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Responding to Precarity: Young People’s Ambiguity Aversion, Resilience, and Coping Strategies

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: The nature of contemporary careers has shifted and is characterized by precarity, emphasizing the need for young people to possess adequate career resources in their pursuit of decent work. Grounded in the dual-process model and the conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study examines the loss impact caused by ambiguity aversion and low resilience on young people’s responses to career ambiguity, specifically, their coping strategies (i.e., avoidance and approach) and career anxiety. In this cross-sectional study, we collected data using online surveys from young adults aged 18–35 (N = 156) in Norway, Indonesia, and Bangladesh. Serial mediation analyses were conducted using IBM-SPSS Statistics. Our findings found that ambiguity aversion had significant positive relations with career anxiety. Furthermore, resilience and avoidance coping were found to play mediating roles in the ambiguity aversion–career anxiety association. The results of the exploratory analyses also revealed significant differences in variable levels between the three countries examined. Our results have both theoretical and practical implications that contribute to the knowledge and practices in helping young people navigate the risks of precarity by developing adaptive career resources. We acknowledge the limitations regarding sample size and research design.

Source: Social Sciences

DOI: 10.3390/socsci14110668

Authors: Audrey Ansay Antonio, Nadiyah Afifah Niigata Ramadhani, Rita Chiesa

Institution: University of Bologna

Language: English

Topic: Career Development and Diversity

Subfield: Safety Research

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Decent work and economic growth, Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,172