Midlife Work and Psychological Well-Being: A Test of the Psychology of Working Theory

Shin Ye Kim, Nadya Fouad, Hotaka Maeda, Hui Xie, Nashriq Nazan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

In the present study, we examined the centrality of work in midlife adults and how it relates to their psychological well-being. Using the psychology of working theory (PWT), we tested a portion of the outcome of PWT in a sample of 1,888 midlife adults, finding good overall model data fit. Of the three needs work provides, survival, relatedness, and self-determination were each found to explain unique predictive variance. This suggests that adults who are most psychologically healthy have their survival needs met through their work, feel connected with people at work, and meet their self-determination needs through the experience of being engaged in activities at work. Implications of these findings for future research and career counseling are considered.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)413-424
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of Career Assessment
Volume26
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 1 2018

Keywords

  • career development
  • midlife
  • psychological well-being
  • psychology of working
  • work

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