Young adults' identity development serves as the foundation for forming coherent career plans, which is a process driven by goal-oriented career exploration. However, previous studies have overlooked how career development relates to the sociocultural valences attached to identity contents, an essential aspect of identity development. To address this gap, the present study focused on the positive and negative valences of identity contents, defined by desirable and undesirable images shared within a sociocultural context. Guided by Career Construction Theory, this study examined the longitudinal associations between career exploratory goals and environment-exploration and self-exploration, and the positive and negative identity elements, at both the between- and within-person levels. A total of 756 third-year university students in Japan (Mage = 20.88; women, 78.97%) completed a five-wave longitudinal survey in three-month intervals. A random intercept cross-lagged panel model revealed that at the between-person level, career exploratory goals and both types of career exploration were positively associated with positive identity elements and negatively associated with negative ones across five waves. At the within-person level, elevated levels of negative identity elements predicted a decrease in career exploratory goals three months later. However, positive identity elements did not predict career exploratory goals or behaviors, and career development indicators did not predict either positive or negative identity elements. These preliminary findings suggest the importance of having positive identity elements and preventing negative ones for successful career development in young adults. We propose practical implications for career education programs and counseling aimed at preventing negative identity formation.
This paper investigates how meaningful work is sustained under conditions of social and cultural constraint. Drawing on interviews with thirty-eight female farmers in Northern Vietnam, it examines how meaningfulness emerges as an ongoing navigation between unification, the moral obligation to preserve familial harmony and social continuity, and contribution, the desire to act purposefully and be valued. The findings reveal a process of enduring navigation through which meaningful work is sustained, extending Rosso et al.'s (2010) framework, by showing that unification and contribution are not necessarily complementary pathways but can remain persistently in tension. Meaningful work is sustained not through resolution but through moral endurance, enacted in three recurrent dynamics: vital yet invisible, enduring yet confining, and conforming yet reclaiming. These dynamics shape vocational trajectories by normalising farming as a moral duty, constraining alternative aspirations, and preserving a quiet openness to future vocational possibilities. Meaningful work, in this view, is a relational and moral practice, a continual navigation of tension rather its resolution, recasting endurance as a subtle form of agency that enables individuals to preserve coherence, moral worth, and possibilities within constraining structures.
There is growing interest among scholars and practitioners in the notion of fun at work. In this paper, we examine “task fun regulation”—a behavioral-affective orientation in which employees self-initiate novel or varied interactions with their tasks to generate or sustain the feeling of fun. Drawing on self-determination and flow theories, we hypothesized that time pressure and work autonomy independently and interactively influence task fun regulation and that task fun regulation subsequently enhances task performance. To test our hypotheses, we conducted two studies with full-time workers employing random experience sampling (n = 135) and a two-wave design using supervisor ratings of performance (n = 249). Support was found for the negative relationship between time pressure and task fun regulation (both studies) and the positive relationship between work autonomy and task fun regulation (Study 2). As expected, the negative effect of time pressure on task fun regulation was buffered by high levels of work autonomy, and there was a positive downstream effect of task fun regulation on task performance. Moreover, the antecedents and consequence were linked as expected, indicated by a moderated indirect effect from task fun regulation's antecedents through to performance. These findings underscore the utility of task fun regulation within organizations by elucidating its instrumental benefits and uncovering constraining and enabling work design features likely to facilitate this behavioral-affective orientation.
(In)visibility in the workplace—encompassing invisibility, visibility, and hypervisibility—remains a persistent challenge for women working in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. While previous research has highlighted women's coping strategies in male-dominated contexts, it has often overlooked how external institutional pressures—such as parity laws—intensify the experience of (in)visibility in novel ways. This qualitative study of women faculty working in STEM fields in French public universities, which have state-mandated gender quotas, addresses this gap, examining how these women navigate the cumulative effects of (in)visibility. Our study makes three contributions to the (in)visibility literature: (1) we theorize and empirically show that these quotas produce amplified (in)visibility—a condition that simultaneously increases, distorts, and undermines visibility—generating disproportionate invisible labor and identity strain; (2) the amplified (in)visibility dynamic creates invisible work burdens for women, including cultural taxation and quota-driven intellectual labor; and (3) amplified (in)visibility, as a structural, externally imposed form of (in)visibility not stemming from traditional marginalization but from institutional interventions, leads women to engage in sustained identity work as they seek to reconcile their professional roles with evolving self-understandings, producing outcomes ranging from resilience to identity impasse.
