Silent but Damaging: Exploring the Link Between Air Pollution and Vocational and General Well-Being

Abstract

Air pollution has become a daunting challenge with the potential to endanger people’s lives across the globe. However, little is known about the psychological and vocational implications of air pollution. Drawing on feeling-as-information theory, we investigate the within-person relationships of ambient air pollution with vocational and general well-being outcomes (i.e., career choice anxiety and state optimism) through the mediating mechanism of mood state. We tested our hypotheses using an experience sampling method (ESM) with survey data from 67 undergraduate students in South Korea collected over 10 consecutive days. Results showed that daily ambient air pollution predicted higher career choice anxiety and lower state optimism via an increased negative mood. Furthermore, the indirect relation of air pollution with career choice anxiety was found to be stronger for individuals with lower family socioeconomic status. In a supplementary study, we interviewed 16 undergraduate students in South Korea to explain the ESM results in greater depth. Theoretical and practical implications, as well as study limitations, are discussed.

Keywords

air pollution mood career choice anxiety state optimism socioeconomic status

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Beal

D. J.

(2015). ESM 2.0: State of the art and future potential of experience sampling methods in organizational research. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 2(1), 383–407. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032414-111335.

Bell

P. A.

Garnand

D. B.

Heath

(1984). Effects of ambient temperature and seating arrangement on personal and environmental evaluations. The Journal of General Psychology, 110(2), 197–200. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221309.1984.9709963.

Brislin

R. W.

(1980). Translation and content analysis of oral and written material. In Triandis

H. C.

Berry

J. W.

(Eds.), Handbook of cross-cultural psychology: Methodology (pp. 349–444). Allyn and Bacon.

Brown

S. D.

Lent

R. W.

(2013). Career development and counseling: Putting theory and research to work (2nd ed.). Wiley.

Carver

C. S.

Scheier

M. S.

(2002). Optimism. In Snyder

C. R.

Lopez

S. J.

(Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 231-243). Oxford University Press.

Casas

Cox

Bauwelinck

Nemery

Deboosere

Nawrot

T. S.

(2017). Does air pollution trigger suicide? A case-crossover analysis of suicide deaths over the life span. European Journal of Epidemiology, 32(11), 973-981. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-017-0273-8.

Chao

G. T.

(1997). Mentoring phases and outcomes. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 51(1), 15–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/jvbe.1997.1591.

Charmaz

(2014). Constructing grounded theory (2nd ed.). Sage.

Chartrand

J. M.

Robbins

S. B.

Morrill

W. H.

Boggs

(1990). Development and validation of the career factors inventory. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 37(4), 491–501. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.37.4.491.

10.

Cortina

J. M.

Landis

R. S.

(2009). When small effect sizes tell a big story, and when large effect sizes don’t. In Lance

C. E.

Vandenberg

R. J.

(Eds.), Statistical and methodological myths and urban legends: Doctrine, verity and fable in the organizational and social sciences (pp. 287–308). Routledge.

11.

Cunningham

M. R.

(1979). Weather, mood, and helping behavior: Quasi experiments with the sunshine Samaritan. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37(11), 1947–1956. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.37.11.1947.

12.

Cunsolo Willox

Harper

S. L.

Ford

J. D.

Landman

Houle

Edge

V. L.

(2012). “From this place and of this place:” Climate change, sense of place, and health in Nunatsiavut, Canada. Social Science & Medicine, 75(3), 538–547. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.03.043.

13.

De France

Evans

G. W.

(2020). Expanding context in the role of emotion regulation in mental health: How socioeconomic status (SES) and developmental stage matter.Emotion, 21(4), 772–782. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000743.

14.

Duffy

R. D.

Allan

B. A.

England

J. W.

Blustein

D. L.

Autin

K. L.

Douglass

R. P.

Ferreira

Santos

E. J. R.

(2017). The development and initial validation of the decent work scale. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 64(2), 206–221. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000191.

15.

Duffy

R. D.

Blustein

D. L.

Allan

B. A.

Diemer

M. A.

Cinamon

R. G.

(2020). Introduction to the special issue: A cross-cultural exploration of decent work. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 116(Part A), 103351. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2019.103351.

