Laurent Sovet

Perceived Work Conditions and Turnover Intentions: The Mediating Role of Meaning of Work

Perceived working conditions lead to various negative outcomes for employee behaviors, including turnover intentions. Although potential mediators for these relationships were previously identified, the importance of meaning of work has not yet been investigated. This study examines the role of this psychological resource as a mediator for the relationships between perceived working conditions and turnover intentions in a sample of 336 French workers from different job contexts. Results show that adverse working conditions were positively and significantly associated with turnover intentions. Meaning of work is negatively related to both perceived working conditions and turnover intentions. Mediation analyses for meaning of work demonstrated indirect effects of several adverse working conditions on turnover intentions. The role of meaning of work as a psychological resource for employees facing adverse working conditions is discussed, especially regarding its implications for research and practice within organizational contexts.

Socially desirable responding : enhancement and denial in 20 countries

This article investigated the dimensionality, measurement invariance, and cross-cultural variations of social desirability. A total of 3,471 university students from 20 countries completed an adapted version of the Marlowe–Crowne scale. A two-dimensional structure was revealed in the pooled sample, distinguishing enhancement (endorsement of positive self-description) and denial (rejection of negative self-description). The factor structure was supported in most countries; medium-sized item bias was found in two denial items. In a multilevel analysis, we found that (a) there was more cross-cultural variation in denial than enhancement; (b) females tended to score higher on enhancement whereas males tended to score higher on denial; (c) the Human Development Index, an indicator of country socioeconomic development, was the best (negative) predictor of denial; and (d) both enhancement and denial seemed to be associated with country-level values and personality pertinent to “fitting in.” We conclude that social desirability has a positive and a negative impression management dimension that are meaningfully associated with country-level characteristics, and we argue that social desirability is better interpreted as culturally regulated response amplification.

Validation of the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire Among Korean College Students

The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Korean version of the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ) among 854 college students. Confirmatory factor analyses partially confirmed the original 10-factor structure of the instrument and demonstrated metric equivalence across gender. The dysfunctional beliefs subscale was particularly inconsistent. Cronbach’s α reliabilities ranged from .66 to .88 for the CDDQ subscales and α = .92 for the CDDQ total score. The test–retest reliability for a 1-month interval was .88. The correlation between CDDQ and the Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale was r = –.54 (p < .01), which was convergent with previous studies. The undecided college students reported higher CDDQ scores than the decided college students. All the results suggested that CDDQ is a reliable instrument for assessing career decision-making difficulties in the Korean context. Implications for career interventions and research are discussed.

A Meaning-Centered Career Intervention: A Case Study

An innovative framework for career intervention focused on meaning was developed on the basis of a joint research project carried out over several years (Bernaud et al., 2015). This framework includes seven to eight 2-hour sessions held approximately once a week. The purpose of the present chapter is to introduce a case study with a focus on analyzing the interactions between counselor and client, as well as the qualitative effectiveness of the career intervention. The importance of exploring both the quantitative and qualitative effects of a meaning-centered career intervention is discussed with respect to the challenges of career counseling in a postmodern context.