The long road to employment: Incivility experienced by job seekers.

Abstract

This study addresses how job seekers' experiences of rude and discourteous treatment--incivility--can adversely affect self-regulatory processes underlying job searching. Using the social-cognitive model (Zimmerman, 2000), we integrate social-cognitive theory with the goal orientation literature to examine how job search self-efficacy mediates the relationship between incivility and job search behaviors and how individual differences in learning goal orientation and avoid-performance goal orientation moderate that process. We conducted 3 studies with diverse methods and samples. Study 1 employed a mixed-method design to understand the nature of incivility within the job search context and highlight the role of attributions in linking incivility to subsequent job search motivation and behavior. We tested our hypotheses in Study 2 and 3 employing time-lagged research designs with unemployed job seekers and new labor market entrants. Across both Study 2 and 3 we found evidence that the negative effect of incivility on job search self-efficacy and subsequent job search behaviors are stronger for individuals low, rather than high, in avoid-performance goal orientation. Theoretical implications of our findings and practical recommendations for how to address the influence of incivility on job seeking are discussed.

Searching for a job: Cardiac responses to acute stress and the mediating role of threat appraisal in young people

“…Furthermore, it has been observed that the fear of future unemployment is detrimental to the well‐being of young adults and might be a cause of stress in itself, particularly in countries with high unemployment rates (Knabe & Rätzel, ). Several studies found that youth unemployment can decrease physical and mental health (Ali, Ryan, Lyons, Ehrhart, & Wessel, ; Brown et al, ; Kozieł, Lopuszańska, Szklarska, & Lipowicz, ; Gallo et al, ; Sullivan & von Wachter, ; Roelfs, Shor, Davidson, & Schwartz, ; Urbanos‐Garrido & Lopez‐Valcarcel, ; Wanberg, ). Other studies have shown that the negative effects of youth unemployment on mental health can remain during adulthood, even without experiencing unemployment again (Fergusson, McLeod, & Horwood, ; Hammarström & Janlert, ).…”

Who cares about demands–abilities fit? Moderating effects of goal orientation on recruitment and organizational entry outcomes

“…Ali et al. () found that incivility interacted with AGO to predict job search self‐efficacy, but it did not interact with LGO. Correspondingly, we find that DA fit interacts with AGO but not LGO.…”

“…For example, Ali et al. () found that AGO moderated the effects of perceived incivility on job search self‐efficacy, which in turn related to search intensity. da Motta Veiga and Turban () found that the perceived stress–job search intensity relationship was stronger among those with stronger LGO.…”

“…Ali et al. (, p. 336) note, “Such individuals, who are more concerned with guarding themselves against potential rejection rather than gaining success, are expected to approach the job search by adopting defensive cognitive strategies that serve to mitigate the likelihood of rejection.”…”

“…Substantial research shows that dispositional goal orientation , defined as the underlying goals that individuals pursue in achievement settings (Dweck, , ), influences how people approach, understand, and respond to situations rife with challenge and complexity (e.g., Ali, Ryan, Lyons, Ehrhart, & Wessel, ; Cellar et al., ; Payne, Youngcourt, & Beaubien, ). Broadly studied in the work motivation literature (DeShon & Gillespie, ; Farr, Hofmann, & Ringenbach, ; Kanfer et al., ), goal orientation has been examined in training, feedback seeking, performance management, and team contexts (e.g., Bell & Kozlowski, ; Brett & Atwater, ; Porter, ; Vandewalle & Cummings, ).…”