The Affective Side of Future Work Self: How Positive Affect drives Career Proactivity

Future Work Selves (FWSs, Strauss et al., 2012), cognitive representations of hopes and aspirations related to work, have been widely acknowledged as motivators of proactive career behavior. Individuals identify discrepancies between their current and desired state, and set goals to address them through self-regulation mechanisms. To explain this relationship, previous research has predominantly focused on the extent to which FWSs are clear and easy to imagine (i.e., salient), but has largely overlooked the affective dimension of envisioning FWSs. The purpose of this study is to explore the previously neglected role of affect in envisioning the FWS and to examine its motivational potential. This is critical for developing a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms that enhance proactive behaviors. We argue that beyond the effects of salience, the affective dimension motivates proactive career behaviors by energizing individuals, fostering creativity, and sustaining motivation toward future-oriented goals. We gathered data on personality (T1), FWS salience and FWS positive affect (T2), and proactive behaviors (T3) in a sample of graduate students (N = 117). Hypotheses testing revealed that, after controlling for FWS salience, higher levels of positive affect in envisioning the FWS were significantly associated with proactive career behaviors. Specifically, the explanatory power of positive affect on proactive career planning exceeded that of salience. Overall, this study advances the literature on FWS by highlighting positive affect as an additional mechanism for its effects on proactive career behavior.