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www.emeraldinsight.com/0268-3946.htm
No regrets? An investigation of the
relationship between being laid off
and experiencing career regrets
Sherry E. Sullivan
Department of Management, College of Business Administration,
Bowling Green, Ohio, USA
Monica L. Forret
Being laid off
and career
regrets
787
Received November 2006
Revised March 2007;
June 2007
Accepted June 2007
Department of Managerial Studies, College of Business, St Ambrose University,
Davenport, Iowa, USA, and
Lisa A. Mainiero
Charles F. Dolan School of Business, Fairfield University, Fairfield,
Connecticut, USA
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the under-examined topic of career regrets.
Although much of the careers literature has examined factors that contribute to success, little research
has been completed on the regrets individuals may experience as they enact their careers.
Design/methodology/approach – A large internet sample of 1,480 professionals was used to
examine whether individuals who had been laid off in their careers experienced greater career regrets.
Findings – Individuals who had been laid off experienced greater regrets with regard to their
political behavior (e.g. lack of networking, not being more politically savvy) and their career choices
(e.g. not spending more time with their family, failing to pursue more meaningful work) than
individuals who had not been laid off.
Research limitations/implications – The findings may have limited generalizability because of
the use of a cross-sectional, internet-based survey design.
Practical implications – The regrets individuals have may influence their future career behaviors
and choices, resulting in different approaches to their work and their lives. These findings may offer some
insights to help individuals navigate their careers and make choices that they will be less likely to regret.
Originality/value – Although a great deal of research has focused on strategies for career success,
relatively little research has examined career missteps or career regrets. It is hoped this exploratory
research encourages further study as well as the development of a theory-based model of career regrets.
Keywords Careers, Career development, Employment, Redundancy, Individual behaviour,
Organizational politics
Paper type Research paper
The authors would like to thank Hugh Davis for his support of the survey research that
underscores this article. We also thank Mike Arthur and Jon Briscoe for their comments on an
earlier version of this article as well as Jim Werbel and two anonymous JMP reviewers for their
suggestions. Additional support was granted by the Charles F. Dolan School of Business for the
development of this manuscript. Portions of this paper were presented at the 2006 Academy of
Management Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.
Journal of Managerial Psychology
Vol. 22 No. 8, 2007
pp. 787-804
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0268-3946
DOI 10.1108/02683940710837723
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22,8
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Although much anecdotal evidence has been reported in the popular press about
people who experience numerous career regrets as well as those who claim to have no
regrets at all, little empirical research exists on the regrets individuals may have about
their careers. Given the many changes (e.g. frequent downsizings, rapid technological
advances, globalization, increased workforce mobility) that have occurred in today’s
turbulent career landscape (e.g. Arthur and Rousseau, 1996; Friedman, 2005; Hall, 1996,
2004; Kanter, 2001) studying career regrets is increasingly important because
individuals face more career choices and alternatives. Comprehending what type of
career regrets individuals experience may permit researchers to better understand how
individuals enact their careers, provide greater insights into evolving career theory
(e.g. boundaryless, protean career concepts; Arthur et al., 2005; Briscoe et al., 2006), and
offer insights to individuals who are trying to navigate an ever more complex work
environment.
To date, however, there has been little empirical research on the reasons why people
might develop career regrets over time. Why has there been little examination of career
regrets? Research on careers has tended to focus on upward movement within one or
two firms (e.g. Super, 1957) and how to succeed in such a work environment (Eddleston
et al., 2004). Past research has focused on repeatedly winning rounds in the career
tournament (see Ng et al., 2005, for a review; Rosenbaum, 1979) and how certain
factors, like having a mentor (Baugh and Fagenson-Eland, 2005; Forret and de Janasz,
2005; Kram, 1985) can enhance career outcomes. Although workers in Western
countries may change jobs much more often than in the past (Arthur and Rousseau,
1996) and increasingly seek intrinsic sources of satisfaction as well as extrinsic
rewards (Hall, 1996, 2002), most research still focuses on the linear career model and
defines success in terms of rate of promotions and salary increases (Arthur et al., 2005;
Feldman, 1989). But not all workers are winners in today’s labor market. Given the
widespread lay-offs and under-employment of white collar professionals, it is
important that research examines not only the lessons on how to succeed but also the
lessons that may be learned from failures, and the regrets individuals may have about
their careers.
