Job search self-efficacy: Reconceptualizing the construct and its measurement

Job search self-efficacy (JSSE) is one of the most studied variables in the job search literature and an important component of the theory of planned behavior and self-regulation theory which have both been used to explain the job search process. However, even though JSSE has been a part of job search research for thirty years, the measurement of JSSE has varied from study to study. This questions both the validity of the measures used and the findings from each study that used a different measure. In this paper, we propose and test a two dimensional measure of JSSE that corresponds to job search behavior (JSSE-B) and job search outcomes (JSSE-O). The results of a longitudinal study of employed and unemployed job seekers support a two-factor model corresponding to the two dimensions of JSSE. We also found differential relationships between each dimension of JSSE and several antecedents and consequences. Among the antecedents, environmental exploration and self-exploration were stronger predictors of JSSE-B while career planning was a stronger predictor of JSSE-O. In terms of consequences, JSSE-B was a stronger predictor of job search intention and behavior while JSSE-O was a stronger predictor of the number of job offers received. These findings provide support for two dimensions of JSSE and have important implications for job search research and practice.     

Bridging the gap between intentions and behavior: Implementation intentions, action control, and procrastination

In the context of Ajzen’s (1991) theory of planned behavior, the antecedents of intentions are better understood than the antecedents of behavior. The current study aimed to improve the understanding of the transition from intentions to behavior. Based on the work of Gollwitzer (1993), Kuhl and Beckmann (1994), and Lay (1986) we proposed a model of mediators (i.e., implementation intentions) and moderators (i.e., action-state orientation and trait procrastination) in the intention-behavior relation. The model was applied to job seeking, and tested using longitudinal survey data of a sample of unemployed individuals in The Netherlands (N = 175). Support was found for the proposed mediating role of implementation intentions in the relation between job search intention and job search behavior. The proposed moderating roles of action-state orientation and trait procrastination were not supported.     

失业人员求职行为的影响因素及作用机制 ——基于沈阳市的一项研究

对失业人员求职行为影响因素的研究是开展失业人员求职培训的重要依据。本研究对272名失业人员的求职行为的影响因素及作用机制进行了研究。多元回归分析的结果表明,（1）环境变量对求职行为没有显著的预测作用,而经济压力和知觉到的就业机会对求职意向有显著的预测作用。（2）求职自我效能感和就业承诺对求职行为起到了显著的预测作用。求职自我效能感和就业承诺越高,求职行为的频率越高。（3）求职意向对求职行为有显著的正向预测作用。（4）求职意向在求职自我效能感、就业承诺对求职行为的作用过程中中介作用显著;在知觉到的就业机会、经济压力和社会支持对求职行为的作用过程中中介作用不显著     

深谋远虑:前瞻行为研究的回顾与展望

前瞻行为是一个自我发起、未来导向以及试图改变现状的积极行为,能够为个人与组织带来正面的影响.本文旨于回顾前瞻行为的本质、前导因素、动机历程以及结果效应,也特别回顾笔者近期针对前瞻行为所进行的研究.首先,关于前瞻一词可以从不同的角度进行理解,包括个别差异观点、行为观点与历程观点.由于过去文献多从行为观点进行研究,本文的回顾亦以行为观点为主轴.其次,本文逐一回顾目前文献所提出的三个关于促进前瞻行为的动机历程:能力、缘由与情绪.再者,笔者讨论各种能够促发前瞻行为的前导因素,包括个人因素、环境因素,以及两者间的交互作用如何影响前瞻行为的展现.笔者也基于过去的研究发现,总结前瞻行为所能导致的结果,包括工作态度与绩效.最后,在近期研究的介绍中,笔者介绍了三个根据个别差异的观点所进行的研究.此研究路线旨在了解人格特质对前瞻行为的影响,并且勾勒情境所扮演的调节效应.全文最终总结前瞻行为的研究现状,以及提出未来可能探索的研究方向.     

