Occupational self-efficacy among ageing workers: A resource for a full working life

Background: Occupational self-efficacy refers to workers’ beliefs in their own capabilities to successfully perform tasks related to their occupational domain. Self-efficacy determines how people act in different situations and persevere in the face of obstacles. Retaining ageing workers longer in their working lives has become a major concern due to increasing shortage of work staff. Work ability is important for ageing workers, since it predicts longer working lives, and declining work ability among ageing workers is often caused by difficulties in adapting work-related changes to changes in individual resources. To have longer working lives, workers must also be motivated to work. Occupational self-efficacy is crucial for adapting to changes in one’s working life and meeting job demands and is positively related to work motivation. However, occupational self-efficacy has been less studied among ageing workers.
Aim: The overall aim of this thesis is to explore and deepen the understanding of occupational self-efficacy as a resource for a full working life among ageing workers. An additional aim is to explore the relationships between occupational self-efficacy for a full working life, work ability and work motivation.
Methods: A convergent mixed methods design was applied in this thesis. Quantitative and qualitative data were concurrently collected in 2018 using a cross-sectional survey (n = 359). The included samples of ageing workers, that is workers aged 45 years and older, consisted of home care workers and engineers. The questionnaire included validated and reliable measuring scales (the Work Ability Index, the Occupational Self- Efficacy Scale – Short Form, and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale), and four open-ended questions concerning what positively and negatively affects occupational self-efficacy for a full working life and work motivation. Quantitative and qualitative data were of equal importance and were integrated into the aim, data analysis, results, and discussion. In Study I, binary logistic regression was performed to examine the relationships between work ability, occupational self-efficacy, and work engagement. In Studies II and III, a mixed methods design with a qualitative to quantitative approach was used to analyse the collected data from the participants. First, the qualitative data was analysed separately for each open-ended question and separately for home care workers and engineers using an inductive manifest content analysis. The qualitative analyses were based on 1,634 utterances from the participants about what positively and negatively affects their occupational self-efficacy for a full working life, and 1,937 utterances about what positively and negatively affects their work motivation. Next, the findings were integrated by transforming the qualitative data into quantitative data to examine which of the emerged aspects were most prominent. The integrated results from home care workers and engineers were further compared with each other and finally merged and compared in a joint display for final interpretation.
Results: The findings in Study I showed statistically significant relationships between work ability, occupational self-efficacy, and work engagement. Higher occupational self-efficacy was more often related to higher work ability. According to Studies II and III, the most prominent aspects of occupational self-efficacy for a full working life were health, and working conditions (physical, mental, social, and organisational) that eventually affect health either positively or negatively. Meaningfulness of work, intrinsic motivation, competence, and private life were also vital aspects. Similarly, the most prominent aspects of work motivation were working conditions, stimulating and meaningful work, and competence. Health declines and high workloads that threaten health seemed to decrease work motivation to a higher degree than good health improved it. The findings were mostly similar for both home care workers and engineers, despite their differences in work content, work challenges, work context, education, and gender. The integration showed that most of the key findings for occupational self-efficacy for a full working life, work motivation and the work ability model used in this thesis (the Work Ability House) were mostly consistent. Meaningfulness of work, private economy, and upcoming retirement expand the Work Ability House model.
Conclusion: The main findings of this thesis emphasise the value of occupational self-efficacy as a resource for ageing workers’ full working life. The main areas that need to be considered to improve occupational self-efficacy for a full working life are primarily health, and working conditions that eventually affect health, as well as meaningfulness of work, intrinsic motivation, and competence. The findings suggest that there is also a need to reflect on individual essential work-related health issues at a deeper level, as well as reflect on the meaningfulness of work, and what enhances both, in order to support the movement towards a perceived better health and work ability for a full working life. This includes reflecting on and supporting the emerged aspects of occupational self-efficacy for a full working life in relation to the four sources of self-efficacy belief development according to the Bandura’s theory: mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion, and coping with physiological and affective states. These deeper reflections should be undertaken by the workers themselves, close supervisors and employers, as well as occupational health and HR professionals, to promote long working lives.