Given the frequency of downsizing (or rightsizing) in the current economic
landscape, this area seems ripe for the examination of the possible career regrets of
white collar workers. For example, there was an increase in the job loss rate among the
more educated (at least 16 years of education) in the 1990s (5.4 percent in 1987-89; 6.9
percent in 1997-1999), with this rate reaching 9.9 percent in the period between 2001
and 2003 (Farber, 2005). The percentage of college graduates who lost their jobs and
later were reemployed dropped from 82 percent in 1990 to 74 percent in 1992 to 68
percent in 2002. Also, in sharp contrast to past trends, since 1999 the average decline in
earnings for college graduates who lost their jobs was greater than for those with less
education (Farber, 2005). Getting laid off is a traumatic event, and may well be one that
is likely to elicit feelings of regret as to what individuals could (or should) have done to
avoid being placed in such circumstances.
The purpose of this paper is to explore the under-researched topic of career regrets
against the backdrop of the continually shifting, contemporary career landscape. Our
research examines the career regrets that individuals may experience during the course
of their careers. We explored two major types of regrets: regrets about not engaging in
more effective political behavior at work (e.g. building a stronger network, paying
attention to corporate signals); and regrets about not pursuing alternative career
choices (e.g. pursuing more meaningful work, focusing more on family). We also
investigated whether individuals who had been laid off would be more likely to
experience greater regrets as to their political behavior and career choices.
Conceptualizing how individuals make sense of their own careers – the successes
and the failures, with their associated regrets about past behaviors and choices they
made – is more imperative than ever given that careers are no longer viewed as
bounded by a single organization, industry, profession, or even country (Arthur and
Rousseau, 1996) nor are they solely characterized by upward advancement (Cappelli,
2000) or extrinsic rewards (Hall, 1996; Heslin, 2005). Individuals, especially those
without a long-term relationship with an organization, are increasingly responsible for
their own career management (Hall, 1996; Mallon and Walton, 2005) and may
particularly benefit from insights about how to avoid career regrets when possible, or
learn from their own regrets or the regrets experienced by others.
To address the lack of research on career regrets, this article begins by reviewing
past research on regrets (e.g. consumer and personal regrets) and detailing specific
hypotheses on the relationship between being laid off and experiencing career regrets.
This is followed by our research methods and analyses to test these hypotheses.
Finally, we present our results and discuss the implications for future scholarship and
practice.
Regrets
The emotion of regret has been defined as remorse about outcomes of a decision
different from the ones hoped for (Baron, 2000; Zeelenberg et al., 1998) or which
compares unfavorably with real or imagined outcomes of alternatives not chosen
(van Dijk and Zeelenberg, 2005). Scholars in a variety of disciplines, such as marketing,
medicine, sexuality, psychology and economics, have studied different types of regrets,
ranging from regrets about consumer purchases (Inman and Zeelenberg, 2002; Lin and
Huang, 2006; Reynolds et al., 2006; Zeelenberg et al., 2006, Zeelenberg and Pieters,
2004), health choices (Abraham and Sheeran, 2004; Chapman and Coups, 2006;
Connolly and Reb, 2005), sexual relationships (Oswalt et al., 2005; Roese et al., 2006),
economic decisions (Connolly and Butler, 2006), actions during conflicts and
negotiations (Van Kleef et al., 2006), and other life choices (Roese and Summerville,
2005). Who is most prone to regrets (Markman et al., 2002, 2005), how even individuals
who experience exceptional accomplishments are not immune to regrets (Medvec et al.,
1995; Roese and Summerville, 2005), and how regrets affect customer satisfaction and
behaviors (e.g. Zeelenberg et al., 2006) have also been examined.
Overall, the research suggests that the greatest regrets stem from situations in
which individuals view the greatest possibility for change or corrective action (Roese
and Summerville, 2005). In a meta-analysis of 11 regret-ranking studies, Americans
ranked education as their number one regret, perhaps because various educational
opportunities (e.g. community college, professional certifications, equivalency exams,
distance learning) are seen as available to most individuals. Americans ranked careers
as their number two regret, with romance, parenting, the self, and leisure, respectively,
rounding out the top six (Roese and Summerville, 2005).
Although little research has focused on business regrets (see Markman et al., 2002,
for a study of entrepreneurs), the idea of reducing potential regrets, and the subsequent
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and career
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negative outcomes (e.g. dysfunctional turnover, job dissatisfaction), is the underlying
foundation of a number of organizational processes. For instance, the use of realistic
job previews during the organizational entry process to increase retention and job
satisfaction (Blenkinsopp and Zdunczyk, 2005; Wanous, 1992) and the use of training
to reduce the culture shock that often leads expatriate managers to prematurely
terminate international job assignments (e.g. Black and Gregersen, 1999) are two such
examples. In the next section, we hope to contribute to a greater understanding of the
experiences of individuals in today’s changing work environment by specifically
discussing career regrets and suggesting hypotheses for examining this
under-researched topic.
