IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v16y2019i14p2572-d249602.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Sustainable Career Perspective of Work Ability: The Importance of Resources across the Lifespan

Author

Listed:
  • David Stuer

    (Antwerp Management School, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
    Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Antwerp, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium)

  • Ans De Vos

    (Antwerp Management School, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
    Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Antwerp, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium)

  • Beatrice I.J.M. Van der Heijden

    (Institute for Management Research, Radboud University, 6525AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands
    School of Management, Open University of the Netherlands, 6419AT Heerlen, The Netherlands
    Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
    Hubei Business School, Hubei University, Wuhan 368 Youyi Ave., Wuchang District, Wuhan 430062, China)

  • Jos Akkermans

    (School of Business and Economics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

Abstract

In this study, we examine employees’ perceptions of their work ability from a sustainable career perspective. Specifically, we investigate the role of a person’s perceived current fit (i.e., autonomy, strengths use and needs-supply fit), and future fit with their job as resources that affect perceived work ability, defined as the extent to which employees feel capable of continuing their current work over a longer time period. In addition, we test whether meaningfulness of one’s work mediates this relationship, and we address the moderating role of age. Our hypotheses were tested using a sample of 5205 employees working in diverse sectors in Belgium. The results of multi-group Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) provide mixed evidence for our hypotheses. While all four resources were significantly and positively related to perceived meaningfulness, only needs-supply fit was positively related to perceived work ability. Strengths use, on the other hand, was also significantly related to perceived work ability, yet in a negative way. These findings underscore the importance of distinguishing between several types of resources to understand their impact upon perceived work ability. Interestingly, the relationship between future-orientedness of the job and perceived work ability was moderated by age, with the relationship only being significant and positive for middle-aged and senior workers. This suggests an increasingly important role of having a perspective of future fit with one’s job as employees grow older. Contrary to our expectations, meaningfulness did not mediate the relationships between resources and perceived work ability. We discuss these findings and their implications from the perspective of sustainable career development.

