Exploring the path through which career adaptability increases job satisfaction and lowers job stress: The role of affect

The construct of career adaptability, or the ability to successfully manage one's career development and challenges, predicts several important outcomes; however, little is known about the mechanisms contributing to its positive effects. The present study investigated the impact of career adaptability on job satisfaction and work stress, as mediated by individuals' affective states. Using a representative sample of 1671 individuals employed in Switzerland we hypothesized that, over time, career adaptability amplifies job satisfaction and attenuates work stress, through higher positive affect and lower negative affect, respectively. The data resulted from the first three waves of a longitudinal project on professional paths conducted in Switzerland. For each wave, participants completed a survey. Results of the 3-wave cross-lagged longitudinal model show that employees with higher career adaptability at Time 1 indeed experienced at Time 3 higher job satisfaction and lower work stress than those with lower career adaptability. The effect of career adaptability on job satisfaction and work stress was accounted for by negative affect: Individuals higher on career adaptability experienced less negative affect, which led to lower levels of stress and higher levels of job satisfaction, beyond previous levels of job satisfaction and work stress. Overall results support the conception of career adaptability as a self-regulatory resource that may promote a virtuous cycle in which individuals' evaluations of their resources to cope with the environment (i.e., career adaptability) shape their affective states, which in turn influence the evaluations of their job.     

Personality and job satisfaction: The role of narcissism

Narcissism has been studied in relation to leadership and productivity in the workplace. However, few studies have been conducted on how narcissism influences work attitudes. The first goal of this study is to measure the association between narcissism and the five factor model (FFM) of personality in an organizational sample. The second goal is to measure the influence of narcissism on job satisfaction when controlling for FFM traits. A total of 224 employees from a public organization have filled out self-rating measures of job satisfaction, FFM traits and a measure of narcissism. Results indicated that narcissism was positively correlated with FFM extraversion and openness to experience and negatively correlated with agreeableness. Narcissism had a significant influence on job satisfaction, even when controlling for FFM traits. We believe that these results stress the importance of better understanding the role of narcissism in employee attitudes in order to weigh the pros and cons of hiring or promoting narcissistic employees.     

Achievement dynamics: The interaction of motives,cognitions, and emotions over time

Abstract

The history of research on achievement striving has been characterized by the development of several separate lines of inquiry in relative isolation, one from the other. Three themes are most notable: research on need achievement (motivation), formulations of test anxiety (emotion), and the exploration of information-processing (cognitive) factors with special attention given to the organization of effective study skills. In the absence of a unified approach to an understanding of achievement behavior, research has been largely confined to attempts to establish simple one-to-one correspondences between various organizing constructs, say, test anxiety, and the achievement outcomes they are thought to influence. For instance, a veritable flood of studies beginning at the turn of the century has demonstrated the existence of a negative relationship between level of anxiety arousal and performance across a variety of testing and assessment conditions (for a review, see Heinrich & Spielberger, 1982). Likewise, individual variations in level of need achievement (nAch) have been associated with preferences for risk taking and study persistence (Atkinson, 1957, 1964).     

Over-education and job satisfaction: The role of job insecurity and career enhancing strategies

IntroductionOver-education is a current phenomenon, which hampers job satisfaction. Finding variables that moderates the deteriorating effect of over-education could be useful.ObjectivePresent study analyses the relationship between over-education and intrinsic, extrinsic and social facets of job satisfaction, and the moderation role of career enhancing strategies and job insecurity.MethodSample was composed of 1362 participants 16–30 years-old that entered the job market in the previous five years, from the 2011 cohort of the Spanish Observatory for Labor Entry of Youth. Analyses were made using Process Macro.ResultsResults show that all direct relationships are significant, and that career enhancing strategies moderated the relationship between over-education and social and extrinsic job satisfaction.ConclusionFindings provides insights regarding strategies to buffer the detrimental effects that over-education had for young employees’ job satisfaction.     

The role of passion for work and need satisfaction in psychological adjustment to retirement

Two studies tested a model in which passion for work predicts psychological adjustment to retirement through the satisfaction of basic psychological needs. With a sample of 103 French-Canadian retirees from a variety of occupations, the first study used a retrospective cross-sectional design. The second study followed 73 French-Canadian teachers over a 6-year period and examined the relationship between passion for work, assessed when participants were still working, and psychological adjustment to retirement, measured when participants were retired. All participants completed questionnaires on demographics, passion for work, basic psychological needs and psychological adjustment to retirement. Results from structural equation modeling confirmed the hypothesized model, such that both studies confirmed the mediating role of basic psychological need satisfaction in the passion–psychological adjustment to retirement relationship. Need satisfaction significantly mediated the relationship between harmonious passion for work and psychological adjustment to retirement in Studies 1 and 2. The mediation was also confirmed between obsessive passion and psychological adjustment to retirement in Study 1, but not in Study 2. These findings suggest that passion for work matters in psychological adjustment to retirement. Being passionate about work can thus lead to positive or negative outcomes in retirement, depending on whether the passion is harmonious or obsessive, respectively.     

