Vocational, avocational, and skill utilization congruences and their relationship with well-being in two cultures

Abstract

The present study examines the interrelationship among three aspects of congruence (vocational, avocational, and skill utilization) and their relationship to several well-being measures (occupational satisfaction, job satisfaction, work satisfaction, anxiety, burnout, somatic complaints, and self-esteem). The data allow comparison of the above relationships between a Jewish sample of 74 female teachers and an Arab Bedouin sample of 117 teachers (51 males and 66 females) in Israel. Findings indicate that (1) correlations among the congruence measures are between − .06 and .25; (2) all correlations between each of the congruence aspects and each of the well-being measures are in the expected direction; and (3) the vocational and skill utilization congruence aspects show an additive effect on all well-being measures. Several implications are discussed.