Suggested Citation

  • David Stuer & Ans De Vos & Beatrice I.J.M. Van der Heijden & Jos Akkermans, 2019. "A Sustainable Career Perspective of Work Ability: The Importance of Resources across the Lifespan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-19, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:14:p:2572-:d:249602
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/14/2572/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/14/2572/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ahonen, E.Q. & Fujishiro, K. & Cunningham, T. & Flynn, M., 2018. "Work as an inclusive part of population health inequities research and prevention," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 108(3), pages 306-311.
    2. Brown, Phillip & Green, Andy & Lauder, Hugh, 2001. "High Skills: Globalization, Competitiveness, and Skill Formation," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199244201.
    3. Carmel Proctor & John Maltby & P. Linley, 2011. "Strengths Use as a Predictor of Well-Being and Health-Related Quality of Life," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 153-169, March.
    4. Nicole Maestas & Julie Zissimopoulos, 2010. "How Longer Work Lives Ease the Crunch of Population Aging," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 24(1), pages 139-160, Winter.
    5. Frank Martela & Richard M. Ryan & Michael F. Steger, 2018. "Meaningfulness as Satisfaction of Autonomy, Competence, Relatedness, and Beneficence: Comparing the Four Satisfactions and Positive Affect as Predictors of Meaning in Life," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(5), pages 1261-1282, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Melanie Ebener & Hans Martin Hasselhorn, 2019. "Validation of Short Measures of Work Ability for Research and Employee Surveys," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-15, September.
    2. Yoshitomo Fukuura & Yukako Shigematsu & Yumi Mizuochi & Tatsuyuki Kakuma, 2022. "Assessing Continued Employability among People with Mental Illnesses: Development of a Scale in Japan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-12, November.
    3. Jari J. Hakanen & Annina Ropponen & Hans De Witte & Wilmar B. Schaufeli, 2019. "Testing Demands and Resources as Determinants of Vitality among Different Employment Contract Groups. A Study in 30 European Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-17, December.
    4. Frida Marina Fischer & Maria Carmen Martinez & Camila Helaehil Alfredo & João Silvestre Silva-Junior & Jodi Oakman & Teresa Cotrim & Donald Fisher & Stephen Popkin & Gretchen A. Petery & Paul A. Schul, 2021. "Aging and the Future of Decent Work," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-11, August.
    5. Fulvio Signore & Enrico Ciavolino & Claudio Giovanni Cortese & Elisa De Carlo & Emanuela Ingusci, 2023. "The Active Role of Job Crafting in Promoting Well-Being and Employability: An Empirical Investigation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-24, December.
    6. Łukasz Baka & Dawid Ścigała & Łukasz Kapica & Andrzej Najmiec & Krzysztof Grala, 2021. "How Is Work Ability Shaped in Groups of Shift and Non-Shift Workers? A Comprehensive Approach to Job Resources and Mediation Role of Emotions at Work," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-19, July.
    7. Riccardo Sartori & Francesco Tommasi & Fatima Abu Hamam & Denis Delfitto & Maria Vender & Serena Dal Maso & Sabrina Piccinin & Andrea Ceschi, 2023. "Facilitating Sustainable Career Development in Fragility: A Psycho-Linguistic Intervention for Employability of Individuals with Fragile Literacy Skills," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-10, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pérez, Carlos & Martín-Román, Ángel & Moral, Alfonso, 2020. "Two decades of the complementary leisure effect in Spain," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 15(C).
    2. María Josefina Peláez & Cristián Coo & Marisa Salanova, 2020. "Facilitating Work Engagement and Performance Through Strengths-Based Micro-coaching: A Controlled Trial Study," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 1265-1284, April.
    3. Mona Larsen & Peder J. Pedersen, 2017. "Labour force activity after 65: what explain recent trends in Denmark, Germany and Sweden? [Arbeitsmarktbeteiligung von über 65-Jährigen: Ursachen für die jüngsten Entwicklungstrends in Dänemark, D," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 50(1), pages 15-27, August.
    4. Michael A. Flynn & Pietra Check & Andrea L. Steege & Jacqueline M. Sivén & Laura N. Syron, 2021. "Health Equity and a Paradigm Shift in Occupational Safety and Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-13, December.
    5. Busemeyer, Marius R., 2011. "Varieties of cross-class coalitions in the politics of dualization: Insights from the case of vocational training in Germany," MPIfG Discussion Paper 11/13, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    6. Chinhui Juhn & Kristin McCue, 2012. "Workplace Characteristics and Employment of Older Workers," Working Papers 12-31, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    7. Andrew E Clark & Rong Zhu, 2023. "Taking Back Control? Quasi-Experimental Evidence on the Impact of Retirement on Locus of Control," Working Papers halshs-04335808, HAL.
    8. Chaudhuri, Sarbajit, 2014. "Public Subsidy on Education, Welfare, and Wage Inequality in a Small Open Developed Economy: A Two-period Analysis," MPRA Paper 60330, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Nicole Maestas & Kathleen Mullen & David Powell, 2013. "The Effect of Local Labor Demand Conditions on the Labor Supply Outcomes of Older Americans," Discussion Papers 13-014, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
    10. Carlos P�rez & �ngel Mart�n-Rom�n & Alfonso Moral, 2015. "The impact of leisure complementarity on the labour force participation of older males in Spain," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(3), pages 214-217, February.
    11. Robert W. Fairlie & Kanika Kapur & Susan Gates, 2016. "Job Lock: Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(1), pages 92-121, January.
    12. Blake Allan, 2015. "Balance Among Character Strengths and Meaning in Life," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(5), pages 1247-1261, October.
    13. Nikolova, Milena & Cnossen, Femke, 2020. "What makes work meaningful and why economists should care about it," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    14. Berg, Peter B. & Hamman, Mary K. & Piszczek, Matthew & Ruhm, Christopher J., 2015. "Can Policy Facilitate Partial Retirement? Evidence from Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 9266, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Holli-Anne Passmore & Ashley N. Krause, 2023. "The Beyond-Human Natural World: Providing Meaning and Making Meaning," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(12), pages 1-14, June.
    16. Liang Zhao & Yukun Zhao & Yiwen Wu & Xiaojun Ding & Feng Yu & Kaiping Peng, 2022. "Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic upon Chinese Positive Traits," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-19, October.
    17. Kathlyn M. Cherry & Brae Anne McArthur & Margaret N. Lumley, 2020. "A Multi-Informant Study of Strengths, Positive Self-Schemas and Subjective Well-Being from Childhood to Adolescence," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(6), pages 2169-2191, August.
    18. Sylvia Y C L Kwok & Siqi Fang, 2021. "A Cross-Lagged Panel Study Examining the Reciprocal Relationships Between Positive Emotions, Meaning, Strengths use and Study Engagement in Primary School Students," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 1033-1053, March.
    19. Jean-Luc Demeulemeester & Claude Diebolt, 2011. "Education and Growth: What Links for Which Policy?," Historical Social Research (Section 'Cliometrics'), Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC), vol. 36(4), pages 323-346.
    20. Richard Douglass & Ryan Duffy, 2015. "Strengths Use and Life Satisfaction: A Moderated Mediation Approach," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 619-632, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:14:p:2572-:d:249602. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.