Spirituality for Sustainable Careers and Successful Aging at Work Over the Lifespan

As the aging of the population puts at risk retirement pension systems worldwide, the aim of this conceptual paper is to shift scholarly attention from workers "growing old" to "growing whole over the lifespan," answering a provocative research question: What if spirituality allo...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Froidevaux, Ariane (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Published: 2024
In: Journal of management, spirituality & religion
Year: 2024, Volume: 21, Issue: 7, Pages: 736-758
RelBib Classification:AG Religious life; material religion
CB Christian life; spirituality
ZA Social sciences
Further subjects:B Spirituality
B SPIRITUALITY AT WORK
B SUCCESSFUL AGING AT WORK
B RETIREMENT
B SUSTAINABLE CAREERS
B Mindfulness
B Meaning
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:As the aging of the population puts at risk retirement pension systems worldwide, the aim of this conceptual paper is to shift scholarly attention from workers "growing old" to "growing whole over the lifespan," answering a provocative research question: What if spirituality allowed workers to remain in the labor market with more sustainable careers so that full retirement would become necessary only due to cognitive and/or physical declines in older age? The model posits that spirituality can foster sustainable careers over the lifespan at three levels: consciousness (individual, transcending identity), connectedness with all beings on Earth (interpersonal, transcending mattering), and wholeness with the Universe or a higher power (transpersonal, transcending meaning). These levels ultimately contribute to successful aging at work from a younger age by allowing individuals to enjoy retirement’s traditionally associated psychological benefits over the lifespan. Boundary conditions at the broader societal, organizational, and individual levels are discussed. By uniting the careers and spirituality at work literatures, this paper contributes to expand the definition of successful aging currently limited to older workers into a lifelong continuous effort, in an invitation to reframe individuals’ psychological need for retirement beyond that of a compensation or escape from an unsustainable career.
ISSN:1942-258X
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of management, spirituality & religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.51327/HZQZ7113