Emptiness and Work: a Meaning-Making Perspective

被引:11
作者
Bendassolli, Pedro F. [1 ,2 ]
机构
[1] Aalborg Univ, Ctr Cultural Psychol, Aalborg, Denmark
[2] Univ Fed Rio Grande Norte UFRN, Dept Psicol, Ave Salgado Filho S-N, BR-59078970 Natal, RN, Brazil
关键词
Emptiness; Meaning-making; Work meaning; Empty work; Burnout; Meaningful work; PSYCHOLOGY;
D O I
10.1007/s12124-017-9382-x
中图分类号
B84 [心理学];
学科分类号
04 ; 0402 ;
摘要
This paper aims to put forward the foundation for building a theory of meaning-making based on emptiness. The theoretical perspective underlying the discussion is the cultural psychology of semiotic mediation. According to this perspective, meaning-making is the result of the process through witch human beings use signs to build their relationship with their environment. Three topics unfold in the paper. First, emptiness is defined as a potential absence. Second, the paper identifies the two ways in which emptiness enters into the meaning-making process, either fostering it or, to the contrary, blocking it. When it fosters meaning construction, emptiness acts as a catalytic factor, that is, as a reservoir of possibilities, in the sense of a future-oriented set of new meanings to be built by the agent. However, when emptiness plays the role of a blocking or anti-catalytic factor, emptiness become a hyper-generalized sign, i.e., an empty meaning. Third, this paper illustrates the applicability of these theoretical reflections on emptiness through the example of work. Specifically, both the burnout and the so-called "placardisation" phenomena are analyzed in terms of the anti-catalytic factors at play in work, which lead to feeling it as empty.
引用
收藏
页码:598 / 617
页数:20
相关论文
共 50 条
[42]   Signifying and meaning-making in mathematical thinking, teaching, and learning [J].
Radford, Luis ;
Schubring, Gert ;
Seeger, Falk .
EDUCATIONAL STUDIES IN MATHEMATICS, 2011, 77 (2-3) :149-156
[43]   Lament: Measuring a Christian Meaning-Making Coping Practice [J].
Hall, M. Elizabeth Lewis ;
Kapic, Kelly ;
Park, Crystal L. ;
Sacco, Shane J. ;
Kim, Dahee ;
McMartin, Jason ;
Silverman, Eric ;
Shannonhouse, Laura ;
Aten, Jamie ;
Snow, Lindsay M. .
JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY AND THEOLOGY, 2025, 53 (01) :36-54
[44]   Meaning-making and resilience: case studies of a multifaceted process [J].
Theron, Linda C. ;
Theron, Adam M. C. .
JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY IN AFRICA, 2014, 24 (01) :24-32
[45]   Moments of Meaning-Making V: M-O [J].
Bal, Mieke .
PHILOSOPHIA-A JOURNAL OF CONTINENTAL FEMINISM, 2024, 14
[46]   Becoming teacher leaders in Israel: a meaning-making model [J].
Russo-Netzer, Pninit ;
Shoshani, Anat .
CAMBRIDGE JOURNAL OF EDUCATION, 2019, 49 (03) :369-389
[47]   Infants' Meaning-Making and the Development of Mental Health Problems [J].
Tronick, Ed ;
Beeghly, Marjorie .
AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGIST, 2011, 66 (02) :107-119
[48]   Visitor participation: meaning-making and shared authority in the museum [J].
Lopez, Irene Perez .
MUSEUMS & SOCIAL ISSUES-A JOURNAL OF REFLECTIVE DISCOURSE, 2024, 18 (1-2) :64-77
[49]   Moments of Meaning-Making III G-I [J].
Bal, Mieke .
PHILOSOPHIA-A JOURNAL OF CONTINENTAL FEMINISM, 2022, 12 (1-2) :117-137
[50]   Meaning-making in tactile cross-signing context [J].
Mesch, Johanna ;
Raanes, Eli .
JOURNAL OF PRAGMATICS, 2023, 205 :137-150