2014: Double-Edged Indirect Relationships Between Career Adaptability and Career Satisfaction (15191)

While career adaptability has been regarded as one critical contributing factor for career satisfaction, existing studies got mixed findings about their relationship. As a result, scholars urged a more nuanced view by taking both positive and negative effects into consideration. Building on career construction theory, we proposed that career adaptability would be positively related to career satisfaction via proactive career behavior and person-job fit perceptions in sequence, and at the same time negatively related to career satisfaction via psychological entitlement and person-job fit perceptions in sequence. We examined our hypotheses using a sample of 291 employees collected with a three-wave research design. Results showed that the hypothesized parallel sequential mediation model held for needs-supplies fit, but not demands-abilities fit. The research provides a novel perspective about why career adaptability might not benefit career satisfaction, reveals that different kinds of fit may not play the same roles in career construction, and deepens our understanding of the influence of psychological entitlement in career development.

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