The role of affect in job search self-regulation: Taking into account core self-evaluations and affect activation
Serge P. da Motta Veiga
Assistant Professor of Management at American University
Abstract:
Although job seekers experience variability in affect during their job search, evidence is unclear about whether and how such within-person variability is related to behavioral regulation. Perhaps, this is due to the fact that research needs to incorporate individual-level moderators, since individuals have different reactions to within-person variability in affect. In this research, we conducted two studies to examine whether and how individual differences in core self-evaluations (CSE) moderated the relationships between affect and job search intensity. Study 2 further differentiated the role of activated from deactivated affect in job search. Using daily measures from new labor market entrants in Singapore, study 1 showed that CSE did not moderate the relationship between positive affect and job search intensity. Interestingly, though, CSE moderated the relationship between negative affect and intensity, such that the relationship was positive only for those higher in CSE. Using weekly measures from new labor market entrants in the USA, study 2 indicated that CSE moderated the relationships between activated, but not deactivated, affect and job search intensity, such that the relationships were positive only for those higher in CSE. This research provides insights into the self-regulatory dynamics of the job search process, while also shedding light upon the role of affect and CSE in job search with important implications for job seekers, career counselors, and organizations.
Serge P. da Motta Veiga, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Management at American University. He earned his Ph.D. in Management from the University of Missouri, and his Licence in Economics from the Université Libre de Bruxelles. Serge’s research interests include job search, careers, recruitment, affect, motivation, and humor at work. He has published his work in the Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, and in the Journal of Organizational Behavior, and has presented at national and international conferences. Prior to pursuing his Ph.D., Serge worked for six years in the Banking and Consulting industries in London, Paris, and Brussels.
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