When a Calling Goes Unanswered: Exploring the Role of Workplace Personalizations as Calling Enactments

Abstract

Individuals are sometimes unable to realize their callings in their formal careers. The literature has highlighted that such unanswered callings produce negative outcomes in the individual’s career and personal life and that coping strategies, such as job and leisure crafting, can help them buffer such consequences. We developed a grounded theory regarding how people cope with their unanswered callings through a previously unexplored strategy in the calling literature: workplace personalization. Our study revealed that through this strategy, individuals retain the aspects of an unanswered calling in their self-concept and then reduce the consequences of not realizing the calling. Some participants enjoy some of the benefits of perceiving a calling, even without performing it in a formal work role. This phenomenon occurs because workplace personalization can be used to represent unanswered callings performed in the past and present, or that are intended to be performed in the future. This form of enactment produces interpersonal and intrapersonal processes that help buffer the negative consequences of not realizing a calling.

On lemons and lemonade: the effect of positive and negative career shocks on thriving

“…Researchers have also found evidence that negative organizational-related career shocks can impair career optimism (Hofer et al, 2020) and that career shocks moderate the indirect relationship between career competencies and perceived employability (Blokker et al, 2019). Together, these results indicate that careers do not unfold in a vacuum (Felix et al, 2018) and that unexpected events play an important role in one's career development (Nair and Chatterjee, 2020;Felix and Cavazotte, 2019).…”

O Self que (não) fala: um modelo baseado em identidades sobre voz e silêncio de empregados

“…The presented model is grounded on the idea that workplace interactions offer a stimulus for identity enactment (ASHFORTH, 2001;LEAVITT and SLUSS, 2015;FELIX and CAVAZOTTE, 2019) and that situations on everyday organizational life, including the choices for (not) speaking up, are navigated via the social self (HOGG and TERRY, 2000). Because there are many distinct approaches for the study of identity (PRATT and FOREMAN, 2000;GOMES and FELIX, 2019), I delineate what I mean by the word 'identity' within the context of this study.…”

“…Second, identities are foundations of consistency in terms of how people think, act and feel about themselves. Identities function as implicit meaning structures that guide an individual's understanding of the world (BREWER and GARDNER, 1996;FELIX and CAVAZOTTE, 2019). They also serve to satisfy our need to see ourselves in a positive light (DUTTON, ROBERTS and BEDNAR, 2010).…”

Overcoming the challenges of living an occupational calling: a study with veterinarians

“…Despite previous research citing the influence of personal values, emotions, and meanings of work on how individuals seek to overcome challenges (Schabram & Maitlis, 2017), it is necessary to explore these aspects in the context of occupational callings -since these callings tend to amplify the influence of personal values, emotions, and meanings of work (Duffy & Dik, 2013). In addition, these studies present a monolithic view of callings by exploring only the individual's connection with a given occupation but not the functions that this connection aims to fulfill for the individual (Felix & Cavazotte, 2019;Obodaru, 2017).…”