Bryan J. Dik

Calling and Vocation at Work: Definitions and Prospects for Research and Practice

The purpose of this article is to initiate an effort to establish the constructs calling and vocation within counseling psychology. First, updated definitions of calling and vocation, developed with an eye toward stimulating research and providing useful practice applications, are proposed. Next, the authors explain how the constructs apply to the domain of human work, review empirical and theoretical work related to calling and vocation and their role in human functioning, and differentiate the terms from each other and related constructs. Finally, directions for basic and applied research on calling and vocation are suggested, and implications for career counseling practice are outlined.

Measuring Meaningful Work: the Work and Meaning Inventory (WAMI)

Many people desire work that is meaningful. However, research in this area has attracted diverse ideas about meaningful work (MW), accompanied by an equally disparate collection of ways of assessing MW. To further advance study in this area, the authors propose a multidimensional model of work as a subjectively meaningful experience consisting of experiencing positive meaning in work, sensing that work is a key avenue for making meaning, and perceiving one’s work to benefit some greater good. The development of a scale to measure these dimensions is described, an initial appraisal of the reliability and construct validity of the instrument’s scores is reported using a sample of university employees (N = 370) representing diverse occupations. MW scores correlated in predicted ways with work-related and general well-being indices, and accounted for unique variance beyond common predictors of job satisfaction, days reported absent from work, and life satisfaction. The authors discuss ways in which this conceptual model provides advantages to scholars, counselors, and organizations interested in fostering MW.

Calling in work: Secular or sacred?

Recent scholarship indicates that people who view their work as a calling are more satisfied with their work and their lives. Historically, calling has been regarded as a religious experience, although modern researchers frequently have adopted a more expansive and secular conceptualization of calling, emphasizing meaning and personal fulfillment in work. The assumption that calling can be easily secularized and applied has not been tested. Therefore, we tested whether calling was related to psychological adjustment and positive work attitudes of both highly religious and less religious college students (N = 242). We also tested whether these positive relations were mediated by people’s intrinsic religiousness or by a broader, secular construct, meaning in life. Moderation-mediation analyses supported views of calling centering on people’s experience of meaning in their work rather than more constrained religious views. Implications for future research and practical applications of calling to positive work attitudes are discussed.

Development and Validation of the Calling and Vocation Questionnaire (CVQ) and Brief Calling Scale (BCS)

Research on work as a calling is limited by measurement concerns. In response, the authors introduce the multidimensional Calling and Vocation Questionnaire (CVQ) and the Brief Calling scale (BCS), instruments assessing presence of, and search for, a calling. Study 1 describes CVQ development using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in a cross-validated split-sample approach with 456 undergraduates. The CVQ contained six reliable subscales that form CVQ-Presence and CVQ-Search scores, which demonstrated moderate 1-month test–retest reliability, good fit to a six-factor structure, and initial support for construct validity. Study 2 reports a multitrait–multimethod analysis with 134 undergraduates and 365 informants. Self-reported CVQ and BCS scores moderately to strongly correlated with informant reports and scores for both instruments correlated in hypothesized directions with work hope, prosocial work motivation, life meaning, and the search for meaning. CVQ and BCS scores provide psychometrically sound measures of calling, with the CVQ offering the potential for more fine-grained, multidimensional analyses.

Career Development Strivings Assessing Goals and Motivation in Career Decision-Making and Planning

This article describes and demonstrates a novel approach to assessing goals and motives among individuals engaged in the career decision-making and planning process. Participants generated five career development strivings, rated each striving along several dimensions (self-efficacy, outcome expectations, sense of calling, spiritual significance, and materialism), and completed measures of conceptually related and unrelated variables. Results indicated adequate to strong internal consistency reliability for the strivings appraisal scale scores, and the pattern of correlations support the convergent and discriminant validity for scores obtained using this approach. We conclude that the career development strivings strategy has great potential as a flexible and efficient tool for use in career development research and practice.

