Work styles and person-environment fit: adjusting to change as a late career worker

Thesis by publication.Includes bibliographical references.Chapter 1. Overview of this thesis -- Chapter 2. The demographic challenge : a sustainable career through P-E Fit -- Chapter 3. Thesis overview : development and validation of the active work styles (AWS) scale -- Chapter 4. Thesis overview : age discrimination within a P-E fit paradigm -- Chapter 5. Thesis overview : maintenance of D-A fit through proactive behaviours -- Chapter 6. Discussion of findings and conclusion -- Full reference list -- Appendix.Utilising the theory of work adjustment (TWA), this thesis develops our understanding of the factors that contribute towards and facilitate a person's correspondence with their work environment. With modern organisations experiencing rapid change, the importance of maintaining person-environment (P-E) fit via adaptive and proactive behaviours has been widely recognised. Resulting from ageing workforces worldwide and in recognition of the unique challenges older workers face in maintaining workplace correspondence, special attention has recently been extended to late career workers. However, research has principally ignored possible antecedent factors of P-E fit, rather viewing fit as a stable construct. This thesis addressed these considerations through the development of work styles, a dynamic component of TWA responsible for the maintenance of P-E fit. Work styles was defined as an employee's typical level of activity and effort enacted across time when completing work tasks.This thesis by publication presents three journal articles, with additional supporting papers by multiple authors in the appendices. The first paper developed a self-report work style scale suitable for longitudinal research. Three studies demonstrated support for Dawis and Lofquists (1984) conceptualisation of a four-factor model distinguishing between an individual's celerity, pace, rhythm and endurance. However, these factors are best understood to be related through a second-order factor describing an employee's typical level of activity and effort across time. The scale demonstrated good evidence for reliability and validity, and strong longitudinal measurement invariance.Utilising two two-wave studies, the second paper examined the impact of age discrimination upon P-E fit in mid- to late- career workers. Results from Study 1 demonstrated that increased perceptions of age discrimination lead to a decrease in demands-abilities (D-A) and needs-supplies (N-S) fit over time. In Study 2, work styles was introduced as a possible moderating variable in the prediction of D-A fit. The findings indicated that when an employee was engaged in a highly active work style, the negative effects of age discrimination upon D-A fit decreased. In consideration of discrimination, this study highlights the difficulty many older worker face in preserving an adequate correspondence with their environment. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of work styles as a factor that contributes towards the maintenance of P-E fit.The third paper examined the impact of proactive behaviours upon D-A fit, introducing work style fit as a possible moderating variable. Work style fit expands upon the development of work styles in the previous two papers by recognising that the environment has a corresponding work style requirement. Results from a two-wave study indicate that proactive behaviours had a positive effect upon D-A fit, but only when work style fit was high. When work style fit was low, proactive behaviours had a detrimental effect upon D-A fit.The theoretical and practical implications, along with limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed in the final chapter. The findings of this thesis provide a valuable contribution for both researchers and practitioners in understanding and measuring the dynamic component of TWA and P-E fit generally. Overall, each paper demonstrates the importance of understanding P-E fit as a dynamic construct, and recognising unique challenges individuals may face in maintaining correspondence with their work environment.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (xvi, 299 pages

Age discrimination in the workplace : identifying as a late-career worker and its relationship with engagement and intended retirement age

Through amodel of moderated indirect effects, this study examined the relationship between perceived age discrimination, cognitive and affective identification as a latecareer worker, intended retirement age, and work engagement. Bootstrap analysis confirmed that a negative relationship between perceived age discrimination and work engagement was strongest when cognitive identification was high and affective identification was low, and nonsignificant when affective identification was high. In contrast to previous research,no overall association between age discrimination and intended retirement age was found. Rather, post hoc analyses showed that work engagement suppressed a positive direct relationship between age discrimination and intended retirement age.12 page(s

Measuring work styles : towards an understanding of the dynamic components of the theory of work adjustment

Work styles are an important yet largely unexplored component of the theory of work adjustment (TWA), describing a dynamic component of how individuals maintain and adjust fit with their work environment. The active work style (AWS) scale is the first attempt to develop a specific self-report measure of work styles suitable for longitudinal research. Results from three studies support Dawis and Lofquist's (1984) proposed four factor structure, but these factors are related through a second-order factor describing a person's generalised level of work activity and effort across time. The AWS scale demonstrated good evidence for reliability and validity, and strong measurement invariance across time signifying its suitability for longitudinal research. In line with expectations, overall work style was positively related to conscientiousness and work engagement yet unrelated to stress. When controlling for these variables, AWS was positively related to demands-abilities fit, but not needs-supplies fit. Limitations and possibilities for future research are also discussed.13 page(s

The Longitudinal effects of perceived age discrimination on the job satisfaction and work withdrawal of older employees

Age discrimination directed at older employees is likely to become a more salient issue in the face of aging workforces across the globe. To date, the only evidence of a negative effect of age discrimination perceived by older workers on important work attitudes and behavior has been cross-sectional. We present results from two 3-wave longitudinal studies of differing time lags demonstrating the direct negative effect of perceived discrimination directed at older workers on both job satisfaction and actual job withdrawal but not on actual retirement. This effect was not different for time lags of 3 weeks and 1 year, although over the short time lag there was evidence of a significant reciprocal effect between job satisfaction and perceived age discrimination that was not evident over longer periods. The theoretical, empirical, and practical implications of these findings are discussed.13 page(s

Predicting patterns of change and stability in student performance across a medical degree

