When is the grass greener on the other side? A longitudinal study of the joint effect of occupational mobility and personality on the honeymoon‐hangover experience during job change

Ying Zhou,Mark Williams,Min Zou,Chia‐Huei Wu

doi:10.1002/job.2491

Abstract

SummaryPrevious research shows that job satisfaction often increases sharply upon initial entry into the new job and gradually falls back to the baseline level over time. In this study, we propose that this ‘honeymoon‐hangover’ pattern is affected by both the direction of occupational mobility and the individual's personality in terms of extraversion and neuroticism. Drawing on the British Household Panel Survey that followed 10,000 individuals annually for 18 years, this study shows that only those who move up the occupational class ladder experience significant ‘honeymoon’ effects, while those who move downwards experience dissatisfaction that lasts for several years after the transition. While the positive effect of upward mobility is not amplified by extraversion, the negative effect of downward mobility is exacerbated by neuroticism. This study highlights the importance of taking into account both situational and dispositional factors for understanding the long‐term impact of career change on subjective well‐being.

Highlights

Research on job change has revealed a ‘honeymoon-hangover’ pattern during the turnover process, which refers to the fact that job satisfaction typically peaks initially following a job change but subsequently falls back to the baseline level over time (Boswell, Boudreau, & Tichy, 2005; Chadi & Hetschko, 2018)
Drawing on Gray's (1981, 1987) biopsychological theory of personality that emphasizes individual differences in sensitivities to reward and punishment stimuli, we propose that individuals high in extraversion will demonstrate greater reactions to upward occupational mobility while those high in neuroticism will demonstrate greater reactions to downward occupational mobility
To gauge the impact of occupational mobility, we focus on job satisfaction because it reflects a positive emotional state resulting from the experience of work (e.g., Locke, 1976) and is more relevant to vocational behaviour than global measures of subjective well-being such as life satisfaction and mental health

Summary

Introduction

Research on job change has revealed a ‘honeymoon-hangover’ pattern during the turnover process, which refers to the fact that job satisfaction typically peaks initially following a job change but subsequently falls back to the baseline level over time (Boswell, Boudreau, & Tichy, 2005; Chadi & Hetschko, 2018). When the research first started, Dr Chaihuei Wu was employed at the London School of Economics and Political Science, Dr Min Zou was employed at Bain & Company and Dr Mark Williams was employed at the University of Surrey They have continued working on the project since moving to their current institutions. To capture the nature of job change, we focus on the direction of occupational mobility, a type of job change that involves moving across occupational boundaries—‘a change to a work position in a different general field of work in which the major tasks, activities and

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Conclusion