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

Jiang, Winnie; Wrzesniewski, Amy

doi:10.1287/orsc.2021.1453

Cited by 14 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 113 publications

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“…However, little research has examined how the meaning that people perceive in their work relates to their responses to the potential challenges of occupational destabilization. Research on job loss and involuntary role exits has generally not examined the role of work meanings in these experiences (Kanfer, Wanberg, and Kantrowitz, 2001; McKee-Ryan et al, 2005; Wanberg, Zhu, and Van Hooft, 2010; but see Kaufman, 1982; Wrzesniewski, 1999; and Jiang and Wrzesniewski, 2022 for exceptions). This is a critical omission, as several studies have suggested that the meaning of work matters for one’s experience after job loss.…”

Section: Navigating Occupational Destabilization: Job Loss and Involu...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceiving Fixed or Flexible Meaning: Toward a Model of Meaning Fixedness and Navigating Occupational Destabilization

Jiang,

Wrzesniewski

2023

Administrative Science Quarterly

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This article examines individuals’ cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses to the destabilization of their occupations, how their responses differ, and why. We focus on the context of journalism, an occupation undergoing severe destabilization in the U.S. and seen as deeply meaningful by many of its incumbents. Drawing on two waves of interviews with 72 unemployed or former newspaper journalists, conducted over five months, and additional interviews with 22 others, we identified two sets of responses, each characterized by distinctive cognitive, emotional, and behavioral patterns. Building on these findings, we developed the construct of “meaning fixedness” to capture the extent to which individuals view the meaning of the different components of their work to be fixed within one occupational context or flexible across different occupations. We found that participants held different interpretations of journalism’s destabilization and assessments of how portable their work components were to other occupational contexts: flexible-meaning perceivers generally engaged in actions to reinvent their career, while fixed-meaning perceivers engaged in actions to persist in journalism with the hope that their occupation could be restored. Our findings culminate in a model of meaning fixedness and how it shapes individuals’ navigation of occupational destabilization. This research uncovers an individual-level perception that has the potential to shape the varied responses to occupational changes observed in prior research, contributing to the literatures on occupations, the meaning of work, and role transitions.

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Section: Navigating Occupational Destabilization: Job Loss and Involu...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceiving Fixed or Flexible Meaning: Toward a Model of Meaning Fixedness and Navigating Occupational Destabilization

Jiang,

Wrzesniewski

2023

Administrative Science Quarterly

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“…A longitudinal study encompassing couples in which one was employed and the other was unemployed has shown that a high level of incongruence in work orientation be-tween couples was associated with poor job satisfaction for employed partners over time (Jiang & Wrzesniewski, 2022).…”

Section: Work Orientationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Work orientation and flourishing life in twelve Ibero-American countries

Mesurado¹,

Carlier²,

Rodríguez³

et al. 2022

Rev. Lat. Psi

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Introduction/Objetive: Work orientation includes the individual’s beliefs regarding the role of work in his/her life as a whole and what they are searching for in their careers. There are three types of orientation to work: job, career, and vocation. Work orientation has the distinction of examining how work connects with people’s lives and is, therefore, an appropriate construct for evaluating the impact of work on human flourishing. The aims of this study are first to explore work orientation in twelve Ibero-American countries; and second, to investigate whether work orientation affects flourishing in the lives of adults in twelve Ibero-American countries. Method: A total of 3000 adults participated in this study. The University of Pennsylvania Work-Life Questionnaire was used to evaluate the type of relationship that employees reported having with their work, according to the distinctions between job, career, and calling. A 12-item version of the Multidimensional Flourishing Scale was used to measure three aspects of flourishing: social, psychological, and emotional well-being. Results: Most participants reported a high level of calling in their work orientation. In most countries, those with a calling orientation reported higher levels of social and psychological well-being than those with a job orientation. The results indicate a clear relationship between a calling orientation and social and psychological well-being. Conclusion: This research is the first to compare the relationship between work-orientation and flourishing in Ibero-America. The findings help us understand that work-orientation is not a secondary aspect of a person’s life but has fundamental implications in the lives of workers.

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“…Understanding how various organizational stakeholders interpret meaning and associate value to various organizational initiatives is critical to understanding organizational life Meaning and willingness to pay (Jiang and Wrzesniewski, 2021). In this respect, one of the earliest theories explaining how consumers make consumption decisions and value different product bundles is the theory of consumer choice in microeconomics.…”

Section: Theory Of Consumer Choicementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Meaning in organizational life (Jiang and Wrzesniewski, 2021) has important implications for how organizational stakeholders associate value to various organizational initiatives (Zeglat and Janbeik, 2019; Rosso et al , 2010; Ariely et al , 2008). In particular, research on meaning has generally shown that effort increases favorable valuation of and WTP for economic activities (Kim and Tanford, 2019; Pickup et al , 2019; Tatavarthy and Mukherjee, 2019; Norton et al , 2012; Lydall et al , 2010; Alessandri et al , 2008).…”

Section: Contributions and Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Pursuit of meaning is at the heart of much of organizational life (Jiang and Wrzesniewski, 2021). It has implications for how various organizational stakeholders, including employees and consumers, associate value to various organizational initiatives (Zeglat and Janbeik, 2019; Rosso et al , 2010; Ariely et al , 2008; Wrzesniewski, 2003; Wrzesniewski et al , 2003; Wrzesniewski et al , 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Meaning and willingness to pay: the role of expectation disconfirmation

Assadi

2021

JEAS

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PurposePursuit of meaning is at the heart of much of organizational life. It has implications for how different organizational stakeholders associate value to various organizational initiatives. Research on meaning has generally shown that effort increases meaning and favorable valuation of and willingness to pay for economic activities by organizational stakeholders. The authors build on and advance this research by offering theory and experimental evidence showing that effort, particularly at high levels, results in enhanced meaning and favorable valuation when effort does not threaten the focal stakeholders' resources through expectation disconfirmation.Design/methodology/approachThree experimental studies are designed and conducted in this research. In one study, the authors replicate prior research findings that establish labor generally increases meaning and favorable valuation. In the two subsequent studies, the authors test the proposed hypothesis in this research and check for robustness of the empirical analysis.FindingsThe authors find that any internalized threat to the focal stakeholder's resources coupled with a high exertion of effort decreases, rather than increases, meaning and favorable valuation of and willingness to pay for economic activities.Originality/valueThe theory and empirical evidence in this research advance the understanding of how organizational stakeholders may associate effort-induced meaning with various economic activities in counter-intuitive ways. The findings also highlight the importance of recognizing and shaping the expectations of organizational stakeholders in influencing willingness to pay in organizational settings.

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

Cited by 14 publications

References 113 publications

Perceiving Fixed or Flexible Meaning: Toward a Model of Meaning Fixedness and Navigating Occupational Destabilization

Perceiving Fixed or Flexible Meaning: Toward a Model of Meaning Fixedness and Navigating Occupational Destabilization

Work orientation and flourishing life in twelve Ibero-American countries

Meaning and willingness to pay: the role of expectation disconfirmation

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