Impact of cultural individualism and collectivism on protean and boundaryless career attitudes and job satisfaction

Abstract

Scope and Method of Study:

Over the past several decades, new career theories have been developed in an attempt to explain the changing nature of work. No longer is one's career generally considered to be a lifelong commitment to one organization or even one career field, but the trajectory of a career is now considered to be self-driven and contingent on factors such as personal values and organizational mobility (Arthur & Rousseau, 1996; Hall, 1976). Additionally, the current research literature lacks in the application of these career theories to minority cultures in the U.S., particularly those that are traditionally collectivistic (Triandis & Gelfand, 1998).

The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine how identification with cultural individualism and collectivism influences participants' overall attitude towards protean and boundaryless career theories and overall job satisfaction. The data were collected from 203 working adults in the United States. Multiple regression analyses were then conducted to examine if identification with certain cultural dimensions is predictive of levels of job satisfaction and adherence to particular career theories.

Findings and Conclusions:

Results indicated that several cultural variables within the individualism and collectivism constructs do have moderate predictive value in determining career attitudes and job satisfaction. The findings also supported previous research studies that sought to differentiate between the protean and boundaryless career attitudes (Briscoe et al., 2006; Granrose & Baccili, 2006). Implications of the present findings are then discussed.