What Happened to Your Calling? The Development of Calling Across College-To-Work Transition

Abstract

Career calling is a pervasive, purposeful, transcendent, and passion-driven approach to a job that is perceived as central to individuals’ identity, that contributes to the greater good, and for which individuals are willing to make sacrifices. Research on the dynamics of career calling has grown exponentially, but clarity on whether and how a career calling changes during key life transitions is still lacking. In this article, we report the results of a two-wave study in which changes in perceiving a calling, living out a calling, and calling motivation were compared across groups of college students (n = 781), college-to-work transitioners (n = 143), and workers (n = 270). The results show that perceiving a calling is stable for students, decreases during college-to-work transitions, and slightly increases for workers; living out a calling is stable for students, decreases during college-to-work transitions, and slightly decreases for workers; motivation to pursue a calling is stable in all groups and higher for students entering the job market. Workers have lower levels of perceiving and living out a calling than students.

Keywords

career calling living out a calling calling motivation college-to-work transition longitudinal

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ahn

Dik

B. J.

Hornback

(2017). The experience of career change driven by a sense of calling: An interpretative phenomenological analysis approach. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 102, 48–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2017.07.003

Akkermans

Richardson

Kraimer

(2020). The Covid-19 crisis as a career shock: Implications for careers and vocational behaviour. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 119, 103434. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2020.103434

Arnett

J. J.

(2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist, 55(5), 469–480. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.55.5.469

Bauer

T. N.

Bodner

Erdogan

Truxillo

D. M.

Tucker

J. S.

(2007). Newcomer adjustment during organizational socialization: A meta-analytic review of antecedents, outcomes, and methods. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(3), 707–721. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.92.3.707

Bengtsson

Flisbäck

(2017). On leaving work as a calling: Retirement as an existential imperative. International Journal of Ageing and Later Life, 11(1), 37–67. https://doi.org/10.3384/ijal.1652-8670.16-291

Blustein

D. L.

Duffy

Ferreira

J. A.

Cohen-Scali

Cinamon

R. G.

Allan

B. A.

(2020). Unemployment in the time of COVID-19: A research agenda. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 119, 103436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2020.103436

Bott

E. M.

Duffy

R. D.

(2015). A two-wave longitudinal study of career calling among undergraduates. Journal of Career Assessment, 23(2), 250–264. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072714535030

Brislin

R. W.

(1970). Back-translation for cross-cultural research. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 1(3), 185–216. https://doi.org/10.1177/135910457000100301

Cohen

(1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum.

10.

Cohen

(1992). Quantitative methods in psychology: A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112(1), 155–159.

11.

Dalla Rosa

Gerdel

Vianello

(2023). Data of three-wave longitudinal study on career calling during college-to-work transition [Data set]. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/JSK6Q

12.

Dalla Rosa

Vianello

Anselmi

(2019). Longitudinal predictors of the development of a calling: New evidence for the a posteriori hypothesis. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 114, 44–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2019.02.007

13.

Dalla Rosa

Vianello

Barbieri

(2018). The role of mentors on the development of calling in students: A 3-year investigation. In Employability and competences (1st ed., pp. 5–18). Firenze University Press. https://doi.org/10.36253/978-88-6453-672-9.06

14.

Dalla Rosa

Vianello

Galliani

E. M.

Duffy

R. D.

(2020). Moderators of career calling and job‐search behaviors among unemployed individuals. The Career Development Quarterly, 68(4), 318–331. https://doi.org/10.1002/cdq.12239

15.

Dik

B. J.

Shimizu

A. B.

(2019). Multiple meanings of calling: Next steps for studying an evolving construct. Journal of Career Assessment, 27(2), 323–336. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072717748676

16.

Dobrow

S. R.

(2013). Dynamics of calling: A longitudinal study of musicians. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 34(4), 431–452. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.1808

17.

Dobrow

S. R.

Heller

(2015). Follow your heart or your head? A longitudinal study of the facilitating role of calling and ability in the pursuit of a challenging career. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(3), 695–712. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038011

18.

Dobrow

S. R.

Tosti-Kharas

(2012). Listen to your heart? Calling and receptivity to career advice. Journal of Career Assessment, 20(3), 264–280. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072711434412

19.

Dobrow

S. R.

Weisman

Heller

Tosti-Kharas

(2023). Calling and the good life: A meta-analysis and theoretical extension. Administrative Science Quarterly, 68(2), 508–550. https://doi.org/10.1177/00018392231159641

20.

