A Multidimensional Approach to Understanding Calling’s Paths to Well-Being Through Career Development

A sense of calling is an established predictor of both career-related and general well-being, but little is known about the mechanisms that link calling’s specific dimensions (i.e., transcendent summons, purposeful work, prosocial orientation) to criterion variables such as life satisfaction. This study investigated hypothesized pathways through which perceiving a calling’s dimensions are associated with life satisfaction among a sample of 607 undergraduate students. We used path analysis to examine a serial multiple mediation model in which relationships of calling’s dimensions with life satisfaction were mediated through career development variables (i.e., vocational identity and occupational self-efficacy) and, in turn, eudaimonic and hedonic well-being variables (i.e., meaning in life and subjective happiness). Supporting our hypotheses, transcendent summons’ link with life satisfaction was mediated through vocational identity and, in turn, meaning in life and subjective happiness. Also, in line with hypotheses, purposeful work and prosocial orientation’s associations with life satisfaction were mediated through occupational self-efficacy and, in turn, meaning in life and subjective happiness. These results illuminate mechanisms through which perceiving a calling’s dimensions may influence eudaimonic and hedonic well-being, and through these variables, life satisfaction, which future research may examine further using longitudinal methods. Further implications for research and practice are discussed.