Career regrets
Because we could find no published studies specifically on career regrets, our approach
to understanding regrets within the context of careers is exploratory and focuses on
two major types of regrets. The first type we examined is those regrets associated with
political behaviors. Given the long-held view of careers as a linear progression up the
corporate ladder where success is rewarded with additional pay and promotional
opportunities (e.g. Super, 1957), individuals may regret not being more savvy to
corporate politics, including choosing allies more carefully and effectively networking,
to enhance their career advancement and associated extrinsic outcomes (Forret and
Dougherty, 2004; Judge and Bretz, 1994).
The second type we examined is those regrets associated with career choices. In
contrast to the traditional models, more recent models of careers suggest that
individuals are redefining career success beyond extrinsic outcomes (Briscoe et al.,
2006; Hall and Chandler, 2005). People may regret not engaging in behaviors that
would have provided enhanced personal or spiritual fulfillment such as going back to
school and pursuing a new career path, leaving the corporate world and becoming
self-employed, or creating a better work/family balance for themselves (Friedman and
Greenhaus, 2000; Hall, 1996; Heslin, 2005; Powell and Mainiero, 1992).
To explore this issue further, we examined the career event of experiencing a layoff
with these two types of regrets. We suggest that individuals who have been laid off
from an organization are more likely to have regrets about their political behavior as
well as regrets about their career choices than those who have not been downsized. The
psychological contract between employee and employer has changed (Cappelli, 2000;
Hall, 1996) and even employers known for their promise of life-long employment have
engaged in downsizing and rightsizing (Rousseau and Wade-Benzoni, 1995). Research
on the effects of layoffs, on both those terminated and those who remain, report many
negative outcomes (Brockner et al., 1992; Leana and Feldman, 1991, 1994; Power, 2006).
Besides the loss of income and status associated with losing one’s job, Feldman and
Leana (2000) found that downsized managers have lower trust and are more cynical
about their careers. Having misplaced their trust in former employers, the negative
attitudes of laid off workers spillover and adversely impact their perceptions of their
careers. Because of societal definitions of success, with the explicit notion that “up is
the only way” (Kaye, 2002), individuals experiencing layoffs may feel like losers, even
those who previously had been successful executives (Kovach, 1989; McCall et al.,
1988a, b). For instance, Shipper and Dillard (2000) found that individuals blamed
themselves for not taking the necessary actions to prevent career derailment.
Therefore, individuals who were laid off may regret not engaging in political behaviors
that may have prevented their dismissal. They may also regret the time invested in
jobs that “died” and wish they had made different career choices such as devoting more
time elsewhere (e.g. family, personal pursuits) or choosing a different career path (e.g.
self-employment). Therefore we hypothesize:
Being laid off
and career
regrets
H1. Individuals who report they were laid off will experience greater regrets about
their political behaviors than those who were not laid off.
791
H2. Individuals who report they were laid off will experience greater regrets about
their career choices than those who were not laid off.
Method
Survey administration and sample
Our survey was posted on a web site of one of the largest established marketing
research panels in the USA. This firm is able to employ a variety of statistics and
structural methods to ensure varied sample composition and sufficient response rates,
thereby increasing the likelihood of obtaining a representative sample. The firm draws
on approximately 10,000 individuals of various ages, races, backgrounds, industries,
and job titles. These individuals have agreed to participate in research conducted by
the firm for a fee, with respondents required to participate in two surveys per month to
maintain an active status. By participating in surveys, respondents’ logins are also
entered into a drawing for a chance to win a $100.00 cash prize. Respondents are not
required to purchase products for market research purposes. Typically, surveys are
made available on the web site until percentages and numbers as requested by the
researcher are obtained; we made no requests so as to avoid biasing the sample in any
way. Moreover, the posted survey contained only our questions. The firm reported that
the response rate for the survey was 22 percent, which they considered very good,
given typical response rates.
After removing those who were self-employed (n ¼ 167), our sample size was 1,480
and was almost evenly split between men (n ¼ 764) and women (n ¼ 716).
Respondents reported their ethnic status as Caucasian (88 percent),
African-American (4 percent), Asian (3 percent), Hispanic or Latin American (2
percent), Native American (1 percent), and Other/Prefer Not to Say (2 percent); 31
percent were between 18-34 years old, 30 percent between 35-44, 28 percent between
45-54, and 11 percent were 55 and older; 46 percent of the respondents reported having
children in the household, and 11 percent reported having eldercare responsibilities.
