Work has been seen not only as a means of earning income, but as an activity that promotes personal achievement, social status and the possibility of establishing and maintaining interpersonal contacts, among other factors. This study aimed at researching the factors that influence and lend meaning to work, such as work centrality, social norms and the objectives and results that are valued. Regarding work centrality, the study investigated the degree of importance of work within the context of the different areas of people's lives, such as family, leisure, religion and life in the community. Concerning social norms, the study discussed what society should provide the individual with as well as what the individual could do for society. On objectives and results that are valued, what was researched was what one aspires through working. Based on the reviewed literature, an initial model was developed, which proved to be unsatisfactory according to statistical criteria. This model was therefore replaced by another one that yielded statistical significance and good data adherence. The model chosen presented the best goodness-of-fit in the structural equation modeling, using the partial least square method. The study found that the meaning of work reflects on the centrality of work, on valued objectives and results and finally, on social norms, in this order.
meaning of work; centrality; objectives and results; social norms