Conservatism as motivated avoidance of affect: Need for affect scales predict conservatism measures

We propose that individual differences in the motivation to avoid emotions are related to political conservatism. We argue that because conservatism is concerned with managing uncertainty and emphasizes ego-control, conservative ideologies match with the motivational concerns of those individuals who find emotions to be uncertainty-enhancing and dysfunctional. In a group of 267 participants, positive associations were found between emotion avoidance and right-wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, and support for conservative policies. Negative associations were found between emotion approach and conservatism measures.     

The need for affect: individual differences in the motivation to approach or avoid emotions

The present research developed and tested a new individual-difference measure of the need for affect, which is the motivation to approach or avoid emotion-inducing situations. The first phase of the research developed the need for affect scale. The second phase revealed that the need for affect is related to a number of individual differences in cognitive processes (e.g., need for cognition, need for closure), emotional processes (e.g., affect intensity, repression-sensitization), behavioral inhibition and activation (e.g., sensation seeking), and aspects of personality (Big Five dimensions) in the expected directions, while not being redundant with them. The third phase of the research indicated that, compared to people low in the need for affect, people high in the need for affect are more likely to (a) possess extreme attitudes across a variety of issues, (b) choose to view emotional movies, and (c) become involved in an emotion-inducing event (the death of Princess Diana). Overall, the results indicate that the need for affect is an important construct in understanding emotion-related processes.     

Job stressors, emotional exhaustion, and need for recovery: A multi-source study on the benefits of psychological detachment

This paper examines psychological detachment (i.e., mentally “switching off”) from work during non-work time as a partial mediator between job stressors and low work-home boundaries on the one hand and strain reactions (emotional exhaustion, need for recovery) on the other hand. Survey data were collected from a sample of protestant pastors (N = 136) and their spouses (N = 97). Analyses showed that high workload, emotional dissonance, and low spatial work-home boundaries were related to poor psychological detachment from work during non-work time. Poor psychological detachment in turn predicted high levels of emotional exhaustion and need for recovery. Psychological detachment was a partial mediator between job stressors and strain reactions. This study avoids same-source bias and demonstrates the importance of psychological detachment in the stressor–strain relationship.     

The relationship between pay and job satisfaction: A meta-analysis of the literature

Whereas the motivational aspects of pay are well-documented, the notion that high pay leads to high levels of satisfaction is not without debate. The current study used meta-analysis to estimate the population correlation between pay level and measures of pay and job satisfaction. Cumulating across 115 correlations from 92 independent samples, results suggested that pay level was correlated .15 with job satisfaction and .23 with pay satisfaction. Various moderators of the relationship were investigated. Despite the popular theorizing, results suggest that pay level is only marginally related to satisfaction. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.     

The two roads from passion to sport performance and psychological well-being: The mediating role of need satisfaction,deliberate practice,and achievement goals

ObjectivesResearch on passion has demonstrated the existence of two roads toward sports performance through the effects of deliberate practice (Vallerand et al., 2007, 2008). The first emanates from harmonious passion (HP) and contributes to both performance and psychological well-being. The second stems from obsessive passion (OP), and performance comes at the cost of well-being. The present research proposes that need satisfaction (Deci & Ryan, 2000) mediates the relation of HP, but not OP, with both outcomes. In Study 2, achievement goals were added to the model. Mastery goals were expected to mediate the positive relation between HP and outcomes, whereas performance-avoidance goals would be associated with OP and, thus be detrimental to athletes.DesignTwo studies using correlational (Study 1) and longitudinal (Study 2) designs.MethodStudy 1 (N = 172) was conducted with soccer players. Study 2 was conducted with hockey players (N = 598). Athletes completed measures of passion, need satisfaction, life satisfaction, deliberate practice, and achievement goals (Study 2 only). Coaches assessed performance in Study 1. Study 2 used games played in competitive leagues over 15 years to measure performance.ResultsAnalyses using SEM provided support for the mediating role of need satisfaction (Study 1 and 2) and achievement goals (Study 2) in the relation of HP with outcomes. In contrast, deliberate practice (Study 1 and 2) meditated the relation between OP and performance.ConclusionsThis research supported the mediating role of need satisfaction in the ‘two roads to performance” (Vallerand et al., 2007, 2008).     

Core self-evaluations as causes of satisfaction: The mediating role of seeking task complexity

This study examined the mediating role of task complexity in the relationship between core self-evaluations (CSE) and satisfaction. In Study 1, eighty three undergraduate business students worked on a strategic decision-making simulation. The simulated environment enabled us to verify the temporal sequence of variables, use an objective measure of task complexity, and control confounding factors. In Study 2, we surveyed 108 full-time employees. In addition to verifying the temporal sequencing of variables in Study 1, both studies demonstrate that people with higher CSE actually choose/seek higher levels of complexity on their tasks, which directly or indirectly increases their task/work satisfaction.     

