Nonwork orientations relative to career: A multidimensional measure

Although scholars typically assess an individual's nonwork role orientation relative to career as a unitary construct, we argue that a person's orientation toward nonwork roles is multi-dimensional. Drawing on a literature review demonstrating the need for improved constructs capturing changing relationships between career and multi-faceted nonwork orientations, and empirical data from three studies with samples at different career stages (early and mid-career), we use factor analysis and data from qualitative and longitudinal studies to develop three unique scales to assess a person's nonwork priorities relative to career orientations: family, personal life, and community service. There were generally positive relationships between the protean career scales and the new nonwork role orientation measures. Future research should move beyond a binary work–life or work–family models and include multi-dimensional measures of nonwork orientations relative to career.     

All in the name of work? Nonwork orientations as predictors of salary,career satisfaction,and life satisfaction

Career development increasingly demands a successful integration of work and nonwork domains. Based on work-nonwork conflict and enrichment theories, this study explored the relationship between nonwork orientations (i.e., family, personal life, and community) and both objective (i.e., salary) and subjective (i.e., career satisfaction) career success and life satisfaction over a period of six months among a sample of 548 employees from Germany. The results generally support the enrichment perspective. Family orientation showed a positive relationship with career satisfaction. All three nonwork orientations, especially family orientation, were positively related to life satisfaction. We also explored gender and age effects but found no differences in nonwork orientations between young employees aged 25–34 years and older workers aged 50–59 years. Men showed lower levels of personal life orientation than women, but no differences in family or community orientation based on gender were found. We also did not observe gender x age interaction effects. We discuss the study's implications for a whole-life perspective on career development, career success, and well-being.     

Work–nonwork boundary management profiles: A person-centered approach

The goal of this paper is to advance the measurement and theory of work–nonwork boundary management styles. Boundary management styles are defined as the approaches individuals use to demarcate boundaries and attend to work and family and other nonwork roles, given identity centralities and perceived boundary control. We argue that research should be augmented with a person-centered approach, which examines how psychological measures are integrated into configurations. Integrating role and boundary theories, we identify three main characteristics of work-nonwork boundary management: (1) cross-role interruption behaviors (work to nonwork, and nonwork to work interruptions); (2) identity centrality of work and family roles, and (3) perceived control of boundaries. Using a variable-centered approach, we refined and validated these measures to create an assessment (Work–Life Indicator) that captured boundary management profiles. The profiles reflect how interruption behaviors, identity centralities, and boundary control interrelate to cluster into profiles, a set of psychological characteristics organized into a pattern of work–nonwork boundary functioning. We identify boundary management profiles and examine their relationships to key work-family outcomes. Regardless of the level and direction of interruption behaviors and centrality of work–family identities, we found that low control boundary management profiles (reactors, job warriors) tended to experience more negative work and family outcomes than did high control profiles (fusion lovers, dividers, family guardians, eclectics).     

Building a composite factorial score for the assessment of quality of parent–child relationships in adolescence

The quality of parent–child relationships has important implications for adolescent development and well-being. However, whereas numerous measures of specific dimensions contributing to quality of parent–child relationships are available, scales that provide a global assessment of this content are scarce. Consequently, the assessment of quality of parent–child relationships poses a challenge to the researcher, especially when the need exists to consider its main aspects but long instruments can not be used due to diverse circumstances. This paper presents a composite factorial score on quality of parent–child relationships developed from four short measures of affection, communication, parental knowledge and family satisfaction that can contribute to solving some of those difficulties. This composite score can be a useful tool to assess quality of parent–child relationships, especially for studies devoted to the study of the relationships between experiences within the family and the adolescent's well-being.     

Relationships of achievement motivation and sex-role identity to college women's career orientation

Two career orientation factors, Career Centeredness and Career Commitment, were predicted to relate differentially to women's achievement motivation and sex-role identity. Career Centeredness is an orientation which places a career above other life activities (e.g., recreation, family life, etc.) as a source of satisfaction whereas Career Commitment concerns the intention of steadily pursuing a career throughout life. The expectation that Career Centeredness would be more characteristic of masculine women and correlate higher with achievement motivation than would Career Commitment was generally supported. Results are discussed in terms of societal support for these two career orientations and of role conflict experienced by women with different sex-role identities.     

