title: Work, meaning, and gene regulation: Findings from a Japanese information technology firm.
abstract: The meaning in life, typically reflected in a sense of purpose, growth, or social embeddedness (called eudaimonic well-being, EWB), has been linked to favorable health outcomes. In particular, this experience is inversely associated with the conserved transcriptional response to adversity (CTRA), which involves up-regulation of genes linked to inflammation and down-regulation of genes linked to viral resistance. So far, however, little is known about how this transcriptome profile might be situated in specific socio-cultural contexts. Here, we tested 106 male workers at a large Japanese IT firm and found that the CTRA is inversely associated not only with general EWB but also with a more contextualized sense of meaning derived from the perceived significance of one's work and a sense of interdependence with others in the workplace. These results expand previous links between personal well-being and CTRA gene expression to include the socio-cultural determinants of meaning in life.
authors.affiliation: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. Electronic address: kitayama@umich.edu.
authors.forename: Shinobu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kitayama
authors.affiliation: Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo 101-8439, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Akutsu
authors.affiliation: Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Yukiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Uchida
authors.affiliation: University of California, Los Angels CA 90095-1678, USA.
authors.forename: Steve W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Cole
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D000073256:Information Technology; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D059467:Transcriptome / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Gene regulation; Wellbeing; Work meaning; and interdependence with others