What makes work meaningful? Longitudinal evidence for the importance of autonomy and beneficence for meaningful work

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dc.coverageDOI: 10.1016/j.jvb.2021.103631
dc.creatorMartela, Frank
dc.creatorGómez, Marcos
dc.creatorUnanue, Wenceslao
dc.creatorAraya, Sofia
dc.creatorBravo, Diego
dc.creatorEspejo, Alvaro
dc.date2021
dc.date.accessioned2025-11-18T19:41:35Z
dc.date.available2025-11-18T19:41:35Z
dc.description<p>The significance of meaningful work for quality of work life has been confirmed by research showing its importance both as regards to employee motivation, well-being, and commitment as well as organizational outcomes such as turnover intentions, citizenship behavior, and customer satisfaction. In explaining what makes work meaningful, Self-Determination Theory (SDT) provides a potent theoretical framework, linking meaningful work to the satisfaction of human psychological needs. Accordingly, we draw on SDT and research on prosocial behavior to examine what we identify as the four most potential psychological pathways to meaningful work: beneficence and the psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. We tested these four antecedents in a three-waves longitudinal design among a large sample of Chilean workers (T1 N = 631, T2 N = 240, T3 N = 148). We found that both autonomy and beneficence prospectively predict subsequent meaningful work above and beyond the other two needs and baseline levels of meaningful work. These results advance theory on key psychological pathways to meaningful work and have important practical implications for how organizations and managers can foster meaningfulness in the workplace through cultivating autonomy and beneficence.</p>eng
dc.identifierhttps://investigadores.uandes.cl/en/publications/f07dee04-bd89-4caf-8b41-9632e2cada05
dc.identifier.urihttps://repositorio.uandes.cl/handle/uandes/51905
dc.languageeng
dc.rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.sourcevol.131 (2021) p.103631
dc.subjectBasic psychological needs
dc.subjectBeneficence
dc.subjectMeaningful work
dc.subjectProsocial behavior
dc.subjectSelf-determination theory
dc.titleWhat makes work meaningful? Longitudinal evidence for the importance of autonomy and beneficence for meaningful workeng
dc.typeArticleeng
dc.typeArtículospa
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