Constant search for meaning is associated with higher workplace burnout, study suggests

A new study published in the Journal of Health Psychology suggests that searching for meaning in life without feeling a sense of existing purpose is associated with a higher risk of occupational burnout. The findings indicate that feeling a sense of meaning tends to protect against workplace exhaustion, but constantly seeking purpose is linked to negative mental health outcomes. These insights offer a more nuanced understanding of how internal psychological needs interact with workplace stress over time.

Occupational burnout is often discussed in terms of workload, stress, and organizational pressures, but a person’s individual sense of meaning might also play an important role. Burnout is a type of occupational stress syndrome that develops from chronic workplace pressure. It is typically defined by three main characteristics that tend to evolve together.

The first dimension of burnout is emotional exhaustion, which involves feeling completely drained, fatigued, and unable to meet work demands. The second characteristic is cynicism, which refers to feeling detached or negative about one’s job. This is often accompanied by a general feeling of inadequacy, where a person feels they are failing to accomplish their goals.

In the field of psychology, the concept of meaning in life is often split into two distinct parts that can operate independently. The first component is the presence of meaning, which refers to the degree to which a person feels their life currently has purpose, significance, and direction. The second component is the active search for meaning, which describes how actively a person is looking to find or increase that sense of purpose.

Previous psychological theories often assumed that these two processes compensate for one another. According to this idea, when people lose a sense of meaning, they naturally search for it more intensely. A person could theoretically have a high presence of meaning but still be searching for more, or they could have a low presence of meaning and actively try to fill that gap.

However, earlier findings from the CV19 Heroes Project suggested this dynamic is not so simple. During the first year of the pandemic, researchers found that frontline workers experienced a decline in their sense of meaning. Surprisingly, this loss was not accompanied by a corresponding increase in their search for meaning.

“We were interested in investigating this issue when we found that meaning in life doesn’t appear to follow a simple compensatory pattern,” said Rachel Sumner, a co-lead of the project at the University of Bristol. “We expected that when people lost a sense of meaning, they might respond by searching more intensely for it. Instead, earlier findings suggested that declines in meaning were not automatically accompanied by increases in searching. That prompted us to explore whether these two aspects of meaning might operate independently and have different relationships with burnout.”

To investigate this topic, researchers analyzed data from the CV19 Heroes Project, an ongoing longitudinal study tracking frontline workers in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. The initial sample included 1,239 participants surveyed between March and April 2020. Follow-up surveys were conducted annually in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

By tracking the same individuals over multiple years, the researchers could look at differences between different people as well as psychological changes within the exact same person. To the authors’ knowledge, this represents the longest longitudinal examination of the dynamics of meaning in life conducted to date. The findings show that a sense of meaning is not always stable and can fluctuate during periods of prolonged pressure.

The participant pool was composed largely of people working in the health and social care sectors. The initial baseline group was predominantly female, making up about 87 percent of the sample. The group was also mostly white, representing about 95 percent of the participants, and a majority reported having caregiving responsibilities outside of work.

To measure meaning in life, the researchers used a ten-question psychological survey that asks participants to rate their agreement with statements about their life’s purpose. Five questions assessed the perceived presence of meaning, such as whether the person understands their life’s meaning. The other five questions assessed the active search for meaning, such as whether the person is always looking for something that makes their life feel significant.

To evaluate burnout, the scientists used a nine-item survey that measures overall workplace strain. This specific questionnaire asks participants to rate the intensity of their recent experiences related to exhaustion, cynicism, and inadequacy over the past month. Participants completed these assessments at each of the four time points across the three-year period.

The data suggests that perceiving life to be meaningful is associated with lower levels of burnout overall. This protective pattern held true for both individual changes over time and comparisons between different participants. When a person reported higher levels of existing meaning, they tended to report less exhaustion, cynicism, and inadequacy.

The act of searching for meaning showed the opposite pattern. Higher levels of searching for purpose were consistently linked to higher overall burnout. This association was also seen across both within-person changes and between-person comparisons.

The researchers found a notable interaction between the two facets of meaning when looking at overall burnout and cynicism. Specifically, the negative association between searching for meaning and workplace strain was exacerbated for individuals who reported a low presence of meaning. People who were actively searching for purpose while simultaneously feeling that their life lacked meaning tended to experience the highest levels of cynicism and overall burnout.

“What stood out was that the combination of low meaning and high searching seemed particularly problematic for cynicism and overall burnout,” said Wijnand van Tilburg, a researcher at the University of Essex who led the analyses. “The findings suggest that it may not be enough to know whether someone is searching for meaning. Understanding whether that search occurs alongside a sense of meaning, or in its absence, appears to be crucial.”

For the dimensions of emotional exhaustion and feelings of inadequacy, the relationship was slightly different. Searching for meaning was associated with higher levels of exhaustion and inadequacy regardless of whether the person felt a high or low presence of meaning in their life. The constant pursuit of purpose might be inherently draining and linked to feelings of ineffectiveness, even for those who already feel their lives are relatively significant.

These findings challenge the assumption that searching for meaning is always beneficial. While some psychological theories portray the search for meaning as a positive and growth-promoting process, the results align more closely with the idea that searching reflects an unmet psychological need. In occupational settings marked by sustained pressure, searching for meaning might indicate that people are struggling to maintain a sense of purpose rather than successfully building it.

During the pandemic, frontline workers often linked their declining sense of purpose to changing levels of public and political support. These shifts can have serious implications for occupational well-being. Identifying exactly how a sense of purpose is supported in the workplace could help employers design better structural safety nets for their staff.

“Meaning appears to be an important psychological resource for frontline workers,” said Elaine Kinsella, a co-lead of the project at the University of Limerick. “Understanding how meaning is shaped and sustained may help us develop better ways to support people working in demanding occupations, particularly during periods of prolonged societal stress.”

One potential misinterpretation of this study is the assumption that searching for meaning directly causes burnout. The data shows a correlation between the two variables, but it is entirely possible that people begin searching for meaning as a coping mechanism because they are already experiencing early signs of burnout. Establishing the exact sequence of these psychological changes requires additional investigation.

The researchers also noted that they do not yet know exactly what drives changes in meaning over time. A person’s sense of purpose is likely influenced by a complex mix of personal circumstances, workplace experiences, and wider social contexts. While public and political discourse seemed to influence workers during the pandemic, the precise mechanisms involved remain unconfirmed.

The study also has several constraints regarding its participant sample. There was a significant drop-off in participant numbers over the three-year period, with only 286 individuals completing the final survey in 2023. It is possible that the most exhausted individuals left the project, which could mean the final data actually underestimates the true severity of workplace strain.

The demographic makeup of the participants also limits how broadly the findings can be applied. Because the sample was overwhelmingly white and female, the results might not accurately reflect the experiences of more diverse populations. People working in different occupational sectors outside of healthcare and social services might also exhibit different psychological patterns.

This research is part of a much broader program emerging from the CV19 Heroes Project. Future work will include analyses of frontline workers’ written accounts of their experiences throughout the pandemic, as well as investigations into Long Covid trajectories. The team also plans to develop new theoretical frameworks aimed at improving how psychologists understand burnout and its development over time.

The study, “The dynamics of meaning in life and their associations with burnout within- and between persons,” was authored by Rachel C. Sumner, Elaine L. Kinsella, and Wijnand A. P. van Tilburg.