The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into workplaces presents both opportunities and challenges for aging workforces, yet existing research lacks a nuanced understanding of how employee-AI collaboration influences successful aging at work. Drawing on conservation of resources theory, we theorize that employee-AI collaboration has an inverted U-shaped relationship with successful aging at work, mediated by job crafting towards strengths. We further identify AI ethical anxiety as a critical boundary condition that intensifies this curvilinear relationship. Data collected from 312 older employees across three waves supported the inverted U-shaped moderated mediation model. Specifically, we found that increases in employee-AI collaboration are associated with higher job crafting towards strengths and more successful aging at work up to an inflection point, beyond which further employee-AI collaboration yields detrimental effects. AI ethical anxiety accelerates the decline of employee-AI collaboration's positive effects while exacerbating its negative consequences. Our findings challenge prevailing linear assumptions about the influences of employee-AI collaboration and highlight the need for a balanced and ethically conscious AI implementation that safeguards older employees' career development.
This paper advances the understanding of work-nonwork boundaries as a dynamic process shaped by evolving career demands, within the high-intensity context of professional service firms. While much of the mainstream work-nonwork literature conceptualises boundaries as stable preferences, recent work-life research and COVID-19 studies highlight that individuals' approaches to boundary management can shift in response to changing work, life, and health circumstances. This study explores how consulting professionals experience and (re)establish boundaries between work and nonwork throughout their careers. Employing an inductive qualitative approach, we gathered diary and interview data with thirty consultants from UK-based global firms. Findings reveal evolving boundary management modalities: idealising blurred boundaries, disillusionment, and pursuing more sustainable boundary strategies. Our insights extend boundary scholarship by illustrating the long-term dynamic negotiation of work-nonwork boundaries within the norms of professional service firms, underscoring the importance of context in shaping boundary evolution over time.
Given the increase in remote working and the potential challenges it may pose to belongingness, it is essential to understand to what extent, for whom, and why social identification at work may change amongst teleworkers. Drawing from the social identity approach, we examined how organizational (OI) and relational co-worker identification (CI) evolved in a three-wave longitudinal sample of teleworkers (N = 895) across two years. Data were analyzed by latent profile analysis to identify subgroups that may vary in levels and changes of both foci of identification. Four subgroups were identified: a favorable profile with above-average and stable levels of OI and CI (38.9% of the sample); two unfavorable profiles, one with below-average levels and tentative decrease of OI and decreasing CI (16.6%) and another with below-average levels of OI and CI and decreasing CI (12.0%); and finally a mixed profile (32.4%) with both favorable (stable and aboveaverage OI) and unfavorable (stable and below-average CI) aspects. Findings indicate that over the years of teleworking, identification with coworker relationships may weaken for a substantial proportion. Teleworkers with less face-to-face and audio/video interaction and tenure may be more at risk for deteriorating identification. This may be mitigated by fair practices and to some extent by co-worker support. Those with low initial identification may also experience the most substantial decreases in identification resulting in polarization. Subsequently, low identification may harm employees' well-being, diminish behaviors that would promote co-worker relationships, and turn them into a flight risk.
Job crafting manifests as configurations of multiple strategies, yet we know little about how these patterns change or what drives such changes. Using three-wave longitudinal data from Korean employees (N = 945; 638 completed all three waves; eight weeks total, measured at four-week intervals), we examined job crafting profiles, their outcomes, transition patterns, and predictors of transitions. Latent profile analysis identified four configurations: Proactive Crafters (high approach, moderate avoidance), Average Crafters, Low Crafters, and Non-Crafters. Profiles differed markedly in work engagement, person-job fit, and workaholism, with Proactive Crafters showing both highest engagement and workaholism. Latent transition analysis revealed that profile stability varied systematically by level (54.4% for Non-Crafters to 93.3% for Proactive Crafters), with transitions occurring predominantly between adjacent profiles. Promotion focus and perceived change emerged as primary drivers of transitions toward more proactive profiles, with promotion focus showing substantial effects (ORs: 6.02-17.06 for T1 -> T2). The differential influence of job characteristics across time points: feedback and future focus predicted T1-T2 transitions, while workload and autonomy predicted T2-T3 transitions, revealing dynamic boundary conditions. Findings replicate Western profile configurations in a Korean context, demonstrate patterned transitions, establish work-related regulatory focus as a core motivational driver of profile change, and reveal that approach-dominant profiles are accompanied by elevated workaholism as a potential risk indicator. Interventions should cultivate promotion focus, leverage organizational changes as catalysts, and adapt to employees' current configurations.
