Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between career ambition – defined as high achievement motivation and strong career orientation – and both extrinsic (salary, position) and intrinsic success (job satisfaction, goal attainment) of psychologists. Over and above this, the authors explore whether extrinsic success predicts intrinsic success or vice versa. Design/methodology/approach In order to analyze the impact of career ambition on extrinsic and intrinsic success, the authors conducted two online studies with psychology graduates – a cross-sectional study (Study 1; n=119) and a longitudinal one (Study 2; n=63; two-three years interval between assessment points). The authors applied regression and cross-lagged analyses to investigate the interplay of career ambition and career success. Findings The results show that career ambition impacts on both extrinsic and intrinsic success. More specifically, extrinsic success was positively predicted by career orientation in Study 1. In contrast, achievement motivation was negatively related to intrinsic success (Study 1) and even diminished it over time (Study 2). Findings of the cross-lagged analysis further underlined that intrinsic success predicts extrinsic success. Originality/value The study contributes by separately investigating two aspects of career ambition and showing their different effects on career success in the specific profession of psychologists. As cross-lagged findings revealed that psychologists’ intrinsic success predicted their extrinsic success and not vice versa, the authors discuss whether psychologists might be worsening their career development in the long run by showing high achievement motivation.

The long-term negative consequences of job insecurity on employees health and well-being have been demonstrated by several studies, but there is very little evidence on the daily experience of job insecurity and on the factors that may influence it. Therefore, we investigated whether short-term changes occur in the experience of job insecurity and whether these are influenced by daily co-worker conflicts. We carried out a diary study, in which 66 employees answered a questionnaire over the course of five working days. We conducted a multilevel analysis in which we included co-worker conflicts as a predictor, and type of contract, emotional stability, and aggregated job insecurity perceptions as control variables. Our results revealed that job insecurity varies on a daily level, and that 23 per cent of the variance could be explained at a withinperson level. Co-worker conflicts were a significant positive predictor for perceived job insecurity in subsequent days after controlling for aggregated job insecurity perceptions at person level. Reversed causation was not found. Practical implications for organisations should focus on the promotion of positive social relations in the work environment in order to mitigate or avoid the negative consequences of social stressors in uncertain times.In recent decades, the work environment has changed for the worse in several ways. Globalisation, flexibility demands, and economic crises, among other factors, have impacted the labour market. Nowadays, changes such as outsourcing, organisational restructuring, reductions in staff, acquisitions,

Abstract. Building on social capital theory, we assumed that social skills (communication skills, cooperation skills) are essential for successful career development, particularly in social professions. Applying a mixed-method approach, we integrate data from a questionnaire study with 164 psychologists (Study 1) and an interview study with 20 psychologists (Study 2). In Study 1, we found communication skills to be related to objective career success (salary, position), whereas cooperation skills were associated with subjective career success (job satisfaction, goal attainment). Further, the interaction of communication and cooperation skills revealed marginal effects on career success. To gain a broader understanding of the self-estimated role of social skills, in Study 2 qualitative data were considered. In line with professional competence models, we found four broad categories of skills that psychologists report to be useful in their professional work. Social skills accounted for 35.5 % of the responses, highlighting their unique role in social professions.

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Purpose -Wikis have been gaining attention in the practitioner and academic literature, suggesting their use as knowledge repositories in organizational environments and even as collaborative tools for reviewing scholarly publications. And yet, little is known about factors that foster or discourage use of this technology. The purpose of this paper is to take a closer look at collaboration using wikis. Design/methodology/approach -The authors look at an academic exercise using wikis in a college classroom to leverage collaboration among students. Taking elements from similar artifacts such as groupware technology, this research evaluates a model that explores the significance of perceptions of complexity and critical mass on wiki adoption. Findings -Results show a strong acceptance of wikis among students despite not being familiar with this type of technology. Furthermore, outcomes show that students were influenced by the actions taken collectively by their peers, resulting in improved collaboration and participation. Originality/value -The paper offers new insights into the subject of collaboration using wikis.