THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MEANING IN LIFE AND MEANINGFUL WORK

Abstract

“What’s the meaning in life?” is undoubtedly the oldest question of man’s history. As a natural meaning hunter, man has been seeking meaning in work for ages as well. Studies have shown that individuals who found meaning both in life and work have long and deep well-being. In this study we wanted to determine the relationship between meaning in life and meaning in work of teachers who perform a stressful job. We wonder if a teacher who found meaning in life, does it help to find meaningful in his/her work or vice versa. These questions are the inception points of this study.
General scanning and relational screening model were used in the present study. The universe of this study are teachers who work in primary, secondary and high schools in Hadımköy Town/Istanbul. The correlational survey model was used in this study.” The work and meaning inventory” (Steger, Dik and Duffy,2012) and “meaning in life questionnaire” (Steger, Frazier, Oishi and Kaler, 2006) scales were used in order to collect data.
The results of regression and correlation analyses showed that there is a positive and meaningful relationship between the dimension of meaning in life namely “presence of meaning in life” and “meaningful work”. Similarly there is a positive and meaningful relationship between “meaningful work” and “meaning in life”. But there isn’t any relationship between the dimension of meaning in life namely “search of meaning in life” and “meaningful work”.