An integrative model of Career Calling and meta-analyses of its nomological network.

This chapter provides an analysis of the dimensions of Career Calling and meta-analyses of its relations with both antecedents and outcomes, among which are motivation, satisfaction, engagement and well-being in life and at work. The chapter provides an integrative model of career calling that proposes a grouping structure over its many dimensions. In addition, the chapter quantitatively analyses calling’s nomological network by providing meta-analytic estimates of its relations with predictors and outcomes. Career calling has frequently been defined as a subjective orientation toward a specific life role, in a work or non-work domain. Definitions of calling differ with regard to the very nature of the construct. Two of the most famous definitions of calling define it as “a consuming, meaningful passion people experience toward a domain” (Dobrow & Tosti-Kharas, 2011, p. 1005) and “a transcendent summons, experienced as originating beyond the self, to approach a particular life role in a manner oriented toward demonstrating or deriving a sense of purpose or meaningfulness, and that holds other-oriented values and goals as primary sources of motivation” (Dik & Duffy, 2009, p. 427). Yet, a different operational definition of calling can be found for almost each study on career calling in the literature. The authors of this chapter argue that the lack of consensus among scientists regarding the very nature of a calling are slowing down the construction of a coherent corpus of empirical results from which to derive a solid theory on this rapidly emerging construct. Hence, they conducted an extensive theoretical analysis to understand what constitutes a calling and how it should be measured, providing a summary of the research outputs currently available with regard to the relationships between the dimensions of calling and important outcomes in the area of career development and well-being. They integrate previous empirical accounts of calling in one single view that emphasizes commonalities across different contributions. The chapter loses discussing how future research can take advantage of this extensive analysis of what we know and what we should know about career calling.