The Joint Role of Locus of Control and Perceived Financial Need in Job Search

Authors

Edwin A. J. van Hooft, Institute of Psychology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, PO Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The NetherlandsFollow
Craig Crossley, University of Nebraska, LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

9-2008

Comments

Published in International Journal of Selection and Assessment 16:3 (September 2008), pp. 258–271; doi 10.1111/j.1468-2389.2008.00432.x Copyright © 2008 E.A.J. van Hooft and C. D. Crossley; journal compilation © 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Used by permission. http://www.interscience.wiley.com/jpages/0965-075X

Abstract

Guided by economic rational choice theory and the behavioral-coping literature, the present study examined contrasting perspectives of the role of job-search locus of control (JSLOC) and perceived financial need in predicting job-search intensity. Data were collected in two independent studies in the Netherlands and in the United States, both using a two-wave longitudinal design. Results from both studies suggested that job seekers with external JSLOC and high perceived financial need engaged in more intense search behavior to compensate for anticipated difficulties in finding employment. Findings suggested that stress may mediate this relation, and may play a positive role in the job-search process.