Perceiving a calling, living a calling, and calling outcomes: How mentoring matters

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Career Development
• Organizational Behavior

Background:

• Theories of work as a calling (WCT) suggest a strong connection between perceiving and living a calling.
• Mentoring is a crucial factor in career development and professional growth.
• A gap may exist between an individual's perception of a calling and their ability to enact it in their work.

Purpose of the Study:

• To integrate research on callings and mentoring.
• To examine how mentoring relationships influence the perception-to-action gap in living a calling.
• To extend WCT by investigating outcomes, including stress, associated with living a calling.

Main Methods:

• The study utilized Work as Calling Theory (WCT) as a theoretical framework.
• Data were collected from 129 U.S. teachers.
• Statistical analyses were employed to examine the relationships between perceiving a calling, mentoring, and living a calling, as well as associated outcomes.

Main Results:

• Perceiving a calling is an antecedent to living a calling.
• The relationship between perceiving and living a calling is stronger for teachers with mentors.
• Living a calling is associated with higher job satisfaction, work engagement, and lower stress-related absenteeism and somatic complaints.

Conclusions:

• Mentoring plays a significant role in helping individuals live out their calling.
• Living a calling offers substantial benefits, including improved well-being and reduced stress.
• Findings have practical implications for career development support in educational and organizational settings.