Prospective relationships between career disruptions and subjective well-being: evidence from a three-wave follow-up study among Finnish managers.

摘要

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to examine the prospective relationships between career disruptions and subjective well-being by using a three-way follow-up data with a 10-year time lag. Specifically, we investigated the causation and selection hypotheses by examining the directions of causal associations between career disruptions and subjective well-being. The causation hypothesis states that negative career changes will result in poorer well-being, whereas the selection hypothesis expects this linkage to be vice versa, that is, employees' well-being impacts their career line. METHODS: The sample consisted of Finnish managers (n = 528) who participated in this questionnaire study 3 times: in 1996 (T1), 1999 (T2), and 2006 (T3). Career disruptions covered the periods of unemployment, layoffs, and redundancies. Subjective well-being was assessed with sense of coherence (SOC) and psychosomatic symptoms (PSS). The causation versus selection hypotheses were tested with Structural Equation Modeling using a full-panel design, that is, the variables of career disruptions, SOC, and PSS were measured in each wave. RESULTS: Support was found for both the causation and selection hypotheses. First, career disruptions experienced before T1 predicted increased PSS at T1, providing support for the causation hypothesis. Second, low SOC in T2 predicted subsequent career disruptions 7 years later at T3, supporting the selection hypothesis. Furthermore, SOC and PSS showed high stability over time, whereas career disruptions accumulated over time: those who reported career disruptions at T1 had a higher risk to experience disruptions also at T2 and T3. CONCLUSIONS: Negative career changes seem to associate with low subjective well-being (PSS) on short term and, in turn, low subjective well-being (SOC) seems to associate with negative career changes on long term among managers. The different results depending on the well-being measure might relate to the conceptual differences between the well-being indicators used (PSS, SOC) and the different time frame needed for causation and selection. Thus, in examining the causation versus selection hypotheses, it is important to evaluate subjective well-being using different indicators and time lags. Managers may benefit from interventions targeting to enhance their mental resilience and employability in the cases of negative career changes.