Validation of the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale and an examination of a model of career adaptation in the Philippine context

This paper presents the validation of the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS) in the Philippine context. The CAAS consists of four subscales, with six items each, measuring self-regulative psychosocial resources (e.g., concern, curiosity, control, and confidence) for coping with occupational tasks and transitions. Filipino university students (N = 289) and working adults (N = 495) participated in the study. Internal consistency estimates for the full scale and subscales ranged from .87 to .97. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the multidimensional and hierarchical model of career adaptability. The factor structure was similar to that obtained from the CAAS international validation from 18 countries. Results also suggested that career adaptability was positively associated with adaptivity in the form of tenacious goal pursuit and flexible goal adjustment as well as with adaptation outcomes of career satisfaction and promotability. Overall, the findings confirm the utility of CAAS in the Philippine context and support the model that states higher levels of personal adaptivity (willingness) and career adaptability (competence) relate to better adaptation outcomes in terms of career success.     

Career Adapt-Abilities Scale in a French-speaking Swiss sample: Psychometric properties and relationships to personality and work engagement

The aim of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS) in a French-speaking Swiss sample and its relationship with personality dimensions and work engagement. The heterogeneous sample of 391 participants (M_age = 39.59, SD = 12.30) completed the CAAS-International and a short version of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. To assess personality dimensions, participants completed either the Zuckerman–Kuhlman–Aluja Personality Questionnaire (n = 283) or the NEO-FFI-R (n = 108). The internal consistencies for the four subscales and total scores of the CAAS ranged from good to excellent, and skewness and kurtosis values indicated that scores were normally distributed. Gender differences and correlations with age were small or negligible. Several CFA models confirmed the factor structure of the French version of the CAAS-International, with loadings very similar to the ones observed for the international form. Adaptability was related to different personality dimensions, particularly neuroticism and conscientiousness, and also to work engagement. When predicting work engagement, career adaptability had a significant incremental validity over personality dimensions. Finally, career adaptability partially moderated the relationship between personality and work engagement, suggesting that career adaptability also contributes to regulating the expression of personality dispositions.     

Career adaptation: The relation of adaptability to goal orientation,proactive personality,and career optimism

This study examines the psychometric properties of the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS) and its relation to adaptivity (i.e., learning goal orientation, proactive personality, and career optimism) among Australian university students (N = 555). Results demonstrated adequate levels of test–retest reliability (r = .61 to .76) and internal consistency (α = .83 to .94) for the CAAS full scale and subscales over a 4-week interval between measurements. Confirmatory factor analysis also supported the multidimensional and hierarchical model of career adaptability resources. The factor structure generally corresponded with that obtained from other CAAS international validation, thus, expanding its cross-national measurement equivalence. In addition, correlation results supported the predicted positive association between career adaptability and adaptivity in the form of learning goal orientation, proactive personality, and career optimism. Taken together, the present findings confirm the psychometric utility of CAAS in the Australian context and substantiate the proposition that higher personal adaptive readiness relates to better career adaptability among young people.     

Beyond conscientiousness: Career optimism and satisfaction with academic major

The study focuses on psychological predictors of academic major satisfaction. According to the career construction theory (Savickas, 2005), vocational personality and career adaptability should generate career satisfaction. In this study, vocational personality was operationalised as Big Five conscientiousness, and career adaptability was operationalised as generalised self-efficacy and career optimism. A sample (N = 529) of university students completed an online survey. The resultant data were used to construct a structural model of the hypothesised relationships among variables. A good fitting model [χ² = 10.454 (7) p = .164; GFI = .993; CFI = .999; RMSEA < .031 (< .001–.066)] indicated that career optimism fully mediated the relationship between conscientiousness and academic major satisfaction. Results were consistent with previous research into personality and academic performance. Moreover, the results highlight the significant role of optimism in satisfaction with career generally, and studies, specifically. Suggestions are made for future research into modelling the relationships according to different academic disciplines and for the potential role of optimism as a learning objective for career education and counseling.     

Coping with an insecure employment environment: The differing roles of protean and boundaryless career orientations

In this paper, we utilize a sample of working adults (N = 362) in the context of the recent economic recession to explore the coping mechanisms associated with different career attitudes and their subsequent impact on important individual work outcomes. Results of structural equation modeling (SEM) demonstrated that boundaryless mindset and self-directed protean career attitudes were differentially correlated with external support seeking, active coping, and identity awareness, which in turn were differentially correlated with individual work outcomes of job search behavior, performance, career success, and psychological well-being. Evidence for both full and partial mediation within the model tested is presented, as well as the potential implications of these findings and suggested avenues for future research.     

