Proactive career behaviors and subjective career success: The moderating role of national culture. (20th August 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Smale, Adam; Bagdadli, Silvia; Cotton, Rick; Dello Russo, Silvia; Dickmann, Michael; Dysvik, Anders; Gianecchini, Martina; Kaše, Robert; Lazarova, Mila; Reichel, Astrid; Rozo, Paula; Verbruggen, Marijke
• Other Names: Adeleye Ifedapo investigator.; Andresen Maike investigator.; Apospori Eleni investigator.; Babalola Olusegun investigator.; Briscoe Jon P. investigator.; Cha Jong‐Seok investigator.; Chudzikowski Katharina investigator.; Dries Nicky investigator.; Eggenhofer‐Rehart Petra investigator.; Fei Zhangfeng investigator.; Gubler Martin investigator.; Hall Douglas T. investigator.; Khapova Svetlana investigator.; Kim Najung investigator.; Lehmann Philip investigator.; Lysova Evgenia investigator.; Madero Sergio investigator.; Mandel Debbie investigator.; Mayrhofer Wolfgang investigator.; Milikić Biljana Bogićević investigator.; Mishra Sushanta Kumar investigator.; Naito Chikae investigator.; Parry Emma investigator.; Saher Noreen investigator.; Saxena Richa investigator.; Schleicher Nanni investigator.; Schramm Florian investigator.; Shen Yan investigator.; Suzanne Pamela investigator.; Taniguchi Mami investigator.; Unite Julie investigator.; Liu Wu guestEditor.; Tangirala Subrahmaniam guestEditor.; Lee Cynthia guestEditor.; Parker Sharon K. guestEditor.;
• Is Part Of: Journal of organizational behavior. Volume 40:Number 1(2019)
• Page Start: 105
• Page End: 122
• Publication Date: 2018-08-20
• Subjects: career self‐management -- career success -- national culture -- proactive career behaviors; Industrial sociology -- Periodicals; Organizational behavior -- Periodicals; Psychology, Industrial -- Periodicals; 302.35
• DOI: 10.1002/job.2316
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0894-3796

Abstract

Summary: Although career proactivity has positive consequences for an individual's career success, studies mostly examine objective measures of success within single countries. This raises important questions about whether proactivity is equally beneficial for different aspects of subjective career success, and the extent to which these benefits extend across cultures. Drawing on Social Information Processing theory, we examined the relationship between proactive career behaviors and two aspects of subjective career success—financial success and work‐life balance—and the moderating role of national culture. We tested our hypotheses using multilevel analyses on a large‐scale sample of 11, 892 employees from 22 countries covering nine of GLOBE's 10 cultural clusters. Although we found that proactive career behaviors were positively related to subjective financial success, this relationship was not significant for work‐life balance. Furthermore, career proactivity was relatively more important for subjective financial success in cultures with high in‐group collectivism, high power distance, and low uncertainty avoidance. For work‐life balance, career proactivity was relatively more important in cultures characterized by high in‐group collectivism and humane orientation. Our findings underline the need to treat subjective career success as a multidimensional construct and highlight the complex role of national culture in shaping the outcomes of career proactivity.