16.

Duffy

R. D.

Blustein

D. L.

Diemer

M. A.

Autin

K. L.

(2016). The psychology of working theory. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 63(2), 127–148. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000140.

17.

Enders

C. K.

Tofighi

(2007). Centering predictor variables in cross-sectional multilevel models: A new look at an old issue. Psychological Methods, 12(2), 121-138. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.12.2.121.

18.

Environmental Protection Agency (2019). Our nation’s air. https://gispub.epa.gov/air/trendsreport/2019/#welcome.

19.

Erdogan

Tomás

Valls

Gracia

F. J.

(2018). Perceived overqualification, relative deprivation, and person-centric outcomes: The moderating role of career centrality. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 107, 233-245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2018.05.003.

20.

Fehr

Yam

K. C.

Chiang

J. T.-J.

Wei

(2017). Polluted work: A self-control perspective on air pollution appraisals, organizational citizenship, and counterproductive work behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 143, 98-110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2017.02.002.

21.

Feldman Barrett

Russell

J. A.

(1998). Independence and bipolarity in the structure of current affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(4), 967–984. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.74.4.967.

22.

Fornell

Larcker

D. F.

(1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378101800313.

23.

Gable

S. L.

Reis

H. T.

Elliot

A. J.

(2000). Behavioral activation and inhibition in everyday life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78(6), 1135–1149. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.78.6.1135.

24.

Gabriel

A. S.

Podsakoff

N. P.

Beal

D. J.

Scott

B. A.

Sonnentag

Trougakos

J. P.

Butts

M. M.

(2019). Experience sampling methods: A discussion of critical trends and considerations for scholarly advancement. Organizational Research Methods, 22(4), 969–1006. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428118802626.

25.

Gross

J. J

(2014). Emotion regulation: Conceptual and empirical foundations. In Gross

J. J.

(Ed.), Handbook of emotion regulation (pp. 3–20). Guilford Press.

26.

Gunthert

K. C.

Cohen

L. H.

Armeli

(1999). The role of neuroticism in daily stress and coping. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(5), 1087–1100. http://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.77.5.1087.

27.

Harris

Kang

(2017). South Korea joins ranks of world’s most polluted countries. Financial Times. https://www.ft.com/content/b49a9878-141b-11e7-80f4-13e067d5072c.

28.

M. Y.

Cheung

F. M.

Cheung

S. F.

(2010). The role of meaning in life and optimism in promoting well-being. Personality and Individual Differences, 48(5), 658–663. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2010.01.008.

29.

Hui

Lent

R. W.

Miller

M. J.

(2013). Social cognitive and cultural orientation predictors of well-being in Asian American college students. Journal of Career Assessment, 21(4), 587–598. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072712475289.

30.

IQAir (2018). World air quality report-region & city PM 2.5 ranking. IQAir AirVisual: Goldach.

31.

Jennings

R. E.

Lanaj

Koopman

McNamara

(2021). Reflecting on one's best possible self as a leader: Implications for professional employees at work. Personnel Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1111/peps.12447.

32.

John

O. P.

Gross

J. J.

(2004). Healthy and unhealthy emotion regulation: Personality processes, individual differences, and life span development. Journal of Personality, 72(6), 1301–1334. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2004.00298.x.

33.

Jung

Park

I.-J.

Rie

(2015). Future time perspective and career decisions: The moderating effects of affect spin. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 89, 46-55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2015.04.010.

34.

Kelly

K. R.

Lee

W.-C.

(2002). Mapping the domain of career decision problems. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 61(2), 302–326. https://doi.org/10.1006/jvbe.2001.1858.

35.

Kim

Jung

S. H.

Kang

D. R.

Kim

H. C.

Moon

K. T.

Hur

N. W.

Shin

D. C.

Suh

(2010). Ambient particulate matter as a risk factor for suicide. American Journal of Psychiatry, 167(9), 1100–1107. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2010.09050706.

36.

Kraus

M. W.

Piff

P. K.

Keltner

(2009). Social class, sense of control, and social explanation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97(6), 992–1004. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016357.

