The relation between calling and career adaptability

One’s calling can be divided into cognitive (“perceiving a calling”) and applied phases (“living a calling”), with the latter involving the execution of the former in life. We examined if living a calling moderate the relation between perceiving a calling and career adaptability. We hypothesized that the relation between perceiving a calling and career adaptability will differ according to the degree of calling execution by employees. However, for currently unemployed college students, we hypothesized that the level of calling execution would not influence the aforementioned relationship because they would have fewer opportunities for executing their perceived calling. The study results with 392 adult professionals and 248 college students indicated that living a calling significantly moderated the relation between perceiving a calling and career adaptability, in both adults and students but in opposite direction. Thus, whether one has a job or not, living a calling affect the relationship between perceiving a calling and career adaptability.