The educational level of the respondents varied: 14 percent were high school
graduates; 65 percent attended some college or graduated from college; and 21 percent
had completed some graduate work or held a postgraduate degree. Respondents
worked in a wide variety of industries, ranging from education (13 percent),
government (11 percent), healthcare (10 percent), retail (9 percent), finance/banking (5
percent), computers (4 percent), telecommunications (3 percent), engineering/
architecture (3 percent), and others (42 percent). The respondents worked an average
of 42 hours per week. Of the respondents, 28 percent (n ¼ 412) reported having been
laid off. On average, respondents were 36 years old and had 11 years of employment at
the time they were laid off.
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Dependent variables
Because no prior empirical research had been completed on career regrets, we
developed a 12-item scale to measure political behavior regrets and career choice
regrets based on a review of the careers literature. Using a Likert scale ranging from
strongly disagree ¼ 1 to strongly agree ¼ 5, respondents indicated their level of
agreement with the 12 items listed in Table I. To examine whether the two types of
career regrets were distinct constructs, a principal components factor analysis with a
varimax rotation was performed on the scale. Examination of the scree plot and the
eigenvalue-greater-than-1 criteria suggested that two factors be retained. The factor
analysis results are shown in Table I. Next, scales were created by calculating the
means of the items that: loaded 0.40 or greater on that factor; did not load 0.40 or
greater on any other factor; and loaded on that factor at least 0.10 higher than on any
other factor. Such procedures have been used in other research on careers (e.g. Forret
and Dougherty, 2001).
Item
Table I.
Rotated factor analysis of
career regrets scale
1. I wish I had been more successful at networking in
general, as I have lost many career opportunities due to
my inability to build a strong network
2. I wish I had been more of a strong corporate player.
Instead I often chose a more innovative or
entrepreneurial path than my boss appreciated
3. I wish I had paid full attention to corporate signals and
political changes in the corporations in which I worked.
My inattention has caused setbacks in my career from
time to time.
4. I wish I had changed jobs more often
5. I wish I had taken a career interruption and/or moved
out of the workforce for a period of time to better serve
the needs of my family
6. I wish I had gone back to school and restarted another
career path that was better suited to me
7. I wish I could have worked harder than I did, but it was
not worth compromising my family or personal needs
to work so many hours on the job
8. I wish I had chosen my friends and allies more
carefully, as their lack of support has cost me a
measure of success in my career
9. I wish I had developed stronger skills at managing
others along the way
10. I wish I had been more of a maverick and did work that
suited me rather than doing what the boss says
11. I wish I had made my own path and did work that
suited me creatively or entrepreneurially rather than
working for a corporation
12. I wish I had stayed focused on my family as my
priority
Political
behavior regrets
Career choice
regrets
0.80
0.18
0.63
0.29
0.73
0.36
0.21
0.47
0.06
0.80
0.26
0.52
0.28
0.56
0.77
0.18
0.63
0.24
0.37
0.56
0.33
0.54
0.09
0.71
Note: The numbers in italic represent items used to create the scale for that factor
Factor 1 was labeled political behavior regrets. It is comprised of five items (i.e. items 1,
2, 3, 8, and 9 in Table I) and measures the extent to which respondents wished they had
behaved differently (e.g. built a stronger network, paid attention to corporate signals,
developed stronger managerial skills) in order to advance up the corporate ladder and
gain more extrinsic rewards. The coefficient alpha for this scale was 0.81. Factor 2 was
labeled career choice regrets. It is comprised of seven items (i.e. items 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11,
and 12 in Table I) and measures the extent to which respondents wished they had
taken more action (e.g. pursued more creative work, went back to school, focused more
on family) that would have resulted in enhanced personal satisfaction and fulfillment.
The coefficient alpha for this scale is 0.77.
Independent variable
Respondents indicated whether they had ever been laid off (0 ¼ no, 1 ¼ yes).
Control variables
Control variables for the study were grouped into two categories: personal background
variables and human capital variables. The personal background variables consisted
of gender (0 ¼ male, 1 ¼ female), age (1 ¼ 18-24, 2 ¼ 25-34, 3 ¼ 35-44, 4 ¼ 45-54,
5 ¼ 55-64, and 6 ¼ 65 and older), children in the household (0 ¼ no, 1 ¼ yes), eldercare
responsibilities (0 ¼ no, 1 ¼ yes), and household income (1 ¼ less than $20,000,
2 ¼ $20,000-29,000, 3 ¼ $30,000-39,000, 4 ¼ $40,000-49,000, 5 ¼ $50,000-59,000,
6 ¼ $60,000-74,000, 7 ¼ $75,000-99,000, 8 ¼ $100,000-199,000, and 9 ¼ $200,000 and
above). The human capital variables measured were education (on a scale from
1 ¼ some high school to 7 ¼ post graduate degree), and the number of hours
respondents worked in a typical week. Both categories of control variables were
selected for inclusion in the study as they provide insight as to the resources and
constraints that might influence people’s careers and are consistent with past research.