37.

Leary

M. R.

Tambor

E. S.

Terdal

S. K.

Downs

D. L.

(1995). Self-esteem as an interpersonal monitor: The sociometer hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68(3), 518–530. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.68.3.518.

38.

Lee

Koo

(2019). An analysis of long-term volatility of air pollutants in large cities in Korea by day. In Proceedings of the Autumn Meeting of KMS, Seoul, Korea, 30 October–1 November 2019.

39.

Lei

Wang

Peng

Yuan

(2019). Hope across socioeconomic status: Examining measurement invariance of the children’s hope scale across socioeconomic status groups. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2593. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02593.

40.

Lent

R. W.

Brown

S. D.

(2008). Social cognitive career theory and subjective well-being in the context of work. Journal of Career Assessment, 16(1), 6–21. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072707305769.

41.

Lent

R. W.

Brown

S. D.

(2019). Social cognitive career theory at 25: Empirical status of the interest, choice, and performance models. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 115(3), 103316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2019.06.004.

42.

Lent

R. W.

Brown

S. D.

Hackett

(1994). Toward a unifying social cognitive theory of career and academic interest, choice, and performance. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 45(1), 79–122. https://doi.org/10.1006/jvbe.1994.1027.

43.

Lent

R. W.

Taveira

M. D. C.

Figuera

Dorio

Faria

Gonçalves

A. M.

(2017). Test of the social cognitive model of well-being in Spanish college students. Journal of Career Assessment, 25(1), 135–143. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072716657821.

44.

Lepori

G. M.

(2016). Air pollution and stock returns: Evidence from a natural experiment. Journal of Empirical Finance, 35(3), 25–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jempfin.2015.10.008.

45.

Leppämäki

Partonen

Lönnqvist

(2002). Bright-light exposure combined with physical exercise elevates mood. Journal of Affective Disorders, 72(2), 139–144. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0165-0327(01)00417-7.

46.

(2018). Linking protean career orientation to well-being: the role of psychological capital. Career Development International, 23(2), 178–196. https://doi.org/10.1108/CDI-07-2017-0132.

47.

J. J.

Massa

Zhang

(2019). Air pollution, behavioral bias, and the disposition effect in China. Journal of Financial Economics. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2993763.

48.

Lim

Y.-H.

Kim

J. H.

Bae

Park

H. Y.

Hong

Y.-C.

(2012). Air pollution and symptoms of depression in elderly adults. Environmental Health Perspectives, 120(7), 1023–1028. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1104100.

49.

Lincoln

Y. S.

Guba

E. G.

(1985). Naturalistic inquiry (Vol. 9) (pp. 438–439). Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications. https://doi.org/10.1016/0147-1767(85)90062-8

50.

Lucas

R. E.

Lawless

N. M.

(2013). Does life seem better on a sunny day? Examining the association between daily weather conditions and life satisfaction judgments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 104(5), 872–884. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032124.supp.

51.

Luthans

Youssef

C. M.

Avolio

B. J.

(2007). Psychological capital: Developing the human competitive edge.Oxford University Press.

52.

Luthans

Youssef

C. M.

Avolio

B. J.

(2015). Psychological capital and beyond. Oxford University Press.

53.

Magnusson

(2000). An overview of epidemiological studies on seasonal affective disorder. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 101(3), 176–184. https://doi.org/10.1034/j.1600-0447.2000.101003176.x.

54.

Marteau

T. M.

Bekker

(1992). The development of a six‐item short‐form of the state scale of the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 31(3), 301–306. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8260.1992.tb00997.x.

55.

Ministry of Environment (2018). Annual report of air quality in Korea 2018. Ministry of Environment. https://www.airkorea.or.kr/web/detailViewDown?pMENU_NO=125.

56.

Ministry of Environment (2020). Air pollution. Ministry of Environment. https://eng.me.go.kr/eng/web/index.do?menuId=464.

57.

