Developing agency through good work: Longitudinal effects of job autonomy and skill utilization on locus of control

An internal locus of control has benefits for individuals across multiple life domains. Nevertheless, whether it is possible to enhance an individual's internal locus of control has rarely been considered. The authors propose that the presence of job autonomy and skill utilization in work can enhance internal locus of control, both directly and indirectly via job satisfaction. Three waves of data over a four-year period from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey (N = 3045) were analyzed. Results showed that job autonomy directly shaped internal locus of control over time, as did job satisfaction. Skill utilization did not play a role in terms of affecting locus of control, and the indirect effects of both job autonomy and skill utilization via job satisfaction were weak. This study suggests the importance of job autonomy in promoting the development of an employee's internal locus of control.     

Career adaptability and academic satisfaction: Examining work volition and self efficacy as mediators

The present study examined the relation between the four components of career adaptability – concern, control, curiosity, and confidence (Savickas & Porfeli, 2012) – and academic satisfaction. Drawing from a diverse sample of 412 undergraduate students, all four components moderately correlated with academic satisfaction. In an effort to explain these relations, work volition and career decision self-efficacy (CDSE) were examined as potential mediator variables. Using structural equation modeling, work volition significantly mediated the control to satisfaction relation and CDSE significantly mediated the concern, control, and confidence to satisfaction relations. After including all variables in the model, none of the career adaptability components significantly related with academic satisfaction. These results suggest that for undergraduate students, feeling adaptable in one's career may link to greater levels of academic satisfaction due, in part, to greater feelings of control and confidence in one's career decision making.     

Super's Work Values Inventory: Issues of Subtest Internal Consistency Using a Sample of Chinese University Students in Hong Kong

The authors discuss observed weaknesses in internal consistency (Cronbach's alphas below .60) within five subtests of the Work Values Inventory when translated into Chinese and used with a sample of 211 university students in Hong Kong. Possible reasons for the weaknesses are explored, and suggestions are made for improvement.     

Occupational segregation and psychological gender differences: How empathizing and systemizing help explain the distribution of men and women into (some) occupations

The proportion of men and women workers varies among occupation types. There are several factors that may contribute to occupational segregation by gender. Using a large U.S. sample (n = 2149), we examine the extent to which occupational segregation can be attributed to gender differences in empathizing and systematizing: Psychological dimensions which theorists argue represent meaningful differences between men and women. Of the eight occupational categories for which employee gender and occupation type were associated at the p < .01 level, four of these – Construction, Professional/Scientific/Technical fields, Management, and Education – were partially mediated by systemizing and/or empathizing scores, which typically accounted for 10–20% of the observed gender differences. For other areas, like Health, gender differences were not mediated by either measure.     

Hardiness as a moderator variable between the Big-Five Model and work effort

The aim of the present study is to analyse hardiness as a moderator variable among personality traits, assessed using the Big-Five or Five Factor Model (FFM) and responses in work effort of workers confronted with stress. Using a multi-occupational sample of 403 subjects, statistically significant correlations between the factors of the FFM and work effort were found, as well as between hardiness and effort, as predicted by the theoretical model. Finally, empirical evidence indicates that hardiness performs a moderating role between the factors of FFM and effort displayed, in the sense that hardiness (understood as a quantitative variable) affects the intensity of the relationship between the structure of personality (predictor variable) and work effort (criterion variable), that is, even taking into account that personality structure affects work effort, people who score high in hardiness will show more effort.     

A comparison of self-nominated and actual speeds in work zones

Despite significant research on drivers’ speeding behavior in work zones, little is known about how well drivers’ judgments of appropriate speeds match their actual speeds and what factors influence their judgments. This study aims to fill these two important gaps in the literature by comparing observed speeds in two work zones with drivers’ self-nominated speeds for the same work zones. In an online survey, drivers nominated speeds for the two work zones based on photographs in which the actual posted speed limits were not revealed. A simultaneous equation modeling approach was employed to examine the effects of driver characteristics on their self-nominated speeds. The results showed that survey participants nominated lower speeds (corresponding to higher compliance rates) than those which were observed. Higher speeds were nominated by males than females, young and middle aged drivers than older drivers, and drivers with truck driving experience than those who drive only cars. Larger differences between nominated and observed speeds were found among car drivers than truck drivers. These differences suggest that self-nominated speeds might not be valid indicators of the observed work zone speeds and therefore should not be used as an alternative to observed speed data.     

Our neoliberal fantasies? A preliminary test of research trends in leading journals in work and organizational psychology

Prior to engaging in a substantive discussion on the supposed influence of neoliberalism on research in work and organizational psychology (WOP), it is important to verify the empirical basis of the trends advanced by Bal and Dóci (Neoliberal ideology in work and organizational psychology, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology [Online First Publication, 2018]). To this end, we content analysed 745 abstracts of empirical studies published in leading WOP journals during the years 2006–2007 and 2016–2017. Results of our content analysis do not support the hypothesized trends towards more instrumentality and individualism in WOP research, suggesting that Bal and Dóci’s (2018) portrayal of the WOP literature does not provide a solid basis for discussion. On the basis of our findings, we conclude with recommendations to broaden the scope of WOP research to also include macro-level, societal issues.     

Work demands and resources and the work–family interface: Testing a salience model on German service sector employees

The present study tested an extended version of Voydanoff's “differential salience vs. comparable salience model” in a sample of German service workers. Our findings partially support the model in a different national/cultural context but also yielded some divergent findings with respect to within-domain resources and boundary-spanning demands. In line with the theoretical framework, work-to-home interference (WHI) mainly occurred because of high work demands and not because of a lack of work resources. Boundary-spanning resources yielded comparable potential to reduce WHI and enhance work-to-home enrichment (WHE). WHE was expected to more likely occur due to the activation of work resources rather than the absence of work demands. However, control over one's work did not have a significant impact on WHE. In addition and contrary to the theoretical model, boundary-spanning demands were found to be differentially rather than comparably salient to the work–family interface.     

Predicting the job and life satisfaction of Italian teachers: Test of a social cognitive model

This study tested a social cognitive model of work and life satisfaction (Lent & Brown, 2006, 2008) in a sample of 235 Italian school teachers. The model offered good overall fit to the data, though not all individual path coefficients were significant. Three of five predictors (favorable work conditions, efficacy-relevant supports, and positive affectivity) produced significant, direct paths to job satisfaction. Job satisfaction, progress at personal work goals, and positive affectivity were predictive of teachers' life satisfaction. Task self-efficacy was related indirectly both to job satisfaction (via work conditions) and life satisfaction (via goal progress). Implications of the findings for future research and efforts to promote teachers' job satisfaction are discussed.     

Social strategies during university studies predict early career work burnout and engagement: 18-year longitudinal study

This longitudinal study spanning 18 years examined the role of social strategies in early career adaptation. The aim was to find out whether individuals' social strategies measured during their university studies had an impact on work burnout and work engagement measured 10–18 years later. A sample of 292 university students completed the SAQ questionnaire three times while at university and the work burnout inventory three times and the work engagement inventory twice during their early career. According to the results, the higher the initial level of social optimism and the more it increased during university studies, and the lower the initial levels of social withdrawal and social handicapping and the more they decreased, the lower was the level of work burnout and the higher the level of work engagement in the early career. The effects of the level of social strategies were stronger on the professional efficacy subscale of burnout.