Duffy

R. D.

Allan

B. A.

Autin

K. L.

Bott

E. M.

(2013). Calling and life satisfaction: It’s not about having it, it’s about living it. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 60(1), 42–52. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030635

21.

Duffy

R. D.

Allan

B. A.

Autin

K. L.

Douglass

R. P.

(2014). Living a calling and work well-being: A longitudinal study. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 61(4), 605–615. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000042

22.

Duffy

R. D.

Allan

B. A.

Bott

E. M.

(2012). Calling and life satisfaction among undergraduate students: Investigating mediators and moderators. Journal of Happiness Studies, 13(3), 469–479. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-011-9274-6

23.

Duffy

R. D.

Autin

K. L.

(2013). Disentangling the link between perceiving a calling and living a calling. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 60(2), 219–227. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031934

24.

Duffy

R. D.

Bott

E. M.

Allan

B. A.

Autin

K. L.

(2015). Calling among the unemployed: Examining prevalence and links to coping with job loss. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 10(4), 332–345. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2014.967798

25.

Duffy

R. D.

Dik

B. J.

Douglass

R. P.

England

J. W.

Velez

B. L.

(2018). Work as a calling: A theoretical model. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 65(4), 423–439. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000276

26.

Duffy

R. D.

Douglass

R. P.

Gensmer

N. P.

England

J. W.

Kim

H. J.

(2019). An initial examination of the work as calling theory. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 66(3), 328–340. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000318

27.

Duffy

R. D.

England

J. W.

Douglass

R. P.

Autin

K. L.

Allan

B. A.

(2017). Perceiving a calling and well-being: Motivation and access to opportunity as moderators. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 98, 127–137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2016.11.003

28.

Duffy

R. D.

Sedlacek

W. E.

(2010). The salience of a career calling among college students: Exploring group differences and links to religiousness, life meaning, and life satisfaction. The Career Development Quarterly, 59(1), 27–41.

29.

Duffy

R. D.

Spurk

Perez

Kim

H. J.

Dalla Rosa

(2022). A latent profile analysis of perceiving and living a calling. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 134, 103694. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2022.103694

30.

Duffy

R. D.

Torrey

C. L.

England

Tebbe

E. A.

(2017). Calling in retirement: A mixed methods study. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 12(4), 399–413. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2016.1187201

31.

Erikson

E. H.

(1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. Norton.

32.

Gallup & Lumina Foundation . (2023). The state of higher education 2023. Gallup. https://www.gallup.com/file/analytics/505157/Lumina_Foundation-Gallup-State_of_Higher_Education_2023_Report.pdf

33.

Gardner

P. D.

Lambert

S. E.

(1993). It’s a hard, hard, hard, hard, hard, hard world. Journal of Career Planning and Employment, 53(2), 40–49. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej456994

34.

Gerdel

Dalla Rosa

Vianello

(2022). Psychometric properties and measurement invariance of a short form of the Unified Multidimensional Calling Scale (UMCS). European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 30(2), 238–257. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000722

35.

Goodman

J. S.

Blum

T. C.

(1996). Assessing the non-random sampling effects of subject attrition in longitudinal research. Journal of Management, 22(4), 627–652. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920639602200405

36.

Greer

T. W.

Kirk

A. F.

(2022). Overcoming barriers to women’s career transitions: A systematic review of social support types and providers. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 777110. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.777110

37.

Hall

D. T.

Chandler

D. E.

(2005). Psychological success: When the career is a calling. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26(2), 155–176. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.301

38.

Han

M. C.

Hwang

P. C.

(2021). Who will survive workplace ostracism? Career calling among hotel employees. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 49, 164–171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2021.09.006

39.

Hatfield

Pearce

Cantrell

Hogan

(2022). From great resignation to great reimagination. Deloitte Insights. https://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/human-capital/articles/the-great-resignation.html

40.

Hirschi

Herrmann

(2013). Calling and career preparation: Investigating developmental patterns and temporal precedence. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 83(1), 51–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2013.02.008

41.

Hirschi

Keller

A. C.

Spurk

(2019). Calling as a double-edged sword for work-nonwork enrichment and conflict among older workers. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 114, 100–111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2019.02.004

42.

