Role salience and satisfaction in working adults: A contribution to the individuals' well-being

Abstract

A study about role salience in the counselling and career management context with an adult sample revealed the tendency for the individuals to place more importance in other roles beyond those they tend to spend more time and energy with work and family. The aim of this research is to present more results that confirm this trend, in different organizational contexts, and the satisfaction with the occupational, family and leisure life roles. The study samples included working adults, ranging from 60 to 116 participants, and the instruments used were the Salience Inventory and the Life Roles Satisfaction Scale. The results corroborate the referred trend and reveal higher levels of satisfaction with other activities than with the occupational one, and correlations between role salience and satisfaction with the life roles. Therefore, it should be considered strategic by the organizations to implement policies aiming to facilitate the balance between the different roles played by their employees. Noteworthy are the interventions in counselling and career management and the increasingly frequent use of remote work. Some considerations are made on the importance of helping individuals to deal with their levels of satisfaction and well-being in the current competitive, unpredictable, and unknown labour market.