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Recent research has explored profiles of decent work based on the Psychology of Working Theory. However, such investigations have rarely been attempted in Korea. This study applied latent profile analysis to discover decent work profiles and their relationships with antecedents and outcomes. Among 605 Korean workers, five distinct profiles emerged: indecent (7.9%), low safety and healthcare access (34.9%), average (38.1%), decent (13.7%), and value-dominant but low rest (5.4%). Higher subjective social status and work volition were associated with the decent work group, whereas women and individuals with less education were linked to work characterized by greater vulnerability. Furthermore, satisfaction with work needs, job, and life varied significantly across these profiles. The decent work group generally exhibited the highest satisfaction, whereas the indecent work group had the lowest. The low-safety and healthcare access work group tended to exhibit higher satisfaction levels than the indecent work group, but lower levels than the average work group. The v alue-dominant but low-rest work group exhibited life satisfaction comparable to the decent work group. The findings of this study highlight the distinctive characteristics of the working conditions in South Korea. Based on these results, we discuss theoretical and practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As global labor markets become increasingly unstable, scholars have attempted to operationalize and categorize different forms of poor-quality work, such as with underemployment and precarious work. While these have significant implications for mental health and other outcomes, scholars have mostly studied different forms of underemployment using variable-centered assumptions, which assume homogeneity among workers. However, person-centered approaches may be better suited to studying underemployment because of varying patterns of employment in different industries and occupational categories. Therefore, with a sample of working adults (N = 1,016), we used latent profile analysis to identify profiles of subjective underemployment using seven indicators. We found three distinct profiles: Fully employed, stable underemployed, and precarious workers. Subsequent analyses exploring symptoms of distress, meaningful work, decent work, occupational classification, and level of education revealed key distinctions among the groups, such as precarious workers having the greatest distress and poorest working conditions. Taken together, this study provides a meaningful distinction between underemployed and precarious workers, while highlighting the relevance of these employment groups for several key outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study extended research on Psychology of Working Theory (PWT) by examining the connection of decent work to work fulfillment and general well-being in 346 predominantly U.S. adult workers diagnosed with Chiari malformation (CM), a chronic health condition involving a structural malformation affecting the posterior region and base of the skull, and commonly presenting with chronic head and neck pain and related physical (e.g., fatigue) and psychological (e.g., anxiety, depression) complications. Participants completed an online survey containing measures of PWT's outcomes of decent work constructs as well as the domain-specific marginalization constructs of condition severity and workplace limitations. Results of structural equation modeling analyses supported 12 of 19 hypotheses. Decent work directly and positively predicted survival, social contribution, and self-determination needs; social contribution and self-determination needs directly and positively predicted work fulfillment; survival and self-determination needs directly and positively predicted general well-being; decent work indirectly (via social contribution and self-determination needs) and positively predicted work fulfillment and indirectly (via survival and self-determination needs) and positively predicted general well-being; and condition severity directly and negatively predicted general well-being. Consistent with PWT, attaining decent work contributes to meeting needs for survival, social contribution, and self-determination, which in turn contributes to greater work fulfillment and general well-being in workers with CM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychology of working theory (PWT) posits that having decent work, or work that meets the minimum necessary standards to promote adequate work lives, predicts whether one's self-determination needs are met (autonomy, competence, and relatedness). While this proposition is well supported in the literature, examining moderators of these relations would advance theory by identifying who is able to benefit from decent work. Therefore, the current study examined workplace relational civility (WRC) as a potential moderator of decent work and self-determination needs among a large sample of working adults. Results were consistent with previous literature in that higher levels of decent work predicted greater self-determination need fulfillment. Furthermore, WRC significantly moderated the relations from decent work to relatedness and competence. Specifically, decent work had a stronger relation to both needs when WRC was low, suggesting that people working in relationally toxic work environments derive greater benefit from decent work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholarly interest in the relationship between decent work and mental health based on the Psychology of Working Theory has recently increased. This study evaluated the indirect effects of survival, social contribution, and self-determination needs satisfaction on the relationship between decent work and trauma-related mental health among military personnel. We conducted a three-wave survey over 1 year. Results showed that decent work predicted satisfaction of the three basic needs. Additionally, survival needs directly predicted posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, while social contribution and self-determination needs directly predicted posttraumatic growth. Finally, decent work