Miyamoto

Yoo

Levine

C. S.

Park

Boylan

J. M.

Sims

Markus

H. R.

Kitayama

Kawakami

Karasawa

Coe

C. L.

Love

G. D.

Ryff

C. D.

(2018). Culture and social hierarchy: Self- and other-oriented correlates of socioeconomic status across cultures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 115(3), 427–445. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000133.

58.

Nuyts

Nawrot

T. S.

Scheers

Nemery

Casas

(2019). Air pollution and self-perceived stress and mood: A one-year panel study of healthy elderly persons. Environmental Research, 177(2), 108644. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2019.108644.

59.

Park

I.-J.

Kim

Kwon

Lee

H.-G.

(2018). The relationships of self-esteem, future time perspective, positive affect, social support, and career decision: A longitudinal multilevel study. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 514-527. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00514.

60.

Park

I. J.

Lee

Kim

J. Y.

Jahng

(2019). Affect in daily career decision self‐efficacy and career choice anxiety. The Career Development Quarterly, 67(4), 313–326. https://doi.org/10.1002/cdq.12201.

61.

Pavela

(2017). Is childhood socioeconomic status independently associated with adult BMI after accounting for adult and neighborhood socioeconomic status? PLoS One, 12(1), e0168481. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0168481.

62.

Podsakoff

P. M.

MacKenzie

S. B.

Podsakoff

N. P.

(2012). Sources of method bias in social science research and recommendations on how to control it. Annual Review of Psychology, 63(2012), 539–569. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-120710-100452.

63.

Preacher

K. J.

Zyphur

M. J.

Zhang

(2010). A general multilevel SEM framework for assessing multilevel mediation. Psychological Methods, 15(3), 209–233. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020141.supp.

64.

Pun

V. C.

Manjourides

Suh

(2017). Association of ambient air pollution with depressive and anxiety symptoms in older adults: Results from the NSHAP study. Environmental Health Perspectives, 125(3), 342–348. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp494.

65.

Raudenbush

S. W.

Bryk

A. S.

(2002). Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods. Sage.

66.

Ren

Yang

(2019). Do cognitive and non-cognitive abilities mediate the relationship between air pollution exposure and mental health? PLoS One, 14(10), e0223353. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0223353.

67.

Rosen

C. C.

Simon

L. S.

Gajendran

R. S.

Johnson

R. E.

Lee

H. W.

Lin

S.-H.

(2019). Boxed in by your inbox: Implications of daily e-mail demands for managers’ leadership behaviors. Journal of Applied Psychology, 104(1), 19–33. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000343.

68.

Rottinghaus

P. J.

Buelow

K. L.

Matyja

Schneider

M. R.

(2012). The career futures inventory-revised. Journal of Career Assessment, 20(2), 123–139. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072711420849.

69.

Rottinghaus

P. J.

Day

S. X.

Borgen

F. H.

(2005). The career futures inventory: A measure of career-related adaptability and optimism. Journal of Career Assessment, 13(1), 3–24. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072704270271.

70.

Scandura

T. A.

(1992). Mentorship and career mobility: An empirical investigation. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 13, 169-174. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.4030130206.

71.

Scheers

Nawrot

Nemery

Casas

(2018). Changing places to study short-term effects of air pollution on cardiovascular health: a panel study. Environmental Health : A Global Access Science Source, 17(1), 80–88. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-018-0425-7.

72.

Schwarz

(1990). Feelings as information: Informational and motivational functions of affective states. In Higgins

E. T.

Sorrentino

R. M.

(Eds.), Handbook of motivation and cognition: Foundations of social behavior (vol. 2, pp. 527–561). Guilford Press.

73.

Schwarz

(2012). Feelings-as-information theory. In van Lange

P. A. M.

Kruglanksi

A. W.

Higgins

E. T.

(Eds.), Handbook of theories of social psychology (pp. 289–308). SAGE.

74.

Schwarz

Clore

G. L.

(1988). How do I feel about it? The informative functions of affective states. In Fiedler

Forgas

J. P.

(Eds.), Affect, cognition, and social behavior (pp. 44–62). Hogrefe International.

75.

