Decent work is positioned as the centerpiece of the recently developed Psychology of Working Theory (PWT; Duffy, Blustein, Diemer, & Autin, 2016). However, to date, no instrument exists which assesses all 5 components of decent work from a psychological perspective. In the current study, we developed the Decent Work Scale (DWS) and demonstrated several aspects of validity with 2 samples of working adults. In Study 1 (N = 275), a large pool of items were developed and exploratory factor analysis was conducted resulting in a final 15-item scale with 5 factors/subscales corresponding to the 5 components of decent work: (a) physically and interpersonally safe working conditions, (b) access to health care, (c) adequate compensation, (d) hours that allow for free time and rest, and (e) organizational values that complement family and social values. In Study 2 (N = 589), confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that a 5-factor, bifactor model offered the strongest and most parsimonious fit to the data. Configural, metric, and scalar invariance models were tested demonstrating that the structure of the instrument did not differ across gender, income, social class, and majority/minority racial/ethnic groups. Finally, the overall scale score and 5 subscale scores correlated in the expected directions with similar constructs supporting convergent and discriminant evidence of validity, and subscale scores evidenced predictive validity in the prediction of job satisfaction, work meaning, and withdrawal intentions. The development of this scale provides a useful tool for researchers and practitioners seeking to assess the attainment of decent work among employed adults. (PsycINFO Database Record

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This paper presents empirical findings from a 10-year longitudinal study of the educational and occupational socialization of 445 participants who were about 7 years old when first tested, and about 17 years old at the fourth time of measurement. In addition to collecting psychological measurements from the participants, behavioral reports were collected from significant others, specifically parents and teachers. Findings demonstrated that the life/career evolution of the participants can be understood only when taking into account the dynamic interaction between the unique personal characteristics of individuality of each person and the psychosocial theatre within which the person's development takes place. Using the lifespan , life-space framework of Super, and the Developmental-Contextual model from Vondracek, different emerging early predictors with unique impact on the process of educational and occupational socialization were identified, especially with respect to the probability of dropping out of school. Results in terms of gender, parental influences, psychological characteristics, and social context are discussed with regard to their potential implications for psychological interventions in schools, families, and occupational settings, as well as with regard to personal counseling in what concerns the management of life circumstances and behavioral ecosystems.

A review of new and emerging conceptions of work and career is complemented by a description of a comprehensive systems framework that avoids many of the dichotomies found in current accounts of career development and intervention. This is followed by a description of Ford and Smith's (Educational Psychologist 42(3):153-171, 2007) ''thriving with social purpose'' framework, which is offered as a potentially more inclusive approach to intervention than that based on the meta-theoretical framework of social constructivism.Résumé Comportement et développement vocationnel en période de changement social : nouvelles perspectives pour la théorie et la pratique. Une revue de nouvelles et émergeantes conceptions du travail est complétée par une description d'un cadre conceptuel compréhensif en termes de systèmes qui évite de nombreuses dichotomies que l'on trouve dans les contributions actuelles du développement et de l'intervention de carrière. Ceci est suivi par une description du cadre «prospérité dans un but social» de Ford et Smith (Educational Psychologist 42(3):153-171, 2007), qui est offert comme une approche potentiellement plus inclusive face aux interventions que celle basée sur le cadre méta-théorique du constructivisme social.Zusammenfasung Laufbahn Verhalten und Entwicklung in Zeiten des sozialen Wandels: Neue Perspektiven fü r Theorie und Praxis. Eine Ü bersicht über neue und aufkommende Konzepte von Arbeit und Laufbahn wird durch eine Beschreibung von einem umfassenden systemischen Rahmenmodell ergänzt, welches viele der Dichotomien in den gegenwärtigen Beschreibungen von Laufbahnentwicklung und

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