Career adaptability and employee well-being over a two-year period: Investigating cross-lagged effects and their boundary conditions

The present study investigates the role of career adaptability in employee well-being within a period of two years. In addition, it aims to shed light on the boundary conditions that potentially determine the use of adaptability resources and thereby may moderate the relationship between career adaptability and work and life outcomes. The study was based on a representative sample of a Swiss working population from the French- and German-speaking parts of Switzerland. A total of 1,007 employed adults participated in the survey two years apart. Cross-lagged structural equation modeling analyses demonstrated a positive cross-lagged effect from career adaptability to job and life satisfaction. Conversely, a negative effect was observed with regard to perceived stress in life. In addition, our findings suggest that certain conditions (such as perceived limitation in career prospects and recent experience of significant work-related events) may strengthen some of the cross-lagged relationships between career adaptability and its positive outcomes. The present study contributes to the career construction literature in two ways. First, it tests a comprehensive cross-lagged model to inspect the longer-term effects of career adaptability on work-related and general well-being, thereby suggesting that career adaptability may have a role in longer-term adaptation due to its contribution to the maintenance of well-being levels. Second, we respond to a call for action regarding the boundary conditions under which career adaptability differentially predicts work and life outcomes (Rudolph, Lavigne, & Zacher, 2017). By identifying recent significant events and perceived career prospects as moderators, we begin to expose some of the complexities of career adaptability and career construction

Perceived job insecurity and self-rated health: Testing reciprocal relationships in a five-wave study

Rationale The present study aimed to investigate the pattern of cross-lagged relationships between job insecurity and self-rated health over a period of four years. While health complaints are usually seen as one of the detrimental outcomes of job insecurity, the question of the direction of the job insecurity-health relationship has not yet been fully resolved. Only a few longitudinal studies have explicitly aimed to test the possibility of reciprocal or reverse effects, and even fewer studies have used multi-wave designs to examine the pattern of these relationships. Objective The current study aims to address this gap by testing how cross-lagged relationships between job insecurity and self-rated health status unfold over time. Method The study was conducted on a sample of Swiss working population (N = 928), using the data from five consecutive measurement occasions, each separated by a one-year lag. Cross-lagged structural equation modelling was performed to examine the direction of the effects. Results The results revealed an interchangeable direction of the relationship between job insecurity and health over time. T1 job insecurity predicted lower ratings of health at T2, which then predicted job insecurity at T3, which, in turn, was related to lower health at T4. The only exception was observed in the last follow-up (i.e., T4 to T5), where no evidence of cross-lagged relationships between job insecurity and self-rated health was found. Conclusion These findings contribute to the literature suggesting that not only job insecurity may predict later health impairment, but that in some cases the reverse may be possible too. This is an important message that needs to be taken into account by researchers and policy makers. The observed lagged reciprocal effects between job insecurity and health seem to form a negative cycle over time, thereby implying a dual process in the development of workplace vulnerabilities

Perceived Social Support and Big Five Personality Traits in Middle Adulthood: a 4-Year Cross-Lagged Path Analysis

Previous studies have shown that the Big Five personality traits are significantly associated with perceived social support and these associations are positively associated with agreeableness, extraversion, and emotional stability. However, it is not yet clear whether these associations hold longitudinally or how these variables may predict each other over time. To investigate the co-development of personality traits and perceived social support, a cross-lagged path model design was used on a sample of adults (N = 1309) measured on two occasions 4 years apart. The results indicated that while emotional stability predicted perceived social support 4 years later, perceived social support also predicted emotional stability, extraversion, agreeableness, openness, and conscientiousness 4 years later. Our findings suggest that perceived social support may be a resource that has an impact on the development of personality traits known to be associated with social skills as well as the quality and frequency of social interactions in middle adulthood

On the Dynamics of the Psychosocial Work Environment and Employee Well-Being: A Latent Transition Approach

The current study investigates employee well-being in stable versus changing psychosocial working conditions, using the Job Demand-Control theoretical framework. It thereby addresses a gap in the literature dealing with how the dynamics of the work environment may affect different aspects of well-being, such as job satisfaction, work stress, mental health complaints, and overall quality of life. The study was carried out on a large heterogeneous sample of employees in Switzerland (N = 959) and was based on two measurement points. Latent profile and latent transition analyses were used to analyse the data. The findings revealed three commonly encountered and temporally quite stable patterns of job characteristics (i.e., latent profiles), defined by low, average, or high job control and average job demands. The average demand-low control combination was the most precarious, whereas a combination of average demands and high control was the most beneficial and it clearly outperformed the balanced average demands-average control pattern. Furthermore, our results partially supported the claim that employee well-being is contingent on the dynamics (i.e., transition scenarios) of the psychosocial work environment. They particularly highlight the central role of job resources in preventing the deleterious effects on well-being, which may occur even in relatively mild situations where job demands are not excessive. Keywords: job characteristics; employee well-being; work stress; latent profile

