Abstract: The pursuit of meaningful work has become a central concern in organizational psychology and career development scholarship, yet theoretical attention has focused disproportionately on the presence of meaning rather than its absence. This article introduces the concept of the personal meaning penalty—the cumulative psychological, motivational, relational, and developmental costs that individuals incur when engaged in work they experience as lacking personal significance, purpose, or value alignment. Drawing on self-determination theory, identity theory, conservation of resources theory, existentialist philosophy, career construction theory, and the psychology of working framework, I develop a multidimensional framework comprising six interconnected dimensions: (a) the alignment gap, (b) energy and motivation drain, (c) identity erosion and fragmentation, (d) temporal and developmental costs, (e) relational and social costs, and (f) existential and spiritual costs. The framework specifies theoretical mechanisms linking meaning deficiency to each dimension, articulates causal relationships among dimensions, and identifies individual, relational, organizational, and societal moderating factors with particular attention to cultural variation and structural constraints. Formal propositions guide empirical testing and establish discriminant validity from related constructs including burnout, alienation, moral injury, and psychological contract breach. Implications for organizational design, career counseling practice, public policy, and future research are discussed, with careful attention to ethical considerations and the risks of individual-level prescriptions. By illuminating what individuals forfeit through meaning-deficient work, this framework advances theoretical understanding of work's role in human flourishing while attending to structural constraints that limit meaningful work access. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
