Conceptualizing career insecurity: Toward a better understanding and measurement of a multidimensional construct

Spurk, D., Hofer, A., Hirschi, A., De Cuyper, N., & De Witte, H. (2022). Conceptualizing career insecurity: Toward a better understanding and measurement of a multidimensional construct. Personnel Psychology, 75, 253–294. https://doi.org/10.1111/peps.12493

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Abstract

Applying qualitative and quantitative analyses across four studies and seven samples, we clarified the meaning and developed a new measure of career insecurity. Career insecurity is defined as “an individual's thoughts and worries that central content aspects of one's future career might possibly develop in an undesired manner.” The new Multidimensional Career Insecurity Scale (MU‐CI‐S) measures eight career insecurity (CI) dimensions: (1) CI‐Career opportunities; (2) CI‐Decreased prestige and qualification requirements of the employment; (3) CI‐Contractual employment conditions; (4) CI‐Unemployment; (5) CI‐Change of workplace; (6) CI‐Retirement; (7) CI‐Work‐nonwork interactions; and (8) CI‐Discrepancy between individual resources and work demands. Across all studies, the MU‐CI‐S showed excellent psychometric properties (e.g., factor loadings of all items and internal consistencies of all dimensions) and high levels of construct validity (e.g., theoretically assumed factorial structure and discriminant and convergent validity). The analyses showed concurrent, predictive, and incremental validity beyond neuroticism and other job and career insecurity measures for predicting health and well‐being, job performance, career success, and career attitudes. The results provide a comprehensive assessment and investigation of career‐related insecurity perceptions in the current labor market. Moreover, the results offer theoretical and practical implications for individual career planning, career counseling, and organizational career management.

Keywords: career insecurity, career management, scale development

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A new perspective on workaholism: The role of personal and contextual career-related antecedents

Spurk, D., Hirschi, A., & Kauffeld, S. (in press). A new perspective on workaholism: The role of personal and contextual career-related antecedents. Journal of Career Assessment, 24(2), 747-764. doi: 10.1177/106907271561612751

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Abstract

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).