Proactive Personality and Decent Work Among Racially and Ethnically Diverse Working Adults

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 512-528
Author(s):  
Richard P. Douglass ◽  
Kelsey L. Autin ◽  
Aysenur Buyukgoze-Kavas ◽  
Nicholas P. Gensmer

Building from the psychology of working framework, we examined the moderating role of proactive personality in the attainment of decent work among a sample of racially and ethnically diverse employed adults in the United States ( N = 238). We tested our hypotheses using structural equation modeling and found experiences of marginalization and economic constraints to have indirect associations with decent work via work volition. We also found marginalization, work volition, and career adaptability to have direct associations with decent work but found no support for proactive personality as a moderating mechanism. Our findings contribute to the growing literature examining how contextual variables are associated with securing decent work among diverse groups. We discuss practical implications along with future directions for research related to the psychology of working.

2021 ◽  
pp. 106907272110398
Author(s):  
Kelsey L. Autin ◽  
Tiffany R. Williams ◽  
Blake A. Allan ◽  
Megan E. Herdt

The present study examined critical consciousness in a sample of 476 adults of color from a Psychology of Working perspective. Using structural equation modeling, we tested three components of critical consciousness—perceived inequality, egalitarian beliefs, and sociopolitical participation—as moderators of relations between marginalization, economic constraints, work volition, career adaptability, and decent work. As hypothesized, perceived inequality and sociopolitical participation moderated paths from marginalization to career adaptability, work volition, and decent work. Perceived inequality moderated paths from economic constraints to career adaptability and decent work, but in inconsistent directions. We discuss practical implications and future research directions. Our results contribute to the growing support for the Psychology of Working Theory.


2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 337-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah D. Stauffer ◽  
Marc Abessolo ◽  
Gregory Zecca ◽  
Jérôme Rossier

In this research, we validated the French-language version of the Protean and Boundaryless Career Attitudes Scales and then investigated relationships among protean and boundaryless career orientations, proactive personality, career adaptability, and career satisfaction. Study 1 results demonstrated acceptable psychometric proprieties for the scales using an innovative translation ( N = 49) and verification ( N = 228) method. Study 2 answered how and to what extent protean and boundaryless career orientations are related to career satisfaction in a convenient and heterogeneous sample of employees ( N = 234) in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Correlational, regression analysis, and structural equation modeling techniques were used to test the hypotheses. Career adaptability mediated the positive relationship between protean and boundaryless career orientations and career satisfaction. These findings highlight the explanatory utility of career adaptability in relationships of protean and boundaryless career orientations to career satisfaction. Future research and career counseling implications also are discussed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (24) ◽  
pp. 7089 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jung Eon Kwon

Slow economic growth and cost reduction have caused a global increase in employment insecurity. For university students in the process of preparing for employment, these conditions can be a source of enormous stress. The effort to improve the employability of university students who experience difficulties in seeking a job and developing a career, therefore, becomes consequently meritorious. In order to provide new findings of the key antecedents affecting employability, this study investigates the dynamics of work volition and career adaptability. Employability is predicted by integrating career adaptability, which originated in career construction theory, and work volition, which originated in the psychology of working framework. To test the research hypotheses, survey data were collected from 251 students registered at three universities in South Korea and analyzed using a structural equation model and Hayes’ process macro. Results indicated that the direct effect of work volition on employability and its indirect effect through career adaptability were significant. Next, the mediation effect of career adaptability between work volition and employability was varied positively by work volition. These results provide practical implications for efforts aimed at increasing the employability of university students and, as such, present a foundation for contribution to ensuring sustainable employability.


2021 ◽  
pp. 106907272199841
Author(s):  
Taewon Kim ◽  
Blake A. Allan

Building from psychology of working theory, this study tested how critical consciousness, composed of perceived inequality, egalitarianism, and critical action, moderate the relations between contextual barriers (i.e., economic constraints and classism) and psychological variables (i.e., work volition and career adaptability) with a sample of 403 employees in the United States. Findings suggested that people who had high egalitarianism had a stronger negative relation between economic constraints and work volition. Results also revealed that people who had low egalitarianism had a negative relation between classism and career adaptability. Regarding critical action, people who had low or moderate levels of critical action had a stronger negative relation between economic constraints and work volition. Moreover, people who had low or moderate levels of critical action had a stronger negative relation between classism and career adaptability. Findings encourage practitioners and employers to consider egalitarianism and critical action as potential targets in vocational interventions.