使命取向对职业满意度的影响——职业弹性的中介作用及工作资源的调节作用

本研究通过对410名企业员工的调查,探讨使命取向对职业满意度的影响机制,并采用结构方程模型技术与层次回归分析法考察职业弹性在这一关系中的中介作用及工作资源对该关系的调节作用。研究结果表明：（1）职业弹性部分中介了使命取向对职业满意度的正向关系;（2）工作资源调节了使命取向对职业弹性的影响;（3）进一步地,工作资源水平越高,职业弹性对于使命取向与职业满意度关系的中介作用越强,反之越弱。     

Age and Gender Role Conflict: A Cross-Sectional Study of Australian Men

A total of 221 educated middle-class Australian males across three age groups (18–24, 36–45, and 60-plus years), responded to O'Neil et al.'s Gender Role Conflict Scales and a set of measures for psychological well-being. A MANCOVA design, with psychological well-being as the covariate, found significant age differences on two gender-role conflict scales. Results suggest that certain conflicts in a man's life to do with ambition, career, and family may be seen as developmentally functional rather than dysfunctional. No age differences were found on the Gender Role Conflict variables for emotional expressiveness and intimacy between males. These two variables are discussed as a function of mood rather than indices of dysfunction.     

Capturing a More Complete View of Employees’ Lives Outside of Work: The Introduction and Development of New Interrole Conflict Constructs

This research introduces 4 new constructs that reflect interrole conflict (i.e., work‐to‐personal, personal‐to‐work, family‐to‐personal, and personal‐to‐family conflict) and provide a more complete view of the roles and responsibilities employees experience outside of work. An integration of interrole conflict literature and research on work and nonwork roles or domains highlights the importance of considering an individual's personal domain, which includes activities one pursues because of his or her own interests (e.g., friends, hobbies, community). Unfortunately, without conflict measures pertaining to this new role, researchers cannot clearly understand how roles other than family interfere with individuals’ work role including how interrole conflict impacts employees who do not have significant responsibilities in the family domain. Five phases of research across 4 separate samples were conducted in order to develop measures for the 4 new conflict constructs and to examine relationships with important work, family, life, and health outcomes. Findings from multisource data, including self‐rated, coworker‐rated, as well as single and nonsingle participants, show that the 4 new forms of interrole conflict have significant implications for employees and organizations.     

Identity styles and causality orientations: in search of the motivational underpinnings of the identity exploration process

This study examines relationships between constructs based on two perspectives on the development of self‐governance, namely Self‐Determination Theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 2000) and Berzonsky's (1990) identity style model. Theoretically predictable relationships are found between the three causality orientations defined by SDT (autonomous, controlled, and impersonal) and the three identity styles proposed by Berzonsky (informational, normative, diffuse–avoidant) in a sample of Belgian late adolescents. An autonomous causality orientation is positively related to an informational identity style and negatively related to a diffuse–avoidant style. A controlled orientation is positively associated with a normative identity style, and an impersonal orientation is positively related to a diffuse–avoidant identity style. Participants' gender does not moderate these relationships. The findings suggest that the causality orientations late adolescents employ may play an important role in how actively and thoroughly they explore identity‐relevant issues. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spending time: The impact of hours worked on work–family conflict

Scholars have long assumed that as workers spend more time at work fewer hours are available for their non-work lives leading to negative effects in both domains, and most studies examining the impact of work hours on work and life domains have supported this viewpoint. However, the majority of these studies have used one-dimensional measures of work–family conflict (WFC) and family–work conflict (FWC) on homogenous samples which included primarily married managers and professionals with children. Further, despite calls to examine non-linear relationships between work hours and WFC and FWC, few studies have done so. This study uses multi-dimensional measures to examine the linear and non-linear (quadratic) effects of work hours on WFC and FWC in a heterogeneous sample and examines the moderating effects of several work and family characteristics on these relationships. The findings indicate that whereas work hours have a linear relationship with WFC, the relationship between work hours and FWC is curvilinear. Managerial support was found to moderate the relationship between work hours and one dimension of FWC. Number of children moderated the relationships between work hours and WFC and another dimension of FWC.     