Results
The correlations, means, and standard deviations of the study variables are shown in
Table II. Being laid off was significantly associated with both political behavior regrets
(r ¼ 0:18) and career choice regrets (r ¼ 0:08) in the hypothesized direction. A t-test
was computed to examine the differences in means for the two types of regrets based
upon whether the respondent had been laid off. The mean of political behavior regrets
was 2.80 for those who were laid off and 2.43 for those who had not been laid off. In
addition, the mean of career choice regrets was 2.59 for those who were laid off and 2.44
for those who had not been laid off. Both t-tests were statistically significant. Further
examination of the correlation matrix shows that those who were laid off were more
likely to be male, older, without children living in the household, at a lower income
level, and less educated.
Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed, with the personal
background control variables entered as the first block, followed by the human capital
control variables in the second block, and the laid off variable in the third block. The
results of these regression analyses are shown in Table III. Being laid off was
significantly related to experiencing greater political behavior regrets (b ¼ 0:19) and
career choice regrets (b ¼ 0:09), providing support for H1 and H2, respectively.
Being laid off
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793
Table II.
Correlations, means, and
standard deviations of
study variables
0.92
0.81
0.45
0.50
1.12
0.50
0.31
2.09
1.62
11.46
(0.81)
0.62 * *
0.18 * *
2 0.07 * *
2 0.03
2 0.02
2 0.01
2 0.03
0.03
0.03
1
(0.77)
0.08 * *
0.05
20.03
0.13 * *
0.03
20.07 * *
20.13 * *
20.04
2
–
20.13 * *
0.19 * *
20.08 * *
0.03
20.05 *
20.07 * *
0.01
3
–
2 0.28 * *
0.08 * *
0.04
2 0.11 * *
2 0.05
2 0.27 * *
4
–
2 0.06 *
0.08 * *
0.13 * *
2 0.01
0.03
5
Notes: The numbers on the diagonal represent the coefficient alpha for the scale; *p , 0.05; * *p , 001
2.53
2.48
0.28
0.48
3.12
0.46
0.11
4.86
4.19
42.26
SD
–
0.00
0.07 * *
20.05
20.08 * *
6
–
0.01
0.02
20.01
7
–
0.33 * *
0.16 * *
8
794
1. Political behavior regrets
2. Career choice regrets
3. Laid off (0 ¼ N, 1 ¼ Y)
4. Gender (0 ¼ M, 1 ¼ F)
5. Age
6. Children (0 ¼ N, 1 ¼ Y)
7. Elder care (0 ¼ N, 1 ¼ Y)
8. Household income
9. Education
10. Hours worked
Mean
–
0.11 * *
9
–
10
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Political behavior
regrets
Unique DR2
Career choice
regrets
Unique DR2
20.07 *
20.07 * *
0.00
20.01
20.03
0.01 *
0.02
2 0.03
0.13 * *
0.03
2 0.03
0.02 * *
Human capital variables
Education
Hours worked
0.05
0.00
0.00
2 0.11 * *
2 0.01
0.01 * *
Independent variable
Laid off (0 ¼ N, 1 ¼ Y)
0.19 * *
0.03 * *
0.09 * *
0.01 * *
R2
Adjusted R 2
0.04 * *
0.04
Personal background variables
Gender (0 ¼ M, 1 ¼ F)
Age
Children (0 ¼ N, 1 ¼ Y)
Elder Care (0 ¼ N, 1 ¼ Y)
Household Income
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and career
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795
0.04 * *
0.04
Notes: The regression coefficients shown are standardized; *p , 0.05; * *p , 0.01
The control variables presented some interesting statistically significant results. Males
and younger respondents were more likely to experience political behavior regrets. In
addition, those with children and those with less education were more likely to
experience regrets pertaining to their career choices. Overall, while both regression
models were significant and the laid off variable contributed unique incremental
variance, we note that the percentage of variance accounted for in both models was low
(i.e. R 2 ¼ 0:04).
