Daniel Spurk

How do objective and subjective career success interrelate over time

The present research is concerned with the direction of influence between objective and subjective career success. We conducted a prospective longitudinal study with five waves of measurement that covered a time span of 10 years. Participants were professionals working in different occupational fields (N=1,336). We modelled the changes in objective success (income, hierarchical position), in other-referent subjective success (subjective success as compared to a reference group), and in self-referent subjective success (job satisfaction) by means of latent growth curve analysis. Objective success influenced both the initial level and the growth of other-referent subjective success, but it had no influence on job satisfaction. Most importantly, both measures of subjective success and both their initial levels and their changes had strong influences on the growth of objective success. We conclude that the ‘objective success influences subjective success’ relationship is smaller than might be expected, whereas the ‘subjective success influences objective success’ relationship is larger than might be expected.

The dual impact of gender and the influence of timing of parenthood on men’s and women’s career development: Longitudinal findings

This study investigated the impact of gender, the gender-related self-concept (agency and communion), and the timing of parenthood on objective career success of 1,015 highly educated professionals. Hypotheses derived from a dual-impact model of gender and career-related processes were tested in a 5-wave longitudinal study over a time span of 10 years starting with participants’ career entry. In line with our hypotheses we found that the communal component of the gender self-concept had an impact on parenthood, and the agentic component influenced work hours and objective career success (salary, status) of both women and men. Parenthood had a negative direct influence on women’s work hours and a negative indirect influence on women’s objective career success. Women who had their first child around career entry were relatively least successful over the observation period. Men’s career success was independent of parenthood. Sixty-five percent of variance in women’s career success and 33% of variance in men’s career success was explained by the factors analyzed here. Mothers with partners working full time reduced their work hours more than mothers with partners not working full time. A test for a possible reverse influence of career success on the decision to become a parent revealed no effect for men and equivocal effects for women. We conclude that the transition to parenthood still is a crucial factor for women’s career development both from an external gender perspective (expectations, gender roles) and from an internal perspective (gender-related self-concept).

Negative mood, self-focused attention, and the experience of physical symptoms: the joint impact hypothesis.

A joint impact hypothesis on symptom experience is introduced that specifies the role of negative mood and self-focus, which have been considered independently in previous research. Accordingly, negative affect only promotes symptom experience when people simultaneously focus their attention on the self. One correlational study and 4 experiments supported this prediction: Only negative mood combined with self-focus facilitated the experience (see the self-reports in Studies 1, 2a, & 2b) and the accessibility (lexical decisions, Stroop task in Studies 3 & 4) of physical symptoms, whereas neither positive mood nor negative mood without self-focus did. Furthermore, the joint impact of negative mood and self-focused attention on momentary symptom experience remained significant after controlling for the influence of dispositional symptom reporting and neuroticism.

Do Bad Guys Get Ahead or Fall Behind? Relationships of the Dark Triad of Personality With Objective and Subjective Career Success

This study analyzed incremental effects of single Dark Triad traits (i.e., narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism) on objective (i.e., salary and leadership position) and subjective (i.e., career satisfaction) career success. We analyzed 793 early career employees representative of age and education from the private industry sector in Germany. Results from multiple and logistic regressions revealed bright and dark sides of the Dark Triad, depending on the specific Dark Triad trait analyzed. After controlling for other relevant variables (i.e., gender, age, job tenure, organization size, education, and work hours), narcissism was positively related to salary, Machiavellianism was positively related to leadership position and career satisfaction, and psychopathy was negatively related to all analyzed outcomes. These results provide evidence that the Dark Triad plays a role in explaining important career outcomes. Implications for personality and career research are derived.

Why Do Adaptable People Feel Less Insecure? Indirect Effects of Career Adaptability on Job and Career Insecurity via Two Types of Perceived Marketability

The aim of the present study was to analyze if and how career adaptability reduces different types of insecurity. More specifically, we argue in a theoretical model at the intersection of career and organizational research that perceived internal and external marketability serve as connecting variables in the link between career adaptability and job and career insecurity. We tested our assumptions by means of multiple indirect effects path analyses across two measurement points (6-month time span) with data from 142 university researchers working in the science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) fields. The results showed that career adaptability was positively related to perceived internal and external marketability, which both subsequently were negatively associated with job and career insecurity. We draw theoretical implications for career research in intra- and extraorganizational settings and discuss practical implications for fostering secure employment.