工作不安全感的研究现状与展望

工作不安全感反映了一种雇员对工作或工作重要特性受到威胁时的感知和担忧。从上世纪80年代以来,它已逐步成为西方组织行为及职业心理健康研究领域中的一个重要构念。文章从5种视角厘清工作不安全感内涵及研究中存在的混淆之处,对其测量工具、研究取向进行介绍,并对有关其前因、后果和调节变量的实证研究成果进行系统性的总结,在此基础上指出未来研究的方向：（1）亟待开发统一的测量工具;（2）在区分组织情境的条件下开展更细化的研究;（3）对前因及后果的细致探索;（4）加强对调节变量的研究;（5）纵向研究的需要;（6）跨文化比较研究。     

Job search and employment: a personality-motivational analysis and meta-analytic review

A motivational, self-regulatory conceptualization of job search was used to organize and investigate the relationships between personality, expectancies, self, social, motive, and biographical variables and individual differences in job search behavior and employment outcomes. Meta-analytic results indicated that all antecedent variables, except optimism, were significantly related to job search behavior, with estimated population correlations ranging from -.15 to .46. As expected, job search behavior was significantly and positively related to finding employment. Several antecedents of job search were also significantly related to employment success, although the size of these relationships was consistently smaller than those obtained for job search. Moderator analyses showed significant differences in the size of variable relationships for type of job search measure (effort vs. intensity) and sample type (job loser vs. employed job seeker vs. new entrant).     

Development and test of an integrative model of job search behaviour

Research on job search and the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) has identified job search attitude, subjective norm, and job search self-efficacy as the most proximal determinants of job seekers’ search intentions and subsequently job search behaviours. However, we do not yet know how more distal individual differences (e.g., personality) and situational factors (e.g., social context) might help to predict these key TPB determinants of job search behaviour. In an integrative model of job search behaviour, we propose specific relationships between these distal variables and the TPB determinants, which in turn are expected to mediate the effects of individual differences and situational factors on job search behaviour. The hypothesized model is tested in a large representative sample of 1,177 unemployed Flemish job seekers using a two-wave design and provides a satisfactory fit to the data. Extraversion, conscientiousness, core self-evaluations, employment commitment, financial need, and social support are found to differentially relate to instrumental job search attitude, affective job search attitude, subjective norm, and job search self-efficacy. In addition, all distal variables are indirectly related to job search behaviour through their effects on the TPB variables. These results support our expanded and integrative model of job search behaviour.     

The role of approach and avoidance motives for unemployed job search behavior

The current study investigated the role of approach and avoidance motives for unemployed job search behavior. Two approach motives (employment and PJ-fit) and two avoidance motives (low-expectation and low-interest) were distinguished. Antecedents and consequences of these motives were examined using a sample of 303 unemployed clients of reemployment agencies, and obtaining motive ratings from both the unemployed and their counselors. The findings showed that three motives (employment, low-expectation and low-interest) improved the prediction of job search behavior in addition to a set of antecedents that have been widely studied in the literature. In turn, the motives were predicted by different antecedents. The findings suggest that it is important to identify and address unemployed approach and avoidance motives since they might affect reemployment success.     

A longitudinal study of the determinants and outcomes of career change

The present longitudinal field study investigated the antecedents and consequences of an actual career change. The framework for this study was Rhodes and Doering's (1983) model of career change. We examined the effect of individual and organisational characteristics on career change behaviour. The individual characteristics were: traits (Openness to Experience, Extraversion, Conscientiousness and general self-efficacy), demographic factors (age, gender, marital status, and children), human capital (education level and occupational tenure), job satisfaction, job search activity and intentions to leave; and organisational factors (job security and salary). The findings showed that a range of individual characteristics were associated with career change including, Openness to Experience, Extraversion, gender, age, educational level, and occupation tenure. However, job security was the only organisational factor related to career change. One year after career change, individuals reported higher job satisfaction, improved job security and a reduction in the number of hours worked.     

