Social worker characteristics associated with perceived meaning in life

Summary: Meaning in life is an important element in the context of the workplace. The purpose of this study was to explore how certain factors, namely: subjective well-being, professional quality of life (compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, burnout), loneliness, personal work-related subjection to violence, fear of being subjected to violence, age, parental status, and marital status can predict meaning in life among social workers in Israel. An extensive battery of online questionnaires was administered to 501 participants. A hierarchical regression analysis was used to examine the association between a series of independent variables and meaning in life among social workers. Findings: The findings suggest that age, subjective well-being, compassion satisfaction and fear of being personally subjected to violence were positively associated with meaning in life. However, loneliness and burnout were negatively associated with meaning in life. The other variables were not significantly associated with meaning in life. Applications: Social work educators and managers must consider the importance of meaning in life when developing social care curricula and policies. Social workers must be aware of the importance of enhancing their sense of meaning in life for increasing their job satisfaction as well as improving the service provided to their clients.