Internal, Workplace, and Structural Variables Impacting Decent Work

Abstract

The Psychology of Working Theory (PWT) is a vocational theory describing the impacts of structural forces (e.g., oppression, economic constraints) and employee characteristics (e.g., work volition, career adaptability) on decent work, defined as work that supports vocational and general wellbeing. The current document describes three studies that make up my doctoral dissertation. These studies examine internal, workplace, and structural barriers that inhibit the career trajectories of US workers and the strengths and supports that workers use to counteract those barriers. Study 1 uses structural equation modeling (SEM) to investigate how workplace environments support or restrict workers’ career adaptability, defined as one’s capacity to adapt to changes in their career. Findings demonstrate that work volition, cognitive job demands, and autonomy support predict career adaptability. Study 2 used mixed methods to examine ways that workers craft their jobs to meet their needs, including by changing their work relationships, work tasks, and work meaning. Study 2 uses SEM to integrate job crafting into the PWT model and provides a thematic analysis of 8 interviews exploring employees’ job crafting strategies. Findings demonstrate support for job crafting as a mediator of work need satisfaction and provide rich narratives of job crafting. Study 3 uses SEM to measure the impacts of intersecting racism and heterosexism on employees’ experiences of workplace dignity. Findings demonstrate that work climate, organizational identification, and work volition positively predict workplace dignity, whereas racism and heterosexism negatively predict workplace dignity. This dissertation extends PWT scholarship by addressing extant gaps in PWT research, incorporating intersectionality theory explicitly into PWT, and integrating novel variables (e.g., workplace dignity, job crafting) into the PWT model.