Taking a closer look at the bidirectional relationship between meaningful work and strain at work: a cross-lagged model

ABSTRACT

Research conceptualized meaningful work as an important resource reducing work-related strain. Literature has however neglected the possibility that the relationship between meaningful work and strain may be bidirectional. Based on Conservation of Resources theory and the attention view on stress, we therefore simultaneously examine the relationship between strain and meaningful work in a cross-lagged panel study with 983 participants. We demonstrate that meaningful work reduces employees’ degree of strain more than a month later. Vice versa, the strain that employees experience at work also reduces the degree to which they perceive their work as meaningful. These results indicate that while meaningful work serves as an important psychological resource reducing strain, it may, itself, prove susceptible to high levels of strain.

KEYWORDS:

• Meaningful work
• stress
• Conservation of Resources theory
• cross-lagged

Acknowledgments

Preparation of this article was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (FKZ 16I1644), research project “Digital Work Design – Turning Risks into Chances”

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author (PB)

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research [16I1644].