5 5. Exogenous Success Factors
Success and the influence of exogenous factors in adulthood
Introduction
This chapter continues the analysis of the top workers’ biographies. We learned
in the last chapter that many factors in childhood can lead to the right track in the
light of the process of success at work. However, there are many elements in
adulthood life too that can infl uence the process.
The fi rst purpose of this chapter is to discuss the role of social relationships in
success at work. Especially interesting is to make comparisons with research on
happy and long-lasting marriages and solutions that top workers have considered
functional. Are there commonalities between these groups?
Second, we glance at the signifi cance of hobbies. In positive psychology the
role of activities that provide refreshment and pleasure has been long acknowledged.
In this book we will view how the top workers describe the importance of
their hobbies for their success at work.
Finally, we will discuss the role of leadership. Can leaders enhance employees’
chances of success at work? What if they themselves could also benefi t from the
capability of enhancing employees’ chances of success?
A successful combination of work and marriage
When moving further from the school world, dating and romantic relationship
begin to take place. In this section we will discuss how success at work is
connected with family and marital life. The relationship between work and
family life has been studied mostly from the perspective of negative confl ict
(Greenhouse et al . 1987 ). It is obvious that the interplay between these two areas
of life has positive consequences (Barnett 2004 ; Leiter and Durup 1996 ), and the
positive experiences and solutions are also worth studying (see, for example.
Mahoney 2002 ).
The combination of work and family life has been increasingly studied since
women started to work outside the home (Barnett 2004 ; see also Aryee et al .
2005 ). At the same time, in the past few decades, men have been spending more
and more time attending to housework and childcare (Barnett 2004 ). In Finland,
Chapter 5
Success and the infl uence of
exogenous factors in adulthood
88 The influence of exogenous factors in adulthood
social policies have also been used to encourage the possibility of combining
work and family (Salmi 2004b ). Indeed, fi nancial matters are essential to this
phenomenon (see, for example, Barnett 2004 ; Barnett and Lundgren 1998 ).
Barnett and Lundgren ( 1998 ) illustrate issues that spouses need to solve when
making work-related decisions. Fundamentally, the decisions are based on
economic and social factors and, for example, on gender-related attitudes to
work. In addition, the situation in a workplace (for example, the continuation of
employment) and individual factors play their respective roles in decisionmaking.
In an ideal situation, spouses refl ect upon their own and each other’s
biological, psychological and economic needs. They may end