Perceiving a Calling, Living a Calling, and Job Satisfaction: Testing a Moderated, Multiple Mediator Model.

The current study examined the relation between perceiving a calling, living a calling, and job satisfaction among a diverse group of employed adults who completed an online survey (N = 201). Perceiving a calling and living a calling were positively correlated with career commitment, work meaning, and job satisfaction. Living a calling moderated the relations of perceiving a calling with career commitment and work meaning, such that these relations were more robust for those with a stronger sense they were living their calling. Additionally, a moderated, multiple mediator model was run to examine the mediating role of career commitment and work meaning in the relation of perceiving a calling and job satisfaction, while accounting for the moderating role of living a calling. Results indicated that work meaning and career commitment fully mediated the relation between perceiving a calling and job satisfaction. However, the indirect effects of work meaning and career commitment were only significant for individuals with high levels of living a calling, indicating the importance of living a calling in the link between perceiving a calling and job satisfaction. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Purpose and meaning in the workplace.

Work is one of the fundamental experiences of human life. Yet very few of us are lucky enough to find truly fulfilling jobs. In recent decades, as businesses have come to understand the crucial link between happiness and productivity, researchers have focused increasingly on factors such as the nature of the work itself, how well it is suited to the worker, and the ways in which employees can derive meaning and purpose from their work. In this groundbreaking book, editors Bryan Dik, Zinta Byrne, and Michael Steger have brought together experts in counselling and vocational psychology, industrial and organizational psychology, and the fields of executive coaching and management to investigate how meaningful work can be fostered and sustained throughout a wide range of work environments. Theoretically-grounded yet filled with practical strategies for the workplace, this book will be an important resource for academics, executive consultants, career counsellors, human resource professionals, and organisational leaders alike.

Counseling Psychologists Who View Their Careers as a Calling: A Qualitative Study.

Interviews were completed with eight counseling psychologists who viewed their careers as a calling. Using the Consensual Qualitative Research guidelines, six domains emerged: definition, process of discerning, content of the calling, professional impact, personal impact, and maintenance. Generally, interviewees viewed the discernment of their calling as the result of an indirect route that included self-reflection, support from others, and an identified calling source. Interviewees generally viewed their calling as what one is meant to do, as something that evolved over time, as synonymous with one’s purpose in life, and as tied to helping or serving others. Generally, interviewees were satisfied with their personal and professional lives and noted that the calling positively impacted their daily work tasks and interpersonal relationships. Interviewees generally viewed their calling as an ongoing process, and they identified role models and supportive work environments that aided in maintaining their calling.

Does the Source of a Calling Matter? External Summons, Destiny, and Perfect Fit

This study examined the endorsement of three different sources of a calling—external summons, destiny, and perfect fit—and how the endorsement of these sources related to levels of living a calling, job satisfaction, and life satisfaction. With a sample of 200 employed adults, participants were asked to select a source group that best described where their calling originated. A multivariate analysis of variance revealed no significant differences among the three primary source groups on levels of living a calling, job satisfaction, or life satisfaction. However, group membership was a significant moderator in the relation of living a calling to life satisfaction. Specifically, the relation of living a calling to life satisfaction was more pronounced for participants endorsing a destiny belief than for those endorsing other sources. Overall, results indicate that as long as workers feel they are living out their calling, the source of their calling matters little in terms of how calling links to job and life satisfaction.

Following passionate interests to well-being.

This article describes the relationship between interests and well-being by conceptualizing interest as both an emotional state and a stable disposition. First, interest is explored as a distinct emotion or affective state, itself a form of well-being that also leads to other forms of well-being by facilitating the development of diverse life experiences and competencies. Next, the theoretical linkage between affective interest and stable, enduring interests (or what interest inventories measure) is summarized. Finally, evidence suggesting that interests predict well-being in the domains of work and leisure is reviewed. Part of living the good life, the authors conclude, means living the interested life.