International–local remuneration differences across six countries: Do they undermine poverty reduction work?

Despite the rhetoric of a single global economy, professionals in poorer countries continue to be remunerated differently depending on whether they are compensated at a local vs. international rate. Project ADDUP (Are Development Discrepancies Undermining Performance?) surveyed 1290 expatriate and local professionals (response rate = 47%) from aid, education, government, and business sectors in (1) Island Nations (Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands), (2) landlocked economies (Mala?i, Uganda), and (3) emerging economies (India, China). Difference in pay was estimated using purchasing power parity, from the World Bank's World Development Indicators 2007. Psychological measures included self‐reported pay and benefits (remuneration), self‐attributed ability, remuneration comparison, sense of justice in remuneration, remuneration‐related motivation, thoughts of turnover and thoughts about international mobility. We included control measures of candour, culture shock, cultural values (horizontal/vertical individualism/collectivism), personality (from the “big five”), job satisfaction and work engagement. Controlling for these and country (small effects) and organization effects (medium), (a) pay ratios between international and local workers exceeded what were perceived to be acceptable pay thresholds among respondents remunerated locally; who also reported a combination of a sense of relative (b) injustice and demotivation; which (c) together with job satisfaction/work engagement predicted turnover and international mobility. These findings question the wisdom of dual salary systems in general, expose and challenge a major contradiction between contemporary development policy and practice, and have a range of practical, organizational, and theoretical implications for poverty reduction work.     

Remuneration discrepancies in the landlocked economies of Malaŵi and Uganda

Although the original study of remuneration differences between local and expatriate development workers took place in the landlocked economy of Mala?i, the study has never been replicated outside of one sector and organization (the National University), and took place prior to the 2000 Millennium Development Goals. Participating in the present studies were 458 aid and development professionals, working across a range of sectors in Mala?i (n = 241, response rate = 50%) and Uganda (n = 217, response rate = 51%). The size of the gap between local and international workers, measured using the World Bank's purchasing power parity, was higher in Mala?i (4.04:1) than in Uganda (1.97:1). The ratio was more clearly within tolerance levels in Uganda than in Mala?i. Consistent with these differences, and controlling for organization, cultural, and demographic factors, locally remunerated workers reported more and expatriate workers less injustice and demotivation in Mala?i than in Uganda. Although sample sizes for the internationally remunerated are small, the findings suggest that wider disparities may (1) hinder perspective‐taking and (2) decrease motivation. In‐country workshops with stakeholders and subject‐matter experts considered the findings, and potential solutions offered through the survey form. They recommended the implementation of performance‐based remuneration, including competency‐based job analysis and evaluation. Competencies in such functions can be provided by humanitarian work psychology.     

Personal vulnerability and work‐home interaction: The effect of job performance‐based self‐esteem on work/home conflict and facilitation

Innstrand, S. T., Langballe, E. M., Espnes, G. A., Aasland, O. G. & Falkum, E. (2010). Personal vulnerability and work‐home interaction: The effect of job performance‐based self‐esteem on work/home conflict and facilitation. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 51, 480–487. The aim of the present study was to examine the longitudinal relationship between job performance‐based self‐esteem (JPB‐SE) and work‐home interaction (WHI) in terms of the direction of the interaction (work‐to‐home vs. home‐to‐work) and the effect (conflict vs. facilitation). A sample of 3,475 respondents from eight different occupational groups (lawyers, physicians, nurses, teachers, church ministers, bus drivers, and people working in advertising and information technology) supplied data at two points of time with a two‐year time interval. The two‐wave, cross‐lagged structural equations modeling (SEM) analysis demonstrated reciprocal relationships between these variables, i.e., job performance‐based self‐esteem may act as a precursor as well as an outcome of work‐home interaction. The strongest association was between job performance‐based self‐esteem and work‐to‐home conflict. Previous research on work‐home interaction has mainly focused on situational factors. This longitudinal study expands the work‐home literature by demonstrating how individual vulnerability (job performance‐based self‐esteem) contributes to the explanation of work‐home interactions.     

Exploring the path through which career adaptability increases job satisfaction and lowers job stress: The role of affect

The construct of career adaptability, or the ability to successfully manage one's career development and challenges, predicts several important outcomes; however, little is known about the mechanisms contributing to its positive effects. The present study investigated the impact of career adaptability on job satisfaction and work stress, as mediated by individuals' affective states. Using a representative sample of 1671 individuals employed in Switzerland we hypothesized that, over time, career adaptability amplifies job satisfaction and attenuates work stress, through higher positive affect and lower negative affect, respectively. The data resulted from the first three waves of a longitudinal project on professional paths conducted in Switzerland. For each wave, participants completed a survey. Results of the 3-wave cross-lagged longitudinal model show that employees with higher career adaptability at Time 1 indeed experienced at Time 3 higher job satisfaction and lower work stress than those with lower career adaptability. The effect of career adaptability on job satisfaction and work stress was accounted for by negative affect: Individuals higher on career adaptability experienced less negative affect, which led to lower levels of stress and higher levels of job satisfaction, beyond previous levels of job satisfaction and work stress. Overall results support the conception of career adaptability as a self-regulatory resource that may promote a virtuous cycle in which individuals' evaluations of their resources to cope with the environment (i.e., career adaptability) shape their affective states, which in turn influence the evaluations of their job.     

