It has become a commonplace for people to move from one occupation to another during their career. The authors propose that work-related attitudes and person-related characteristics should be considered when examining the willingness to change occupations (WCOs). Consistent with our hypotheses, we found that high levels of work satisfaction, strong occupational commitment, and work-related worries made employees less WCOs, whereas uncertainty tolerance and mobility self-efficacy were positively associated with WCO (Study 1). The findings regarding person-related characteristics were replicated among unemployed individuals (Study 2). Moreover, a longitudinal study showed high-mobility self-efficacy to be a resource-enhancing WCO over time, and revealed that uncertainty tolerance increased WCO among those who had actually experienced a change in occupational status (Study 3).
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