Fostering employability and self-efficacy when job flexibility is needed: a training addressed to discouraged adults

Journal title RICERCHE DI PSICOLOGIA
Author/s Valentina R. Andolfi, Marta Cabiati
Publishing Year 2015 Issue 2014/3 Language Italian
Pages 35 P. 421-455 File size 294 KB
DOI 10.3280/RIP2014-003003
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An intervention aimed at motivating discouraged people to actively look for a job is reported. Three focus groups on thirty unemployed discouraged adults allowed investigators to identify the reasons which lead people to abandon the search for a job: they lose confidence in their own abilities and they are not able to cope with the complexity of the labor market, conditions that lead to a passive attitude toward job search. Hence, the training which was devised, aimed at promoting self-efficacy in job search, modifying the perception of the labor market and strengthening employability. Twenty-eight of those people who were involved in the focus groups participated in the training. Questionnaires were administered to investigate self-efficacy in job search, perception of the labor market and flexible thinking. Observation and interviews explored the employability dimensions. Results showed a significant increase of flexibility, a change in the perception of some dimensions of the labor market and a higher propensity to consider other employment opportunities. Three months after the training eight participants found a job relocation.

Keywords: Employability, Discouragement, Unemployment, Job search, Selfefficacy, Flexibility.

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Valentina R. Andolfi, Marta Cabiati, Promuovere l’employability e l’autoefficacia ai tempi della flessibilita lavorativa: un training rivolto ad un gruppo di adulti scoraggiati in "RICERCHE DI PSICOLOGIA " 3/2014, pp 421-455, DOI: 10.3280/RIP2014-003003