Training career adaptability to facilitate a successful school-to-work transition

The transition from school to work is one of the most critical steps in graduates' careers, as it can determine vocational outcomes and future career success. Yet, these newcomers to the labor market often take longer than regular job seekers to find a suitable job, are more likely to experience a job mismatch and to suffer from underemployment. In this study, we proposed that career adaptability might help remedy this problem. We therefore developed a training aimed at providing graduates with career adaptability resources, with the assumption that this may foster training-participants' later career adaptability and employment quality. A longitudinal field quasi-experiment compared the development of each career adaptability dimension between a training group (n = 32) and a control group (n = 24) over three points in time (pre-training measurement, post-training measurement and follow-up measurement six months later). Repeated measures analyses showed an overall increase in concern, control and curiosity within the training group, whereas there was no increase (concern) or even an overall decrease (control and curiosity) within the control group. Consequently, the training succeeded in enhancing participants' control and curiosity in the long run. Furthermore, among participants who had found employment half a year later, training participants reported higher employment quality than did members of the control group. In sum, results show that providing graduates with career adaptability resources can raise their chances on finding a qualitatively good job.     

Maladaptive personality traits in adolescence: Psychometric properties of the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-4+

The Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-4+ (PDQ-4+) is a self-report used for the assessment of personality disorder traits, however, its psychometric characteristics have yet to be tested in community samples of adolescents. The main goal was to analyze the psychometric properties of the PDQ-4+ scores in a large sample of non-clinical adolescents (N = 1,443; M = 15.9 years; SD = 1.2). The PDQ-4+ scores showed adequate psychometric properties. Reliability of the subscales, incorporating a Likert-type 5-point response format, ranged from .62 to .85. The study of the internal structure at item level revealed that the PDQ-4+ subscales were essentially one-dimensional. Analysis of the internal structure at the subscale level by means of exploratory factor analysis and exploratory structural equation modeling yielded a possible three-dimensional solution. The PDQ-4+ subscales correlated moderately with emotional and behavioural variables measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. The results have clear implications for the understanding of maladaptive personality traits in adolescents.     

Goal conflict and facilitation as predictors of work–family satisfaction and engagement

In a study of working adults (N = 131; Mean age = 43.52 yrs; 62 males) in Germany and Finland, the mean level of goal facilitation was found to be significantly higher than that of goal interference. Hence, many individuals seem to be rather successful in constructing a personal goal system that is functional in terms of supportive links. As hypothesized, goal conflict and facilitation were associated with work-related outcomes, especially with work satisfaction. The associations with family-related outcomes were less pronounced when the focus was exclusively on either supportive or interfering goal relationships. However, when the intraindividual relation between goal conflict and goal support was taken into account, we found that the relative dominance of facilitation was clearly positively associated with both work-related and family-related indicators of positive functioning.     

Development and validation of the Body and Appearance Self-Conscious Emotions Scale (BASES)

The purpose of these studies was to develop a psychometrically sound measure of shame, guilt, authentic pride, and hubristic pride for use in body and appearance contexts. In Study 1, 41 potential items were developed and assessed for item quality and comprehension. In Study 2, a panel of experts (N = 8; M = 11, SD = 6.5 years of experience) reviewed the scale and items for evidence of content validity. Participants in Study 3 (n = 135 males, n = 300 females) completed the BASES and various body image, personality, and emotion scales. A separate sample (n = 155; 35.5% male) in Study 3 completed the BASES twice using a two-week time interval. The BASES subscale scores demonstrated evidence for internal consistency, item-total correlations, concurrent, convergent, incremental, and discriminant validity, and 2-week test–retest reliability. The 4-factor solution was a good fit in confirmatory factor analysis, reflecting body-related shame, guilt, authentic and hubristic pride subscales of the BASES. The development and validation of the BASES may help advance body image and self-conscious emotion research by providing a foundation to examine the unique antecedents and outcomes of these specific emotional experiences.     

Preparing for uncertain careers: How youth deal with growing occupational uncertainties before the education-to-work transition

Recent changes in labor market and working conditions have rendered youth's education-to-work transitions and career prospects more uncertain. This study investigated how youth, while still in education or training, deal with perceived growing occupational uncertainties in terms of goal engagement (i.e., investing active effort in goal pursuit; surmounting obstacles) and goal disengagement (i.e., distancing from unattainable goals; protecting the self against failure experiences). Analyses with two closely matched samples of youth aged 16–25 years from Germany (N = 529) and Poland (N = 530) revealed high levels of goal engagement and a clear preference of engagement over disengagement. Whereas levels of engagement were comparable across countries, disengagement was considerably higher in Polish youth. Regarding the sources of individual differences in engagement and disengagement, sociodemographic factors had very limited effects in both countries. Compared to sociodemographic factors, the level of perceived growing occupational uncertainties, and especially youth's primary and secondary appraisals thereof, were more strongly and consistently associated with engagement and disengagement, especially in Germany, pointing to the prominence of perceptions and appraisals in shaping youth's responses to growing occupational uncertainties. We offer cultural and economic explanations for these findings and discuss implications for interventions aimed at fostering youth's engagement in preparing for their future careers under today's uncertain conditions.     