Exploring links between career adaptability,work volition,and well-being among Turkish students

The present study examined how the four components of career adaptability (concern, confidence, control, curiosity; Savickas & Porfeli, 2012) related to life satisfaction and the degree to which life meaning and work volition mediated these relations. In Study 1, scores from the Work Volition Scale–Student Version was validated with a sample of Turkish undergraduate students. In Study 2, with a new sample of Turkish students, all four components of career adaptability were found to significantly correlate with life satisfaction. Structural equation modeling revealed that life meaning and work volition each served as significant mediators between concern, control, and life satisfaction. Additionally, in the full mediation model, none of the adaptability components significantly related to life satisfaction. These findings suggest that concern and control over one's career may link with greater life satisfaction due, in part, to an increased sense of control in career decision making and increased life meaning.     

Work values and the transition to work life: A longitudinal study

Research on career development has shown that work values play a key motivational role in job selection and career development. In the context of the current economic crisis, it is of particular relevance to examine the role of work values for employment in the transition from school to work. This longitudinal study examined the role of intrinsic (perceived importance of having a job that is interesting and matches one's own competences), rewards (having a good salary and high chance for promotion), and security (having a stable job) work values on subsequent employment status and person–job fit (how an individual's job matches one's own characteristics such as education and job preferences). Finnish participants reported their work values and background variables via questionnaire at ages 20 and 23 (Ns = 348 and 415 respectively). Intrinsic work values predicted a higher degree of person–job fit two years later. Rewards work values predicted lower chances of being unemployed; and security work values predicted higher chances of being unemployed later on. Family socio-economic status (SES) was not related to employment outcomes in this Finnish sample.     

Minimizing gender differences in children's interest assessment: Development of the Inventory of Children's Activities-3 (ICA-3)

The focus of this study was on revising the Inventory of Children's Activities–Revised (ICA-R; Tracey & Ward, 1998) to enhance its psychometric properties while minimizing gender differences in scale scores. The original 30 ICA-R items and an additional 30 items were administered to 70,280 fifth-eighth grades students. The original scoring was compared to a revised scoring method based solely on the empirically best items and a scoring method balancing empirical scoring with minimizing gender differences. All three item sets (original, empirical, and combined empirical/gender balancing) resulted in strong internal consistency estimates and adequate fit to the circular structure, yet the combined empirical/gender method had much lower gender differences especially for the scales measuring Investigative and Social interests. The implications of using the revised scale with children is discussed.     

Interest in truth versus beauty: Intellect and Openness reflect different pathways towards interest

Openness and Intellect have been proposed as different pathways towards cognitive exploration, yet this distinction remains untested with respect to the exploratory emotion of interest. In this study we examined multi-level appraisal processes to determine whether Openness and Intellect differ in their effects on interest. University undergraduates (N = 99) rated their interest in seven literary quotations, and appraised the quotations for their novelty and understanding. Both Openness and Intellect predicted greater interest, but via different pathways. In between-person analyses, understanding mediated the Intellect/interest but not the Openness/interest relationship (i.e., high-Intellect people are more interested through greater understanding). In within-person analyses, Openness (but not Intellect) significantly moderated the understanding/interest relationship. High-Openness people experienced greater interest in difficult to understand quotations. Results highlight the need to examine within-person effects and to consider the lower-level elements of personality. These findings distinguish Openness and Intellect in terms of pathways towards interest and provide a dynamic understanding of the differences between them.     

Validation of the French Utrecht Work Engagement Scale and its relationship with personality traits and impulsivity

IntroductionWork engagement is a positive state of mind related to work, characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption. It is measured through the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), which has shown good psychometric properties across occupational types and languages. Besides, some individuals may more easily experience work engagement than others, suggesting that individual stable tendencies could predict this state of mind.ObjectivesIn this article, we aim to: (1) present the psychometric properties of the French versions of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-9 and UWES-17), and (2) assess whether work engagement can be associated with personality traits and impulsivity.MethodFor this purpose, 661 French-speaking workers (M_age = 40.86, SD_age = 12.35) were recruited in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Two hundred and eleven subjects responded to the UWES-17, the Zuckerman-Kuhlman-Aluja Personality Questionnaire (ZKA-PQ) and the UPPS Impulsive Behaviour Scale (UPPS), and 450 subjects responded to the UWES-9 and the NEO-Five-Factor Inventory Revised (NEO-FFI-R).ResultsResults showed that UWES-9 reached better psychometric properties than UWES-17. Moreover, it appeared that individuals who were active, conscientious, emotionally stable, and extroverted were more prone to experience work engagement than others.DiscussionThus, the path to experiencing work engagement seems to differ as a function of personal stable characteristics. Further studies should analyse how personal characteristics interact with working conditions in determining work engagement.     

The effects of prediction,understanding, and control: A test of the stress antidote model

Abstract

A study was undertaken to examine further the effects of perceived work control on employee adjustment. On the basis of the stress antidote model, it was proposed that high levels of prediction, understanding, and control of work-related events would have direct, indirect, and interactive effects on levels of employee adjustment. These hypotheses were tested in a short-term longitudinal study of 137 employees of a large retail organization. The stress antidote measures appeared to be indirectly related to employee adjustment, via their effects on perceptions of work stress. There was weak evidence for the proposal that prediction, understanding, and control would buffer the negative effects of work stress. Additional analyses indicated that the observed effects of prediction, understanding, and control were independent of employees' generalized control beliefs. However, there was no support for the proposal that the effects of the stress antidote measures would be dependent on employees' generalized control beliefs.