Measuring adaptability demands of jobs and the adaptability of military and civilians

Jobs within the military and in civil society differ in character and requirements. It is assumed that differences in job types both within civil and military domains require different dimensions of adaptability competency. The present study investigates this assumption. The Dutch Adaptability Dimensions And Performance Test (D-ADAPT) was used to measure both the adaptability demands of jobs, and of self-assessed adaptability competency of employees. In addition, the predictive value of certain personality traits (openness, neuroticism, and conscientiousness) and other relevant personal characteristics (cognitive flexibility, learning goal orientation) on various adaptability dimensions was explored. Military personnel were found to estimate their adaptability competency as higher than civilians did. With respect to the civilian jobs, the adaptability demands varied across job types. This was not found in the set of military jobs, possibly due to a smaller variety of jobs included. This study also shows that a variety of personal characteristics predict different dimensions of adaptability. Cognitive flexibility was found to be the best predictor for adaptability in general. Openness turned out to be a good predictor within the civilian group, whereas neuroticism was a better predictor within the military group. Results of this study contribute to a better understanding of work adaptability and influencing personality characteristics. Practical implications for selection and training of personnel can be derived, based on the acquisition of adaptability competency that matches the type of job.     

Interpersonal conflict and meaning making in early adulthood: a self-regulation perspective

The aim of this study was to explore meaning making in response to interpersonal conflict in a group of young adults. A self-regulatory perspective was taken to explore and elaborate on current approaches to meaning making. Participants were 127 young adults aged between 19 and 30. Interactive Qualitative Analysis was applied to first identify significant factors that play a role in interpersonal conflict, and second to develop a conceptual model based on perceived relations between these factors. A model with 11 themes in which 43.6% of the total number of relational pairs explained 71.8% of the variance, was developed. Findings support current approaches to meaning making as a dynamic self-regulated process, while new avenues for exploring meaning making as part of a larger complex system of psychological processes emerged.