had a significant indirect effect on posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms via survival needs, whereas decent work had significant indirect effects on posttraumatic growth via social contribution and self-determination needs. Our findings suggest that the more military personnel perceive their work as decent and feel that their three basic needs are fulfilled, the more posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms diminish, and posttraumatic growth increases. We discuss the implications and need for follow-up studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychology of Working Theory (PWT) has been increasingly adopted by counseling and vocational psychologists since its inception in 2016, and approximately 100 quantitative studies to date have tested various propositions of the Theory. As a relatively new theory, there has been lack of consistency in how the main constructs are conceptualized and measured by scholars, thus limiting further application of PWT. The following paper is aimed at addressing this inconsistency by providing a guide for researchers interested in using PWT as a theoretical framework in their studies. First, we provide an overview of PWT and the definitions of its core constructs: economic constraints, marginalization, work volition, career adaptability, decent work, and need satisfaction. Then, we review quantitative studies conducted to date to show how each of the constructs have been conceptualized and measured. Finally, we provide specific recommendations that researchers can follow in their future studies based on this review. It is hoped that the recommendations can provide a more streamlined way of measuring the constructs as well as ideas for researchers to expand the psychology of working literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study was aimed at understanding how social mobility relates to vocational outcomes. Drawing from Psychology of Working Theory (PWT), social mobility was operationalized as changes in experiences of economic constraints and marginalization between childhood and adulthood. We used latent profile analysis to create profiles among a sample of employed adults (N = 533) and compared profile membership to PWT informed outcomes: work volition, career adaptability, and decent work. The five profiles of social mobility that emerged were as follows: sustained privilege (low levels of marginalization and economic constraints during childhood and adulthood), downward mobility (low levels of marginalization and economic constraints in childhood, high levels in adulthood), upward mobility (high levels of marginalization and economic constraints in childhood, low levels in adulthood), highly marginalized (high levels of marginalization at both points), and sustained barriers (high levels of marginalization and economic constraints in childhood and adulthood). Participants who belonged to the sustained privilege and upward mobility groups experienced greater work volition and decent work compared to those in groups who experienced higher levels of economic constraints and marginalization throughout their lives. Implications for research and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The U.S. has a history of marginalizing Black people. Marginalization impedes Black Americans' ability to secure wealth, education, and meaningful work. The Psychology of Working Theory (PWT) uses a social justice lens to understand how contextual factors inform the labor market experiences of those who work and want to work. PWT highlights the ways economic constraints and marginalization predict access to decent work. We tested the PWT model with two measures of marginalization, general ethnic discrimination, and racial microaggressions, with a sample of 241 Black workers to add to the extant literature about the suitability of the PWT for racial minorities. Diverging from previous studies, we found that marginalization predicted career adaptability. Consistent with previous studies, marginalization and economic constraints predicted Black workers' work volition and perceived access to decent work. Work volition mediated the relationship between general ethnic discrimination and economic constraints with the perception of attaining decent work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a person-centered approach, this study explored the interrelationship between decent work and precarious work via a latent profile analysis (LPA). This investigation sought to replicate the latent profiles from Blustein and colleagues (2020) and extend the results by examining the role of individual lifetime experiences of macro-level factors (economic constraints and marginalization) as predictors and selected mental health indices (depression and anxiety) as outcomes of profile membership. Using a sample of 422 working adults in the U.S., the findings of the LPA yielded four profiles (indecent-precarious, low healthcare-low rights, highly decent, and vulnerability dominant), replicating four out of the five of the profiles identified in Blustein et al. Informed by psychology of working theory (PWT) and precarity theory, we assessed a structural model of the aforementioned predictors and outcomes in relation to profile membership. Consistent with theoretical expectations, economic constraints and marginalization positively predicted profiles that reflected greater instability and precarity. In addition, the profiles that reflected greater instability and precarity predicted both depression and anxiety. Implications for theory, counseling practice, public policy, and new directions in research are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid systemic changes in the United States have exacerbated economic inequity. This trend has prompted increased scholarly attention to social class, classism, and access to work capital. Work capital is a multidimensional concept related to vocational resources, which to date has primarily been discussed in a bimodal fashion (yes vs. no). In the current study, we used latent profile analysis on a sample of 439 working adults in the United States to examine potential unique profiles emerging from work capital’s four dimensions (economic, human, social, and cultural work capital). Our analyses revealed three distinct profiles: Low human and cultural work capital, low economic work capital, and moderate work capital. Next, we identified how theoretically informed contextual (childhood and current social class and downward classism) and vocational (work volition, career adaptability, and decent work) correlates would relate to profile membership. Regarding contextual factors, participants in the low economic work capital group were from lower social class backgrounds, and participants in the low human and cultural work capital group experienced higher levels of downward classism. Regarding vocational factors, participants in the moderate work capital group experienced the highest work volition, career adaptability, and decent work attainment. