تحت تأثیر صفت و نتایج جستجو شغل

The present study examines the role of trait affect in job search. One hundred and twenty-three university students completed measures of positive and negative affectivity, conscientiousness, job search self-efficacy, job search clarity, and job search intensity during their last year of school while on the job market. At the end of the school year, participants completed the measure of job search intensity again, and indicated the number of interviews and offers they had received and whether they had accepted a full-time job. As hypothesized, positive affectivity predicted job search clarity over and above conscientiousness and job search self-efficacy. Job search clarity mediated relationships between positive affectivity and job search intensity and between job search self-efficacy and job search intensity. Negative affectivity, however, did not predict job search clarity. Job search clarity predicted job search intensity, which led to interviews, offers, and employment. The results suggest that job seekers high in positive affectivity find a job because they achieve job search clarity and, in turn, look for a job intensely.

Job search has become an integral and fundamental aspect of work life today. Workers will increasingly find themselves changing jobs, employers, and careers because of shifts in the economy, changes in the nature of work, organizational restructuring and downsizing, and labor shortages. As a result, workers will search for employment more often than ever before. These changes have made job search research an increasingly important and relevant area of study. Several studies have helped us understand the processes through which individuals seek employment, engage themselves in job search pursuits, and obtain employment. These studies are useful for the design of programs to improve the success of job search. Even so, affective constructs are for the most part absent from these studies. In particular, the potential role of trait affect (Crossley & Stanton, 2005) has been discussed but seldom examined. Trait affect refers to people’s dispositions to experience certain emotions and moods across situations and over time (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988). Researchers have identified two orthogonal dimensions of trait affect. Positive affectivity reflects the tendency to experience positive affective states such as enthusiasm and excitement, and negative affectivity reflects the tendency to experience negative affective states such as distress and shame. Common wisdom may suggest that qualifications and experience, and not whether a person is typically happy or unhappy, predict a person’s success in finding a job. We propose, however, that trait affect predicts job search outcomes because affect influences the way people think and act during the job search. The purpose of the present study is to examine the role of trait affect in the job search process. Are job seekers high in positive affectivity more likely to find jobs than persons who rarely feel positive states, and if so, why? Conversely, are job seekers high in negative affectivity doomed? We propose that trait affect is associated with job search, and that this association is mediated by the clarity of one’s job search. Positive affectivity is expected to enhance, and negative affectivity is expected to reduce, job search clarity. Job search clarity, in turn, is expected to enhance job search intensity and job search outcomes. To rigorously examine the role of trait affect, we include in our investigation two variables that are among the strongest individual predictors of job search outcomes (Kanfer, Wanberg, & Kantrowitz, 2001) and that are theoretically and empirically linked to job search clarity: conscientiousness and job search self-efficacy. 1.1. Trait affect in job search Positive and negative affectivity are related to multiple workplace behaviors (see George, 1996 and Staw et al., 1994). For example, Staw and Barsade (1993) found that individuals high in positive affectivity make better decisions in a managerial simulation than their counterparts. Job search seems to involve many affective states that can influence job search outcomes (Barber, Daly, Giannantonio, & Philips, 1994) and therefore, trait affect may be related to job search behavior and success. A recent study demonstrated associations between negative affectivity and job search success, operationalized as the number of job offers and employment status, via both a direct, positive path and an indirect, negative path (Crossley & Stanton, 2005). The positive, direct path suggests that job seekers high in negative affectivity may lower their standards and, in turn, accept any job. The indirect, negative path suggests that job seekers high in negative affectivity may have reduced confidence and, in turn, search for a job less intensely and be less likely to accept a job. We extend Crossley and Stanton’s (2005) study by examining the roles of both positive and negative affectivity in the job search process. This is important because positive and negative affectivity are considered to be orthogonal dimensions of trait affect (Watson et al., 1988) and thus, the results concerning positive affectivity are not necessarily the opposite of the results concerning negative affectivity. We also extend Crossley and Stanton’s (2005) study by examining a new potential intervening process—job search clarity—that may explain why trait affect is related to job search outcomes. This is important given Wanberg, Hough, and Song’s (2002) findings that job search clarity is associated with reemployment success in a sample of unemployed individuals. Job search clarity may play a more important role in the job search process than previously thought, a role that warrants additional examination. 