Schwarz

Clore

G. L.

(2007). Feelings and phenomenal experiences. In Higgins

E. T.

Kruglanski

(Eds.), Social psychology: Handbook of basic principles (2nd ed., pp. 385–407). Guilford.

76.

Schwarz

Strack

(1999). Reports of subjective well-being: Judgmental processes and their methodological implications. In Kahneman

Diener

Schwarz

(Eds.), Well-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology (pp. 61–84). Sage Foundation.

77.

Selig

J. P.

Preacher

K. J.

(2008). Monte Carlo method for assessing mediation: An interactive tool for creating confidence intervals for indirect effects. [Computer software] http://quantpsy.org.

78.

Shifren

Hooker

(1995). Stability and change in optimism: A study among spouse caregivers. Experimental Aging Research, 21(1), 59-76. https://doi.org/10.1080/03610739508254268.

79.

Statistics Korea (2020). The survey of household finances and living conditions (SFLC) in 2020. Statistics Korea. http://kostat.go.kr/portal/eng/pressReleases/6/3/index.board?bmode=read&bSeq=&aSeq=387848&pageNo=1&rowNum=10&navCount=10&currPg=&searchInfo=&sTarget=title&sTxt=.

80.

Suh

Diener

Oishi

Triandis

H. C.

(1998). The shifting basis of life satisfaction judgments across cultures: Emotions versus norms. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(2), 482–493. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.74.2.482.

81.

TAQMN (2019). The occurrence and effects of dust storms. TAQMN. https://taqm.epa.gov.tw/taqm/en/b0301.aspx.

82.

Troy

A. S.

Ford

B. Q.

McRae

Zarolia

Mauss

I. B.

(2017). Change the things you can: Emotion regulation is more beneficial for people from lower than from higher socioeconomic status. Emotion, 17(1), 141–154. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000210.

83.

United Nations (2018). Air pollution measures for Asia and the Pacific. Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants. https://www.ccacoalition.org/en/content/air-pollution-measures-asia-and-pacific.

84.

Vohs

K. D.

Baumeister

R. F.

(Eds.). (2016). Handbook of self-regulation: Research, theory, and applications (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.

85.

Warr

(1990). The measurement of well-being and other aspects of mental health. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 63(3), 193–210. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8325.1990.tb00521.x.

86.

Weiss

H. M.

Cropanzano

(1996). Affective events theory: A theoretical discussion of the structure, causes and consequences of affective experiences at work. Research in Organizational Behavior, 18(4), 1–74.

87.

Welsch

(2006). Environment and happiness: Valuation of air pollution using life satisfaction data. Ecological Economics, 58(4), 801–813. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2005.09.006.

88.

Williams

A. M.

Phaneuf

D. J.

Barrett

M. A.

J. G.

(2019). Short-term impact of PM2.5on contemporaneous asthma medication use: Behavior and the value of pollution reductions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(12), 5246–5253. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1805647115.

89.

World Economic Forum (2020). The global risks report 2020. World Economic Forum. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Global_Risk_Report_2020.pdf.

90.

World Health Organization (2019). Environmental health inequalities in Europe. Second assessment report. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe.

91.

Yonhap News (2019). Korea suffers from worst-ever fine dust pollution. Yonhap News. https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20190306009751325.

92.

Zhang

Chen

(2017). Happiness in the air: How does a dirty sky affect mental health and subjective well-being? Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 85(2), 81–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2017.04.001.

93.

Zhou

Wang

Chang

C.-H.

Liu

Zhan

Shi

(2017). Commuting stress process and self-regulation at work: Moderating roles of daily task significance, family interference with work, and commuting means efficacy. Personnel Psychology, 70(4), 891–922. http://doi.org/10.1111/peps.12219.

94.

Zijlema

W. L.

Wolf

Emeny

Ladwig

K. H.

Peters

Kongsgård

Hveem

Kvaløy

Yli-Tuomi

Partonen

Lanki

Eeftens

de Hoogh

Brunekreef

Stolk

R. P.

Rosmalen

J. G. M.

(2016). The association of air pollution and depressed mood in 70,928 individuals from four European cohorts. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, 219(2), 212–219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2015.11.006.