Context: Evidence of predictive validity is essential for making robust selection decisions in high-stakes contexts such as medical student selection. Currently available evidence is limited to the prediction of academic performance at single points in time with little understanding of the factors that might undermine the predictive validity of tests of academic and non-academic qualities considered important for success. This study addressed these issues by predicting students’ changing performance across a medical degree and assessing whether factors outside an institution's control (such as the uptake of commercial coaching) impact validity. Methods: Three cohorts of students (n = 301) enrolled in an undergraduate medical degree from 2007–2013 were used to identify trajectories of student academic performance using growth mixture modelling. Multinomial logistic regression assessed whether past academic performance, a test of cognitive ability and a multiple mini-interview could predict a student's likely trajectory and whether this predictive validity was different for those who undertook commercial coaching compared with those who didn't. Results: Among the medical students who successfully graduated (n = 268), four unique trajectories of academic performance were identified. In three trajectories, performance changed at the time when learning became more self-directed and focused on clinical specialties. Scores on all selection tests, with the exception of a test of abstract reasoning, significantly affected the odds of following a trajectory that was consistently below average. However, selection tests could not distinguish those whose performance improved across time from those whose performance declined after an average start. Commercial coaching increased the odds of being among the below-average performers, but did not alter the predictive validity of the selection tests. Conclusion: Identifying distinct groups of students has important implications for selection, but also for educating medical students. Commercial coaching may result in selecting students who are less suited for coping with the rigours of medical studies

A Recommendation for expanding the definition of moral distress experienced in the workplace

Despite the importance of moral distress in the nursing scholarship, little attention is paid to the phenomena in the psychological literature as an important occupational stressor. A factor limiting the application of moral distress to other occupational settings is its definitional features. First, a necessary condition of moral distress is the acknowledgment prior to behaviour initiation that behaviour will contravene personal moral ideals. Second, the definition of moral distress specifies that the inability to act in accordance with one's moral framework is driven by institutional constraints (non-autonomous behaviour). This article proposes that moral distress not be limited in these ways, and makes two central contributions to resolve this core problem. We offer a critique and extension of the conceptual definition of moral distress. Fourteen Australian medical doctors participated in a semi-structured interview regarding occupational morally distressing events. Medical doctors were chosen for our interviews because they are an occupational population with considerable decision-making autonomy. Based on the findings, two recommendations are made: (1) that the definition of moral distress is not limited to events where decision-making and behaviour is non-autonomous, and (2) moral distress should not be limited to occasions where the moral conflict is identified prior to decision-making or behaviour. An alternative definition of moral distress is proposed. We conclude that while organisational limitations are an important precipitate of moral distress, they are not a necessary condition for its emergence.9 page(s

Extensions to the dynamic aspects of the Retirement Transition and Adjustment Framework (RTAF) : adjustment behaviors, work styles, and identity

The article summarizes the retirement transition adjustment framework (RTAF; Hesketh, B., Griffin, B., & Loh, V. (2011). A future-oriented retirement transition adjustment framework. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 79, 303–314) based on the Theory of Work Adjustment (TWA; Dawis, R. V. & Lofquist, L. H. (1984). A psychological theory of work adjustment. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press). and extends it to include additional variables important in retirement transition, namely self-efficacy, identity, stereotyping, and subjective life expectancy. The RTAF and TWA fit within the broad category of person-environment Fit theories. After describing both the structural and dynamic components of the RTAF, methodological issues are raised, and suggestions for future research and theory development outlined. The potential of the RTAF framework for use by individuals and counselors in retirement transition planning and facilitating positive aging is highlighted, as is its value to organizations in helping the adjustment processes of late career workers.13 page(s

The Clustering of health behaviours in older Australians and its association with physical and psychological status, and sociodemographic indicators

Background: Increasing life expectancies, burgeoning healthcare costs and an emphasis on the management of multiple health-risk behaviours point to a need to delineate health lifestyles in older adults. Purpose: The aims of this study were to delineate health lifestyles of a cohort of older adults and to examine the association of these lifestyles with biological and psychological states and socio-economic indices. Methods: Cluster analysis was applied to data derived from the self-reported 45 and Up cohort study (N = 96,276) of Australians over 45 years, regarding exercise, smoking, alcohol consumption, diet and cancer screening behaviours. Results: Six lifestyle clusters emerged delineated by smoking, screening and physical activity levels. Individuals within health-risk dominant clusters were more likely to be male, living alone, low-income earners, living in a deprived neighbourhood, psychologically distressed and experiencing low quality of life. Conclusions: Health lifestyle cluster membership can be used to identify older adults at greatest risk for physical and psychological health morbidity.10 page(s

Retest effects in medical selection interviews

Context: Repetition of a cognitive ability test is known to increase scores, but almost no research has examined whether similar improvement occurs with repetition of interviews. Retest effects can change the rank order of candidates and reduce the test's criterion validity. Because interviews are widely used to select medical students and postgraduate trainees, and because applicants apply to multiple programmes and often reapply if unsuccessful, the potential for retest effects needs to be understood. Objectives: This study was designed to identify if retest improvements occur when candidates undertake multiple interviews and, if so, whether the effect is attributable to general interview experience or specific experience and whether repeat testing affects criterion validity. Methods: We compared interview scores of applicants who were interviewed for one or more of three independent undergraduate medical programmes in two consecutive years and those who were interviewed in both years for the same programme. Correlations between initial and repeat interview scores and a written test of social understanding were compared. Results: General experience (being interviewed by multiple programmes) did not produce improvement in subsequent interview performance. There was no evidence of method effect (having prior experience of the multiple mini‐interview process). Specific experience (being interviewed by the same programme across 2 years) resulted in a significant improvement in scores for which regression to the mean did not fully account. Criterion validity did not appear to be affected. Conclusions: Unsuccessful candidates for medical school who reapply and are re‐interviewed on a subsequent occasion at the same institution are likely to increase their scores. The results of this study suggest the increase is probably not attributable to improved ability