Discussion
Our research examines career regrets that individuals may experience during the
course of their careers. We explored two major types of regrets: regrets about not
engaging in more effective political behavior at work (e.g. building a stronger network,
paying attention to corporate signals); and regrets about not pursuing alternative
career choices (e.g. pursuing more meaningful work, focusing more on family). We
investigated whether individuals who had been laid off would be more likely to
experience greater regrets as to their political behavior and career choices. In light of
the stress and turmoil associated with downsizing, it seemed appropriate that the topic
of career regrets be examined so a better understanding of the complexities of how
careers are enacted in the contemporary work landscape can be gleaned.
Consistent with previous research that illustrates the negative effects of job loss (e.g.
Leana and Feldman, 1994), the present study’s findings supported both H1 and H2 in
that individuals who had been laid off experienced greater regrets associated with both
political behaviors and career choices. Individuals who have been laid off may engage
in self-blame as they reflect upon actions they could have taken to enhance their job
security. Additionally, they may feel their efforts to help their organization achieve
success were wasted, and their time and energies could have been better spent
Table III.
Regression equations
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elsewhere (e.g. pursuing self-employment options or going back to school to further
their education).
Those who were laid off were more likely to have greater regrets about their
political behavior and, to a lesser extent, their career choices. These individuals’ regrets
about their political behaviors are consistent with the large number of studies that
have examined the importance of political behavior to career success (e.g. Judge and
Bretz, 1994; Perrewé and Nelson, 2004). Individuals may believe that they have greater
control over their political behaviors, thinking that political skills such as networking
and choosing allies can be more readily accomplished. In contrast, individuals may
believe they have less control over their career choices, thinking that alternatives are
constrained by factors including their spouse’s job mobility, child and elder care
demands, availability of resources for continued training and education, and the
difficulties associated with balancing work and nonwork concerns.
We also noted some interesting findings related to the control variables used in this
study. Our results showed that men and younger individuals were more likely to
experience regrets about their political behavior. Whereas research examining gender
and age as antecedents of political behavior has tended to be nonsupportive (Kacmar
and Baron, 1999) and few gender differences in networking behavior have been found
(Forret and Dougherty, 2001), it appears that men and younger individuals regret not
being more savvy about workplace politics and altering their behavior. Perhaps men
experience greater regrets about political behavior than women because they perceive
a level playing field and make internal attributions regarding the source of their
regrets. In contrast, women may perceive that the workplace, especially in
male-dominated industries, provides fewer opportunities for them regardless of their
political skills. The finding that younger individuals had more political regrets than
older individuals is somewhat surprising. One might expect that older individuals
would have more behaviors to regret while perceiving less time to recover from errors
and make things right. However, older individuals may have learned mental strategies
for more quickly overcoming disappointments or to recognize the futility of regrets
especially in terms of things that cannot be changed.
In addition to gender and age, there were noteworthy findings associated with two
other control variables. Having less education and having children, respectively, were
associated with greater career choice regrets. Those with less education may have
experienced blocked opportunities and feel they should have chosen a different path. In
addition, one interpretation for the finding regarding children is that organizations have
not made sufficient inroads for employees to satisfactorily balance work and family needs
(Burud and Tumolo, 2004). As such, individuals expressing regrets as to their career
choices may desire alternatives such as pursuing a new career path or self-employment to
enhance their flexibility and give them more control over how they manage work and
nonwork demands. Research on women entrepreneurs, for instance, has found that many
women leave corporations in order to build companies that permit them to nurture their
family while experiencing career challenge (Moore, 2002) or to create companies that
promote better work/life balance (Mainiero and Sullivan, 2005, 2006).
Limitations of the study
Although this study suggests a number of interesting lines for future research, several
limitations must be noted when considering its findings. Despite support for both
hypotheses, the amount of variance explained in career regrets by the laid off variable
was small. This was an exploratory study, and the limited effects may reflect the need
for a better measure of career regrets or the inclusion of other variables that predict
career regrets. Future research on the career regret scales would be helpful for
demonstrating construct validity. In addition, future research should include other
variables that examine the circumstances and perceptions surrounding a layoff. For
instance, if individuals were involved in massive downsizing efforts by their
organizations, they may attribute being laid off more to the fault of their organization
as opposed to their own lack of political savvy or choice of career. Future research
should examine how the individual’s perceived cause of his/her lay-off as well as the
number of coworkers also laid off may affect regrets. Furthermore, how commonplace
layoffs are in the industry and among an individual’s family and friends may also
affect an individual’s career regrets and account for additional variance.
