No abstract

The international literature review on the meaning of work reveals that, there is still an epistemological confusion between the meaning and coherence constructs. To date, no research has empirically proven that the meaning of work, which emerges from the perception of the work (Gomez-Gonzalez et al., 2013), its purpose (Proulx et al., 2013) and its contribution to the meaning of existence (Hackman & Oldman, 1976, Rosso et al., 2010 and Steger et al., 2012), has an autonomous and a distinctive character not only with respect to the perceived and effective coherence existing between the worker and the working environment, but also vis-à-vis other factors which view the meaning as a subset of more important constructs like psychological empowerment. To address this gap, this research aims at continuing the empirical validation on the inventory of the meaning of work (Arnoux-Nicolas et al., 2016) while examining not only its factorial structure, but also and especially the conceptual and empirical differences between the meaning and coherence. Confirmatory factor analyses were carried out on 623 hospital staffs in Cameroon, showing that the two-dimensional structure of the meaning inventory presents better statistical indices of adequacy on the real data and accounts for 71.486% of the explained variance. Correlational analyses that were carried out on 359 samples validated the distinctive and autonomous character of meaning with respect to coherence (r ≈ −32).

This research involved developing a tool for measuring boredom state with a sample of Cameroonian workers. Boredom refers to a state of under-arousal, caused by the experience of an aversive situation of idleness, perceived as useless and discouraging (Rengade, 2016). Recent scientific literature highlights the adverse effects of boredom on workers' health and organisational performance (Vodanovich & Watt (2016). The lack of an operational tool to diagnose boredom at work limits the possibilities of managerial intervention aimed at developing appropriate managerial strategies. However, similar studies revealed an increase in the number of Cameroonian civil servants with work contracts, regular salaries, identified work stations, missions and work objectives to achieve, who report a permanent feeling of emptiness, monotony and dejection (Simaleu, 2021; Doumbeneny, 2021). We applied the cross-cultural validation procedure proposed by Vallerand (1989), to adapt the multidimensional state boredom instrument (MSBS) by Fahlman et al. to the Cameroonian context. The study was carried out in three stages with a sample of 469 civil servants. Our results are in line with the measurement model of the original version, which is a five-factor structure (low arousal, disengagement, high arousal, inattention and time perception). Despite the existing socio-cultural differences between the validation context of the original version and the Cameroonian context, the structure which is similar to the original version of the MSBS obtains better fit indices with the data collected from Cameroonian workers (CFI = .99; GFI: 0.99; SRMR = 0.05; RMSEA=.004). Since the Cameroonian version of the MSBS has been able to demonstrate adequate psychometric properties, it can therefore be used as a measure of boredom at work.

It is pressing to question the residual meaning of work when it masks a traffic that cannot exist without it. Continuing the furrow excavated by the MOW, IRT (1987) research group, this research was initiated with the collaboration of 264 Cameroonians' caregivers in order to explore the direct effects and interaction between the meaning of work and the person-job fit perceived on engagement at work. Our results revealed that perceived coherence interacts with the meaning of work to create the psychological conditions that determine employees' engagement in their work.

We cannot understand the psychological dynamics of the individual at work if we are not interested in the complex interaction between his or her individual trajectories and organizational practices. In this perspective, our research consisted in showing that the reproduction of the Caledonian complexity of self-identification within SLN determines the perception of organizational culture and mediates the effects of hierarchical status on the commitment towards the company. In this regard, we combined ethnological approaches and the analysis of individual behaviors to interview 450 SLN employees. Our results reveal that at SLN, community membership offers keys to understand identity attributes that employees use to be hired, evolve in the company, and justify the rank they occupy. While employees of metropolitan origin express an emotional attachment to SLN, Kanak employees maintain a relationship of interest with SLN, which they consider a source of wealth and employment.