The Concepts of Work and Decent Work in Relationship With Self-Efficacy and Career Adaptability: Research With Quantitative and Qualitative Methods in Adolescence

Identifying the personal characteristics of decent work perception for nursing students in China using latent profile analysis

BACKGROUND

Given the importance of perceptions of decent work for nursing students' future career choices, we attempted to determine potential classifications and characteristics of nursing students' perceptions of decent work so that targeted interventions could be developed.

METHODS

A convenience sample of 1004 s- to fourth-year nursing students completed the General Information Questionnaire, Self-Regulatory Fatigue Scale, Occupational Identity Questionnaire, and Decent Work Perceptions Scale in a cross-sectional survey in Heilongjiang Province, China, resulting in 630 valid questionnaires with a valid return rate of 62.75%. Nursing students' perceptions of decent work were defined using descriptive and regression analysis.

RESULTS

Latent profile analysis (LPA) identified three subgroups: low perceived decent work group, medium perceived decent work group, and high perceived decent work group, accounting for 4.76%, 69.37%, and 25.87% of the sample, respectively. The results of unordered multiclass logistic regression show that nursing students with relatively low levels of perceived decent work are more likely to have a low professional identity, a lack of respect for nursing seniors, an involuntary choice of nursing major, and a low family income.

CONCLUSION

Different types of nursing students have different perceptions of decent work, and these universities and related departments can use different educational guidance strategies.

Relationships between Self-Efficacy, Job Instability, Decent Work, and Life Satisfaction in A Sample of Italian, Swiss, and Spanish Students

Recent research has shown that self-efficacy has a positive relationship with life satisfaction and with the perception of access to decent work. On the other hand, a perception of instability regarding the profession is negatively correlated with these dimensions. Few authors have studied these constructs within the same research. Therefore, the aim of the study was to fill this gap in the literature by testing a structural equation model in which the perception of access to decent work could mediate between perceived self-efficacy in one's training and life satisfaction, and between perceived instability of the profession and life satisfaction. Data was collected through an online research survey. Five hundred and seventeen university students (104 males and 413 females) aged between 18 and 30 years (M = 22.50; ds = 2.61) from three different countries participated: 181 were Italian, 173 were Swiss, and 163 were Spanish. The results only partially confirmed our model. The idea of finding a decent work mediates the relationship between perceived job instability and life satisfaction, but not between self-efficacy and life satisfaction. Perceived self-efficacy together with the idea of finding a decent work have a direct effect on life satisfaction. In career development, counselors must take into account what the perception of job instability entails for students, which may be demotivating and not allow future workers to imagine a decent job.

"Imagine Your Career after the COVID-19 Pandemic": An Online Group Career Counseling Training for University Students

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively influenced the psychological well-being of people around the world; university students have experienced feelings of fear of the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the intolerance of uncertainty, and a worsened quality of life, related to the reduction of social contacts. Scholars all around the world widely suggest the need to take care of this issue, proposing solutions to support students' adjustment in the post-pandemic period. The literature on positive psychology and the life design approach has identified multiple psychological resources, the character strengths, that can sustain people's life satisfaction and well-being in changing contexts, including their university experience. We proposed an online group career counseling intervention for 30 Italian university students (experimental group) to promote university students' psychological resources and mitigate the long-term negative implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on life satisfaction. The other 30 students formed the control group. We found that the students engaged in the online group career counseling intervention evidenced, at the post-test, higher levels than the pre-test of (a) resilience, (b) subjective risk intelligence, (c) career adaptability, (d) self-efficacy, (e) optimism, (f) hope, (g) life satisfaction, and lower levels than the pre-test of (h) fears of COVID-19 pandemic. No differences at Time 1 and Time 2 were found in the control group. Implications for future research and practice will be discussed.

Insight orientation scale: A promising tool for organizational outcomes-A psychometric analysis using item response theory

Insight is a construct carried out into different theoretical orientations with increasing application out of the boundaries of clinical psychology. Recent studies have investigated insight also as a promising variable for organizational outcomes. Given the relevance of Insight in promoting change, this paper aimed at describing the psychometric analysis of one of the shortest, most agile, and most versatile tool for measuring some of the characteristics of insight, the Insight Orientation Scale (IOS), using Item Response Theory. To achieve this goal, we applied a Mixed Rash Model to the IOS. Data from 1,445 individuals were analyzed by the means of WIN-MIRA and Multilog. Based on the likelihood statistics (CAIC) we assumed a three-class solution for the IOS. Results also indicated that the greater part of items had good discrimination and threshold parameters. These findings confirmed psychometric stability of the IOS highlighting its measurement precision, supporting its utility in both research and practice.

Personal Values in Relation to Risk Intelligence: Evidence from a Multi-Mediation Model

In a risk society, personal values can be important resources, useful for managing uncertainty and guiding people in the perception of risk. The goal of this article is to explore the relationship between risk intelligence and personal values. The participants were 731 Italian adults aged between 18 and 65 years (M = 30.25; DS = 10.71). The survey was composed of the following measures: Subjective Risk Intelligence Scale and Portrait Values Questionnaire. Data analyses have found significant relationships between some types of personal values and risk intelligence: subjective risk intelligence is negatively related to conservation and positively related to openness to change and self-transcendence, but it was not related to self-enhancement. Furthermore, values of openness to change and self-transcendence mediate the relationship between age and subjective risk intelligence, while conservation values and self-enhancement values did not mediate the same relationship. Implication for practice and future research will be discussed.

The Psychology of Sustainability and Sustainable Development: Advancing Decent Work, Inclusivity, and Positive Strength-Based Primary Preventive Interventions for Vulnerable Workers

This study discusses the contribution of the psychology of sustainability and sustainable development to the wellbeing of vulnerable workers. The psychology of sustainability and sustainable development is a current area of the research study in the field of sustainability science. It deals with sustainability as a framework to recognize and integrate the value of the psychological approach in the construction of processes linked to sustainable development. Accordingly, the psychology of sustainability and sustainable development could provide sustainable development processes for the employment of vulnerable workers. The contribution starts with the definition of the coordinates of a sustainable development process for vulnerable workers, anchoring it to the principles of decent work and inclusivity. Subsequently, positive variables involved in the sustainable development processes and their relationship with decent work and inclusivity are discussed. Moreover, positive healthy organizations are introduced as work environments capable to take care of the wellbeing, also, of vulnerable workers. Lastly, the applications of positive strength-based primary preventive interventions for vulnerable workers are analyzed. Perspectives for further research studies and interventions are also examined.