Second, there have been some questions about the generalizability of internet-based
surveys (Birnbaum, 2004; Couper, 2000). We had strong reasons, however, for choosing
this technology. One reason for our use of this emerging research technology is the
ability to access a large and varied survey population. Our survey was listed on the
web site of one of the largest established marketing research panels in the USA, and
this firm is able to employ a variety of methods to ensure varied sample composition
and sufficient response rates, thereby increasing the likelihood of obtaining a
representative sample. Another reason for our use of this technology is that recent
research has found that web-based samples compare favorably to traditional survey
methods. Although internet samples may not be fully representative of the population
at large, they are usually more diverse than samples published in highly selective
psychology journals utilizing student populations (Gosling et al., 2004). For example,
Gosling and associates (2004) reported that internet samples were more representative
than traditional pencil-and-paper samples with respect to gender, socioeconomic
status, geographic location, and age, and were about as representative as traditional
samples with regard to race. Other researchers (e.g. Berrens et al., 2003, 2004) have
found internet samples to be comparable to large-scale telephone samples in terms of
representing the general population.
Third, like most of the research in our field, our study was cross-sectional. Because
data were collected at one point in time no statements about causality can be made.
Future longitudinal studies concerning the development of career regrets over time
would help us better comprehend how career regrets might vary throughout the life
span. Future research should also consider other variables (e.g. number of times laid
off, stage in life when layoff occurred, organizational level, number of promotions,
locus of control and other personality factors) that were not included in this study but
may explain additional variance. For instance, career satisfaction was not measured. It
may be that those who engaged in regretful thinking were less satisfied with their
careers (or their lives in general). Likewise, there may be other factors such as
personality traits or differences in whether individuals evaluate regrets in relation to
other-referent or self-referent criteria, and how salient different career outcomes are to
individuals that may influence the degree to which individuals regret the past (see
Heslin, 2005). Also, in the spirit of enhancing research through multiple methods, we
recommend that qualitative studies be completed. Such qualitative studies may
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provide a richer understanding of career regrets across the lifespan and be the basis for
further theory development.
Fourth, because one survey was used to collect the data, our findings may be subject
to common method variance. However, the presence of demographic and otherwise
verifiable information (e.g. getting laid off) makes common method variance less of a
concern (Crampton and Wagner, 1994; Podsakoff and Organ, 1986). To test for
common method variance, we conducted Harman’s one-factor test by including the
study variables in an unrotated factor analysis (Podsakoff and Organ, 1986). The
results broke into several factors, providing some evidence against method variance
problems in the data.
Implications and directions for future research
Despite these potential limitations, this study makes several contributions to the
literature on careers. First, while having regrets about one’s career is a premise of
many of the established developmental career theories (Sullivan and Crocitto, 2007) to
our knowledge this is the first study to empirically explore career regrets. Future
studies of how retirees reflect back upon their careers and perceive how political tactics
used or ignored or career choices made led to good or bad outcomes may provide
further insights into how and why career regrets develop and test commonly held
beliefs about career regrets (e.g. greater regrets for actions not taken, than for actions
taken that ended in failure). Future research should also explore the consequences of
career regrets for both individuals and organizations. For instance, experiencing career
regrets may cause individuals to lose their self-confidence and result in feelings of
resignation or being “stuck” in their jobs. From an organizational perspective, such
feelings may translate into lower performance levels, reduced organizational
citizenship behavior, decreased trust and increased cynicism if employees believe
that their career opportunities are limited.
A second contribution of this study is that unlike much of the literature, it focuses
on career regrets rather than career success. Research on traditional careers tends to
focus on success and most of the writings on nontraditional careers (e.g. boundaryless,
protean) have also emphasized the positive aspects of making career transitions such
as the learning benefits derived by working for many different employers (Heslin, 2005;
Sullivan, 1999). For instance, nontraditional career theories tend to assume that
workers can easily transition from job to job, organization to organization and the like;
in other words, these theories suggest that individuals are what Atkinson (1984) calls
“plug-in workers.” Individuals, however, must not only have transferable knowledge in
their field in order to be hired by these different employers but also must rapidly gain
an understanding of the setting in which they work (Blenkinsopp and Zdunczyk, 2005).
Personally experiencing being laid off is likely to be accompanied by a
second-guessing of one’s past behavior and career moves, which may shake one’s
confidence and make it even more difficult to transition to a new employer. Our
emphasis on political behavior and career choice regrets is thus a departure from past
research examining success factors.
A third contribution of this exploratory study is that it is the first, to our knowledge,
to examine career regrets, and suggests future avenues of research. Despite increased
conceptualization of nontraditional careers, research has still tended to focus on
traditional careers and career success rather than career missteps (Arthur et al., 2005).
