Outcomes of Meaningful Work: A Meta‐Analysis
verifiedrich profile · Journal of Management Studies · 2018
Allan, Blake A.; Batz-Barbarich, Cassondra; Sterling, Haley M.; Tay, Louis
How this was studied
A meta-analytic synthesis — it pools many primary studies rather than running a single design, so there is no single-study diagram.
What this article reports
The findings we extracted from this work, normalized into Principia’s relationship form (X → Y). Each feeds the synthesized models below.
meaningful work → job satisfaction
meaningful work → organizational commitment
meaningful work → work engagement
Models this article informs
The meta-analytic priors this article contributes evidence to — its place in the broader synthesis.
meaningful work predicts job satisfaction
meaningful work predicts organizational commitment
meaningful work predicts work engagement
In the authors’ words
The article’s own abstract.
Abstract Using job characteristics theory as a framework, we calculated meta‐analytic effect sizes between meaningful work and various outcomes and tested a mediated model of meaningful work predicting proximal and distal outcomes with meta‐analytic structural equation modelling (MASEM). From 44 articles (N = 23,144), we found that meaningful work had large correlations (r = 0.70+) with work engagement, commitment, and job satisfaction; moderate to large correlations (r = 0.44 to −0.49) with life satisfaction, life meaning, general health, and withdrawal intentions; and small to moderate correlations (r = −0.19 to 0.33) with organizational citizenship behaviours, self‐rated job performance, and negative affect. The best MASEM fitting model was meaningful work predicting work engagement, commitment, and job satisfaction and these variables subsequently predicting self‐rated performance, organizational citizenship behaviours, and withdrawal intentions. This meta‐analysis provides estimated effect sizes between meaningful work and its outcomes and reveals how meaningful work relates directly and indirectly to key outcomes.
What the literature says about it
Attributed, open-access quotes from other works that cite this article, plus the citation-graph verdict tally. Corroborations and disputes, in one place — the honest-broker view.
supports “For instance, allan et al.’s (2019) study revealed that meaningful work is highly associated with job satisfaction, commitment and engagement.”
supports “Meta-analytic research has identified a positive correlation between meaningful work and work engagement, commitment, and job satisfaction, leading to higher self-rated job performance, increased organizational citizenship behavior, and reduced withdrawal intentions [35].”
supports “Research surrounding these kinds of career concerns has generally indicated that experiences making work feel more meaningful tend to increase job satisfaction and promote work engagement, and are negatively associated with anxiety, depression, and intentions to leave the profession [13–15].”
supports “Research surrounding these kinds of career concerns has generally indicated that experiences making work feel more meaningful tend to increase job satisfaction and promote work engagement, and are negatively associated with anxiety, depression, and intentions to leave the profession [13–15].”
supports “Work meaningfulness has been the focus of psychological scientific inquiry for decades and has been considered to be positively and consistently associated with individual and organizational benefits, such as commitment, satisfaction, and performance (for reviews see [20,21]).”
supports “Researchers revealed that employees who perceive their work as meaningful are highly motivated (allan et al., 2019), exhibit high levels of engagement (albrecht et al., 2021), and possess good psychological well-being (PWB) (Weber & avey, 2019). according to Diener and seligman (2002), PWB refers…”
supports “…optimum individual and organizational work outcomes (lysova et al., 2019; Zhang, liu, et al., 2024; Zhang, tan, et al., 2024). in particular, allan et al. (2019) reported that meaningful work is highly correlated with job satisfaction, work commitment and engagement, moderately correlated…”
supports “In addition, people who perceive their work as meaningful become happier, develop more positive relationships, and experience better health and more satisfaction with their overall lives (Allan et al., 2019).”
supports “…optimum individual and organizational work outcomes (lysova et al., 2019; Zhang, liu, et al., 2024; Zhang, tan, et al., 2024). in particular, allan et al. (2019) reported that meaningful work is highly correlated with job satisfaction, work commitment and engagement, moderately correlated…”
supports “For instance, allan et al.’s (2019) study revealed that meaningful work is highly associated with job satisfaction, commitment and engagement.”
supports “…concept of meaningful work due to its positive relation to various work-related attitudes and behavior, performance-related and individual outcomes, including job satisfaction, performance, organizational commitment, or life meaning (Allan et al., 2019; Bailey et al., 2019; Ste-ger et al., 2012).”
supports “…optimum individual and organizational work outcomes (lysova et al., 2019; Zhang, liu, et al., 2024; Zhang, tan, et al., 2024). in particular, allan et al. (2019) reported that meaningful work is highly correlated with job satisfaction, work commitment and engagement, moderately correlated…”
Ancillary research
Neighbouring works in the citation graph around this article.
- 10.1080/23311975.2025.2571432
- 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e35366
- 10.1186/s12875-025-03026-2
- 10.3390/ijerph21040451
- 10.1017/jmo.2025.10014
- 10.1007/s10551-024-05821-w
Assembled from Principia’s registry — bibliographic record, extracted effect sizes, the models they inform, and open-access citing literature.