Document Type : Englise Original Article
Authors
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department of psychology
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Department of Psychology, University of Isfahan
3
Information Systems Department, Faculty of Information and Communication Technology (FICT), Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), 31900, Kampar, Perak, Malaysia
10.22108/cbs.2026.147957.2131
Abstract
On a career path, employees face different stages, the attainment of which are regarded as goals. When career goals are perceived as distant or unattainable, employees may experience negative emotional states. In this case, employees first strive to overcome these negative emotions through emotion regulation and then maintain buoyancy via goal engagement/disengagement control strategies. This longitudinal study examined this process. A total of 180 volunteer employees from the Isfahan Gas Company participated, with 166 completing both waves over one year. An a priori power analysis (α = .05, 1 − β = .80, f² = .15) confirmed that the sample was adequate. Participants completed measures of workplace buoyancy, cognitive emotion regulation, career goal-progress discrepancy, and goal engagement/disengagement at two time points. Data were analyzed using factor analysis, correlations, cross-lagged panel analysis, and path analysis. Results supported the Motivational-Cognitive Life-Span Theory of Emotions. Career goal-progress discrepancy and its four sub-dimensions were negatively correlated with workplace buoyancy (r = -0.21 to -0.29, all p < 0.05). Cross-lagged analysis showed that emotion regulation at Time 1 predicted goal engagement (r = -0.31, p < 0.01) and disengagement strategies at Time 2 (r = 0.32, p < 0.01), which in turn predicted subsequent workplace buoyancy (engagement: r = 0.24, p < 0.05; disengagement: r = -0.17, p < 0.05). Based on the results, it is recommended that organizations train employees in adaptive emotion regulation strategies, such as positive refocusing, and that organizations to set realistic career goals collaboratively with employees.
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