Relationship between active seniors’ job change and life satisfaction: Serial multiple mediation effects of person–job fit and job satisfaction

Abstract

With older workers staying in or re-entering the workforce post-retirement, there has been growing interest in the aging workforce. This study examines how active seniors’ job changes impact life satisfaction through person–job fit and job satisfaction. Drawing on conservation of resources, person–job fit, and spillover theories, we developed and tested a serial multiple mediation model on 2183 active seniors using the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study data. The results of PROCESS macro analysis showed that (a) job change negatively affects life satisfaction, (b) both person–job fit and job satisfaction parallelly mediate the job change and life satisfaction relationship, and (c) there is a serial multiple mediation effect of person–job fit and job satisfaction on the job change and life satisfaction relationship. Our study reveals the link between work and nonwork domains as informed by the three theories, extends the existing literature on life satisfaction from a bottom-up perspective, and considers cultural characteristics.