Work and nonwork stressors,negative affective states,and pain complaints among firefighters and paramedics

Prior research has suggested that occupational stressors may contribute to the etiology, progression, and chronicity of pain problems in workers. This study used anonymous survey methods to assess the prevalence and frequency of self-reported pain symptoms and their relationships to demographic variables, sources of occupational stressors, nonwork stressors and affective distress in a large sample (N2000) of employed career public sector firefighters and paramedics. The findings were consistent with those of previous studies of high strain workers. More than 95% of the firefighter/paramedic sample reported at least one pain complaint (using a 1 week assessment time frame). A hierarchical multiple regression analysis entering demographic, occupational, and nonwork stressors, as well as measures of negative affective states targeting total pain scores, yielded significant relationships. Five occupational stressors were associated with respondent pain complaints. The results also suggest that negative affective states mediated the relationships between work and nonwork variables, and pain complaint outcomes. The implications of these findings for the development of preventive interventions for firefighters and paramedics as well as other emergency service workers are considered.     

Family Interaction Patterns as Predictors of Vocational Identity and Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy

The present study explored the relations of perceived family-of-origin interaction patterns (e.g., quality of family relationships, family-supported goal orientations, and degree of control and organization in the family) to vocational identity and career decision-making self-efficacy. A sample of 210 college students completed family-of-origin and vocational self-report measures. Using standard multiple regression analyses, significant variance was accounted for in vocational identity scores by achievement orientation in the family. Significant variance in career decision-making self-efficacy scores was accounted for by a number of family variables including achievement, intellectual-cultural, and moral-religious emphasis orientations and degree of family conflict and expressiveness. The findings suggest that family-of-origin interaction patterns may play small, yet significant roles in the formulation of clear and stable career goals and the promotion of self-confidence in regard to completing career planning activities. These findings warrant further empirical examination of the family systems approach to young adult career development.     

I Cannot Afford to Have a Life: Employee Adaptation to Feelings of Job Insecurity

This study examines the links between employee perceptions of job insecurity, the work–nonwork interface, and stress‐related outcomes. Drawing on an adaptation perspective, we expect employees feeling greater job insecurity to engage in adaptive work behaviors including less use of work–nonwork support programs and greater willingness to let work permeate into one's personal life, which in turn will associate with greater work–nonwork conflict and emotional exhaustion. Data were collected from employees within a large energy company at 2 points in time. Results support the model, offering important insights into employee behavioral responses to job insecurity and key mechanisms through which insecurity may foster diminished employee well‐being.     

Integrating Career and Mental Health Counseling: Necessity and Strategies

Individuals seeking counseling might not recognize the interconnectedness of health, mental health, work, and life concerns. Counselors, however, need to be mindful that a person's wellness is interwoven with their work, life roles, and health. Research supports the interrelationship of career development and mental health as well as the effectiveness of an integrated approach to mental health and career counseling. An integrated approach from an ecological counseling perspective is proposed for conceptualizing client issues and intervention strategies.     

The dimensions of career and work orientation in college women

The purpose of this study was to clarify the meaning of the construct, career orientation. Fourteen presumed measures of career orientation as well as Super's Work Values Inventory were administered to college women. Analysis of the relationships among these variables identified two relatively independent clusters. The first cluster most closely approximated the usual definition of career orientation. Career-oriented women were found to be highly career motivated and perceived the career role as primary in their adult lives. The second cluster was called work orientation. This orientation characterized women with well-defined occupational aspirations who placed a high value on both the career role and marriage-family responsibilities in their future. Work-oriented women tended to choose traditionally feminine occupations in contrast to the career-oriented women whose aspirations included higher level and less traditional occupations.     

