle COVID-19.

RESULTS

Drawing on the theory of work as a calling, we found that living a calling had a positive effect on front-line nurses' performance through the clinical and relational care they provided. Perceived supervisor support strengthened these mediated relationships.

CONCLUSION

Our findings indicate that despite the constraints associated with pandemics, front-line nurses who are living a calling are able to provide better clinical and relational care to infected patients, which in turn improves their performance.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT

The findings of this study suggest that hospitals can introduce career educational interventions to enhance nurses' ability to discern and live out their calling to improve their performance.

The Curvilinear Relationship Between Career Calling and Work Fatigue: A Moderated Mediating Model

Drawing on the job demands-resources (JD-R) model and event system theory (EST), this study constructed a moderated mediating model to investigate the direct effect of career calling on work fatigue, the mediating effect of role overload, and the moderating effect of COVID-19 event disruption in the above relationships. We administered an online questionnaire to 488 Chinese police officers who participated in frontline work to prevent and control the COVID-19 pandemic. The results showed a U-shaped curvilinear relationship of career calling with physical fatigue, mental fatigue, emotional fatigue, and role overload. Moreover, role overload partially mediated these curvilinear relationships. In addition, COVID-19 event disruption positively moderated the direct curvilinear effect of career calling on role overload, physical fatigue, and emotional fatigue, as well as the first stage of the mediating effect in the relationship between career calling and physical, mental, and emotional fatigue through role overload. Furthermore, the direct U-shaped curvilinear effects and the indirect effects were more significant when COVID-19 event disruption was high.

Healthcare professionals with calling are less likely to be burned out: the role of social worth and career stage

Purpose

The association of calling with burnout is not well understood. This study investigates how calling influences burnout and what the roles of social worth and career stage are in this relation. Drawing from the Conservation of Resources Theory, we expect that calling may be negatively associated with burnout through increased social worth and that career stage moderates these relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a sample of 566 healthcare professionals, we conducted regression analyses with bootstrapping procedures to test the proposed hypotheses.

Findings

The findings show that social worth mediates the negative relation between calling and burnout. Additionally, the positive relation between calling and social worth was more pronounced for late-career employees; yet, the negative relation between social worth and burnout was stronger for early-career employees.

Practical implications

The findings suggest that searching and pursuing a professional calling is beneficial for individuals. Additionally, social worth is crucial in this relation and could be used to actively prevent burnout.

Originality/value

The study advances our understanding of the consequences of calling for employees by explaining the underlying mechanism between calling and burnout and its importance at different career stages.

How Having a Calling Leads to Job Crafting: A Moderated Mediation Model

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.

Antecedents and Outcomes of Callings for University Students: An Examination of Mentoring and Insight Experiences

Past research has found that callings have a significant impact on important individual and organizational outcomes, but research on the precursors of callings is limited. In the current study, we contribute to callings research by examining two potentially important calling antecedents for university students: mentoring relationships and insight experiences. Building on extant literature, we also explored how students’ perceptions of callings may relate to school- and career-related outcomes. Using a sample of 536 undergraduate students from one private and two public U.S. universities, we found that high-quality mentoring relationships and insight experiences were positively related to students’ perceptions of callings. We also found support for a relationship between students’ perceptions of callings and their school engagement and absenteeism, along with their career outcome expectations. We discuss the implications of these findings for research and practice.