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigates the psychometric properties of decent work utilizing the bifactor exploratory structural equation modeling (Bifactor-ESEM) approach. Using a sample of 701 Chinese employees who completed the multidimensional Decent Work Scale (DWS: Duffy et al., 2017), this study reveals the superiority of the Bifactor-ESEM representation of DWS compared to alternative representations of the data (ICM-CFA, Bifactor-CFA, and ESEM). Additionally, the results of measurement invariance in the MIMIC framework indicate the DWS is equivalent in various age and job tenure samples of participants. Finally, the results provide evidence for the criterion validity by confirming the importance of accounting for both the G-factor (representing the global level of decent work) and the S-factors (representing the specific level of decent work), which shows that specific types of decent work explained variance in covariates (i.e., work well-being, life well-being, engagement, and turnover intention) over and above the variance already explained by the G-factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the proportion of immigrant workers in the United States grows, understanding how contextual constraints restrict immigrant workers from securing decent work is critical. Therefore, drawing from psychology of working theory (PWT), this study examined relations from contextual barriers (economic constraints and acculturative stress) to psychological mechanisms (work volition and career adaptability) to decent work with a sample of immigrant workers in the United States. We also conducted multigroup analysis to explore whether the model varied depending on race. Diverging from previous PWT studies, we found that economic constraints directly predicted decent work and that career adaptability predicted both acculturative stress and decent work. Importantly, multigroup analysis found the relations from career adaptability and work volition to decent work were stronger for the white group than the POC group. Our findings encourage psychologists to advocate for working immigrants, including working immigrants of color, to reduce marginalization and economic constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Work precarity, referring to the work-related psychological state of insecurity, instability, and powerlessness, is on the rise. Despite being employed, workers are increasingly exposed to work precarity due to the global disparities of access to decent work. Paid domestic cleaning (PDC) workers represent a vulnerable group, exposed to adverse employment conditions and limited labor rights and protections. Yet, the working conditions in PDC have not been studied in the light of precariousness and precarity. Drawing from the work precarity framework (WPF), the present study utilizes semi-structured interviews with 24 PDC workers in Switzerland to investigate if and how they experienced work precarity in the face of adverse working conditions, and to what extent they could access protective resources against such precarity. Experiences of precarity stemmed from insufficient and insecure income, lack of labor protections and rights, lack of social recognition, and unsafe physical and psychological working conditions. Participants reported negative work-related outcomes in terms of health impairment, social stigmatization, and ambivalent attitudes towards their job. Moreover, protective personal, social, and institutional resources were identified as limited or inconsistent. Among the study’s contributions, we highlight precarity-derived challenges vulnerabilized workers face. Implications for research, policy, and practice will be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined critical consciousness in a sample of 476 adults of color from a Psychology of Working perspective. Using structural equation modeling, we tested three components of critical consciousness—perceived inequality, egalitarian beliefs, and sociopolitical participation—as moderators of relations between marginalization, economic constraints, work volition, career adaptability, and decent work. As hypothesized, perceived inequality and sociopolitical participation moderated paths from marginalization to career adaptability, work volition, and decent work. Perceived inequality moderated paths from economic constraints to career adaptability and decent work, but in inconsistent directions. We discuss practical implications and future research directions. Our results contribute to the growing support for the Psychology of Working Theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This two-study research evaluates the validity of the decent work scale (DWS) developed by Duffy et al. (2017) in the United States and the effect of decent work on affective commitment among Chinese employees. Study 1 aims to validate the DWS and examine the predictability of decent work for psychological safety and affective commitment. Drawing from a sample of 307 full-time employees (149 females and 158 males), Study 1 reveals that the bifactor model of the DWS has valid application in the Chinese context, and that decent work is positively related to psychological safety and affective commitment. Study 2 seeks to explore the relationship between decent work and affective commitment, the underlying mechanism, and the boundary condition. With a new sample of 568 full-time employees (268 females and 