The Antecedents and Outcomes of Future Work Self Salience: A Meta-Analytic Integration

The Future Work Self (FWS) serves as a critical motivational resource for navigating increasingly fluid career landscapes. However, despite two decades of research, the literature remains fragmented by inconsistent findings regarding its antecedents and outcomes. Using meta-analytic methods (k = 135 independent samples; N = 59,688), we synthesize the nomological network of Future Work Self Salience (FWSS) and test a contextual-cognitive shift hypothesis. Results reveal that while proactive personality and social support are robust predictors, contextual stressors exhibit complex associations. FWSS consistently predicts engagement, innovation, and career proactivity, but moderator analyses uncover a critical career-stage contingency: among employees, FWSS is primarily activated by organizational affordances (e.g., leadership, organizational support), whereas among students, dispositional traits and temporal cognition emerge as stronger drivers. Longitudinal studies yield larger effects than cross-sectional designs, and modest publication bias was detected but did not substantially alter conclusions. By resolving long-standing empirical paradoxes and identifying boundary conditions, this meta-analysis establishes FWSS as a dynamic, developmentally contingent resource and charts an evidence-based agenda for vocational psychology and human resource management.