Abstract: For unemployed individuals, a job search is not only critical for shortening the career gap and gaining a new job but also for training in job searching. The current study plans to survey a group of unemployed job seekers in Shenyang, which is a part of the old industrial bases in Northeast China, in order to test a new job search model. Further, it also aims to explore the predictive factors and mechanism of the job search behavior of job seekers. In most researches on organizational behavior in China, greater attention has been paid to a mechanism of job search behavior that can directly predict reemployment. In the course of China’s socioeconomic reconstruction, researches pertaining to the mechanism of job search behavior of job seekers have immense theoretical and practical significance. However, in China, few empirical researches have been conducted to explore the mechanism of job search behavior from the perspective of psychology, and most of the researches were only conducted from the standpoints of sociology and economics. In view of the present situation in China, the characteristics of labor relationships and management systems, this research, based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), intends to explore the predictive factors and mechanism of the job search behavior of job seekers from a psychological perspective in Shenyang. In concrete terms, predictive factors (self-efficacy, employment commitment, social support, employment opportunities, and economic stress) have positive predictive effects on job search behavior. Job search intensity acts as a mediator between the predictive factors and job search behavior.
This study aims to explore the predictive factors and mechanism of the job search behavior of job seekers. The questionnaires we administered included those on self-efficacy, employment commitment, social support, employment opportunities, economic stress, job search intensity, and job search behavior. Three hundred unemployed participants were recruited randomly from Dadong District, Shenyang. All of them were laid-off workers, who had been unemployed for over four weeks. Trained workers of community centers contacted them beforehand in order to ascertain if they were willing to complete the survey. They also verified if they met two other additional criteria: no intention of retiring within the next year or expectation of being recalled to their former jobs.
To ensure a high level of participation from the subjects, the interviewers emphasized the importance of the study during the invitation call; moreover, the surveys were completed before the subjects. In addition, the participants received a gift after completing the survey.
To test the hypotheses, the multiple regression mediation approach suggested by Wen Zhonglin (2004) was employed. The multiple regression mediation analysis involves a series of regression equations. In the first step, the hypothesized independent variables were used to predict the hypothesized outcome variables. The hypothesized mediator was then regressed on the hypothesized independent variables. Finally, in the last equation, the dependent variables were regressed on the hypothesized independent variables along with the mediator variables.
The results indicate the following: (1) external variables do not have predictive effects on job search behavior; however, economic stress and perceived employment opportunities have positive effects on job search intensity but no predictive effects on job search behavior; (2) job-search self-efficacy and employment commitment have positive predictive effects on job-search behavior; in concrete terms, the higher the self-efficacy and employment commitment, the higher the frequency of job search behavior; (3) job-search intensity has a positive influence on job search behavior; (4) job-search intensity acts as a partial mediator between self-efficacy, employment commitment, and job search behavior; moreover, it has no mediating effects between the environmental variables (social support, employment opportunities, and economic stress) and job search behavior.
Based on the research results, we conclude that future reemployment counseling methods should not only focus on improving job seekers’ skills but also consider their job search intensities. We should improve their self-confidence and find suitable opportunities based on their job search intensity; moreover, we should make the reemployment counseling model for unemployed people increasingly humanistic. The provision of social support can accelerate the speed of reemployment success; therefore, we should expand the scope of social support for reemployment

Key words: unemployed people, job search behavior, job search intensity, reemployment