Personality and job satisfaction: their role in work-related psychological well-being

This study investigated the role of work related psychological well-being in the relationship between personality and job satisfaction. Participants were 207 (females?=?58.9%, blacks?=?20.3%, white?=?64.3%, Indian?=?7.7% and Coloured?=?6.8%) employees of various South African organisations. The participants completed the Ryff's Scale of Psychological Well-being, Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire, and the Basic Traits Inventory. The data were analysed by means of moderated hierarchical regression analysis. Results show self-acceptance, environmental mastery, and purpose in life fully explain extraversion and job satisfaction, and partly explain conscientiousness and job satisfaction. Self-acceptance, environmental mastery and purpose in life also moderated the relationship between neuroticism and job satisfaction. Findings lead to the conclusion that aspects of work related psychological well-being are influenced by personality traits and job satisfaction, growth and development.     

Employee achievement orientations and personality as predictors of job satisfaction facets

This paper examines the incremental value of achievement orientations (Mastery-Approach; Mastery-Avoid; Performance-Approach; Performance-Avoid), above Extraversion and Neuroticism, in predicting two different types of satisfaction outcomes; expectation-based-job-satisfaction (EX-JS) and satisfaction-with-one’s-own-job-performance (P-JS). Using structural equation modelling, data from 242 UK government body employees showed that only Extraversion shared a (positive) relationship with EX-JS. Whereas, the strongest relations with P-JS were found for Neuroticism and Mastery-Approach with both sharing positive relationships with this satisfaction outcome. Analyses indicated that Mastery-Approach accounted for unique variance in P-JS beyond Extraversion and Neuroticism. Findings show that there is scope for experiences of satisfaction at work to be traced to stable approach competence specific motivational tendencies.     

Organizational justice and job insecurity as mediators of the effect of emotional intelligence on job satisfaction: A study from China

The current study aimed to explore how individual difference in emotional intelligence influenced job satisfaction, and mainly focused on the confirmation of the mediator roles of organizational justice and job insecurity. A total of 420 staffs from a large-scale IT enterprise in China completed the self-reported emotional intelligence scale, the organizational justice scale, the job insecurity scale and Minnesota job satisfaction questionnaire. The results revealed that emotional intelligence, organizational justice, job insecurity and job satisfaction were significantly correlated with each other. Structural equation modeling indicated that emotional intelligence can significantly influence job satisfaction and the relationship between EI and satisfaction was partially mediated by organizational justice and job insecurity.     

The impact of role stress on workers' behaviour through job satisfaction and organizational commitment

Dysfunctions in role performance have been associated with a large number of consequences, almost always negative, which affect the well-being of workers and the functioning of organizations. An individual's experience of receiving incompatible or conflicting requests (role conflict) and/or the lack of enough information to carry out his/her job (role ambiguity) are causes of role stress. According to previous theory, role ambiguity and conflict decrease workers' performance and are positively related to the probability of workers leaving the organization. Job satisfaction refers to a positive evaluation of a job, while organizational commitment refers to an employee's attachment to the organization. The affective dimensions of organizational commitment and job satisfaction are considered to be important predictors of turnover intention, absenteeism, and job performance. In the literature, role conflict and ambiguity have been proposed as determining factors of workers' job satisfaction and their commitment towards the organization. The role of job satisfaction and organizational commitment were analysed as variables that should mediate between role ambiguity and conflict and employees' behaviour. The hypotheses were confirmed by means of path analysis carried out with data obtained from a sample of Spanish blue-collar workers employed by a bus company and a water supply company. Role stressors were negatively related to affective commitment mediated through job satisfaction. Affective commitment to the organization exerted a positive influence on performance and reduces the withdrawal behaviour analysed— intention to leave and absenteeism—although the strongest predictor of intention to leave was, in this study, job satisfaction.     

The effects of college major and job field congruence on job satisfaction

This study investigated predictors of job satisfaction and builds on previous research on the effects of bachelor’s degree majors and job field congruence on job satisfaction. Data on workers’ job experiences in 2001 were matched to those workers’ college experiences across 30 institutions and background characteristics up to 25 years earlier. With statistical controls for demographic, socioeconomic, and academic characteristics, a final sample of 2515 college graduates was used to test hypotheses centered on the possibility that a causal order relates education and job satisfaction. Specifically, college degree majors, measures of both actual and perceived congruence, as well as income were examined in relation to three dimensions of job satisfaction. Results support hypotheses that income and congruence both mediate the effects of majors on job satisfaction, and identify that two different measures of congruence are causally related to intrinsic dimensions of job satisfaction.     

Motivational determinants of reasoning about social relations: The role of need for cognitive closure

The role of need for cognitive closure (NFCC) in reasoning about social relations was investigated. Participants learned pairwise liking/disliking relations between people who could also be categorised on the basis of nationality and then had to group them into social cliques. The social clique structures were either consistent or inconsistent with the nationality categorisation, and the diagnostic information that was necessary to determine the number of cliques appeared either early or late in the information sequence. We expected participants under conditions of high (vs low) NFCC to rely more on heuristic processing. As predicted, high (vs low) NFCC participants were less accurate in their representations of cliques when the clique structure was inconsistent with the nationality category (Study 1 and 2) and when the diagnostic information was presented late (Study 1). The implications regarding the influence of NFCC on reasoning and the role of specific NFCC manipulations are discussed.