2137: In Rich and in Poor: Career Success/Stress and Changes in Individual Differences (11942)

Organizer(s)

• RS

  Rong Su

  Tippie College of Business, U. of Iowa, United States

Participant(s)

• EW

  Emily Willroth

  Washington U. in St. Louis

Discussant(s)

• JL

  Jonas Lang

  U. of Exeter, Belgium

Presenter(s)

• WY

  Weiwen Yang

  Department of Management, Business School, The Chinese U. of Hong Kong,HK, Hong Kong

Participant(s)

• WL

  Wendong Li

  Chinese U. of Hong Kong
• KY

  Kaili Yu

  The Chinese U. of Hong Kong
• HZ

  Huanxi Zhang

  The Chinese U. of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Presenter(s)

• TP

  Thomas Ptashnik

  Providence College, United States

Participant(s)

• RC

  Riley Cooney

  Tippie College of Business, U. of Iowa, United States

Presenter(s)

• JL

  Jing Luo

  Northwestern U.

Among the myriad grand challenges in today’s world as highlighted by the AOM 2024 conference theme, economic inequality is one of prime concern (Bapuji et al., 2020). While some people enjoy professional and economic success in society and the workplace, many are classified as the “working poor” and face enduring financial strains (Leana et al., 2012). Traditionally, organizational researchers have used personality and other individual differences to predict job outcomes and career success (Ng et al., 2005; Seibert et al., 2024) but have rarely examined the long-term, fundamental impact of work on the person. With widening economic inequality, a pressing research question is how people change as a result of their career success, or the lack thereof. Using innovative research methods and data sources with high ecological validity, the current symposium addresses this question with four presentations that investigated the longitudinal, reciprocal relationships between career success/stress (extrinsic and intrinsic career success, chronic underemployment, and job/financial stress) and changes in individual characteristics previously considered stable, including personality traits, goals, and values. Collectively, this set of studies contributes to the organizational literature by answering the recent call for management scholars to study income and income inequality as drivers of organizational behavior (Leana & Meuris, 2015) and further expands the outcomes of interest from short-term cognition, affect, and behavior to long-term changes and development of the person. Examining changes in personality and other individual characteristics as a result of work experiences and illuminating the dynamics of individual differences, rather than treating them as stable dispositions, represent a major paradigm shift for understanding worker behavior and experience in organizational research (Judge, 2023). This set of studies also advances careers research by incorporating a temporal perspective on career success and investigating the underemployed and financially strained—a previously understudied population (Seibert et al., 2024). Practically, findings from this symposium have important implications for the management and development of employees as well as effective utilization of human capital in society.

Presentations:

• 13:15 – 14:45 CT (GMT-5/UTC-5)

  2137: A Continuous-Time Meta-analysis of the Reciprocal Relationships between Optimism and Career Success (11942)
  

  Author: Weiwen Yang – Department of Management, Business School, The Chinese U. of Hong Kong,HK

  Author: Wendong Li – Chinese U. of Hong Kong

  Author: Kaili Yu – The Chinese U. of Hong Kong

  Author: Huanxi Zhang – The Chinese U. of Hong Kong
• 13:15 – 14:45 CT (GMT-5/UTC-5)

  2137: Longitudinal Reciprocal Relationships Between Career Success and Agentic/Communal Goal Importance (11942)
  

  Author: Thomas Ptashnik – Providence College

  Author: Rong Su – Tippie College of Business, U. of Iowa

  Author: Wendong Li – Chinese U. of Hong Kong
• 13:15 – 14:45 CT (GMT-5/UTC-5)

  2137: Underemployment and Personality Change: A 16-Year Longitudinal Study (11942)
  

  Author: Rong Su – Tippie College of Business, U. of Iowa

  Author: Jing Luo – Northwestern U.

  Author: Riley Cooney – Tippie College of Business, U. of Iowa
• 13:15 – 14:45 CT (GMT-5/UTC-5)

  2137: Values and Work Stress: Examining the Relations at the Between- and Within-Person Levels (11942)
  

  Author: Jing Luo – Northwestern U.

  Author: Emily Willroth – Washington U. in St. Louis