Job loss and job search: A social-cognitive and self-regulatory perspective

This chapter reviews social-cognitive and self-regulatory perspectives on involuntary job loss and subsequent job search. We begin by organizing different social-cognitive and self-regulatory perspectives along the temporal continuum of job loss and job search, and discuss the experience of job loss and its impact on the individual during subsequent job search. Using a motivational/self-regulatory frame, we then review findings related to goal generation and goal striving and outline important considerations for research design, including temporal, social, and measurement issues. Finally, we highlight the successes that have been made in the field thus far, and provide suggestions for promising future research avenues.