Job performance ratings: The relative importance of mental ability,conscientiousness, and career adaptability

According to career construction theory, continuous adaptation to the work environment is crucial to achieve work and career success. In this study, we examined the relative importance of career adaptability for job performance ratings using an experimental policy-capturing design. Employees (N = 135) from different vocational backgrounds rated the overall job performance of fictitious employees in 40 scenarios based on information about their career adaptability, mental ability, conscientiousness, and job complexity. We used multilevel modeling to investigate the relative importance of each factor. Consistent with expectations, career adaptability positively predicted job performance ratings, and this effect was relatively smaller than the effects of conscientiousness and mental ability. Job complexity did not moderate the effect of career adaptability on job performance ratings, suggesting that career adaptability predicts job performance ratings in high-, medium-, and low-complexity jobs. Consistent with previous research, the effect of mental ability on job performance ratings was stronger in high- compared to low-complexity jobs. Overall, our findings provide initial evidence for the predictive validity of employees' career adaptability with regard to other people's ratings of job performance.     

Career optimism: The roles of contextual support and career decision-making self-efficacy

Drawing from the social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986), we examined the role of parental support, teacher support, and career decision-making self-efficacy as sources of career optimism. We tested our proposed model using 235 computer science majors from a large university in the Philippines. Surveys were conducted over two measurement periods (1 year apart). Results revealed that Time 1 parental and teacher support were positively associated with Time 2 career optimism. Furthermore, we found that these direct relationships were fully mediated by Time 1 career decision-making self-efficacy. These results remained significant even after controlling for neuroticism and past performance. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Contemporary patterns of career construction of a group of urban workers in São Paulo (Brazil)

By means of a qualitative approach, this study sought to understand the patterns of career construction in contemporary times through content analysis of the narratives generated by a set of 40 urban workers in São Paulo (Brazil), intentionally selected. Five narrative patterns of career construction were found and related to the existing concepts (organizational career, protean and boundaryless career, professional career, transitional career, and hybrid careers), which were respectively described by their core feature (nostalgia, possibility, enclosure, instrumentality, and hybrid). The main results showed that one quarter of participants sought career stability, continuity, and linearity (Nostalgia), one quarter sought flexibility and discontinuity (Possibility), about 1/7 sought a career based on the profession/occupation (Enclosure), about one-third constructed hybrid career narratives, and there was a frequent emergence of crises (Instrumentality). The main contribution of this study was confirming the hybrid nature of contemporary career constructions produced in a constant tension between stability and flexibility, as well as between permanence and change; nevertheless, based on collective standards.     

Relationships of career adaptabilities with explicit and implicit self-concepts

Career adaptability is a psychosocial construct that incorporates a set of essential resources to one's career development. The adaptability resources' relevance is even higher when it comes to former communist countries, such as Romania, where job security and stability were seen as central benefits for workers. The aim of this study was to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the stable underpinnings of career adaptabilities by exploring their relationships with aspects of the self that are driven by automatic processes and that are less affected by self-presentation biases. A sample of 359 participants completed the Career Adapt Abilities Scale (CAAS)-Romanian form, out of which a subsample of 212 participants also completed a set of scales comprising explicit and implicit measures of conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism, and self-esteem. Results revealed nonsignificant additive contributions of the implicit self-concept measures over what was already explained by the explicit self-concepts. The most noticeable effect resides in the significant interaction between explicit and implicit self-esteem in relation to control, confidence, and overall adaptability. These results reveal that individuals with high explicit and low implicit self-esteem perceive themselves as being the most adaptable. Notably, these results were obtained using a Romanian version of CAAS that possesses very good psychometric properties (i.e., excellent internal consistencies, the same four-factor multidimensional solution, replicated patterns of associations between CAAS and explicit self-concepts of personality).     

