Career Calling in Older Adults: A Socioemotional Selectivity Perspective

Over the past several decades, the meaning of work for employees has evolved beyond solely a means of financial support and toward a source of fulfillment and personal identity. Work that is purposeful, meaningful, and internally motivated can be considered a career calling. As the American workforce ages, fulfilling a career calling may be especially important for the longevity and well-being of older adult workers. Drawing on tenets of Socioemotional Selectivity Theory, the present study tested a model in which socioemotional motives and goal selection predict the attainment of calling, and occupational future time perspective was examined as a meaningful individual difference that may affect these relationships. I analyzed survey data collected from 267 working older adults over a two-week period using structural equation modeling. Support was found for the relationships between motives for meaning and positive emotions and calling. Emotional regulation goals were not found to mediate the relationships between motives and calling, and occupational future time perspective did not alter these relationships. By uniting Socioemotional Selectivity Theory with the calling literature, I further our understanding of antecedents of career calling in a priority working population. Theoretical implications for socioemotional selectivity theory and the calling literature, as well as practical implications for workers and organizations, are discussed.

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Department dc:contributor.department

Psychology

Grantor dc:publisher

Georgia Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Kidwell, Kate E.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• French, Kimberly A.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Wiese, Christopher
• Verhaegen, Paul
• Liao, Hsiao-Wen
• Shultz, Ken

• Calling
• Older Adults
• Careers
• Socioemotional Selectivity

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1853/72733

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.gatech.edu:1853/72733