Facilitating meaningful work: How career wisdom relates to well-being

While prior research has highlighted the promising role of career wisdom in facilitating career development, the mechanisms through which career wisdom fosters well-being remain unclear. To address this gap, the present study employed a time-lagged design to examine the longitudinal associations between career wisdom and three indicators of well-being-job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and work engagement-using work meaningfulness as a mediator. Based on a sample of U.S. workers (N = 995), the study found that work meaningfulness (measured at Time 2) mediated the positive relationships between career wisdom (Time 1) and subsequent job satisfaction and work engagement (Time 3). The mediating effect of work meaningfulness in the relationship between career wisdom and subsequent life satisfaction was relatively small. These findings provide important insights into the role of career wisdom and its underlying mechanisms in contemporary career development, particularly in the cultivation of work meaningfulness and workplace well-being. Limitations and directions for future research are also discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).