300 males) collected at two time points, Study 2 demonstrates that decent work is directly and indirectly related to employee affective commitment through the mediation of psychological safety; this indirect relationship is moderated by labor relations climate. This research extends decent work research and psychology of working theory in relation to the DWS validation and predictability for employee workplace attitudes, psychological process, and boundary conditions in a non-Western context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building from psychology of working theory, this study tested how critical consciousness, composed of perceived inequality, egalitarianism, and critical action, moderate the relations between contextual barriers (i.e., economic constraints and classism) and psychological variables (i.e., work volition and career adaptability) with a sample of 403 employees in the United States. Findings suggested that people who had high egalitarianism had a stronger negative relation between economic constraints and work volition. Results also revealed that people who had low egalitarianism had a negative relation between classism and career adaptability. Regarding critical action, people who had low or moderate levels of critical action had a stronger negative relation between economic constraints and work volition. Moreover, people who had low or moderate levels of critical action had a stronger negative relation between classism and career adaptability. Findings encourage practitioners and employers to consider egalitarianism and critical action as potential targets in vocational interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study explores the interrelationship among decent work components via a latent profile analysis among Turkish workers. Using a sample of 596 employees in Türkiye, the latent profile analysis revealed four distinct profiles (highly indecent work, low compensation-low rest, indecent work-low healthcare-dominant, and decent work). The auxiliary variable analysis showed that work volition and social class increased the likelihood of workers’ membership in the decent work group. Economic constraints and marginalization increased the likelihood of workers’ membership in the highly indecent work group. Women were more likely to be members of the indecent work-low healthcare-dominant group, and workers with bachelor’s degrees or higher were more likely to be members of the low compensation-low rest group. In addition, the results showed significant mean differences in the levels of job satisfaction across profile memberships, such that the decent work group had the highest job satisfaction. The results reveal how components of decent work are uniquely configured among Turkish workers and contribute to the growing literature examining how indecent work is experienced around the world. Implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychology of Working Theory (PWT) has recently gained empirical support; however, its assumptions have yet to be tested for cultural responsiveness in Latinx communities, one of the fastest-growing worker populations in the U.S. The current study had two major aims: (a) to translate and validate instruments measuring PWT constructs from English into Spanish, and (b) to test theorized PWT predictors of decent work in a sample of Latinx workers (N = 287). First, we translated and validated instruments measuring economic constraints, lifetime marginalization, work volition, and decent work using confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). We then tested a structural model predicting decent work. Results partially supported PWT hypotheses, suggesting its utility and cultural responsiveness in studying the work patterns and conditions in Latinx communities. Practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the validity of Psychology of Working Theory (PWT) in a context of sub-Saharan Africa. A sample of 334 Togolese primary school teachers completed the French versions of the Decent Work Scale (DWS), the Togolese adapted form of the Satisfaction With Life Scale, the Job Satisfaction Scale (JSS), and several items about meaning at work and other personal and contextual variables (e.g., subjective salary conditions). The results suggest that both the DWS and the JSS are valid in this specific cultural setting. Although a person-centered variable (i.e., safe working conditions) was related to job satisfaction, only those variables that would have positive effects on workers' family members and relatives (i.e., access to health care, adequate compensation, free time and rest, and complementary values) were related to life satisfaction. Overall, the results supported the validity of PWT. Implications for labor policy, individuals, employers, and counseling are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research is focused on the measurement properties of the Decent Work Scale (DWS) in Australia and adds to the cumulative evidence of the measure's international utility for psychological research into the role of work in people's lives. The study contributes new evidence via a survey of a sample of workers (N = 201) who completed the DWS and criterion measures of career-related factors including job satisfaction, work engagement, and withdrawal intentions. Correlated factors, higher order, and bifactor models were tested using confirmatory factor analysis. All models were satisfactory and the bifactor model evinced preferable fit. The DWS Values Congruence subscale predicted all criterion measures. Workers' incomes and ratings of their occupations' prestige had no main effects or interaction effect on the DWS subscales. Recommendations for future research include testing the DWS's relations with measures of mental health which are known correlates of career-related outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building from the psychology of working framework, we examined the moderating role of proactive personality in the attainment of decent work among a sample of racially and ethnically diverse employed adults in the United States (N = 238). We tested our hypotheses using structural equation modeling and found experiences of marginalization and economic constraints to have indirect associations with decent work via work volition. We also found marginalization, work volition, and career adaptability to have direct associations with decent work but found no support for proactive personality as a moderating mechanism. Our findings contribute to the growing literature examining how contextual variables are associated with securing decent work among diverse groups. We discuss practical implications along with future directions for research related to the psychology of working. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maternity leave is not federally guaranteed or paid in the United States. Although there has been an increase of women in the workforce, federal maternity leave policy has not changed since the adoption of the Family and Medical Leave Act in 1993. The subjective quality of this maternity leave is likely an important component of what mothers perceive to be decent work. However, no scholars have developed measurements examining mothers' subjective experiences of the quality of their maternity leave. Therefore, the goal of the current research was to develop scales measuring six domains of quality of maternity leave: time off, flexibility, coworker support, discrimination, microaggressions, and benefits (e.g., pay, health care, disability insurance). In two studies with diverse samples of working, adult mothers, we provide evidence for the factor structure, validity, and internal consistency of the Quality of Maternity Leave Scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the Decent Work Scale (DWS), a recently developed measure that assesses the psychological experience of the quality of one's work life. The proposed five-factor structure was verified with a sample of 326 Turkish working adults. Consistent with previous research, a five-factor bifactor model showed best fit to the data. The results of multigroup confirmatory factor analysis showed that the structure of the instrument was invariant across gender, income, and social class groups. Convergent and discriminant validity were supported by positive correlations with person–organization fit, job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and work meaning and by negative correlations with withdrawal intentions. Evidence of predictive validity was obtained by regressing the five subscales on four outcome measures. These findings suggest that the Turkish version of the DWS can be used for assessing decent work among Turkish working adults and cross-cultural psychological research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People who identify as sexual minorities consistently face barriers to decent and meaningful employment, especially when coupled with additional constraints such as low socioeconomic status or marginalization experiences. Drawing from the psychology of working theory as our theoretical framework, this study examined the relations of economic constraints (social class) and marginalization (negative sexual minority workplace climate) to work volition, decent work, and meaningful work with a sample of working adults identifying with sexual minority identities. Consistent with hypotheses, social class and workplace climate indirectly predicted decent work, via work volition, and workplace climate also directly predicted decent work. Decent work and work volition were each direct predictors of meaningful work and decent work partially mediated the relation of work volition to meaningful work. Results highlight the importance of advocacy and adequate workplace supports for sexual minority individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building on new developments in the psychology of working framework (PWF) and psychology of working theory (PWT), this article proposes a rationale and research agenda for applied psychologists and career development professionals to contribute to the many challenges related to human rights and decent work. Recent and ongoing changes in the world are contributing to a significant loss of decent work, including a rise of unemployment, underemployment, and precarious work across the globe. By failing to satisfy human needs for economic survival, social connection, and self-determination, the loss of decent work undermines individual and societal well-being, particularly for marginalized groups and those without highly marketable skills. Informed by innovations in the PWF/PWT, we offer exemplary research agendas that focus on examining the psychological meaning and impact of economic and social protections, balancing caregiving work and market work, making work more just, and enhancing individual capacities for coping and adapting to changes in the world of work. These examples are intended to stimulate new ideas and initiatives for psychological research that will inform and enhance efforts pertaining to work as a human right. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychology of Working Theory (PWT) is a relatively new vocational theory applicable to various cultural contexts around the world. However, proper examination of the theory within a Turkish context has been limited due to measurement concerns. Thus, in the present studies, we aimed to first translate the most frequently used PWT measures into Turkish by following best practices for scale translation and proceeded to then examine the full PWT model among Turkish working adults. We conducted two separate studies to address our primary aims. In Study 1, we translated the scales and conducted initial validity, and data was collected from 390 Turkish working adults to test the dimensionality and reliability of the scales. Results indicated that both the Economic Constraints Scale and Lifetime Experiences of Marginalization Scale were unidimensional models and the Work Needs Satisfaction Scale had a higher-order model consistent with the original development studies. In Study 2, using these newly translated scales, we examined the full PWT model among a new group of 564 Turkish working adults. Results showed that overall, PWT propositions were largely supported by the sample except for the role of work volition. Limitations and implications of the studies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]