This paper advances the understanding of work–nonwork boundaries as a dynamic process shaped by evolving career demands, within the high-intensity context of professional service firms. While much of the mainstream work-nonwork literature conceptualises boundaries as stable preferences, recent work-life research and COVID-19 studies highlight that individuals' approaches to boundary management can shift in response to changing work, life, and health circumstances. This study explores how consulting professionals experience and (re)establish boundaries between work and nonwork throughout their careers. Employing an inductive qualitative approach, we gathered diary and interview data with thirty consultants from UK-based global firms. Findings reveal evolving boundary management modalities: idealising blurred boundaries, disillusionment, and pursuing more sustainable boundary strategies. Our insights extend boundary scholarship by illustrating the long-term dynamic negotiation of work–nonwork boundaries within the norms of professional service firms, underscoring the importance of context in shaping boundary evolution over time.
While employees' workplace proactivity is generally considered to benefit the organization, it is still unclear whether and how it affects one's family life. Drawing upon the contextual-personal resources framework, the current study presents an agentic model that simultaneously examines the active obtainment of workplace contextual resources (indicated by social capital), the active allocation of personal resources at work (indicated by work absorption), and the structural condition enabling resource regulation (indicated by work autonomy) in the relationship between workplace proactivity and work interference with family (WIF). Using time-lagged data with 195 employees and 51 supervisors, the results revealed that employees' workplace proactivity was positively associated with increased social capital, which was further related to decreased WIF, supporting the contextual resource obtainment hypothesis. On the other hand, workplace proactivity was positively related to increases in work absorption, thereby leading to increases in WIF, supporting the personal resource over-allocation hypothesis. Furthermore, work autonomy weakened the positive relationship between work absorption and WIF. The theoretical and practical implications of the current research are discussed.
Work-family conflict (WFC) represents a critical challenge for employees navigating both work and family domains, with significant implications for their career outcomes. This review synthesizes existing research on the career consequences of WFC. Using a co-word analysis and a narrative synthesis, we identify the major themes, patterns, and research gaps regarding how work-to-family conflict (WTFC) and family-to-work conflict (FTWC) affect career outcomes such as career satisfaction, occupational turnover, career psychological well-being, career decisionmaking, and professional development. In doing so, we also highlight key mediating mechanisms (e.g., contextual appraisal, identity, and adaptation) as well as moderators (e.g., demographic and contextual factors) in these effects. Building on the findings of the review, we propose a future research agenda aimed at advancing the theoretical and empirical understanding of WFC and its influence on career outcomes, particularly through using career-specific theories, exploring new mediating mechanisms and boundary conditions, and methodological innovations. This review aims to guide future research toward enhancing both theoretical insight and practical solutions for managing WFC to optimize career development.
Crossover refers to the process through which personal experiences transfer between individuals in close social relationships. Despite increasing scholarly interest, existing crossover research remains fragmented and limited in scope, which hinders effective knowledge dissemination and theoretical advancement. To address this gap, we draw on the sustainable career framework as a conceptual lens for organizing and interpreting empirical findings. Guided by this framework, we conducted a meta-analysis (K = 183 studies, 195 independent samples) examining the crossover of happiness (e.g., work engagement and career satisfaction), health (e.g., physical and mental health), and productivity (e.g., job performance and deviance). Our results supported the positive associations of happiness, health, and productivity between stakeholders and employees, after controlling for common stressors and resources. These relationships were mediated by empathy, social support, and social undermining. Furthermore, the strength of crossover correlations differed across stakeholders: spouses exhibited consistent associations with employees' happiness, health, and productivity, whereas supervisors showed the strongest associations with employees' health, and coworkers showed the strongest associations with employees' productivity. Our study offers a comprehensive understanding of happiness, health, and productivity crossover from various stakeholders to employees, yielding valuable insights for both research on crossover and sustainable careers.
Underemployment—referring to employment that is below a defined standard—is a salient issue in contemporary labor markets. One widespread form of underemployment is when individuals have more human capital than is required in their jobs, which can include perceived skill underutilization and perceived overqualification. Drawing on relational job design and relative deprivation theories, we explore how perceived societal usefulness—workers' perception of their job's utility and potential worth to society—moderates the relationship between human capital-related underemployment and both job satisfaction and organizational commitment as two key job attitudes. We hypothesize that perceived societal usefulness attenuates the negative relationship between underemployment and job attitudes by providing an alternative source of fulfillment and recognition. Two studies support this framework: Study 1, using nationally representative data from 38 countries, demonstrates that perceived societal usefulness attenuates the negative relationships between perceived skill underutilization and the two job attitudes. Using a two-wave dataset, Study 2 extends previous findings and reveals that perceived societal usefulness (a) correlates with a more objective operationalization of societal usefulness, and (b) moderates the indirect effect of perceived overqualification on job satisfaction, but not on organizational commitment, via relative deprivation as the underlying theoretical mechanism. By integrating relational job design and relative deprivation theories, this study suggests that perceived societal usefulness acts as an important boundary condition for previously observed effects of underemployment and that these can be partially explained by relative deprivation. These findings suggest practical implications for managers, emphasizing the importance of societally useful positions to mitigate the adverse effects of underemployment.
