It's not just a job: Meaningful work, self-stigma, and life satisfaction in people with visual impairment

BackgroundAlthough employment has been positively linked to quality of life, recent theorising suggests the need for a broadened conceptualisation of paid work incorporating dimensions of subjective work experience as a key social determinant of life satisfaction in people with disabilities. There is also a need for further examination on the underlying mechanism between work and wellbeing outcomes amongst people with disabilities.ObjectiveIn this study, we put forth the concept of meaningful work, and examined its associations with self-stigma, and life satisfaction in people with visual impairment.MethodsA total of 302 people with visual impairment completed a survey in Hong Kong. We analysed the data using linear regression and mediation analyses.ResultsWe found that meaningful work was positively associated with life satisfaction and negatively associated with self-stigma. Self-stigma was negatively associated with life satisfaction and mediated the association between meaningful work and life satisfaction.ConclusionsThe findings showed that meaningful work is a positive and important social determinant of life satisfaction among people with visual impairment, while self-stigma serves as an underlying mechanism.