A longitudinal study of career success,embeddedness, and mobility of early career professionals

The study of voluntary job mobility has traditionally focused on how the present context and individual factors either support or constrain choice of blue and white collar workers. Less attention has been devoted to the relationships among career success, embeddedness, and mobility of early career professionals. How do past career success and job mobility affect job embeddedness, subsequent career success, and future mobility within and between organizations and occupations? Each of these constructs is often studied as a dependent variable, yet the relationships among them, over time, are rarely examined. We explore the effects of past objective career actions (promotions, % salary change, and job mobility) on current job embeddedness and subjective career success, and on job, organizational, and occupational mobility one year later. Results support the positive influence of past promotions, % salary change, and current job embeddedness on subjective career success, and a negative influence for past promotions, job embeddedness, and subjective career success on mobility one year later as people began to ‘settle in’. We also observed small positive relationships of past promotions and % salary change with job embeddedness, and of past job mobility with future mobility — indicating that objective career success contributes to embeddedness, yet those that move more often tend to keep doing so. There were no differences or interaction effects based on gender or years of work experience. We found significantly stronger negative relationships of embeddedness and subjective career success with mobility between occupations than for mobility within organizations. However, the same pattern of findings was observed for job, organization, and occupational mobility.     

Work attitudes,career success and health: Evidence from China

Research on the determinants and implications of career success, and in particular on how they are related to health among Chinese workers is scarce. This research explores the impact and relevance of individual attitudes of trust and organizational citizenship behavior on objective and subjective career success, and their relevance to physical and mental health. Further, we explore the moderating role of a career system on the relationships between work attitudes and career success. Using a random sample of 10,372 people in China we used multi-level linear regression methodology to explore a mediation–moderation model based on organizational theories. We found support for the impact of organizational citizenship behaviors and trust, for both objective and subjective career success as mediators of mental and physical health, and for a career system as a moderator, with significant differences emerging between workers employed in the public and private sectors. The results are important as they shed light on the relationship between work and life attitudes on outcomes of high relevance at national level. The original contribution would be of interest to policy makers at both organizational and national level.     

Personal values and academic achievement

Using data from two studies, we investigate the role of basic values in predicting academic achievement. We focus on self-direction and conformity, two-value domains that have been neglected or understudied in earlier research on academic success. In line with the refined value theory, we split self-direction into independence of thought and of action, and conformity into compliance with rules and formal obligations (Rules), and avoidance of upsetting others (Interpersonal). We obtained grades as measures of academic achievement in two samples of Italian high-school students. In Study 1 (n = 234), we measured values with the PVQ-40 and academic motivation. In Study 2 (n = 215), we measured values with the PVQ-RR and both attendance rates and classroom conduct. Results: Both self-direction–thought and conformity–rules correlated with higher grades. These two values related to grades through a different path. Self-direction thought promoted grades through autonomous forms of academic motivation. Conformity rules promoted grades through better teachers’ evaluations of students’ classroom behaviour. Self-direction–action and conformity–interpersonal were unrelated to grades. Regarding the other values, hedonism and stimulation related negatively to grades. Theoretical and practical implications of results are discussed.     

Overconfidence and underconfidence: When and why people underestimate (and overestimate) the competition

It is commonly held that people believe themselves to be better than others, especially for outcomes under their control. However, such overconfidence is not universal. This paper presents evidence showing that people believe that they are below average on skill-based tasks that are difficult. A simple Bayesian explanation can account for these effects and for their robustness: On skill-based tasks, people generally have better information about themselves than about others, so their beliefs about others’ performances tend to be more regressive (thus less extreme) than their beliefs about their own performances. This explanation is tested in two experiments that examine these effects’ robustness to experience, feedback, and market forces. The discussion explores the implications for strategic planning in general and entrepreneurial entry in particular.     

