To Mean Is To Be Perceived: Studying the Meaning of Work Through the Eyes of Others

Social scientific research on the meaning of work has depended mostly on workers’ own reports. These reports have contributed to our understanding of what makes work meaningful. However, research has treated the meaning of work as an individual-level phenomenon evaluated from a worker’s perspective. This empirical path does not capture how meaning is influenced by the perspectives of others. This paper asserts that research based on personal...