Job search self-efficacy as a mediator between emotional intelligence and the active job search process / Autoeficacia de búsqueda como mediadora de la inteligencia emocional y la búsqueda activa de empleo

This study analyses the role of job search self-efficacy as a possible mediating variable in the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and the active job search process in a sample of 196 unemployed people in Andalusia, 107 men and 89 women aged 18 to 59 (M = 30.90; SD = 8.07). They were all provided an EI scale, a job search self-efficacy measure and an active job search measure, and provided their social and demographic information. As expected, EI was positively associated with higher levels of job search self-efficacy, as well as higher levels of job search intensity. In addition, mediation analyses indicated that EI had a significant indirect effect (through self-efficacy) on the active job search process. The results are discussed for application in future career guidance programmes.     

Linking Social Support to Psychological Distress in the Unemployed: The Moderating Role of Core Self-Evaluations

In this study, an integrative analysis involving social support and core self-evaluations (CSE) as concurrent predictors of psychological distress among unemployed adults was conducted. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between perceptions of social support and CSE with psychological distress among unemployed adults, as well as whether levels of CSE moderated the relations between social support and psychological distress. Results indicated that, along with the expected direct and additional influence, a significant social support × CSE interaction was found in explaining several dimensions of psychological distress beyond the independent effect of socio-demographic variables, social support and CSE independently. Specifically, we found significant interaction for social support × CSE in explaining stress and anxiety symptoms. Our data provide empirical support for theoretical and conceptual work connecting social support, CSE and psychological distress associated with unemployment suggesting that alone, but also in combination, these contextual and personal resources may be particularly relevant for leading to reduced psychological distress during unemployment. Finally, theoretical implications of the joint study of these constructs and their relation with psychological distress in unemployed people are discussed.     

The Subjective Happiness Scale: Translation and Preliminary Psychometric Evaluation of a Spanish Version

The aim of the present study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Subjective Happiness Scale (Lyubomirsky and Lepper in Soc Indic Res 46:137–155, 1999) in a wide sample of 1,155 participants (448 men, 707 women) from three different groups (high school students, college students, and community adult participants). The participants completed the following measures: the Spanish version of SHS, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory and the Spielberger Trait Anxiety Inventory. The results revealed preliminary evidence of adequate internal consistency, appropriate test–retest reliability and convergent validity for research purposes. Also, results from confirmatory factor analyses showed a clear one-factor structure, identical with the English version. No significant sex effects were evidenced, although differences between the high school student group and the undergraduate university group were found. In general, our findings add empirical evidence of the usefulness of such a brief measure for the assessment of subjective happiness in large-scale national and international studies with native Spanish-speaking populations. Finally, practical recommendations and future lines of research are suggested.