Psychological mobility and career success in the ‘New’ career climate

We examined the influence of two types of psychological mobility, i.e. boundaryless mindset and organizational mobility preference, on career success. We hypothesized that this relationship would be partially mediated by physical mobility. In addition, we expected the direction of the influence to depend on the type of psychological mobility. We tested our hypotheses using data of 357 business alumni. Results showed that a boundaryless mindset related positively to wage and promotions, while organizational mobility preference led to less promotions, lower job satisfaction and lower career satisfaction. The relationship between boundaryless mindset and career success was partially mediated by functional mobility whereas organizational mobility preference impacted career success via organizational mobility. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed.

► We tested the impact of psychological mobility on career success.
► Boundaryless mindset related positively to wage and promotions.
► Organizational mobility negatively affected promotions, job and career satisfaction.
► Boundaryless mindset impacted career success via functional mobility.
► The effect of mobility preference was mediated by organizational mobility.