Attitudes and Social Support: Determinants of Job-Seeking Behavior and Well-Being among the Unemployed1

What determines job-seeking behavior following a job loss? What are the mental health consequences of an unsuccessful job search? These questions were addressed in a longitudinal panel survey of 297 recently unemployed people, over a four-month period of their lives. In support of the Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) attitude-behavior model, intention to try hard to seek reemployment was the main significant predictor of job-seeking behavior during the subsequent four months. Intention, along with affirmation support from a significant other regarding the value of job search, accounted for 24% of the variance in job-seeking behavior. The attitude toward job seeking and the subjective norms (perceived social pressure to seek reemployment) were the main determinants of the intention, accounting for 69% of its variance. The unemployed person's attitude toward job seeking and subjective norms were, in turn, determined by (a) perceived instrumentality (expectations that job-seeking will lead to reemployment), (b) perceived economic hardship, (c) social support from the significant other (usually the spouse) in the form of affirmation of the value of job-seeking activities, and (d) the significant other's perception of the instrumentality of various job-seeking behaviors and of subjective norms regarding job-seeking. Other analyses showed that social support can counteract the negative effects of unsuccessful job search on mental health and that such effects are particularly pronounced among the more highly motivated job seekers. The implications of these findings for intervention programs are discussed.     

PREDICTORS OF JOB SEARCH BEHAVIOR AMONG EMPLOYED AND UNEMPLOYED PEOPLE

This study investigated job search behavior and its predictors among employed and unemployed people. Ajzen's (1985) theory of planned behavior (TPB) was used to predict job search intention and behavior in both groups. In addition, we examined the indirect effects of several other variables (i.e., job satisfaction, organizational commitment, work valence, expectancy, and financial need). Data were collected in a 2-wave longitudinal design, using a sample of employed individuals ( N = 989) and a sample of unemployed individuals ( N = 317). Results supported the applicability of the TPB in the 2 groups. The attitude-intention-behavior relationship was stronger in the unemployed group than in the employed group. The TPB variables partially mediated the effects of the additional variables studied.     

Disruptive decisions to leave home: Gender and family differences in expatriation choices

I developed a theoretical model predicting how gender and family status would influence employee willingness to expatriate, international job search behavior, and expatriation decisions and tested the model in a longitudinal investigation. Australian employees comprising 230 females and 401 males with partners and/or children and 208 female and male childless singles were surveyed three times over three years. Employees who had greater personal agency and less family barriers were more willing to expatriate, to search for international jobs, and to eventually leave their home countries. Having a family restricted females’ ability to transform their willingness to expatriate into an international job search to a greater extent than it did males’. In turn, international job search predicted actual expatriation for a job. Overall, the expatriation interests of women with partners and/or children were least realized (most inhibited) in international job search and subsequent expatriation behavior. The interests of childless single employees were most realized. The study challenges current thinking on women’s willingness to expatriate by demonstrating that women are willing to expatriate, but family factors lead to women being less able to transform their willingness into an international job search than men, subsequently flowing on to women expatriating less for work than men.     

工作－家庭冲突的前因、后果及干预策略

随着劳动力结构与工作特点的巨大变化,工作－家庭冲突问题日益突出。国内外研究主要从工作、家庭与个体三个层面对工作－家庭冲突的前因变量、后果变量及干预策略进行了深入探讨。前因变量主要包括工作与家庭层面的压力、特点,性别等;后果变量主要涉及个体的工作家庭满意感、组织承诺、离职和心身健康;干预策略涉及家庭友好政策和个体应对方式等。作者认为今后研究可以在工作－家庭冲突积极面、跨文化研究等方面进行突破     

Future-oriented emotions in the prediction of binge-drinking intention and expectation: the role of anticipated and anticipatory emotions

The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) offers a parsimonious explanation of purposive behavior, but in the study of healthy and risk behaviors its sufficiency may be questioned. Working with binge-drinking, a very common risk behavior in Spanish undergraduate students, we used two strategies for improving predictions from TPB: using behavioral intention (BI) and behavioral expectation (BE) as proximal antecedents of behaviors and adding as new predictors two future-oriented emotions (anticipated and anticipatory). Hierarchical regression analyses show that while anticipated emotions improved TPB explanations of BI, anticipatory emotions improved the explanations of BE. The present results show the influence of future emotions in the prediction of behavioral intention and behavioral expectation.     

