Abstract
Although social class is an important construct throughout the social sciences, it has received only minimal attention in the industrial–organizational psychology, organizational behavior, and human resource management literatures. As a result, little is known regarding the potential role of social class in the work and career context. The present study examines the role of social class during the job search process. We integrate self-regulation and social class perspectives to hypothesize ways social class may influence job search antecedents, behaviors, and outcomes. Analysis of longitudinal data from new job entrants (N = 516) indicated that job seekers from lower social classes possess lower job search self-efficacy, lower perceived social support, and higher perceived financial hardship compared with those from higher social classes. Further, results suggest that through the mechanism of lower self-efficacy, lower social class job seekers display lower job search intensity. Finally, one indicator of social class—parental income—was positively related to job acceptance rate, a hazard outcome that reflected whether and how quickly participants accepted a job. In contrast, subjective social class was negatively related to job acceptance rate. Overall, the present findings suggest that social class plays a multifaceted role in the job search process and, thus, warrants more attention within this and other areas of organizational research.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 444-457 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Journal of Applied Psychology |
Volume | 107 |
Issue number | 3 |
Early online date | May 17 2021 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 17 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2021 American Psychological Association
Keywords
- Employment
- Job search
- Self-regulation
- Social class
- Socioeconomic status
PubMed: MeSH publication types
- Journal Article