1.2. Trait affect and job search clarity Wanberg et al. (2002) argued that job search clarity may be an important but rarely recognized construct in the job search literature. They defined job search clarity as “the extent to which job seekers have clear job search objectives … [and] … having a clear idea of the type of career, work, or job desired” (Wanberg et al., 2002, p. 1104). We expanded the construct to also include clarity about (a) how one looks for a job and (b) the timing of one’s job search. The importance of how and when one looks for a job to the job search process suggests that these aspects of the job search should be included in the definition of job search clarity. We thus define job search clarity as the extent to which job seekers have precise objectives for the type of job they want, how they will search for a job, and when they plan on obtaining a job. We propose that job search clarity is a key intervening process linking trait affect to job search intensity and, in turn, job search outcomes such as interviews. Affect has important effects on the way people think. In many contexts, positive emotions and moods enhance optimism, creativity, and open-mindedness (Forgas, 1995 and Isen, 2000). Negative emotions and moods, in contrast, often enhance focus and the systematic processing of information (Schwarz & Clore, 1996). Positive and negative affectivity may thus influence cognitive processes involved in achieving clarity in the job search. Fredrickson’s (1998) broaden and build theory of positive emotions suggests that positive affective states broaden the way people think and act. As a result of broadened mindsets, positive affective states contribute to the accumulation of durable physical, social, and intellectual resources. This theory is based, in part, on evidence that positive affect facilitates the integration of diverse material (Isen and Means, 1983 and Isen et al., 1991). For instance, medical students reach a correct diagnosis of a complex case faster if they feel pleasant than if their affect is neutral (Isen et al., 1991). This suggests that job seekers with high positive affectivity should integrate the information available about the job market faster and more efficiently and, in turn, achieve higher clarity than job seekers with low positive affectivity. Trait affect may also influence job search clarity via the expectancy judgments people make and use in deciding what type of job they want, how they want to look for that job, and when they hope to have obtained the job. Expectancy judgments are beliefs that one’s actions will lead to expected outcomes. People set more concrete objectives when expectancy judgments are high than when expectancy judgments are low (Klein, 1991 and Tubbs et al., 1993). Seo, Feldman Barrett, and Bartunek (2004) theorized that positive affect enhances, and negative affect decreases, expectancy judgments by influencing the kind of information people focus on and think about (Mayer, Gaschke, Braverman, & Evans, 1992). People high in positive affectivity may achieve higher job search clarity than their counterparts because they are more optimistic and focus more on positive information and, in turn, form more positive expectancy judgments. These arguments are supported by evidence that expectancy judgments are higher when people feel good than when people are emotionally neutral (Erez & Isen, 2002). In contrast, people high in negative affectivity tend to have lower expectancy judgments, and the ensuing pessimism may impede job search clarity. Hypothesis 1. Positive affectivity is positively related to job search clarity. Hypothesis 2. Negative affectivity is negatively related to job search clarity. 1.3. Conscientiousness, job search self-efficacy, and job search clarity In our model, the associations between trait affect and job search clarity co-exist with associations between conscientiousness, job search self-efficacy, and job search clarity. Conscientiousness represents the tendency to be organized, hardworking, ambitious, and persevering (McCrae & Costa, 1987). The setting of objectives is related to performance (Locke & Latham, 2002), and thus, conscientious individuals might use objectives as a strategy to achieve high levels of performance. Conscientious salespeople are more likely to set objectives than their counterparts (Barrick, Mount, & Strauss, 1993). Even so, the relationship between conscientiousness and job search clarity has never been examined. We expected, based on past findings linking conscientiousness to objectives (Barrick et al., 1993), that conscientious job seekers would be more likely to achieve high job search clarity than their counterparts: Hypothesis 3. Conscientiousness is positively related to job search clarity. Self-efficacy reflects the core belief that one has the capability to produce desired effects (Bandura & Locke, 2003). Job search self-efficacy is the belief that one can successfully perform specific job search behaviors and obtain employment (Saks & Ashforth, 1999). Although the relationship between job search self-efficacy and job search clarity has never been tested, past research linking general self-efficacy to goals (Bandura and Locke, 2003 and VandeWalle et al., 2001) suggests that individuals with high job search self-efficacy are more likely to achieve job search clarity than individuals with low job search self-efficacy: Hypothesis 4. Job search self-efficacy is positively related to job search clarity. 