With a powerful God, all things are possible: A compensatory control account of occupational aspirations among overqualified policemen

ABSTRACT Research has found occupational aspirations to lead to several positive career and employment outcomes in contexts of high personal agency. However, an investigation into occupational aspirations in contexts of high uncertainty is lacking in the literature. To fill this gap, I investigated occupational aspirations among overqualified policemen whose career plans have been shattered. Specifically, guided by the Compensatory Control Theory (CCT), I investigated the influence of work-related low personal control and belief in a controlling God on occupational aspirations. The study is cross-sectional, and the sample size is 407 policemen drawn from different state commands of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF). The data were analyzed using (Hayes, A. F. 2018. Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach (2nd ed). New York: Guilford Press) PROCESS macro, model 58. The study findings include the following. First, career-related low personal control led to more belief in a controlling God. Second, individuals high in belief in a controlling God were also high in occupational aspirations. Third, belief in a controlling God mediated the relationship between low personal control and occupational aspirations. Finally, I found that overqualified policemen who were lower in personal control had more belief in a controlling God and more occupational aspirations than those with low personal control. Theoretically, this study extends extant literature on the antecedents of occupational aspirations and practically highlights the positive impact of religious belief on occupational aspirations in contexts of high uncertainty.