The Dynamics of Work Orientations: An Updated Typology and Agenda for the Study of Jobs, Careers, and Callings

Abstract

Why does a person work? Over the last two decades we have seen exponential growth in research distinguishing three orientations toward work (job, career, calling) and how they bear on who we are and what we do. Our integrative review of this literature highlights an outsized focus on the calling orientation as well as a static view of work orientations in general. More fundamentally, we find consistent evidence in the empirical record contradicting the idea of three, mutually exclusive, work orientations. Instead, we derive an alternative framework, consisting of two orthogonal dimensions (job or calling, and career) yielding four profiles. Using this new framework, we work to resolve prior contradictions, definitional confounds, and erroneous assumptions. Further, we catalog insights pertaining to how and when an individual’s work orientation changes over time, including identifying four key drivers (learning, affect, hardship, and their relationships). We conclude by offering an updated agenda for future research, including a need for career orientation research to catch up with our knowledge of calling, an embrace of variance (and moderation) in sampling, more consideration of temporal variation, as well as situating work orientations in organizational practices and a rapidly changing world.