Illustrating Instrumental Variable Regressions Using the Career Adaptability – Job Satisfaction Relationship

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Ressource 1Download: Bollmann et al., 2019.pdf (599.92 [Ko])
State: Public
Version: Final published version
License: CC BY 4.0
Serval ID
serval:BIB_16AB49A8F92B
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Illustrating Instrumental Variable Regressions Using the Career Adaptability – Job Satisfaction Relationship
Journal
Frontiers in Psychology
Author(s)
Bollmann Grégoire, Rouzinov Serguei, Berchtold André, Rossier Jérôme
ISSN
1664-1078
Publication state
Published
Issued date
28/06/2019
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
10
Pages
1481
Language
english
Abstract
This article illustrates instrumental variable (IV) estimation by examining an unexpected finding of the research on career adaptability and job satisfaction. Theoretical and empirical arguments suggest that in the general population, people’s abilities to adapt their careers are beneficial to their job satisfaction. However, a recent meta-analysis unexpectedly found no effect when personality traits are controlled for. We argue that a reverse effect of job satisfaction on career adaptability, originating from affective tendencies tied to personality, might explain this null effect. Our argument implies that the estimates obtained with traditional ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions are biased by endogeneity, a correlation between an explanatory variable and the error term in a regression model. When experimental manipulations are impossible, IV estimations, such as two-stage least squares (2SLS) regressions, are one possible solution to the endogeneity problem. Analyzing three waves of data from a sample of 836 adults, the concurrent and time-lagged effect of job satisfaction on career adaptability was revealed to be more consistent than the reverse. Our results provide an explanation, rooted in affective dispositions, as to why recent meta-analytical estimates unexpectedly found that career adaptability does not predict job satisfaction at the interindividual level. We also discuss IV estimation in terms of its limits, weight the interpretation of its estimates against the temporality criterion for causal inference, and consider its possible extension to analyses of change.
Keywords
affect, causal inference, instrumental variable regressions, career adaptability, job satisfaction, personality
Pubmed
Web of science
Open Access
Yes
Funding(s)
Swiss National Science Foundation / Programmes / 51NF40-160590
Create date
12/09/2019 8:44
Last modification date
21/11/2022 8:25
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