The Career Satisfaction Scale in Context: A Test for Measurement Invariance Across Four Occupational Groups

This study analyzed the influence of the occupational context on the conceptualization of career satisfaction measured by the career satisfaction scale (CSS). In a large sample of N = 729 highly educated professionals, a cross-occupational (i.e., physicians, economists, engineers, and teachers) measurement invariance analysis showed that the CSS was conceptualized according to occupational group membership, that is, 4 of the 5 items of the scale showed measurement noninvariance. More specifically, the relative importance, the response biases, and the reliabilities associated with different career satisfaction content domains measured by the CSS (i.e., achieved success, overall career goals, goals for advancement, goals for income, and goals for development of new skills) varied by occupational context. However, results of a comparison between manifest and latent mean differences between the occupational groups revealed that the observed measurement noninvariance did not affect the estimation of mean differences.

A New Perspective on the Etiology of Workaholism: The Role of Personal and Contextual Career-Related Antecedents

The aim of the present study was to present and test a model assuming that career-related variables might function as antecedents of workaholism—the tendency to work compulsively and excessively. More specifically, based on conservation of resource theory and social identity theory, the study tested whether personal (i.e., career insecurity, extrinsic career goals, and career commitment) and contextual variables (i.e., career barriers and perceived organizational support) are related to workaholism. We tested our assumptions by means of stepwise hierarchical regression analyses within a large sample of N = 685 scientists working in different occupational fields (e.g., social science, arts and humanities, economics, and science, technology, engineering, mathematics) in German research institutes and universities. The results showed that career insecurity, career barriers, career commitment, and extrinsic career goals were positively associated, and perceived organizational support was negatively associated, with workaholism. Furthermore, the set of analyzed career variables showed incremental validity and explained a significant portion of variance in workaholism beyond control variables (i.e., gender, age, work hours, and occupational field) and personality (i.e., extroversion, conscientiousness, and neuroticism).

Career Stagnation: Underlying Dilemmas and Solutions in Contemporary Work Environments

Employment and career development are important goals in most people’s life. People have to pursue an employment in order to earn their living, but employment is much more than that. It can be both a source of satisfaction and of dissatisfaction. A successful career makes a person proud and happy; failure in one’s career has an impact on self-esteem and makes a person unhappy. The present chapter is concerned with career stagnation, i.e., the involuntary – at least temporary – end of one’s career development. We will cover two major reasons for career stagnation and the dilemmas underlying them. The one has to do with the lack of career opportunities resulting from individual and interpersonal factors (self-efficacy issues, goal issues, attitudinal issues, and dual-career issues) the other has to do with career stagnation resulting from organizational conditions (socialization/support/mentoring, bullying/mobbing, and stereotypes/discrimination).After describing these dilemmas and their consequences, we will address interventions that may help to resolve them in order to increase people’s quality of life (self-efficacy and self-management trainings, career counseling, mentoring, anti-mobbing/anti-bullying interventions, recruitment strategies for dual-career couples, and antidiscrimination strategies). Throughout this chapter, we will refer to unethical behavior as the injury of the employees’ rights of balance, respect, responsibility, autonomy, participation, justice, and voice. Finally, we will discuss directions of future research into career stagnation.

From using intuition to social dependence: Validation of the German career decision-making profile – an updated 12-factor version

The Career Decision-Making Profile (CDMP) was developed by Gati and colleagues in 2010 as an attempt to reliably measure which strategies individuals apply when making career decisions. In order to provide counseling and coaching professionals with a German version of the scale, we translated and validated the German version (G-CDMP) in two studies (total N = 622). Results of Study 1 verified the proposed 12-factor structure by means of confirmatory factor analyses, confirming that the G-CDMP assesses 12 distinct career decision-making strategies. Results of Study 2 demonstrated the G-CDMP’s construct validity on subscale level by relating it to self-evaluations (e.g., occupational self-efficacy) and personality (i.e., the Big Five) as well as to career-related constructs, such as career adaptability and cognitive reactions toward career-life decisions (e.g., life satisfaction). As the studies provide support for the G-CDMP’s factor structure and its construct validity, implications for its use during career counseling are discussed.

Validation of the German Career Decision-Making Profile—An Updated 12-Factor Version:

The Career Decision-Making Profile (CDMP) was developed by Gati and colleagues in 2010 as an attempt to reliably measure which strategies individuals apply when making career decisions. In order to provide counseling and coaching professionals with a German version of the scale, we translated and validated the German version (G-CDMP) in two studies (total N = 622). Results of Study 1 verified the proposed 12-factor structure by means of confirmatory factor analyses, confirming that the G-CDMP assesses 12 distinct career decision-making strategies. Results of Study 2 demonstrated the G-CDMP’s construct validity on subscale level by relating it to self-evaluations (e.g., occupational self-efficacy) and personality (i.e., the Big Five) as well as to career-related constructs, such as career adaptability and cognitive reactions toward career-life decisions (e.g., life satisfaction). As the studies provide support for the G-CDMP’s factor structure and its construct validity, implications for its use during career counseling are discussed.