Self-esteem and proactive personality as predictors of future work self and career adaptability: An examination of mediating and moderating processes

By Zijun Cai, Yanjun Guan, Hongyan Li, W. Shi, Kun Guo, Yi Liu, Qinglin Li, Xue Han, Peng Jiang, Zheng Fang and 1 more. 2015

241 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract Basing on career construction theory and self-verification theory, current research examined the mediating and moderating models for the relations among self-esteem, proactive personality, career exploration, future work self and career adaptability. A two-wave survey study was conducted among Chinese university students ( N = 305). The results showed that both self-esteem and proactive personality (measured at time 1) positively predicted future work self and career adaptability (measured at time 2), with these relationships mediated by career exploration (measured at time 1). In addition, the results further revealed that the positive effect of self-esteem on career exploration was stronger among students who had a higher level of proactive personality. In support of the hypothesized moderated mediation model, for individuals with a higher level of proactive personality, the indirect effects of self-esteem on future work self and career adaptability through career exploration were stronger. These findings carry implications for research on career construction theory and career counseling practices.

Subfields: Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management, Safety Research, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/da1a29e38f9ab2a09b860360f981054cb351378d

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In Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

In Safety Research

In Social Psychology

Citations in the corpus

The interplay of proactive personality and internship quality in Chinese university graduates' job search success: The role of career adaptability (2018, background): “adaptability (Cai et al., 2015; Guan et al., 2017), and job search success (Brown et al.”
Explaining benefits of employee proactive personality: The role of engagement, team proactivity composition and perceived organizational support (2017, unknown): “…consistent predictions of career success (both subjective and objective; Fuller &Marler, 2009; Seibert, Crant, & Kraimer, 1999), career adaptation (Cai et al., 2015; Hou, Wu, & Liu, 2014), intention to quit (Loi, Liu, Lam, & Xu, 2016), and job performance (Fuller &Marler, 2009; Li et al., 2010;…”
Subjective social status, work volition, and career adaptability: A longitudinal study (2017, background): “…education, core self-evaluations, emotional intelligence, various personality constructs (e.g., proactive personality, extraversion), and extrinsic work values (e.g., high income) to predict career adaptability (Cai et al., 2015; Coetzee & Harry, 2014; Hou, Wu, & Liu, 2014; Ye, 2015; Zacher, 2014).”
Sustainable careers: Towards a conceptual model (2020, background): “The life-span theories of Selection Optimization and Compensation (SOC) (Baltes, Staudinger, & Lindenberger, 1999) and Socio-emotional Selectivity Theory (SST) (Carstensen, 1995, 2006) offer relevant theoretical perspectives to further our understanding of sustainable careers as they explain how goa”
Big-five personality and BIS/BAS traits as predictors of career exploration: The mediation role of career adaptability (2015, background): “…and more work has examined the individual and contextual predictors of career exploration, in order to identify effective ways to promote individuals' adaptive career behavior (e.g., Cai et al., 2015; Fan, Cheung, Leong, & Cheung, 2011; Guan et al., 2015; Nauta, 2007; Reed, Bruch, & Haase, 2004).”
Modeling dynamics in career construction: Reciprocal relationship between future work self and career exploration (2017, methodology): “…2015; Guan et al., 2015), extant research has yielded limited insights into a reciprocal model for the relationships among these constructs, partly due to the limitations associated with cross-sectional or time-lagged research designs (e.g., Cai et al., 2015; Guan et al., 2015; Li et al., 2015).”
Perceived organizational support, employee creativity and proactive personality: The mediating effect of meaning of work (2018, background): “, 2014), voice behaviour (Xie, Chu, Zhang, & Huang, 2014), self-esteem and the ability to work independently (Cai et al., 2015).”
A Longitudinal Study of Relations Among Adolescents’ Self-Esteem, General Self-Efficacy, Career Adaptability, and Life Satisfaction (2019, background): “Moreover, the longitudinal study of Cai et al. (2015) confirmed a positive link between self-esteem and career adaptability.”