Jin

Rounds

(2012). Stability and change in work values: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 80(2), 326–339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2011.10.007

43.

Kaminsky

S. E.

Behrend

T. S.

(2015). Career choice and calling: Integrating calling and social cognitive career theory. Journal of Career Assessment, 23(3), 383–398. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072714547167

44.

Liu

L. A.

(2023). From Great Resignation to Great Re-Negotiation on space and time for more holistic individuals and organizations. Personnel Review, 52(2), 434–441. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-11-2022-0797

45.

Lysova

E. I.

Dik

B. J.

Duffy

R. D.

Khapova

S. N.

Arthur

M. B.

(2019). Calling and careers: New insights and future directions. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 114, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2019.03.004

46.

Mauno

Minkkinen

Shimazu

(2022). Do unnecessary tasks impair performance because they harm living a calling? Testing a mediation in a three-wave study. Journal of Career Assessment, 30(1), 94–109. https://doi.org/10.1177/10690727211018977

47.

T. W.

Feldman

D. C.

(2007). The school-to-work transition: A role identity perspective. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 71(1), 114–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2007.04.004

48.

Perrone

Vickers

M. H.

(2003). Life after graduation as a “very uncomfortable world”: An Australian case study. Education + Training, 45(2), 69–78. https://doi.org/10.1108/00400910310464044

49.

Rawat

Nadavulakere

(2015). Examining the outcomes of having a calling: Does context matter? Journal of Business and Psychology, 30(3), 499–512. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-014-9378-1

50.

Reed

Jones

Dik

B. J.

(2022). Work identity and future research on work as a calling. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 31(5), 457–463. https://doi.org/10.1177/09637214221112118

51.

Salta

Paschalidou

Tsetseri

Koulougliotis

(2022). Shift from a traditional to a distance learning environment during the COVID-19 pandemic: University students’ engagement and interactions. Science and Education, 31(1), 93–122. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-021-00234-x

52.

Shin

J. Y.

Kim

Ahn

(2022). A latent profile analysis of living a calling, burnout, exploitation, and work–life imbalance. Journal of Career Development, 49(4), 816–830. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2022.103694

53.

Sturges

Clinton

Conway

Budjanovcanin

(2019). I know where I’m going: Sensemaking and the emergence of calling. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 114, 57–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2019.02.006

54.

Super

D. E.

(1980). A life-span, life-space approach to career development. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 16(3), 282–298.

55.

Vianello

Dalla Rosa

Anselmi

Galliani

E. M.

(2018). Validity and measurement invariance of the unified multidimensional calling scale (UMCS): A three-wave survey study. PLOS ONE, 13(12), Article e0209348. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209348

56.

Vianello

Galliani

E. M.

Rosa

A. D.

Anselmi

(2020). The developmental trajectories of calling: Predictors and outcomes. Journal of Career Assessment, 28(1), 128–146. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072719831276

57.

Wendlandt

N. M.

Rochlen

A. B.

(2008). Addressing the college-to-work transition. Journal of Career Development, 35(2), 151–165. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845308325646

58.

Wood

F. B.

(2004). Preventing postparchment depression: A model of career counseling for college seniors. Journal of Employment Counseling, 41(2), 71–79. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1920.2004.tb00880.x

59.

Worlddata (n.d.). Life expectancy for men and women. https://www.worlddata.info/life-expectancy.php#:∼:text=The_world_average_age_of,data_from_the_year_2021

60.

Wrzesniewski

A. E.

(1999). Jobs, careers, and callings: Work orientation and job transitions. University of Michigan Library. [Doctoral dissertation, University of Michigan] https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/131818

61.

Xie

Zhou

de Xia Guo

(2019). What drives the trickle-down effect of calling orientation from supervisors to subordinates? The perspective of social learning theory. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 905. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00905

62.

Zhang

Hirschi

You

(2022). Profiles of calling and their relation to university-to-work transition outcomes. Journal of Career Development, 49(4), 788–801. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845321992873

63.

Zhang

Hirschi

You

(2021). Trajectories of calling in the transition from university to work: A growth mixture analysis. Journal of Career Assessment, 29(1), 98–114. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072720931010

64.

Zhu

Chen

Wang

Johnson

R. E.

Jin

(2021). How critical activities within COVID-19 intensive care units increase nurses’ daily occupational calling. Journal of Applied Psychology, 106(1), 4–14. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000853

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.48 MB