IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jobhdp/v170y2022ics0749597822000231.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

When regular meets remarkable: Awe as a link between routine work and meaningful self-narratives

Author

Listed:
  • Sheprow, Elizabeth
  • Harrison, Spencer H.

Abstract

Daily narratives of work can include a mix of ordinary actions and awe-inspiring moments that reveal a vaster, more meaningful reality. When awe is experienced in the context of work, it can prompt self-referential sensemaking about what these experiences mean for the work individuals do and who they are. Leveraging an inductive study of 3,095 daily reports from 49 crews that spent two weeks each in a Mars simulation environment, as well as 13 semi-structured interviews, we examine (1) how individuals narrate experiences of awe during daily work and (2) how these experiences of awe influence individuals’ construction of self-narratives. We present a process theory of how individuals craft narrative anchors of awe and meaning from the raw materials of their daily work experiences, and later draw on these anchors to incorporate an enduring sense of meaning into their summary narratives of work and their self-narratives. Our emergent findings build theory by highlighting the importance of awe at work and by inducing awe as a link between narratives of routine, daily work and meaningful self-narratives.

Suggested Citation

  • Sheprow, Elizabeth & Harrison, Spencer H., 2022. "When regular meets remarkable: Awe as a link between routine work and meaningful self-narratives," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:170:y:2022:i:c:s0749597822000231
    DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2022.104139
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749597822000231
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.obhdp.2022.104139?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Misnal Munir & Amaliyah & Moses Glorino Rumambo Pandin, 2020. "New Perspectives to Reduce Stress through Digital Humor," Papers 2012.03144, arXiv.org.
    2. Steiner, Jeff & Amabile, Teresa M., 2022. "What do I make of the rest of my life? Global and quotidian life construal across the retirement transition," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    3. Pauline Schilpzand & David R. Hekman & Terence R. Mitchell, 2015. "An Inductively Generated Typology and Process Model of Workplace Courage," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(1), pages 52-77, February.
    4. Gerardo Patriotta, 2003. "Sensemaking on the Shop Floor: Narratives of Knowledge in Organizations," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(2), pages 349-375, March.
    5. Li Na Quan & Dongxin Ma & Yongbiao Zhao & Oleksandr Voznyy & Haifeng Yuan & Eva Bladt & Jun Pan & F. Pelayo García de Arquer & Randy Sabatini & Zachary Piontkowski & Abdul-Hamid Emwas & Petar Todorovi, 2020. "Edge stabilization in reduced-dimensional perovskites," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-9, December.
    6. Andrew M. Pettigrew, 1990. "Longitudinal Field Research on Change: Theory and Practice," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 1(3), pages 267-292, August.
    7. Curtis LeBaron & Marlys K. Christianson & Lyndon Garrett & Roy Ilan, 2016. "Coordinating Flexible Performance During Everyday Work: An Ethnomethodological Study of Handoff Routines," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(3), pages 514-534, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lee Cunningham, Julia J. & Cable, Daniel M. & Petriglieri, Gianpiero & Sherman, David K., 2023. "Advances in self-narratives in, across, and beyond organizations," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Davenport, Sally, 2005. "Exploring the role of proximity in SME knowledge-acquisition," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 683-701, June.
    2. Gilstrap, J. Bruce & Hart, Timothy A., 2020. "How employee behaviors effect organizational change and stability," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 120-131.
    3. Battaglia, Daniele & Landoni, Paolo & Rizzitelli, Francesco, 2017. "Organizational structures for external growth of University Technology Transfer Offices: An explorative analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 45-56.
    4. Sternitzke, Christian, 2013. "An exploratory analysis of patent fencing in pharmaceuticals: The case of PDE5 inhibitors," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 542-551.
    5. Gebauer, Heiko & Worch, Hagen & Truffer, Bernhard, 2012. "Absorptive capacity, learning processes and combinative capabilities as determinants of strategic innovation," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 57-73.
    6. Mariani, Marcello M. & Giorgio, Luisa, 2017. "The “Pink Night” festival revisited: Meta-events and the role of destination partnerships in staging event tourism," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 89-109.
    7. Innan Sasaki & Niina Nummela & Davide Ravasi, 2021. "Managing cultural specificity and cultural embeddedness when internationalizing: Cultural strategies of Japanese craft firms," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(2), pages 245-281, March.
    8. Bağış, Mehmet & Kryeziu, Liridon & Akbaba, Yılmaz & Ramadani, Veland & Karagüzel, Ensar Selman & Krasniqi, Besnik A., 2022. "The micro-foundations of a dynamic technological capability in the automotive industry," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    9. Simeone, Luca & Secundo, Giustina & Schiuma, Giovanni, 2017. "Adopting a design approach to translate needs and interests of stakeholders in academic entrepreneurship: The MIT Senseable City Lab case," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 64, pages 58-67.
    10. Fu-Sheng Tsai & Gayle Baugh & Shih-Chieh Fang & Julia Lin, 2014. "Contingent contingency: Knowledge heterogeneity and new product development performance revisited," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 31(1), pages 149-169, March.
    11. repec:vnm:wpdman:77 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Palo, Teea & Åkesson, Maria & Löfberg, Nina, 2019. "Servitization as business model contestation: A practice approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 486-496.
    13. Jensen, Peter D. Ørberg, 2012. "A passage to India: A dual case study of activities, processes and resources in offshore outsourcing of advanced services," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 311-326.
    14. Ricardo A. Santa & Alejandro Acosta & Silvio Borrero & Annibal Scavarda, 2020. "Corporate, operational, and information systems strategies: Alignment and firm performance," Estudios Gerenciales, Universidad Icesi, vol. 36(157), pages 454-464, December.
    15. Maarten B.T. de Groot & Oli R. Mihalache & Tom Elfring, 2022. "Toward a Theory of Family Social Capital in Wealthy Transgenerational Enterprise Families," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 46(1), pages 159-192, January.
    16. Bargoni, Augusto & Santoro, Gabriele & Messeni Petruzzelli, Antonio & Ferraris, Alberto, 2024. "Growth hacking: A critical review to clarify its meaning and guide its practical application," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    17. Islam, A.K.M. Najmul & Mäntymäki, Matti & Turunen, Marja, 2019. "Why do blockchains split? An actor-network perspective on Bitcoin splits," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    18. Oloruntoba, Richard, 2010. "An analysis of the Cyclone Larry emergency relief chain: Some key success factors," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(1), pages 85-101, July.
    19. Hadi Al-Abrrow & Jaber Ali & Alhamzah Alnoor, 2022. "Multilevel Influence of Routine Redesigning, Legitimacy and Functional Affordance on Sustainability Accounting: Mediating Role of Organizational Sense-making," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 23(2), pages 287-312, April.
    20. Catherine Welch & Eriikka Paavilainen-Mäntymäki & Rebecca Piekkari & Emmanuella Plakoyiannaki, 2022. "Reconciling theory and context: How the case study can set a new agenda for international business research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(1), pages 4-26, February.
    21. Lô, Amadou & Geiger, Martha, 2022. "Managing internal embeddedness in multinational corporations’ R&D subsidiaries: An evolutionary perspective on the automotive industry in Silicon Valley," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:170:y:2022:i:c:s0749597822000231. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/obhdp .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.