Effects of Personality on Individual Earnings: Leadership Role Occupancy as a Mediator

Purpose  The purpose of this study was to investigate the direct and indirect effects of personality characteristics on individual earnings and to examine a person’s leadership role occupancy as the potential mediator in the personality–earnings relationship. Design/Methodology/Approach  Longitudinal survey data were collected from a sample of 209 individuals. Earnings were measured 6 years after the personality variables. Findings  Two personality traits, i.e., Social Potency and Achievement, predict individual earnings longitudinally. The effects of personality were partially mediated by the person’s occupancy of leadership roles in the workplace. For those occupying similar leadership positions, people higher in social potency still have greater earnings. Implications  These findings lend support for personality assessment in personnel selection and have important implications for leadership development and individual career success. Originality/Value  Previous research suggests that personality influences individual earnings beyond the effects of traditional human capital variables. This study is among the first to distinguish personality’s direct and indirect (through leadership role occupancy) effects on individual earnings. The findings provide direct support for the incentive-enhancing property of personality as well as indirect support for the trait activation theory on the personality–earnings relationship.

What matters most? The relative role of mentoring and career capital in career success

This study used a career capital framework to compare the relative role of mentoring and three other forms of career capital (human, agentic, and developmental network capital) in predicting career success. Using a three-wave longitudinal design we found that mentoring added value, above and beyond the other forms of career capital, in predicting promotions and advancement expectations. However, although mentoring mattered for career success, it represented just a part of a constellation of career resources that are embedded within individuals and their relationships. Implications for future research are discussed.     

High-level athletes' perceptions of success in returning to sport following injury

ObjectiveFor many injured athletes, a safe and successful return to sport following injury is the ultimate aim of injury recovery. Little consensus exists however, regarding the meaning of a “successful” return to sport following injury recovery [Evans, L., Mitchell, I., &; Jones, S. (2006). Psychological responses to sport injury: a review of current research. In S. Hanton, &; S. D. Mellalieu (Eds.), Literature reviews in sport psychology (pp. 289–319). New York, NY: Nova Science Publishers]. The purpose of this investigation was to obtain greater insight into this issue by examining high-level athletes' perceptions of a successful return to play following injury.MethodUsing a longitudinal design, 12 elite athletes from Australia and Canada were interviewed on a total of 40 occasions over a six–eight month period.ResultsPerceptions of success centered on (but were not limited to): a return to pre-injury levels and attaining pre-injury goals, staying on the “right” path, creating realistic expectations of post-injury performance, and remaining uninjured.ConclusionsConsistent with previous research [Podlog, L., &; Eklund, R. C. (2007a). Professional coaches perspectives on the return to sport following serious injury. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 1, 44–68], findings from this investigation highlight the importance of self-determination theory (SDT) constructs – namely, competence, autonomy and relatedness – in relation to athlete perceptions of a successful return to sport from injury. Such findings support the value of an SDT perspective in guiding future research and intervention efforts aimed at facilitating successful return from injury.     

The two faces of fearless dominance and their relations to vocational success

We tested Lykken’s (1995) theory that the personality trait of fearless dominance (FD) can result in positive or negative life outcomes depending on whether the socialization process was successful or not. We tested FD’s predictive and moderated relations with vocational success over a time interval of 4 years. We found that the relations between FD and change in income were moderated by level of education. When educational level was high (low), there was a positive (negative) relation between FD and change in income. Change in income mediated the relation between FA and vocational satisfaction. Finally, FD directly predicted vocational satisfaction after 4 years. Implications and limitations are discussed.     

中小学生考试成败归因的研究

从小三、初二、高二随机选择有效被试４１０名,探讨了中小学生对考试结果的归因、期望和情感反应的特点。结果发现：（１）中小学生对考试成败原因有不同的认知,年级差异显著,性别差异不显著。（２）失败后的期望显著地高于成功情境,且极显著地认为失败的结果能改变。（３）成功后学生主要产生了感激、自豪与欣慰,失败后主要产生了内疚;成功后的情感反应更强烈。