As boundaryless careers become mainstream, individuals need to enhance career decision-making self-efficacy (CDSE) during career transitions to secure better employment outcomes and sustainable career development, especially when moving from a school to a work environment. Drawing on social cognitive career theory, this study empirically proposed a moderated mediation model to examine whether proactive personality (measured at Time 1), career success criteria clarity (CSCC, measured at Time 2), and family socioeconomic status (including family income, parents’ educational level, and parents’ occupational level; measured at Time 1) would contribute to CDSE (measured at Time 2). Results based on a two-wave survey of 235 college students showed that: (1) proactive personality positively predicted CDSE; (2) CSCC positively predicted CDSE; (3) CSCC partly mediated the relation between proactive personality and CDSE; (4) the positive effect of CSCC on CDSE was stronger among students with a lower family socioeconomic status. Individuals with strong proactive personalities were more likely to develop salience in career success criteria and in turn became more confident in making career decisions. Therefore, vocational educators in higher education could help to improve students’ CDSE by promoting training programs for proactive thinking, providing successful role models, and encouraging family involvement, especially for students with a lower family socioeconomic status.

Work fatigue plays an important role in employee health and workplace safety. However, little is known about leadership qualities for reducing employee work fatigue. This study explored the relationship between humble leadership and work fatigue, the mediating role of self-efficacy, and the moderating role of perceived team autonomy-support. Participants were 226 hospital nurses (female = 99.56%; 25–35 years old = 53.54%; bachelor’s degree or above = 59.73%). Structural equation modelling results indicated humble leadership to be associated with lower employee physical fatigue, mental fatigue, and emotional fatigue. Furthermore, self-efficacy mediated the effects of humble leadership on employee physical fatigue, mental fatigue, and emotional fatigue. Perceived team autonomy-support moderated the direct relationship between humble leadership and self-efficacy. Further, perceived team autonomy-support moderated the indirect relationship between humble leadership and physical fatigue, mental fatigue, and emotional fatigue via self-efficacy. In conclusion, humble leadership may reduce employee work fatigue through self-efficacy within a team autonomy-support climate.

By responding to the call for research on negative career shocks and future time perspective, this study regarded internal social capital as a tool of resource retention which shifts attention to negative career shocks’ positive effects. We test a moderated mediation model which illustrates the effect of negative career shocks on focus on opportunities—positive dimension of occupational future time perspective. Results revealed that internal social capital acts as the mediator between negative career shocks and focus on opportunities, and organizational embeddedness moderats the mediation effect. The relationship is stronger when individuals are highly embedded in organizations.

We investigated the association between paradoxical leadership and employee innovative behaviours, and the role of proactive personality and work engagement in the relationship. Participants were 514 employees of a large Chinese internet company (female = 259; mean age = 29.85 years, SD = 5.88 years). Following a moderated mediating model, results indicated that paradoxical leadership was associated with higher employee innovative behaviours via work engagement. Furthermore, proactive personality strengthened the effects of paradoxical leadership on employee work engagement and innovative behaviours associated with higher employee productivity. Specifically, the integrative leading style of paradoxical leadership was conducive to improve employee work engagement and innovative behaviours, especially for employees with high proactive personality.

Based on social cognitive career theory, this research examined a chained mediation model for the relations between proactive personality, career success criteria clarity, career decision-making self-efficacy and affective wellbeing. A two-wave survey study was conducted among Chinese graduating students (N = 235). The results showed that proactive personality (measured at time 1), career success criteria clarity (measured at time 1), and career decisionmaking self-efficacy (measured at time 2) positively related to affective well-being respectively. In addition, the results further revealed that proactive personality was positively related to career success criteria clarity, which further predicted affective well-being through the full mediation of career decision-making selfefficacy. The findings carry theoretical implications for research on affective wellbeing and advance our understanding of social cognitive career theory. Practical implications for both career educators and consultants are discussed.