132 research outputs found
The Impact of Learning Strategies and Future Orientation on Academic Success: The Moderating Role of Academic Self-Efficacy among Italian Undergraduate Students
No full textPromoting academic success among undergraduate students is crucial for tackling the need to foster employability competencies. Low levels of academic attainment in higher education, along with the increasing number of persons participating in tertiary education, represent crucial trends, which need to be studied in order to develop efficient retention practices. The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between relevant factors that can foster academic success: learning strategies, future orientation, and academic self-efficacy. To this purpose, a longitudinal
study was performed on a sample of N = 87 undergraduate students from one of the largest Italian universities (63.4% males, 74.2% enrolled in the first year). Participants filled in an online questionnaire at two different time points, with a time lag of 12 months. Results of a moderated mediation model indicated that the relationship between learning strategies at Time 1 (T1) and Grade Point Average (GPA) at Time 2 (T2) was mediated by students’ future orientation. Moreover, this association was moderated by T1 academic self-efficacy. These results suggest that learning strategies positively influence GPA through an enhanced future orientation, in particular when students report high or medium levels of self-efficacy. The current findings invite a thorough review of training interventions for improving academic achievement
Sustainable Employability in the Mid and Late Career: An Integrative Review
No full textIn the last decade, interest in investigating the sustainable employability (SE) of older workers has gained ground, generating a significant number of theoretical and empirical contributions. However, the construct of SE lacks a definition accepted by the scientific community and unified measurement criteria, which has led to results that, so far, do not allow us to draw solid conclusions on its relevance. The aim of this integrative review is twofold. Firstly, we review the theoretical formulations and definitions proposed, as well as the main empirical results of the studies and interventions on SE. Our review includes 31 studies (26 empirical and five theoretical; total sample size N = 33,368). Secondly, proposals and suggestions are offered aimed at integrating the previous results and advancing in the definition, operationalization, and measurement of SE, with the ultimate goal of increasing its value for future research in the mid-and late-career domain
Are Workaholism and Work Engagement in the Eye of the Beholder?
No full textVirtually all studies on workaholism and engagement – two forms of heavy work investment – rely on self-part questionnaires.
However, the limitations of self-reports are widely acknowledged and in their final sections, papers on workaholism and engagement typically lament the use of such measures. Investigating data other than respondents’ self-reports, such as peer ratings, may overcome these limitations. Using a sample of 73 dyads composed of focal workers and their colleagues, the present study aimed: (1) to compare focal workers’ and coworkers’ perceptions concerning their levels of work engagement and workaholism; and (2) to explore the discriminant validity of engagement and workaholism. A multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) matrix and a correlated trait-correlated method model, the CT-C(M-1) model, were examined. Our results showed a considerable agreement between both raters (i.e., focal workers and coworkers) in levels of engagement and workaholism. In contrast to previous findings, a significant difference between raters on the cognitive dimension of workaholism (i.e., working compulsively) was observed. Moreover, our results provided further evidence for the discriminant validity between the two forms of heavy work investment
Job Insecurity and Job Performance: A Serial Mediated Relationship and the Buffering Effect of Organizational Justice
No full textThe study aimed to extend the current knowledge of the relationship between job insecurity and performance. In line with traditional stress theories, work-family and burnout were hypothesized as serial mediators of the negative link between job insecurity and job performance. Also, the current study hypothesized that the association between job insecurity and the mediators [i.e., Work-family conflict (WFC) and burnout] could be buffered by perceived organizational justice among employees. Therefore, we empirically tested a moderated serial mediation model. Participants were 370 employees of an Italian multiservice social cooperative. Data were collected using a self-report questionnaire in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. The obtained results indicated that WFC and burnout mediated the association between job insecurity and job performance. Furthermore, perceived organizational justice buffered the relationship between job insecurity and WFC. Concerning job burnout, the association with job insecurity was moderated only among employees perceiving medium and high levels of organizational justice. The moderated serial mediation index provided support to the role of organizational justice in decreasing the association between job insecurity and job performance. This study delves deeper into the variables explaining the relationship between job insecurity and job performance by testing a serial process mechanism that involved WFC and burnout. Additionally, the obtained results provide suggestions to organizations and managers regarding the protective role of organizational justice to sustain employees’ mental health and performance. Practical implications at the organizational and managerial level are provided, along with a focus on the actual impact of the pandemic
Emotion Regulation and Employability: The Mediational Role of Ambition and a Protean Career among Unemployed People
No full textLiterature on job searching suggests that emotion regulation has an impact on employability,
