Many people expect their work to provide meaning to their lives, yet the specific organizational factors that can promote meaning in life are not clearly delineated. Drawing on the basic science of meaning in life, in this paper we propose that work entails a host of experiences that foster meaning in life. We begin by defining meaning in life, noting its placement within the broader well-being literature and dispelling common myths about its rarity in people’s lives. After highlighting the myriad benefits of meaning for individuals and organizations, we describe several established sources of meaning in life and their relevance to work. We then examine how work orientations and social demographic factors influence the propensity to seek meaning through work. We conclude with a discussion of future research directions that can better illuminate the predictors and functions of meaningfulness at work.

许多人期望自己的工作能够为生活提供意义，但并未明确描述可以促进生活意义的特定组织因素。借鉴生活中意义的基础科学，我们提出工作需要大量的经验，以培养生活中的意义。我们首先定义生活中的意义，注意其在更广泛的幸福文学中的位置，并消除关于人们在生活中稀有性的普遍神话。在强调了意义对个人和组织的无数好处之后，我们描述了生活中意义的几个既定来源及其与工作的相关性。然后，我们研究工作取向和社会人口因素如何影响通过工作寻求意义的倾向。