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- Title
TO MEAN IS TO BE PERCEIVED: STUDYING THE MEANING OF WORK THROUGH THE EYES OF OTHERS.
- Authors
TOSTI-KHARAS, JENNIFER; MICHAELSON, CHRISTOPHER
- Abstract
Social scientific research on the meaning of work has dependedmostly on workers' own reports. These reports have contributed to our understanding of what makes work meaningful. However, researchhastreatedthemeaningofworkasanindividual-levelphenomenon evaluated from a worker's perspective. This empirical path does not capture how meaningis influencedby the perspectives of others. This paper asserts that researchbased onpersonalobservationsandexperiencelimitsourunderstandingof themeaningofwork. We use accounts from third-person perspectives to show how meaning is perceived by someone other than the worker. We advocate the use of novel data sources that consider the meaning of work seen through the eyes of others. We develop two examples: the collected oral histories in Studs Terkel's Working and the "Portraits of Grief" fromthe New York Times, narratives based on interviews with relatives and friends of 9/11 attack victims. In both cases, diverse people reflect on the place of work in a meaningful life. Third-person perspectives offer unique insight and practical guidance on what work means and howit is viewed by others. These viewsalsomirror broadsocietal values about the importance of work in life.
- Subjects
PRODUCTIVE life span; ORAL history; VICTIMS; GRIEF
- Publication
Academy of Management Perspectives, 2021, Vol 35, Issue 3, p503
- ISSN
1558-9080
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.5465/amp.2018.0156