Beneficial effects of disengagement from futile struggles with occupational planning: a contextualist-motivational approach.

Publisher: American Psychological Association Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 0260564 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1939-0599 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00121649 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Dev Psychol Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: Washington DC : American Psychological Association
Original Publication: Richmond, Va., American Psychological Assn.

Adaptation, Psychological* ; Career Choice* ; Motivation*; Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Economic Recession ; Employment/economics ; Employment/psychology ; Germany ; Goals ; Humans ; Longitudinal Studies ; Middle Aged ; Personal Satisfaction ; Uncertainty ; Young Adult

Globalized labor markets confront many adults, both employed and unemployed, with demands arising from career uncertainty that have the potential to jeopardize their occupational planning. This article investigated how individuals in different regions of Germany, which are characterized by different economic opportunities, negotiate such demands to pursue a career. The central hypothesis is that under unfavorable economic conditions, disengagement from demands of career planning, in terms of reducing commitment to their mastery, will predict positive changes in subjective well-being. This was tested using a sample of N = 806 adults living in 91 regions of Germany. Results suggest that disengagement predicts increased subjective well-being, but only if individuals report a very high load of demands of career planning and live in regions characterized by particularly poor opportunities for goal striving. It is concluded that disengagement can be an adaptive way of mastering occupational planning under particularly disadvantageous circumstances.

Date Created: 20120119 Date Completed: 20130405 Latest Revision: 20121106

20231215

10.1037/a0026952

22250999