Gibson, C.B., Thomason, B., Margolis, J., Groves, K., Gibson, S., & Franczak, J. (2023) Dignity inherent and earned: The experience of dignity at work. Academy of Management Annals, 17(1): 218-267.

Abstract

Few concepts are more poignant than dignity at this point in history due to the confluence of several profound phenomena that detract from dignity—the pandemic, racial inequality, and technological dehumanization. Scholars have argued that dignity can be experienced at work, and prior research has highlighted the means for doing so, including work that is connected and inspired, respected and embedded, and valued and infused with meaning. Yet to our knowledge, no systematic review of scholarship on dignity at work has been published. There is a dire need to develop a science of dignity at work, as well as a framework that guides research. Our review helps to develop a thorough understanding of the experience of dignity and of the key means by which dignity is established at, and through, work.