but this relationship is far from being explained; furthermore, most of the studies have been conducted
among students or workers. The aim of the current study was to investigate the relationship
between emotion regulation and employability among unemployed people, analyzing the role of
ambition and protean career orientation as possible factors in such a relationship. Participants were
228 unemployed subjects who had requested individual counselling for job searching; data were
collected by means of a self-report questionnaire. Results confirmed that emotion regulation is related
to employability, both through a direct relationship and through an indirect eect of ambition and
protean career orientation
Are the kids alright? On the association between students’ resources and objective indicators of academic success
No full text“If it is dreamable it is doable”: the role of desired job flexibility in imagining the future
No full textPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare how the dimension of attitudes toward future that consists in perception of dynamic future may be affected by desirable goals (desired job flexibility) and probable events (probable job flexibility) in a group of permanent vs temporary employees. Moreover the aim is to explore the gender differences in respect to variables studied. Design/methodology/approach – The data were collected using self-report questionnaires on a sample of 710 employees, of which 63 percent women, 57.2 percent permanent employees, and 42.8 percent fixed-term employees. Findings – The results showed that probable job flexibility mediated the relationship between desired job flexibility and the perception of a dynamic professional future. In addition, the type of contract moderated the interaction effect of job mastery on the relationship between desired and probable flexibility. Job mastery, however, has a direct effect on probable flexibility only on women in fixed-term employment. Research limitations/implications – The study presented some limitations: the data derived from the self-report questionnaires, respondents participated on a voluntary basis, and the research design was cross-sectional. Practical implications – The results of this study could be used to influence guidance practitioners’ decisions on the role of antecedents of future orientation (desired flexibility, probable flexibility, and job mastery) in designing programs and interventions for career management that also take gender into account. Originality/value – Overall, these results provided some insight into the relationship between specific guidance actions and goal-oriented career planning
Proprietà psicometriche della versione italiana dell’Institutional Integration Scale: Risultati preliminari della sua validità
No full textThe Hardier You Are, the Healthier You Become. May Hardiness and Engagement Explain the Relationship Between Leadership and Employees’ Health?
No full textThe main goal of this study was to delve deeper into the relationship between transformational leadership and better general health status among employees. Based on the Job Demands-Resources model of occupational well-being, the current research investigated the role of transformational leadership, as a job resource, in fostering individual hardiness, as a personal resource, which may in turn result in higher levels of work engagement and, consequently, better general health status among employees. Data were collected from 358 white-collar employees in an Italian company. Most of them were women (52.9%) with a mean age of 44.42 years (SD = 9.22). To evaluate the hypothesis of a mediating role of employees’ hardiness and work engagement within the relationship between transformational leadership and workers’ general health, a bootstrapping approach was tested using a serial mediation model. In the current sample, enhanced levels of hardiness and work engagement among employees mediated the association between perceived levels of transformational leadership and individual general health conditions. These findings corroborated the role of transformational leadership as a strategic job resource in enhancing employees’ hardiness and engagement with their work, which may in turn protect their general health status. Organizations willing to rely on a healthy workforce should implement human resource management strategies focused on leadership training capable of boosting employees’ hardiness
Psychometric Properties of the Italian Version of the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT)
No full textThe most popular instrument to measure burnout is the Maslach Burnout Inventory
(MBI). Recently, to overcome some of the limitations of the MBI, a new instrument has been proposed,
namely the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT, Schaufeli, Desart & De Witte, 2020). The purpose
of this study is to examine the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the BAT. This tool is
comprised of a set of four core dimensions (BAT-C; i.e., exhaustion, mental distance, cognitive and
emotional impairment) and two secondary symptom dimensions (BAT-S; i.e., psychological and
psychosomatic complaints). Data were collected on a sample of 738 participants from heterogeneous
sectors and professional roles. In the sample women were slightly overrepresented (52.9%), the
participants had a mean age of 41.57 years (SD = 10.51) and a mean organizational tenure of 9.65
years (SD = 8.50). The reliability and factorial structure of the BAT-C and BAT-S, together with the
convergent and discriminant validity of BAT-C and MBI were explored, as well as the incremental
validity to the BAT-C, over and beyond the MBI. Our results confirmed the factorial validity of a
two-factor second-order factor model (BAT-C and BAT-S) represented by 4 first-order factors in the
case of BAT-C and 2 first-order factors for BAT-S. Results also attested that BAT-C explains additional
variance of the BAT-S, above and beyond what is explained by the MBI-GS. All in all, this
study provided evidence that the Italian version of BAT represents a reliable and valid tool for
measuring burnout in the work context
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