Young workers’ job self-efficacy and affect: Pathways to health and performance

This longitudinal study of 195 young workers responds to calls for the study of healthy work at discrete life stages. Based on social cognitive and affective events theories and using structural equation modeling, results indicated that both perceived job self-efficacy and job-related affect fully mediate the relationship between interpersonal work conflict at time 1 and the outcomes of job performance and health at time 2. Furthermore, job-related affect mediates the relationship between intrinsic job characteristics at time 1 and job performance and health at time 2. Finally, young workers’ job performance at time 2 was directly predicted by perceptions of intrinsic work quality at time 1. Practical implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are also discussed.