The Uncertain Mind and the Uncertainty Mindset: Insights from Applied Career Research

Julian Pfrombeck
Chinese University of Hong Kong, China

The ubiquity of uncertainty—defined as a state of not knowing for sure—has attracted considerable scholarly attention across disciplines. In this talk, Julian Pfrombeck shares insights from his research on uncertainty in applied career contexts. He first discusses the uncertain mind: how individuals experience uncertainty in work-related transitions over the life course, such as job search, unemployment, and retirement, as well as individual differences related to uncertainty. He then introduces the uncertainty mindset, which conceptualizes how individuals construe uncertainty. He presents evidence on how an uncertainty-as-enabling mindset can be cultivated to enhance outcomes such as job search and entrepreneurial success. The cumulative evidence highlights that proactive regulation of uncertainty can help individuals navigate careers more successfully.

Julian Pfrombeck is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and Head of the Lifelong Learning Lab. His research aims to explore the motivational potential of uncertainty for learning and personal development, social interactions, workplace diversity, and career changes over the course of the lifespan. His work has been published in scientific journals including the Journal of Organizational Behavior, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Work Aging and Retirement, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, and Research in Organizational Behavior. Julian obtained his PhD from ETH Zurich, Switzerland, and he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Columbia University, USA, before joining CUHK.

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