By examining career regrets, we hoped to shed further light on the complexities of
contemporary careers, both the good and the bad. Although this study focused on the
repercussions of experiencing a layoff, we suggest that future research consider the
possible negative aspects of nontraditional careers (e.g. obstacles to remaining
employable, stress of repeatedly seeking out project work or adapting to new
employers) and examine the potential for career regrets related to different types of
career transitions and events. For instance, while many nontraditional career theories
assume that people have equal chances to pursue alternative career paths, in reality
this is not always the case. Societal norms and expectations may restrict women’s
occupational, educational, and job choices while other factors such as discrimination,
sexual harassment and work policies may limit their advancement opportunities,
resulting in women having less physical mobility than men. In contrast, men may
perceive fewer career possibilities than women (i.e. have less psychological mobility)
because societal norms may put them into mental straitjackets, requiring them to
conform to traditional work and family (i.e. breadwinner) roles (Mainiero and Sullivan,
2006; Sullivan and Arthur, 2006). Future research should examine obstacles that may
deter career choices or tactics used and how other factors, such as cultural norms and
individual differences, may also limit the extent to which people can enact
nontraditional careers. Scholars should also examine how organizational actions (or
lack of response) and other players in an individual’s career (e.g. managers, colleagues,
and mentors), may positively or negatively affect the regrets experienced. It is our hope
that this study of career regrets encourages scholars to take a closer look at
assumptions about the ease of career transitions, factors that could affect the transition
process, and how regrets about past career strategies and choices made may influence
future career decisions (e.g. perceptions of psychological and physical mobility).
Moreover, we hope this study encourages scholars to conceptualize how career regrets
occur and develop theory-based models to explain the process of career regrets over the
lifespan.
In conclusion, the study of career regrets represents a productive and fruitful
arena for future research on the subject of careers. The regrets individuals have
may influence their future career behaviors and choices, resulting in different
approaches to their work and their lives. These findings may offer some insights to
help individuals navigate their careers and make choices that they will be less likely
to regret. Moreover, the regrets individuals experience may provide career
counselors and coaches with a better understanding of how careers unfold. Such
knowledge may also help provide more effective career counseling for those
individuals who have experienced career missteps. Furthermore, longitudinal
studies of career regrets may help us to understand why the proverbial “path not
taken” could serve as an impetus for life and career decisions that individuals must
reconcile over time.
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About the authors
Sherry E. Sullivan (PhD, The Ohio State University) served as Program Chair of the Careers
Division of the Academy of Management, was recognized with the Gender and Diversity in
Management’s Janet Chusmir Award for mentoring and service (2002) and is a Fellow of the
Southern Management Association. She has published in journals including the Academy of
Management Executive, Journal of Applied Psychology, Career Development International, Journal
of Management, and Journal of Vocational Behaviour. She is co-author (with Lisa Mainiero) of
The Opt-Out Revolt: Why People are Leaving Companies to Create Kaleidoscope Careers
(Davies-Black Publishers, 2006) and co-editor (with Yehuda Baruch and Haze Schepmyer) of
Winning Reviews: A Guide for Evaluating Scholarly Writing (Palgrave Macmillian, 2006). She is
the corresponding author and can be contacted at: ssulliv@bgsu.edu
Monica L. Forret (PhD, University of Missouri) is a full professor at St Ambrose University
and is the Director of the Doctor of Business Administration Program. She has published
numerous articles in journals including the Journal of Organizational Behavior, Group and
Organization Management, Journal of Vocational Behavior, Organizational Dynamics, Career
Development International, Journal of Business and Psychology, and Leadership & Organization
Development Journal. Her research interests include networking, mentoring, career decisions, and
recruitment processes. She has served on the board of the Careers Division of the Academy of
Management, as the Human Resources/Careers Track Chair of the Midwest Academy of
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Management, and is an Editorial Board Member for the Journal of Leadership and Organizational
Studies.
Lisa A. Mainiero (PhD, Yale University) has published numerous papers in journals such as
Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management
Executive, Group and Organization Management, Journal of Management, Organizational
Dynamics, and Harvard Business Review. She was elected as Program Chair for the Women In
Management Division of the Academy of Management, and has also served as Secretary and
Proceedings Editor for the Eastern Academy of Management and on the Board for the Careers
Division of the Academy of Management. She is the author of several books, including Office
Romance and is co-author (with Sherry Sullivan) of The Opt-Out Revolt: Why People are Leaving
Companies to Create Kaleidoscope Careers (Davies-Black Publishers, 2006).
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