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Towards an Existential Approach to the Meaning of Work

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Towards an Existential Approach to the Meaning of Work Towards an Existential Approach to the Meaning of Work By Scott MacMillan A Thesis Submitted to Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy August, 2009, Halifax, Nova Scotia Copyright Scott MacMillan, 2009 Approved: Dr. Albert J. Mills Supervisor Approved: Dr. Jean Helms-Mills Reader Approved: Dr. Rick Hudson Reader Approved: Dr. Roger Wehrell Reader Approved: Dr. Scott Taylor Examiner Date: August 10, 2009 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington OttawaONK1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votro reference ISBN: 978-0-494-55981-9 Our file Notre rifirence ISBN: 978-0-494-55981-9 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Nnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. •+• Canada Abstract Towards an Existential Approach to the Meaning of Work By Scott MacMillan This thesis explores the meaning of work and its effect on the individual through an 'existential' lens using the 'job-career-calling model' as heuristic. A qualitative study was conducted consisting of in-depth interviews with fourteen professionals, 40-60 years of age, who had made a major change in their line of work. The interviews consisted of a variety of questions designed to elicit feelings about the importance of work using the job-career-calling model and to explore work in relation to their overall experience of life. The interviews were then analyzed using an existential framework (choice, bad faith, authenticity, contingency, death) which was developed from a broad-based review of the literature. The overall results showed that models such as the job-career-calling model are limited as they fail to take into account the existential self and promote a discourse of work as meaning. The results revealed that there are many interrelated factors that affect how the individual views and chooses work, and in order to understand the meaning placed on work, these factors must be taken into account. The central conclusion is that we cannot understand work separate from the existential self; that work must be viewed in terms of its relationship to the formation of the individual self, and not as a separate 'sphere' of life. A preliminary conception of an existential approach to the meaning of work is then outlined. The thesis concludes with theoretical and practical implications, limitations of the research and a future research agenda. August 10, 2009 i Acknowledgements The Ph.D. is a long and challenging journey and it would not have been possible without the support I was given by so many people. I owe all of you a huge debt of gratitude. To my partner, Meredith Ralston for your love, support, encouragement and advice. You have always been a source of inspiration to me and you were instrumental in helping me stay the course throughout the Ph.D. program. To my family who have always been there for me. I especially want to thank my parents, Lilian and Clair MacMillan who taught me the importance of values and a strong work ethic. To my Ph.D. cohort - Terry Weatherbee, Kelly Dye and Natalie Vladi. I was extremely fortunate to have had such great colleagues to work with, inspire me and provide assistance along the way. To my supervisor, Dr. Albert Mills. You have been my teacher and mentor for many years at Saint Mary's University. I cannot thank you enough for your continual support, especially for opening my mind to new possibilities and ways of existing in the world. You are a remarkable individual who I will always look up to. To my thesis committee - Dr. Rick Hudson, Dr. Roger Wehrell, Dr. Jean Helms-Mills, and Dr. Scott Taylor. You were an exceptional group of scholars to work with and you challenged me to a much higher level of thinking. Finally, to all my friends and colleagues at Saint Mary's University. Thank you for your help and encouragement over the years. I am so proud to be one of you. 11 Table of Contents Abstract i Acknowledgements ii Table of Contents iii Chapter 1 - An Overview 1 Introduction 1 Meaning and Work 3 Being and Work 9 Research Objective and Questions 11 Methodological Approach 12 Towards an Existential Approach to Work 14 A Note to the Reader 16 Chapter 2 - Meaning and Work 17 Introduction 17 The Meaningful Life 17 Conclusion 23 The Meaning of Work 23 Changing Nature of Careers 27 Turning Points and Crises 30 Spirituality and Work 34 Conclusion 37 The Job-Career-Calling Model 38 Conclusion 45 Bridging Work and Meaning 46 Chapter 3 - Existentialism 48 Introduction 48 Existential Thought 50 Existence Precedes Essence 53 The Self 54 Choice 57 Bad Faith 62 Authenticity 65 Contingency 71 Death 73 Summary 77 Chapter 4 - The Research Process 78 Introduction 78 Job, Career, Calling Model as Heuristic 78 Interviewing and Being 80 The Participants 82 Interview Questions 83 Applying Existential Themes 84 The Interviews 90 The Benefits of Self-reflection 94 Interpreting the Interviews 95 iii Summary 98 Chapter 5 - Jobs, Careers and Callings 100 Introduction 100 Work as Job 101 Stuck in a Job 102 Job as Choice 106 Job Summary 110 Work as Career 111 Between Job and Career 111 Career as "Balance" 112 Career as Passion and People 114 Career but it "Called" to Me 115 Career with "Calling Moments" 119 Career Summary 121 Work as Calling 121 It's both Career and Calling 122 Calling as "Internal" Work 125 Trying to make it a Calling 127 Calling Summary 129 Critique of the Model 130 Chapter 6 - Understanding a Life 135 Introduction 135 Original Work Choices 137 Influence of Family 138 Making a Difference 141 Called by God 142 Choosing by 'Not Choosing' 143 Choice Summary 144 Awakening from Bad Faith 145 Abstract versus Day-to-day Work 147 Incongruent with Beliefs and Values 149 Critical Incidents 152 Negative and Positive Effects of Other People 156 Boredom and Stress 157 A Question of Timing 158 Bad Faith Summary 159 Authenticity 161 The Difficulty with Discussing Meaning 162 The Confusion of Meaning 163 Work is not a Primary Value 165 Meaning as Hardship 167 Living for Others 168 Authenticity Summary 169 Contingency 170 My Life is Not What I Expected 171 Looking Back on Life 173 iv Contingency Summary 175 Death 176 I Don't Want to Think About It 177 But what if you were facing death? 178 Death Summary 180 Chapter Summary 181 Chapter 7 - Towards an Existential Approach to Work 184 Introduction 184 Summary of Results 185 Conclusion 192 Some Thoughts on an Existential Approach 192 The Self 193 The Situation 196 Work as "Experiences" of Self 201 The Reflexive Work Self 207 Summary 209 Contributions of this Study 210 Theoretical Contributions 210 Practical Contributions 212 Research Limitations 213 Future Research 215 Concluding Reflections 216 References 218 Appendix A - Interview Guide 232 Appendix B - Definitions of Terms 234 v Chapter 1 - An Overview Introduction Imagine yourself on board a train, which is out of control and doomed to end in a fatal crash. Nothing can be done to slow it down or to change the track. Worse still, there is no exit - no one can get out of the train. As a passenger, how would you cope? What would ease your death anxiety? Would denial help? How about illusion? How would you live a vital and meaningful life in spite of the anticipated terror of death? These are the challenging questions confronting all mortals. (Wong, 2008: 65) In his now classic book, Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl eloquently argued that "Man's search for meaning is the primary motivation in his life and not a 'secondary rationalization' of instinctual drives. This meaning is unique and specific in that it must and can be fulfilled by him alone; only then does it achieve a significance which will satisfy his own will to meaning" (1985: 121). Because of my own existential struggles with meaning, i.e., trying to determine what is meaningful to me and how I should live, I have often asked friends the questions, "what do you believe is the meaning of life?" and "what is a meaningful life for you?" and I received a wide variety of responses.
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