A systematic review of meaningful work unifying 20 years of theoretical and substantive contributions (2000–2020)

Abstract

Purpose

Meaningful work is gaining importance in the core domains of human resources research. However, there is confusion regarding what constitutes meaningful work and its determinants and outcomes. Earlier studies have conflated conceptual and empirical arguments. Hence, researchers lack clear insights into factors related to employees' experiences of meaningfulness. This study aims to discuss the aforementioned issue.

Design/methodology/approach

The authorsconducted a systematic literature review (SLR) of 88 studies (2000–2020) meeting relevant criteria to identify dominant trends and significant gaps in the authors’ understanding of meaningful work.

Findings

This review identified six aspects to conceptualize meaningful work. At the same time, the authors highlighted the dominant theory and the instrument used to explain and measure meaningful work. Based on the same, the authors identified different groups of individual and organizational-level determinants and outcomes of finding meaning in work. The analysis also indicates that the comprehension of meaningful work was restricted because most data were obtained from the USA, Europe and certain regions of Asia. During this assessment, the authors observed that several studies emphasized individual-level effects, self-reporting and cross-sectional studies, which restricted the ability to make causal inferences.

Originality/value

This study extends earlier works where the authors stock-take existing research for the past 20 years and build on past trajectories to enrich the authors’ understanding of meaningful work. Unlike earlier works that focused on a specific domain, such as human resource development, this work differentiates by taking an integrated framework-based approach leveraging the antecedents, decisions and outcomes (ADO) and the theories, contexts and method (TCM) framework to consolidate and advance knowledge in the field thoroughly.

Citation

Tan, K.-L., Sim, A.K.S., Yap, S.S.-N., Vithayaporn, S. and Rachmawati, A.W. (2023), "A systematic review of meaningful work unifying 20 years of theoretical and substantive contributions (2000–2020)", Journal of Advances in Management Research, Vol. 20 No. 3, pp. 462-512. https://doi.org/10.1108/JAMR-11-2022-0225