Career adaptability,job search self-efficacy and outcomes: A three-wave investigation among Chinese university graduates

Based on career construction theory, the current research examined the role of career adaptability in Chinese university graduates' job search process (N = 270). Results from a three-wave survey study showed that the four dimension of career adaptability (measured at wave 1) correlated positively with university graduates' job search self-efficacy (measured at wave 2) and their employment status (measured at wave 3). Among graduates who became employed, career adaptability dimensions also predicted positively their person–environment (P–E) fit perceptions (measured at wave 3). The results further showed that with the effects of demographics (gender, age, education level and major) and family background (family economical status and parental education) controlled for, when putting the four dimensions of career adaptability together, career concern and career control served as the strongest predictors for job search self-efficacy, which further mediated the positive effects of these two dimensions on employment status. In addition, career control also had indirect effect on P–E fit through the mediation of job search self-efficacy. Additional analyses using the global indicator of career adaptability also supported this mediation model such that career adaptability significantly predicted employment status and P–E fit, with these relations mediated by job search self-efficacy. These findings carry implications for research on career construction theory, as well as career education and career counseling practices.     

Perceived sacrifice and few alternatives commitments: The motivational underpinnings of continuance commitment's subdimensions

Using work on self-concepts and Conservation of Resources theory, the present research examined the motivational underpinnings of continuance commitment's subcomponents of perceived sacrifice and few alternatives. Study 1 (N = 208) found job scope to be positively related to perceived sacrifice commitment, and negatively related to few alternatives commitment. Study 2 (N = 147) found empowerment's meaning dimension to be positively related to perceived sacrifice commitment and self-determination to be negatively linked to few alternatives commitment. In Study 3 (N = 301), perceived sacrifice commitment was found to be positively related to feedback seeking, while few alternatives commitment was negatively related to it. Finally, Study 4 (N = 278) found perceived sacrifice commitment to be positively, and few alternatives commitment negatively, related to career success (promotion and pay raise decisions). Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Exploring types of career orientation: A latent class analysis approach

Career literature has been discussing the decline of the traditional career. Despite this debate, systematic information on the prevalence of contemporary career types is lacking. Two studies with large samples of employees aimed to determine types of career orientation, to explore their prevalence, and to validate these types by testing hypotheses relating each of the career orientations to work attitudes and sociodemographical variables. In study 1 (N = 835), we identified four types of career orientation – traditional/promotion, traditional/loyalty, independent, disengaged – applying exploratory latent class analysis. These were confirmed in study 2 (N = 737) with confirmatory latent class analysis. The variables associated with the career orientation types mostly followed the predicted pattern. Almost two thirds reported a traditional career orientation, while one fifth each expressed an independent and a disengaged orientation. This finding shows that people’s career orientation does not reflect the changes that many authors argue have been occurring.     

Validation of the German version of the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale and its relation to orientations to happiness and work stress

Career adapt-ability has recently gained momentum as a psychosocial construct that not only has much to offer the field of career development, but also contributes to positive coping, adjustment and self-regulation through the four dimensions of concern, control, curiosity and confidence. The positive psychology movement, with concepts such as the orientations to happiness, explores the factors that contribute to human flourishing and optimum functioning. This research has two main contributions; 1) to validate a German version of the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS), and 2) to extend the contribution of adapt-abilities to the field of work stress and explore its mediating capacity in the relation between orientations to happiness and work stress. We used a representative sample of the German-speaking Swiss working population including 1204 participants (49.8% women), aged between 26 and 56 (M_age = 42.04). Results indicated that the German version of the CAAS is valid, with overall high levels of model fit suggesting that the conceptual structure of career adapt-ability replicates well in this cultural context. Adapt-abilities showed a negative relationship to work stress, and a positive one with orientations to happiness. The engagement and pleasure scales of orientations to happiness also correlated negatively with work stress. Moreover, career adapt-ability mediates the relationship between orientations to happiness and work stress. In depth analysis of the mediating effect revealed that control is the only significant mediator. Thus control may be acting as a mechanism through which individuals attain their desired life at work subsequently contributing to reduced stress levels.     

