AUTHOR=Schnell Tatjana , Hoffmann Carmen 

TITLE=ME-Work: Development and Validation of a Modular Meaning in Work Inventory

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2020

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.599913

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2020.599913

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=As research on meaning in work progresses, access to theoretically integrated, differentiated survey instruments becomes crucial (Bailey et al., 2019). In response to this demand, the present article introduces ME-Work, a multidimensional inventory to measure meaning in work.  Derived from research findings on meaning in life, the ME-Work inventory offers three modules that can be used separately or jointly. Module 1 assesses four facets of meaning in work, i.e. coherence, significance, purpose and belonging; module 2 measures the subjective assessment of work as meaningful or meaningless, and module 3 records the extent to which work is perceived as a source of meaning. We report on the development of the instrument and the results of an exploratory factor analysis in a pilot study of 115 working adults. A further study with 278 working adults provided evidence for construct and incremental validity. Relationships with meaning in life (SoMe), mental health (PHQ-4), job satisfaction, socio-moral climate (SMC), burnout (MBI-GS) and work as meaning (WAMI) were investigated. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the factor structure. Gender-specific analyses of the four facets of meaning’s differential predictive power provided additional insights. Practical implications and further research needs are discussed.