The Search for and Presence of Calling: Latent Profiles and Relationships With Work Meaning and Job Satisfaction

Abstract

Previous studies showed inconsistent results on the association between searching for calling and its psychosocial functioning outcomes (i.e., work meaning and job satisfaction). The link of searching for calling to its psychosocial functioning outcomes may be influenced by the presence of calling because the search for and presence of calling can co-exist within individuals. Thus, the present study employed a person-centered method (latent profile analysis) to identify subgroups combining the search for and presence of a calling and then explore the identified profiles' differences in work meaning and job satisfaction. Study participants were Chinese kindergarten teachers (n = 726). Latent profile analysis revealed four different groups: (1) actively maintaining calling (24.93%), (2) unsustainable calling (11.43%), (3) moderately increasing calling (23.14%), and (4) actively increasing calling (40.50%). Subsequent analyses showed notable differences across the four groups on work meaning and job satisfaction. Participants in profile 1 with both the highest searching for and presence of calling would experience more work meaning and job satisfaction than those in the other profiles whose strengths of searching for and presence of calling were relatively low. Participants in profile 4 had higher searching for and presence of calling than those in profile 3, and they experienced more meaningfulness at work and were more satisfied with their job. These findings indicate that actively searching for calling is closely associated with more work meaning and job satisfaction among people who already perceive intensive calling. Implications, limitations, and future directions of the results are discussed.

Principals’ Transformational Leadership and Kindergarten Teachers’ Career Calling: The Mediating Roles of Organizational Identification and Leader-Member Exchange

“…Higher scores reflect teachers' stronger presence of career calling. In several previous studies, this scale has been widely used and confirmed good reliability and close association with relatedcriterion variables (e.g., intrinsic work motivation, job satisfaction, and life/work meaning; Dik et al, 2012), also in Chinese samples (e.g., Li et al, 2021;C. Zhang, Herrmann, et al, 2015).…”

“…In prior studies conducted among the Western teacher sample (e.g., Gong et al, 2013), its standardized effect size was twice as large as ours. Some studies showed that Chinese traditional collectivist values are beginning to infuse more individualist concerns (e.g., Li et al, 2021; C. Zhang, Dik, et al, 2015).…”

Hubungan Makna Panggilan dan Keterikatan Kerja pada Guru

“…Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui hubungan kedua dimensi panggilan, yaitu presence of calling dan search for calling serta bagaimana kaitannya dengan keterikatan kerja pada guru, karena kualitas mengajar seorang guru dapat mempengaruhi bagaimana kualitas pendidikan yang diberikan. Melalui penelitian ini, akan dapat dipahami dinamika kaitan kedua dimensi panggilan dan keterikatan kerja sehingga penelitian ini diharapkan dapat menjawab tantangan Li et al (2021) untuk meneliti kedua dimensi secara seimbang, mengingat dimensi search for calling masih sedikit diteliti dan memerlukan penelitian lebih lanjut.…”

Hubungan antara Dimensi Calling dan Career Adaptability pada Guru SMA

“…Search for a calling adalah tahap yang penting dalam mengembangkan calling seseorang dan merupakan motivasi menuju aktualisasi diri. Hal ini menunjukkan search for a calling dengan presence of calling dapat memiliki tingkat yang sama-sama tinggi (Li, F., Jiao, R., Liu, D., & Yin, H, 2021), dan merupakan dua dimensi yang juga tumpang tindih dari konstruksi calling (Dik et al, 2012). Oleh karena itu guru SMA "X" yang masih search for a calling sebenarnya sudah berada dalam tahap presence of calling juga dan tidak murni sedang melakukan pencarian (search for a calling).…”

“…Kekuatan presence of calling dapat mempengaruhi efek search for a calling yang sesuai dengan harapan individu. (Li et al, 2021).…”