Meaningfulness is a related but distinct psychological state
from engagement, underlined by research that examines its
antecedent nature with respect to engagement (e.g., May
et al., 2004). The conceptual difference is that psychological
meaningfulness is a state that specifically relates to the positive feeling that work is worthwhile or important.
It therefore relates to a specific perception of one’s work. Engagement is
rather a wider experiential state about how one feels when
one is at work; a sense of energy, absorption, and involvement. May et al. (2004)
found that psychological meaningfulness was the strongest predictor of engagement among three
proposed antecedents (the remaining two being psychological safety and availability).