Not all psychological states experienced during work are equally rewarding, yet little is known about what sets particularly rewarding states apart from others. Flow is a highly rewarding state of deep absorption in which actions feel effortless and automatic. Although originally conceptualized as a discrete, all-or-nothing state, flow is now often treated as varying in degree across daily work activities. This shift risks blurring the boundaries between flow and other psychological states, leading to conceptual confusion, imprecise theoretical frameworks, and inconsistent research practices. To address this ambiguity, our study provides a clear empirical test of the nature of flow by identifying unique patterns of its core components that set it apart from other psychological states. In a day reconstruction study involving 199 employees (2927 observations), multilevel factor mixture analysis yielded six distinct state profiles: Deep Flow, Microflow, Apathy, Boredom, Arousal, and Anxiety. Two profiles theoretically aligned with the concept of flow: one with peak scores on absorption, effortless control, and intrinsic reward (i.e., Deep Flow), and one with moderately high scores on the three components (i.e., Microflow). Both emerged during 29% and 44% of the activities, respectively, and particularly when activities were scored high on challenge appraisal or low on hindrance appraisal. These findings clarify the nature of flow by empirically demonstrating its distinctiveness from other states, thereby resolving a key ambiguity and advancing flow theory and research.
Entrepreneurship remains a male-dominated field, with women facing persistent disparities in areas such as representation and innovation. This paper examines whether and how incubators contribute to reducing the gender gap in entrepreneurial innovation. Using a mixed-methods approach—combining large-scale quantitative data with qualitative interviews—we find that women-led ventures benefit more from incubator participation, which helps them close the innovation gap. Women tend to engage with incubators more strategically across three dimensions: strengthening individual resources (e.g., confidence and expertise), building relationships with key stakeholders, and accessing role models and mentors who help them navigate gendered expectations. In contrast, men are more likely to use incubators in a targeted, transactional way, primarily to acquire technical or business knowledge. These findings suggest that incubators can serve as equalizing spaces that offer women critical support to overcome barriers and enhance innovation outcomes.
Despite being ever present in the workplace and some of the most frequently researched workplace stressors, an in-depth understanding of the antecedents and outcomes of role stressors is currently lacking. We draw from 515 studies and 588 samples (N = 787,959) to consolidate existing research on role stressors (i.e., role ambiguity, role conflict, and role overload), thereby expanding our knowledge about the nomological networks of these stressors. In addition, we examine whether key demographic and contextual factors shape the strength of role stressor–outcome relationships, providing insight into when and for whom these stressors are most consequential. Additionally, our research explores the relative contribution of each of the three role stressors in predicting fourteen crucial employee and organizational outcomes. Our findings suggest that despite some shared antecedents and outcomes, the three role stressors should be treated as theoretically distinct. Furthermore, ambiguity tends to be the most detrimental driver of employee and organizational outcomes when compared to role conflict and role overload. Overall, the current undertaking not only enhances our understanding of the nomological network of role stressors but also informs future research directions and practical interventions that are targeted toward mitigating these stressors.
Efforts to broaden participation in engineering have led to increases in the number of Latine students pursuing engineering degrees. However, Latine graduates from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degree programs have been shown to leave the STEM workforce at higher rates than their peers. This study examined the roles of workplace supports and barriers in the work engagement, satisfaction, and persistence of 26 Latine engineers. Semi-structured qualitative interviews and codebook thematic analysis were used to collect and analyze the data. Three overarching themes were interpreted from the data: 1) Workplace Familia: Cultivating Cultures of Support; 2) Organizational Confianza; and 3) Engineering Acculturation: Navigating Workplace Assimilation and Orgullo. Overall, Latine engineers thrived in workplaces that emphasized collective values, demonstrated tangible commitments to diversity, inclusion, and belonging, and allowed them to integrate assets related to their gender and culture into their work. We discuss organizational strategies for enhancing the work engagement, satisfaction, and retention of Latine engineers.
