Loving Your Work: The Double-Edged Nature of Calling

What is it about?

A calling is often described as the feeling that one's work is more than just a job. People who experience a calling see their work as meaningful, personally important, and connected to a larger purpose. This feeling can inspire dedication, motivation, and a strong sense of identity. This study validated a French version of the Unified Multidimensional Calling Scale (UMCS-22), a tool designed to measure different aspects of this experience. Using a large sample of French volunteer firefighters as an example of a highly meaningful occupation, the research demonstrated that the scale reliably captures seven dimensions of calling and can be used across demographic groups. Beyond validating the instrument, the study provides new empirical evidence that calling is a double-edged phenomenon. On the one hand, a strong sense of calling was associated with positive outcomes such as greater job satisfaction and stronger commitment to the organization. On the other hand, some dimensions of calling (transcendent summons and pervasiveness) were linked to indicators of strain, suggesting that deep personal investment in meaningful work may also carry psychological costs. These findings support a more nuanced understanding of calling, highlighting both its bright and dark sides. While perceiving one's work as a calling can be a powerful source of motivation, meaning, and engagement, it may also increase vulnerability to exhaustion and other challenges when individuals become highly invested in their occupational role. Overall, the study provides a valuable tool for studying calling in French-speaking populations and contributes to a growing body of evidence that meaningful work can bring both benefits and risks.

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Photo by Amelia White on Unsplash

Photo by Amelia White on Unsplash

Why is it important?

For organizations, these findings highlight the importance of understanding not only whether employees experience their work as a calling, but also how that calling is expressed. A strong sense of passion for one's work, willingness to make sacrifices, and identification with one's occupational role can be valuable resources that foster engagement, commitment, and retention. At the same time, organizations should be attentive to the potential costs of excessive dedication, particularly when work becomes pervasive and increasingly dominates other areas of life. Providing conditions that support sustainable involvement can help prevent these risks. Recognizing both the benefits and the potential downsides of calling can help organizations harness its motivational power while safeguarding employee well-being.

Perspectives