Author ORCID Identifier
Document Type
Dissertation
Date of Award
2024
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Harry Freeman
Abstract
Work is prominent in adults’ lives, and their opportunity to choose the work they prefer predicts key work and wellbeing outcomes (WWO), especially their sense of meaning in work and wellbeing. Work choice opportunities also influence a sense of calling. However, finding and keeping preferred work is often difficult when adults are also navigating finances, marginalizing systems, and non-work priorities. Work volition (WV) measures perceived freedom regarding work options and predicts the quality of work that people find and their wellbeing within and beyond work. Foundational theoretical models suggested that having safe and reliable work, known as decent work (DW), explained the relationships between WV and WWO. However, simply having an acceptable job may not fully explain one’s WWO. Further, research on WV has not examined calling outside of work. Two studies investigated these relationships using data from working adults (N=463). Mediation analyses in the first study demonstrate that WV positively and directly predicts WWO and calling in work, even after accounting for the role of DW. The second study examines these direct relationships by investigating if capacities for changing focus through goal reengagement will help adults with low WV find WWO and calling in work and outside of work. Results of the second study show no moderation between goal reengagement and WV but does highlight that both are positive predictors of WWO and calling within and beyond work. They also show that most workers reported a greater sense of calling outside their work. Together, these studies affirm the importance of WV for worker wellbeing as well as the need for a holistic and broad view regarding calling.
Subject Categories
Developmental Psychology | Industrial and Organizational Psychology | Psychology
Keywords
Calling, Decent Work, Goal Reengagement, Psychology of Working, Wellbeing, Work Volition
Number of Pages
167
Publisher
University of South Dakota
Recommended Citation
Price-Lee, Julia, "FINDING THE DREAM JOB OR FINDING ANOTHER DREAM: WORK VOLITION AND GOAL REENGAGEMENT AS PREDICTORS OF WORK-FULFILLMENT, WELLBEING AND CALLING" (2024). Dissertations and Theses. 273.
https://red.library.usd.edu/diss-thesis/273