Investigating suicide as a career response

Evaluating a job search strategy model of fit perceptions: a construct validation amongst unemployed job seekers

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the (1) psychometric properties of Crossley and Highhouse's job search strategy scale and (2) the predictive utility of the scale on fit perceptions.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from unemployed job seekers in Ghana (nT1 = 720; nT2 = 418). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to examine the data.

Findings

Exploratory factor analysis on the first random sub-sample (n = 362) supported a three-factor model. Confirmatory factor analysis on the second random sub-sample (n = 358) confirmed the three-factor structure and was invariant across job search contexts and genders. Moreover, structural path results showed that the use of focussed and exploratory job search strategies facilitated positive fit perceptions and the use of haphazard job search resulted in poor job fit perceptions.

Originality/value

This study is the first to examine the dimensionality of job search strategies based on different job search context by linking it to fit perceptions. Moreover, the authors provide evidence that the job search strategy scale has a valid psychometric property and a promising instrument to assess job search behaviour across job search contexts and genders in an understudied population.

Psychosocial risks of healthcare professionals and occupational suicide

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore compassion fatigue and psychosocial risks among healthcare professionals, which lead to increased work-related costs, including occupational suicide. Through this review and synthesis of the literature, the authors shed light on the causes that lead medical professionals to take their own lives. In addition, the authors explore the role of compassion fatigue as a leading cause of self-inflicted death.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic approach was used to guide the review and synthesis of the literature. Key bibliographic and review databases were searched from the fields of social work, nursing, medical education, educational leadership, psychology, sociology and human resources.

Findings

In the USA alone, suicide has increased by 25 per cent since 1999, making it a leading cause of death. Data indicate that medical professionals are prone to compassion fatigue, work-related stresses and suicide at a greater rate than the general population, with surgeons reporting up to three times more thoughts of suicide than the general population. The synthesis and analysis of the literature yielded the following themes: compassion fatigue and suicides, burnout and compassion fatigue, career longevity and moral distress.

Research limitations/implications

Job stress and its negative impact on the workforce is rather well documented. Yet, job stress has shown to be a leading cause of workplace suicide, which represents a commensurable human and economic loss and has a direct impact on multiple human resources variables. Ongoing research is needed to see how the initial literature has evolved as new data emerges.

Practical implications

This paper presents best practices for training and development professionals to better respond to psychosocial risks and reduce work-related costs in the medical profession and beyond.

Originality/value

Studies on employee stress and suicide in the healthcare industry are scarce. Yet, they have human and economic impacts on organisations.

The toll of perceived injustice on job search self-efficacy and behavior

Purpose

– Individuals normally make fairness judgements when experiencing negative outcomes on an important task, such as finding employment. Fairness is an affect-laden subjective experience. Perceptions of injustice can cause resource depletion in unemployed job seekers, potentially leading to reduced self-regulation. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of: first, justice perceptions during a job search and their impact on job search self-efficacy (JSSE); second, the mediating role of JSSE between justice perceptions and job search strategies; and third, associations between job search strategies and quantity and quality of job search behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

– Unemployed individuals (n=254) who were actively searching for a job reported on their past job search experiences with respect to justice, completed measures of JSSE, and reported recent job search behavior.

Findings

– Results reveal the potentially harmful impact of perceived injustice on job search strategies and the mediating role of JSSE, a self-regulatory construct and an important resource when looking for a job. Specifically, perceived injustice is negatively associated with JSSE. Reduced JSSE is associated with a haphazard job search strategy and less likelihood of exploratory and focussed strategies. A haphazard job search strategy is associated with making fewer job applications and poor decision making. Conversely, perceived justice is associated with higher JSSE and exploratory and focussed job search strategies. These two strategies are generally associated with higher quality job search behavior.

Research limitations/implications

– There are two major limitations. First, while grounded in social-cognitive theory of self-regulation and conservation of resources (COR) theory, a cross-sectional research design limits determination of causality in the model of JSSE as a central social-cognitive mechanism explaining how justice impacts job search strategies. Second, some results may be conservative because social desirability may have restricted the range of negative responses.

Practical implications

– This study provides insights to individuals who are supporting job seekers (e.g. career counselors, coaches, employers, and social networks). Specifically, interventions aimed at reducing perceptions of injustice, increasing JSSE, and improving job search strategies and behavior may ameliorate the damaging impact of perceived injustice.

Originality/value

– This study is the first to examine perceived justice in the job search process using social-cognitive theory of self-regulation and COR theory. Moreover, we provide further validation to a relatively new and under-researched job search strategy typology by linking the strategies to the quantity and quality of job search behaviors.