Validation of a Chinese achievement goal orientation questionnaire

Background . The mixed findings of previous studies on the nature and effects of performance goals have led to a call for re‐examination of the dichotomous framework of achievement goal orientation theory. While the call for a revised achievement goal orientation theory has received considerable discussion in Western studies, it is not clear whether the revised theory can also be applied in other ethnic and cultural contexts. Aims . Our aim was to validate the Chinese version of Elliot and Church's (1007) Goal Orientation Questionnaire and to initially test the revised goal orientation theory in the context of Chinese students in Hong Kong. Sample . A total of 270 Chinese students (137 boys and 133 girls) from a primary and secondary school in Hong Kong participated in Study 1. Study 2 involved a total of 9,440 students (5,420 boys and 4,020 girls) from 10 primary and 18 secondary schools in Hong Kong. Method . Participants in Study 1 completed a Chinese Goal Orientation Questionnaire (CGOQ) measuring three types of goal orientation. Exploratory factor analysis, item–total correlation, and reliability analyses were undertaken to assess the psychometric quality of the CGOQ. In Study 2, confirmatory factor analysis was used to provide further validation for the revised questionnaire. The relationships among different goal orientations and that with students' perceived classroom environment and self‐efficacy were also explored using structural equation modelling. Results . Findings of exploratory factor analysis in Study 1 and confirmatory factor analysis in Study 2 supported the proposed factor structure of the CGOQ. All the subscales in the questionnaire also showed good internal consistency reliabilities. The construct validity of the CGOQ was supported by its significant relationship with criterion measures. While most of the relationships between the three types of goal orientation and the learning‐related variables measured in our study were consistent with the revised goal orientation theory, the positive relationships between performance‐avoidance goals, mastery goals, and perceived classroom environment were different from previous studies. Conclusion . Our findings generally supported the trichotomous framework of the revised goal orientation theory with Chinese students in Hong Kong. Consistent with the revised goal orientation theory, our findings indicated that both mastery and performance‐approach goals had positive impacts on students' learning. However, the positive relationships between performance‐avoidance goals, mastery goals, and perceived classroom environment were contradictory to the conceptualization of performance‐avoidance goals in the revised theory. Cultural and social factors affecting Hong Kong students' goal orientations are discussed.     

Parents' work burnout and adolescents' school burnout: Are they shared?

There is considerable evidence that psychological distress not only has consequences for those who experience it but also can create problems for other members of the distressed person's family. To examine whether parents' work burnout and their children's school burnout are shared in the family, 515 adolescents (median age = 15) completed scales for school burnout and 595 of their parents (342 mothers, 253 fathers) completed scales for work burnout and their economic situation. The intraclass correlations showed that parents' work burnout and adolescents' school burnout was shared in the family. In addition, the better the economic situation the parents' experienced, the lower was the level of shared burnout in the family.     

Work–family interface from a life and career stage perspective: The role of demands and resources

Work–family conflict and enrichment are experiences that occur daily and have substantial consequences for employees, their families, and the organizations that employ them. The aim of the current review is to make a link between life and career stage, work and family conditions, and the work–family interface. The basic proposition is that life stages partly determine career development, and consequently the specific working conditions (job demands and job resources) and family conditions (family demands and family resources) that individuals are exposed to. As a result, the specific demands and resources in the work and family domains determine to what extent individuals experience that work and family are conflicting or enriching life domains. In this review we suggest that individuals in early adulthood will experience high inter‐role conflict and low facilitation due to high demands and low resources in both life domains, while individuals in late adulthood will experience the opposite pattern; that is, low conflict and high facilitation due to low demands and high resources in both domains. Individuals in middle adulthood will experience high work–family conflict but also high family–work facilitation due to the presence of high job demands and resources in both life domains. Integrating life and career stage perspectives and the experience of work–family interface is of notable practical utility because it provides a mechanism to make more informed decisions about the relative need for and corresponding benefits of work–family programs.     

Young Adults' Anticipated Identity Importance of Career, Marital, and Parental Roles: Comparisons of Men and Women with Different Role Balance Orientations

This article discusses two studies that exploredcollege students' role balance expectations for theirfuture career, marital, and parental identities.Participants were primarily Caucasian. In the first study, men and women who were family, balanced,career, or career/marriage oriented were compared.Variation within gender, especially for women, in theareas of gender attitudes, gender attributes, role identity salience, and anticipated roleacquisition were found. Similarities between gender alsoemerged. The second study examined young adults'perceptions of their parents' identity importance androle balance orientations. Although some genderdifferences emerged, young men and women holding thesame role balance orientation were often similar intheir perceptions of their parents. Taken together,these studies provide evidence that contradictsprevious assumptions about gender differences inexpectations for work and family roles.     

Family transmission of work affectivity and experiences to children

Theory and research suggest that children develop orientations toward work appreciably influenced by their family members’ own expressed work experiences and emotions. Cross-sectional data from 100 children (53 girls, 47 boys; mean age = 11.1 years) and structural equation modeling were used to assess measures of work affectivity and experiences and to test hypotheses suggesting that family work experiences and emotions influence the orientations children develop toward work and how they in turn influence children’s work and school motivation. Results indicated that the family setting influences children’s perceptions of and future orientation toward the world of work through adults’ expression of positive work experiences, negative work affect, and negative work experiences. Furthermore, children’s work and school motivations appear to be principally influenced by indicators of favorable work affect and experiences. Implications and suggestions for future research are offered that cast the family as an important core setting for children’s vocational development.