Predicting the travel intention to take High Speed Rail among college students

In order to understand travelers’ willingness to take Taiwan’s High Speed Rail (HSR) and its antecedents, this study adds two constructs – novelty seeking and trust – to the model of theory of planned behavior (TPB). The study collected research data from a university in northern Taiwan, resulting in an effective data of 300 subjects. Results indicate that attitude, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norm are found to have positive effects on the behavioral intention of taking HSR. Furthermore, novelty seeking and trust also have positive influences on attitude and three antecedents of the intention in taking HSR respectively. Theoretical and marketing implications are derived.     

Having Casual Sex: Additive and Interactive Effects of Alcohol and Condom Availability on the Determinants of Intentions

The impact of alcohol, condom availability, and gender on intentions to engage in casual sex and its antecedents was investigated. Students ( N = 384) who were or were not intoxicated with alcohol completed measures based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) in relation to having casual sex in a scenario. The scenario described sex between 2 individuals not in a relationship and manipulated the consumption of alcohol of the sexual partners and availability of condoms. The data were supportive of the TPB: Intentions were predictable from attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control (PBC). Results also support the inclusion of measures of past behavior and anticipated affective reactions, but not self-identity or moral norms as predictors of intentions. Alcohol in the scenario and condom availability increased intentions to have sex. There were also several interaction effects. Implications for using the TPB to understand sexual behaviors under the influence of alcohol are discussed.     

Job search as goal-directed behavior: Objectives and methods

This study investigated the relationship between job search objectives (finding a new job/turnover, staying aware of job alternatives, developing a professional network, and obtaining leverage against an employer) and job search methods (looking at job ads, visiting job sites, networking, contacting employment agencies, contacting employers, and submitting applications). In a sample of 205 employed individuals from Belgium and Romania, job search objectives were significantly related to job search methods even after job satisfaction was controlled. Furthermore, particular objectives predicted specific methods. While the finding a new job/turnover objective predicted all search methods, staying aware of alternatives predicted using job ads and sites; the network objective predicted networking and contacting employers; and the leverage objective predicted contacting employers. Results suggest that search objectives are important for understanding job seekers’ search behavior and support the view that job search is a self-regulatory process that begins with objectives which activate search behavior.     

Job search and the theory of planned behavior: Minority-majority group differences in The Netherlands

The labor market in many Western countries increasingly diversifies. However, little is known about job search behavior of “non-traditional” applicants such as ethnic minorities. This study investigated minority-majority group differences in the predictors of job search behavior, using the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1985). Data were collected in a two-wave longitudinal design among 697 temporary employees in The Netherlands. Results showed that the ethnic minorities' perceptions of social pressure predicted intentions to search for a (new) job more strongly than their personal attitudes did. The opposite was found in the native-Dutch group. Self-efficacy did not contribute to the prediction of job search intention. Job search behavior related significantly to job search outcomes, such as job attainment.     

促进型和抑制型建言的差异

本文系统地回顾了促进型和抑制型建言在前因与后果上的差异。这些差异的理论基础包括计划行为理论、调节焦点理论、目标导向理论、社会期望理论、资源保存理论、归因理论、自我损耗理论、认知评价理论以及情感事件理论。与理论相对应, 两类建言前因的差异体现在建言者特质(如人格、动机)、领导风格与行为、领导成员交换和组织层面的因素(如组织政治、组织公平)等方面; 后果的差异体现在建言者工作态度与行为(如绩效、工作满意度)、领导建言采纳和团队绩效等方面。未来可能的研究方向包括:探讨两类建言在团队中的共存、两类建言的文化差异等。     

秒回?信息通讯技术时代的职场通讯压力

职场通讯压力是指员工想要快速回复基于信息通讯技术(information and communication technology, ICT)的工作消息而体验到的紧迫性, 现有研究对其成因及影响路径的探讨较为零散且缺乏系统性认识。基于工作要求-资源模型并结合努力-恢复模型, 讨论作为工作要求的ICT使用以及作为个人要求/资源的个体因素对职场通讯压力的前因作用; 探讨职场通讯压力因阻碍恢复活动而对员工身心健康以及工作和家庭领域产生的消极影响, 以期增进对职场通讯压力的全面了解, 丰富现有研究对ICT使用后果的认识, 并为未来研究的展开以及员工职业心理健康干预实践提供参考。