Career patterns: A twenty-year panel study

Using 20 years of employment and job mobility data from a representative German sample (N = 1259), we employ optimal matching analysis (OMA) to identify six career patterns which deviate from the traditional career path of long-term, full-time employment in one organization. Then, in further analyses, we examine which socio-demographic predictors affect whether or not individuals follow that traditional career path. Results indicate that age, gender, marital status, number of children, education, and career starts in the public sector significantly predicted whether or not individuals followed the traditional career path. The article concludes with directions for future theoretical and methodological research on career patterns.     

Testing a bi-factor model to disentangle general and specific factors of motivation in self-determination theory

We examined the utility of the bi-factor model for disentangling general motivation and specific motivations (i.e., amotivation, external, introjected, identified, and intrinsic regulations) in relation to goal progress and physical activity (PA). Participants (N = 186 undergraduate students; M_age = 19.26 years) completed assessments of motivation and PA at Time 1. Four weeks later, PA and goal progress were assessed at Time 2. Results indicated that the exploratory bi-factor model specifying motivational regulations as the specific factors and general motivation as the general factor was a good fit to the data. Results of the structural equation model indicated that identified and intrinsic regulations and general motivation predicted concurrent PA at Time 1. A novel finding was that controlling for concurrent PA at Time 1, general motivation emerged as the only predictor of Time 2 goal progress and PA. Results highlight the importance of examining general motivation in addition to quality of motivation in tandem because general motivation emerged as the sole significant longitudinal predictor of PA outcomes.     

Career adaptability predicts subjective career success above and beyond personality traits and core self-evaluations

The Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS) measures career adaptability as a higher-order construct that integrates four psychosocial resources of employees for managing their career development: concern, control, curiosity, and confidence. The goal of the present study was to investigate the validity of the CAAS with regard to its effects on two indicators of subjective career success (career satisfaction and self-rated career performance) above and beyond the effects of employees' Big Five personality traits and core self-evaluations. Data came from a large and heterogeneous sample of employees in Australia (N = 1723). Results showed that overall career adaptability positively predicted career satisfaction and self-rated career performance above and beyond the Big Five personality traits and core self-evaluations. In addition, concern and confidence positively predicted the two indicators of subjective career success. The findings provide further support for the incremental validity of the CAAS.     

How would the self be remembered? Evidence for posthumous self-verification

Three correlational studies and one experiment examined self-verification versus self-enhancement in a posthumous context. In Study 1, in two samples (combined N = 3029) modal responses suggest a desire to be remembered as one really is, far into the future. Studies 2 (N = 92) and 3 (N = 414) showed that posthumous self-verification was independent of life satisfaction, positive self-evaluations, and self-construals but was related to self-esteem, the search for meaning in life, and generativity. In Study 4 (N = 461), the salience of negative and positive self-aspects was manipulated. Even when negative qualities were salient, the majority of participants (61%) preferred to be remembered as they really are. The role of self-verification in existential concerns is discussed.     

Envy mediates the relation between low academic self-esteem and hostile tendencies

In previous research, there has been little discussion about mediators or moderators that affect the negative relation between self-esteem and hostile tendencies. In the current article, we propose a model in which envy mediates that relation in the academic context. Across three studies, with correlational (N₁ = 303), experimental (N₂ = 76), and round-robin designs (N₃ = 330), results revealed that academic self-esteem indirectly influenced hostile tendencies through envy. In Studies 2 and 3, the indirect effect was moderated by the performance context. Results suggest that individuals with low academic self-esteem may exhibit hostile tendencies because of feelings of envy, especially in highly competitive contexts. Findings are discussed with respect to theoretical implications for research on personality and interpersonal perceptions.     

The psychometric qualities of a short version of the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale – Revised Child version

The Experiences in Close Relationships Scale – Revised Child version (ECR-RC; Brenning, Soenens, Braet, & Bosmans, 2011a) is a valuable tool for measuring anxious and avoidant attachment to parents in middle childhood and adolescence. However, given its substantial length, the present study aimed to develop an abridged ECR-RC. Four separate samples were used to attain this goal. First (Sample 1, N = 1880; M = 12 years), item selection resulted in a 12-item version, comprising six items for attachment anxiety and six items for attachment avoidance. Next, psychometric properties of this brief ECR-RC were investigated in Sample 1 and cross-validated in an older sample (Sample 2, N = 310; M = 16 years) and in a clinical sample (Sample 3, N = 99; M = 14 years). In all three samples, comparison of the full and reduced ECR-RC revealed similar psychometric properties. In a final sample (Sample 4, N = 110; M = 18 years), we assessed reliability, factor structure and validity when administering the 12-item ECR-RC as a stand-alone instrument. In conclusion, the brief ECR-RC showed excellent reliability and validity.