Unemployed jobseekers and their pursuit of multiple goals in social-professional training: Testing a multiple mediator model.
(2012) Learning and Professional Development — Location: Antwerp (22.August.2012)
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- Abstract
- The first purpose of this paper is to investigate the different types of goals low-qualified unemployed jobseekers pursue in social-professional learning situations and their goal priorities allocated to goals pursued. The second objective is to understand the dynamics of multiple goal pursuit and how these dynamics influence goal commitment. These two theoretical issues were examined through the lens of the hierarchical structure of goals proposed by Carver and Scheier (1998, 2001). According to these authors, goals are defined by two dimensions: the abstraction level of goals (be goals versus do goals) and the degree of integration between goals (highly connected goals versus isolated goals). These two dimensions are assumed to be related to goal commitment, as mediated by the importance people attribute to learning goals. Self-efficacy towards the attainment of the goal is also hypothesized to determine commitment to the learning goal. A questionnaire was developed to measure participants’ goal pursuit in social-professional learning. Existing scales were adapted to measure the five variables mentioned above. Data was collected from a sample of unemployed jobseekers from 12 training centres for social-professional integration in the French-speaking part of Belgium. A bootstrapping procedure was used to test a multiple mediation model among 94 unemployed jobseekers. Results indicated that the nature of low qualified unemployed jobseekers’ goals pursued in social-professional training was instrumental and intrinsic. Furthermore, importance attributed to the goal and self-efficacy of the goal attainment were two significant mediators of the effect of degree of integration on goal commitment in social and professional learning. Theoretical issues relative to the measurement of abstraction level will be discussed. In addition, practical implications concerning the awareness of learning goal representation and its consequences on goal commitment will be mentioned.
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Jacot, A., Raemdonck, I., & Frenay, M. (2012). Unemployed jobseekers and their pursuit of multiple goals in social-professional training: Testing a multiple mediator model. Learning and Professional Development, Antwerp. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/160236