Vulnerabilities and Psychological Adjustment Resources in Career Development

To describe vulnerabilities and resources in career development, it is important to consider a life-span and life-long perspective, the different layers of a person’s self, and the interaction between the person and the surrounding environment. To this end, macro- (i.e., public policies, labor market transformations), meso- (i.e., family structure, organizations), and micro-level (i.e., personal factors) determinants have to be considered. The impact of these different levels in our contemporary word leads to a destandardization of career paths and to an increase in the number and complexity of career transitions posing a challenge to people because of the associated risk of marginalization, especially for disadvantaged and vulnerable populations. To understand the dynamics of career development and related adjustment processes, it is important to consider the interplay between work-related vulnerabilities and employees’ adjustment resources. Several contextual resources, such as peer support, or personal resources, such as adaptability, are known to promote work-related and general well-being. This carries important implications for policy-making, promoting life-long learning and guidance, decent and sustainable work, and social inclusion. Moreover, it informs various interventions, in particular those aimed at increasing access to life-long guidance for all

On the Dynamics of the Psychosocial Work Environment and Employee Well-Being: A Latent Transition Approach

The current study investigates employee well-being in stable versus changing psychosocial working conditions, using the Job Demand-Control theoretical framework. It thereby addresses a gap in the literature dealing with how the dynamics of the work environment may affect different aspects of well-being, such as job satisfaction, work stress, mental health complaints, and overall quality of life. The study was carried out on a large heterogeneous sample of employees in Switzerland (N = 959) and was based on two measurement points. Latent profile and latent transition analyses were used to analyse the data. The findings revealed three commonly encountered and temporally quite stable patterns of job characteristics (i.e., latent profiles), defined by low, average, or high job control and average job demands. The average demand-low control combination was the most precarious, whereas a combination of average demands and high control was the most beneficial and it clearly outperformed the balanced average demands-average control pattern. Furthermore, our results partially supported the claim that employee well-being is contingent on the dynamics (i.e., transition scenarios) of the psychosocial work environment. They particularly highlight the central role of job resources in preventing the deleterious effects on well-being, which may occur even in relatively mild situations where job demands are not excessive

Perceived job insecurity and self-rated health: Testing reciprocal relationships in a five-wave study

RATIONALE: The present study aims to investigate the pattern of cross-lagged relationships between job insecurity and self-rated health over a period of five years. While health complaints are usually seen as one of the detrimental outcomes of job insecurity, the question of the direction of the job insecurity-health relationship has not yet been fully resolved. Only a few longitudinal studies have explicitly aimed to test the possibility of reciprocal or reverse effects, and even fewer studies have used multi-wave designs to examine the pattern of these relationships. OBJECTIVE: The current study aims to address this gap by testing how cross-lagged relationships between job insecurity and self-rated health status unfold over time. METHOD: We conducted this study with a sample of the working population in Switzerland (N = 928), using the data from five consecutive measurement occasions, each separated by a one year lag. Cross-lagged structural equation modelling was performed to examine the direction of the effects. RESULTS: The results revealed an interchangeable direction of the relationship between job insecurity and health over time. T1 job insecurity predicted lower ratings of health at T2, which then predicted job insecurity at T3, which, in turn, was related to lower health at T4. The only exception was observed in the last follow-up (i.e., T4 to T5), where no evidence of cross-lagged relationships between job insecurity and self-rated health was found. CONCLUSIONS: These findings contribute to the literature suggesting that, not only may job insecurity predict later health impairment, but that in some cases, the reverse may be possible too. Researchers and policy makers need to consider this important message because the observed lagged reciprocal effects between job insecurity and health seem to form a negative cycle over time, thereby implying a dual process in the development of workplace vulnerabilities.status: publishe

Significant Life Events and Career Sustainability: A Three-Wave Study

Over the last three decades, the professional landscape has changed, and career paths have become more plural, complex, and flexible, as well as less predictable. Consequently, career sustainability has become a major concern. Since the framework of sustainable careers captures the complexities of modern careers, we used it in the present study to understand how various types of significant life events (i.e., negative work events, negative nonwork events, positive work events, and positive nonwork events) hinder or foster career sustainability among 870 professionally active adults in Switzerland using a longitudinal design. We used repeated measures analysis of variance to study changes in health (i.e., self-rated health and stress at work), happiness (i.e., life satisfaction, quality of life, and job satisfaction), and productivity (i.e., employability and career prospects) by the type of significant life events over time, from 1 year before the event (T0) to 1 year after the event (T2). Results indicated that work events are important to consider when studying career sustainability as there is evidence for spillover effects from work to life. Specifically, experiencing positive work events seems to foster career sustainability, and these effects seem to be stronger than the negative effect of negative work or nonwork life events on health, happiness, and productivity

The Role of Personality Profiles in the Longitudinal Relationship between Work–Related Well–Being and Life Satisfaction among Working Adults in Switzerland

Drawing on the concept of spillover between work and life domains and using a person-centred approach, the present study examined the role of Big Five personality trait profiles in moderating the relationship between workrelated well-being and life satisfaction over a 1-year period in a sample of working adults in Switzerland (N = 1204). Latent profile analysis was first carried out to derive and compare alternative latent personality profile models. Subsequently, a two-wave cross-lagged structural equation model using three personality profiles (resilient, average, and oversensitive) as moderators was tested. Work stress and job satisfaction were used as negative and positive indicators of work-related well-being. The results showed that in the overall sample, only Time 1 life satisfaction predicted Time 2 job satisfaction. We found a moderating role for the personality profiles, where the effect of Time 1 work stress on Time 2 life satisfaction became salient in the oversensitive profile, while a significant effect of Time 1 life satisfaction on Time 2 work stress was found in the resilient profile. The current study showed that different combinations of personality traits may determine the way in which work-related well-being and general well-being relate to each other