Self-regulation during job search: The opposing effects of employment self-efficacy and job search behavior self-efficacy.

Abstract

Adopting a self-regulatory perspective, the current study examined the within-person relationships among job search cognitions, job search behaviors, and job search success (i.e., number of job offers received). Specifically, conceptualizing job search behaviors as guided by a hierarchy of means-end (i.e., job search behavior-employment) goal structure, we differentiated employment self-efficacy from job search behavior self-efficacy. Our results showed that higher levels of perceived job search progress could lead to more frequent job search behaviors through enhancing job search behavior self-efficacy. However, higher levels of perceived job search progress could also lead to less frequent job search behaviors through elevating employment self-efficacy. In addition, the relationships between perceived job search progress and efficacy beliefs were moderated by job seekers' level of internal attribution of their progress. Finally, we found that at the within-person level, frequency of job search behaviors was positively related to number of job offers received. These findings were discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical implications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

How do career adaptability and proactive career behaviours interrelate over time? An inter‐ and intraindividual investigation

“…However, increasingly globalized labour markets and the theoretical nature of the here found effects Savickas & Porfeli, 2012) suggest that results found here are similarly relevant in cultures beyond the Western context, as has already been shown for networking behaviours (Volmer, Orth, & Wolff, 2018). Furthermore, the pathways through which career adaptability and proactive career behaviours relate to each other and increments in wellbeing and career success may become more strongly apparent under specific boundary conditions of, for instance, occupational transitions, unemployment (Koen et al, 2010), organizational downsizing (Klehe, Zikic, van Vianen, & de Pater, 2011), or environmental ambiguity (Liu et al, 2014). In other words, the consideration of contextual (e.g., different cultures) and event-related moderators (e.g., career shocks) would be interesting to consider in future research on career adaptability and proactive career behaviour developments.…”

“…Although we controlled for contextual effects (e.g., leadership position) within our empirical models, future research should expand our line of theorizing more explicitly with contextual variables. Furthermore, the pathways through which career adaptability and proactive career behaviours relate to each other and increments in wellbeing and career success may become more strongly apparent under specific boundary conditions of, for instance, occupational transitions, unemployment (Koen et al, 2010), organizational downsizing (Klehe, Zikic, van Vianen, & de Pater, 2011), or environmental ambiguity (Liu et al, 2014). However, increasingly globalized labour markets and the theoretical nature of the here found effects Savickas & Porfeli, 2012) suggest that results found here are similarly relevant in cultures beyond the Western context, as has already been shown for networking behaviours (Volmer, Orth, & Wolff, 2018).…”

“…Therefore, future research should investigate if the negative relationship can be explained by an within-person effort-reducing mechanism (Carver & Scheier, 1990;Liu et al, 2014) and if the positive relationship can be explained by a resource-enhancing mechanism (Rudolph et al, 2017;Savickas, 2005), respectively. Therefore, future research should investigate if the negative relationship can be explained by an within-person effort-reducing mechanism (Carver & Scheier, 1990;Liu et al, 2014) and if the positive relationship can be explained by a resource-enhancing mechanism (Rudolph et al, 2017;Savickas, 2005), respectively.…”

“…Providing support for this assumption, a study (Liu, Wang, Liao, & Shi, 2014) on different types of self-efficacy and job search behaviour (which can be seen as proactive career behaviour) found a negative effect of employment self-efficacy (confidence in finding a job) on job search behaviour on an intraindividual level across an 8-week time span within a sample of senior student job searchers from China. The authors argued that this negative effect can primarily be expected for end goals (compared to means goals) and under conditions of high ambiguity.…”

Entrepreneurs’ motivation: Goal striving among entrepreneurs in the new venture creation process

“…This shows that while goals per se and intentions are related but distinct constructs, this study on entrepreneurs' goal striving goes beyond research on intentions in the entrepreneurship literature by closing the link between goals and behavioral outcomes. Consisting with research in the management literature based on the goal striving model based on the hierarchy of goals (powers, 1973, 2005) and control theory (Carver & Scheier, 1990Vancouver, 2005;Vallacher & Wegner, 1987 has potential to explain job search activity and, in turn, career choice better than career intention research (e.g., Liu, Wang, Liao, & Shi, 2014).…”