1.4. Job search clarity and job search intensity Job seekers with high job search clarity have a clear idea of the type of work or job they desire (Wanberg et al., 2002). They also know how they will look for employment and when they hope to have obtained employment. Conversely, job seekers with low job search clarity have not identified such things as a preferred job or timing for their job search. Locke and Latham (2002) identified mechanisms through which goals influence behavior. These mechanisms help us understand why job search clarity may be associated with job search intensity. Job search clarity might influence job search intensity by directing a person’s attention and effort towards activities pertaining to the job search. Job seekers who lack clarity may spend time exploring different options and contemplating the future, reducing the intensity of their job search (Wanberg et al., 2002). Job search clarity might also influence job search intensity through the energizing functions of goals by leading to greater job search effort. Job seekers who achieve clarity may have more energy and, in turn, search with more effort than their counterparts. Hypothesis 5. Job search clarity is positively related to job search intensity. We propose that job search clarity mediates associations between job search antecedents—positive affectivity, negative affectivity, conscientiousness, and job search self-efficacy—and job search intensity, so that job search antecedents are related to job search intensity via job search clarity. Mediation is possible because, as argued previously, job search antecedents may predict job search clarity that may, in turn, predict job search intensity. Some indirect evidence exists for this proposition. Sales objectives partially mediate the relationship between conscientiousness and sales performance (Barrick et al., 1993). In addition, several general personality characteristics influence performance and enjoyment of work through goal-striving (Lee, Sheldon, & Turban, 2003). We tested the possibility that job search clarity mediates associations between the job search antecedents and job search intensity. Hypothesis 6. Job search clarity mediates the relationship between positive affectivity and job search intensity. Hypothesis 7. Job search clarity mediates the relationship between negative affectivity and job search intensity. Hypothesis 8. Job search clarity mediates the relationship between conscientiousness and job search intensity. Hypothesis 9. Job search clarity mediates the relationship between job search self-efficacy and job search intensity. 1.5. Job search intensity and job search outcomes In addition to examining the role of job search clarity in the job search process, we included in our model both proximal and distal job search outcomes. Job search outcomes can be conceptualized in several ways (Brasher & Chen, 1999). Most previous research has used employment status, defined as whether a job seeker has accepted a job offer, as the primary outcome of job search. The number of interviews a job seeker attends and the number of job offers a job seeker receives are also important outcomes that are more proximal to job search intensity than employment status (Brasher and Chen, 1999, Kanfer et al., 2001 and Saks, 2005). In our model, job search intensity predicts job interviews; job interviews predict job offers; and job offers predict employment status. Job seekers who engage in an intense job search, for example, by carefully reading job ads in newspapers, making telephone inquiries to prospective employers, and analyzing their own interests and abilities, are more likely to be invited for job interviews. Thus, consistent with past research (Saks & Ashforth, 2000), we predicted that job seekers who search more intensely are invited to more job interviews: Hypothesis 10. Job search intensity is positively related to the number of job interviews. Also consistent with past research (Saks & Ashforth, 2000), we expected that the number of job interviews will be positively related to the number of job offers. Having several job interviews increases the chances that an employer makes a positive decision about a candidate and makes an offer of employment. Furthermore, job seekers who are invited to several interviews may be attractive candidates, and hence, likely to successfully interview and receive a job offer: Hypothesis 11. The number of job interviews is positively related to the number of job offers. In the final path of the model, we expected a positive relationship between the number of job offers and employment status (Saks & Ashforth, 2000). Obviously, job seekers with no offers cannot accept an offer. Also, job seekers with one or few offers may be less likely to have found an attractive offer that they will accept, compared to job seekers with several offers. Thus, job seekers who receive more offers should be more likely to receive one that they will accept, and hence, to have obtained a job: Hypothesis 12. The number of job offers is positively related to employment status. Fig. 1 depicts the model of job search that encompasses our predictions. In the model, four antecedent variables—positive affectivity, negative affectivity, conscientiousness, and job search self-efficacy—predict job search clarity; job search clarity predicts job search intensity; job search intensity predicts job interviews; job interviews predict job offers; and job offers predict employment status.

The present study advances our knowledge of the job search process by demonstrating that positive affectivity and job search clarity play important roles in job search. These constructs should therefore be added to lists of variables of relevance to job search research and practice. In particular, individuals high in positive affectivity have higher job search clarity, and individuals with higher job search clarity, in turn, engage in a more intense and successful job search.