2019 ◽  
pp. 089484531988210
Author(s):  
Jina Ahn ◽  
Hye-Weon Kim ◽  
Jee-Yon Lee

This study examined how a career calling is linked to life satisfaction among undergraduate students in the United States and South Korea. Using structural equation modeling, we tested the mediating role of core self-evaluations, work volition, and work hope on the calling-satisfaction link. Supporting prior research, perceiving a calling was positively correlated with life satisfaction in both groups. However, we found that work volition was a dominant mediator for South Koreans, whereas work hope was a significant mediator for Americans. These findings suggest that a sense of calling links to well-being, but the underlying mechanism of how a calling beneficially functions may differ across culture and situational contexts. Practical implications are suggested for each group and recommendations are provided for further cross-cultural research.


2021 ◽  
pp. 106907272110056
Author(s):  
Jingyi Wei ◽  
Sow Hup Joanne Chan ◽  
Kelsey Autin

Drawing from Psychology of Working Theory (PWT), the current study sampled 254 college students from impoverished families in China and examined their perceptions of access to future decent work as predicted by subjective social status and marginalization and mediated by work volition and career adaptability. As impoverished college students are socioeconomically disadvantaged and thus cannot afford college expenses, understanding their perception regarding future careers echoes the call for renewing the focus on equity and diversity within vocational psychology. Findings supported subjective social status as an indirect predictor of perceptions of future decent work via work volition. Work volition and career adaptability directly predicted perceptions of future decent work. Additionally, there is a significant conditional indirect effect between subjective social status, work volition, and perceptions of future decent work. Specifically, the effect was only significant for first-year students. Overall, this study adds new evidence on the applicability of the PWT among student populations. Implications for career researchers, vocational counselors, and student affairs professionals are provided.


2021 ◽  
pp. 089020702110140
Author(s):  
Gabriel Olaru ◽  
Mathias Allemand

The goal of this study was to examine differential and correlated change in personality across the adult lifespan. Studying differential and correlated change can help understand whether intraindividual trait change trajectories deviate from the norm and how these trajectories are coupled with each other. We used data from two large longitudinal panel studies from the United States that covered a total age range of 20 to 95 years on the first measurement occasion. We used correlated factor models and bivariate latent change score models to examine the rank-order stability and correlations between change across three measurement waves covering 18 years ( N = 3250) and four measurement waves covering 12 years ( N = 4145). We examined the moderation effects of continuous age on these model parameters using local structural equation modeling. The results suggest that the test–retest correlations decrease with increasing time between measurements but are unaffected by participants’ age. We found that change processes in Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness were strongly related, particularly in late adulthood. Correlated change patterns were highly stable across time intervals and similar to the initial cross-sectional Big Five correlations. We discuss potential mechanisms and implications for personality development research.


2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 379-395
Author(s):  
Kelsey L. Autin ◽  
Andrew J. Shelton ◽  
Willy Anthony Diaz Tapia ◽  
Roberto G. Garcia ◽  
Germán A. Cadenas

Psychology of Working Theory (PWT) has recently gained empirical support; however, its assumptions have yet to be tested for cultural responsiveness in Latinx communities, one of the fastest-growing worker populations in the U.S. The current study had two major aims: (a) to translate and validate instruments measuring PWT constructs from English into Spanish, and (b) to test theorized PWT predictors of decent work in a sample of Latinx workers ( N = 287). First, we translated and validated instruments measuring economic constraints, lifetime marginalization, work volition, and decent work using confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). We then tested a structural model predicting decent work. Results partially supported PWT hypotheses, suggesting its utility and cultural responsiveness in studying the work patterns and conditions in Latinx communities. Practical implications are discussed.


2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaitlin P. Ward ◽  
Gordon E. Limb ◽  
Sarah Higbee ◽  
Helena Haueter

Stepfamilies are one of the fastest growing family structures among all racial groups in the United States. Stepfamily research among many racial groups, specifically American Indians, is virtually nonexistent. This is unfortunate, as American Indians are more likely to divorce and remarry compared with other populations. From a family systems perspective, this study examined whether retrospectively perceived closeness in three stepfamily relationships, namely child–residential biological parent, child–residential stepparent, and child–stepsibling, were negatively associated with depression scores in 226 American Indian emerging adults. A structural equation model showed that increased child–residential biological parent and child–stepsibling closeness predicted decreased depression scores, whereas child–residential stepparent closeness did not. We also found that depression scores significantly predicted retrospective perceptions of child–residential biological parent, child–residential stepparent, and child–stepsibling closeness. Findings encourage interventions that strengthen American Indian child–residential biological parent and child–stepsibling relationships, and underscore the need for further research that explores American Indian stepfamily relationships.


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