Coping with dirty work: A meta-synthesis from a resource perspective

Abstract

There is now a substantial body of literature on the coping strategies used by workers employed in stigmatized dirty work. However, there is insufficient knowledge about what resources they use while employing these strategies, what factors impact resource availability and utilization for coping, and how the utilization of resources leads to differential coping. Our study fills these gaps. First, using meta-synthesis of 39 qualitative studies, we consolidate the resources these workers use to cope into six categories. Second, the study discusses what factors impact resource availability and utilization by proposing the role of occupational prestige as a determining factor. Third, borrowing from conservation of resources theory and self-affirmation theory, this study proposes resources as facilitators of self-affirmations leading to differential coping. Finally, we propose a conceptual framework along with propositions depicting how dissonance, caused by inconsistency in self-integrity, leads to the use of various resources for differential coping.