Hope as a resource for career exploration: Examining incremental and cross-lagged effects

Hope is believed to be beneficial for vocational pursuits, but the question of how and why hope is related to pivotal career development variables remains largely unaddressed. In a series of three studies, we investigated the relationship between hope and career exploration. Study 1 examined at-risk adolescents (N = 228) in Switzerland and showed that hope explains variance in career exploration beyond the significant effects of generalized self-efficacy beliefs and perceived social support. Study 2 found the same result among a group (N = 223) of first-year students at a Swiss university with a measure of state hope. Study 3 applied a one-year cross-lagged design with a diverse group of students (N = 266) at a German university to investigate the mutual effects of dispositional hope and career exploration over time. Although both variables were found to be related within and over time, we could not confirm lagged effects in either direction. The results suggest that hope is significantly correlated with career exploration because both are related to personality and social–contextual variables.     

Career-specific parental behaviors,career exploration and career adaptability: A three-wave investigation among Chinese undergraduates

The current research examined the effects of career-specific parental behaviors (reported by parents at time 1) on Chinese university students' career exploration (reported by students at time 2) and career adaptability (reported by students at time 3). A survey study was conducted among Chinese university graduates (N = 244) and their parents (N = 244). The results supported a mediation model such that a high level of parental support and a low level of parental interference had beneficial effects on Chinese undergraduates' career exploration, which in turn positively predicted their career adaptability. Lack of parental career engagement had a direct negative effect on career adaptability. Significant interaction effects were also found among these three types of parental behaviors such that at a lower level of lack of parental career engagement, the positive effects of parental support, as well as the negative effects of interference on career exploration were stronger. The corresponding moderated mediation models were also supported. These findings carry implications for research on career construction theory and career counseling practices.     

Calling and career adaptability among undergraduate students

The present study examined the relation of calling and career adaptability with a sample of 330 undergraduate students. The presence of a calling weakly to moderately correlated with the four components of adaptability — concern, control, curiosity, and confidence. A moderated, multiple mediation model was used to test the potential mediating effects of the four components of career adaptability on career decision self-efficacy (CDSE) and how these relations differed according to strengths use. Using bootstrapping techniques, concern and confidence were found to be significant mediators in the calling–CDSE relation. Additionally, strengths use was found to moderate the relation between curiosity and CDSE, with curiosity being a significant mediator at high levels of strengths use. After including the mediators in the model, the relation of calling to CDSE was weakened, but still significant, indicating partial mediation. These results suggest that calling relates to greater levels of CDSE in part because of increased concern, curiosity (when strengths use is high), and confidence. Directions for future research are discussed.     

Gender differences in the family-relatedness of relocation decisions

Using a dyadic study design, the present study draws on research into the family-relatedness of work decisions to examine the impact of the spouse's characteristics on an employee's willingness to engage in job-related relocation. With a sample of 1234 employees, the results show that spousal willingness to relocate mediates (a) the negative effect of the spouse's community ties and (b) the positive effect of the spouse's job alternatives on an employee's willingness to relocate. The indirect effect of the spouse's job alternatives was stronger among female than among male employees. To validate employees' perceptions, this study uses matched data from a subsample of 207 employees and their spouses to test a multi-source model, which revealed several notable inconsistencies. Our exploration of discrepancies between employee and spousal ratings helps explain these differences between single-source and multi-source models. Overall, findings suggest that employees consider various spousal factors in their career decision-making, and the family-relatedness of relocation decisions is particularly strong among female employees.     

A culture-sensitive approach in the development of the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale in Iceland: Theoretical and operational considerations

The aim of this study was to develop a culturally sensitive version of the Career Adapt-Ability Scale (CAAS) in Iceland. First the translated international version of the 55-item CAAI designed to measure the four dimensions of career adaptability (concern, curiosity, control, and confidence) plus additional dimension called co-operation was administered to a sample of 491 secondary school students. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that both the four- and five-dimensional model show an adequate fit in the sample. An emic evaluation of the international model indicated that new facets tentatively called fatalism and contribution might be relevant in Iceland. New contextualized Icelandic items were written resulting in a combined 89-item measure of international and indigenous items administered to a sample of 1249 university students. Exploratory factor analysis supported contribution as a separate dimension and was used to create Icelandic scales measuring six dimensions: co-operation, contribution, and the four original dimensions. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the fit of three alternative 4–6-dimensional international and Icelandic models and measures of career adaptability in Iceland. An emic approach is needed to understand the cultural specificity and universal aspects of career adaptability and to develop culturally sensitive measures for use in career counseling. Further research on co-operation and contribution as relational constructs is suggested.