- Макаренко, А. О. (orcid.org/0009-0009-2494-6494) (2026) Psychological characteristics and determinants of occupational self-efficacy of IT professionals Doctoral thesis, Інститут психології імені Г.С. Костюка.
![[thumbnail of Дисертація (без підпису)]](https://lib.iitta.gov.ua/style/images/fileicons/text.png "Дисертація (без підпису)") |
Text (Дисертація (без підпису))
makarenko_dissertation_QES.orig.pdf Download (3MB) |
|
Text (Дисертація (з електронним підписом))
makarenko_dissertation_QES.pdf Download (3MB) |
|
Text (Протокол підпису)
makarenko_dissertation_QES_Validation_Report.pdf Download (51kB) |
Abstract
Makarenko A.O. Psychological characteristics and determinants of occupational self-efficacy of IT professionals. – Qualification scientific work on the rights of the manuscript. Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the field of knowledge 05 – social and behavioural sciences, speciality 053 – psychology. – G. S. Kostiuk Institute of Psychology of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, 2026. The dissertation research is devoted to studying the problem of professional self-efficacy of IT specialists and determining the psychological and organisational-professional factors of its formation and manifestation in a digitalised work environment. The work provides a theoretical generalisation of approaches to understanding professional self-efficacy as a psychological phenomenon of activity regulation, clarifies the system of its determinants within the framework of professional roles and stages of experience, methodological approaches to the diagnosis and verification of key indicators are substantiated, the results of an empirical study in six role-seniority subgroups of IT specialists are presented, and practical recommendations for supporting and improving professional self-efficacy at the level of organisational decisions and psychological support are developed. The concept of our study is that the professional self-efficacy of an IT specialist is a complex phenomenon: 1) that functions as an integral psychological system of self-regulation of professional activity and subjective control over the result in situations of increased complexity, uncertainty and time constraints; 2) the dynamics of its manifestation are determined by a combination of individual psychological resources and vulnerabilities (internal resources of self-regulation, psycho-emotional stability/neurotic background, regulatory maturity) and organisational and professional conditions of activity (work requirements, organisational stressors, quantitative workload), and their ratio has role specificity; 3) which mediates the productivity and stability of professional functions, determining the readiness to act in modes of intensive communication, high responsibility and technological change; 4) which is an indicator of professional maturity and accumulated experience, since with experience, the resources of effective beliefs are strengthened and psycho-emotional vulnerability decreases, while the role primarily sets the profile of requirements and risks, which requires differentiated, type-specific measures of psychological support and workload management. Chapter 1 of the dissertation provides the theoretical and methodological rationale for investigating occupational self-efficacy among information technology professionals. The chapter clarifies the content and boundaries of occupational self-efficacy in IT as a domain-specific psychological construct, and systematises the principal approaches and empirical syntheses concerning its associations with performance, adaptability, stress, and burnout, as well as the factors that condition its function depending on task complexity and the nature of job demands. The analysis integrates key propositions from social cognitive theory alongside resource-based and motivational frameworks (Job Demands-Resources model (JD–R); Self-Determination Theory (SDT)) and models of technology-related behavior (Technology Acceptance Model (TAM); Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)), yielding a coherent conceptual framework structured around the nexus “person – task – digital environment – team – organisation”. Particular attention is given to psychophysiological and sociotechnical determinants of occupational self-efficacy in digitalized work (including circadian alignment of work routines, monotony and the structure of feedback, and the communicative ecology of remote/hybrid interaction). Psychological empowerment is additionally substantiated as a pivotal mediator through which resources are translated into perceived control and confidence in one’s professional capabilities, whereas technostressors and digital hindrance stressors are conceptualized as contextual moderators capable of attenuating this mechanism. Overall, the chapter establishes the theoretical foundation for the subsequent operationalisation of variables and the specification of empirical models of occupational self-efficacy in IT specialists. The theoretical significance of the dissertation lies in deepening and systematising scholarly understanding of IT professionals’ occupational self-efficacy as a context-sensitive psychological construct that emerges and operates within digitally organised work. The study clarifies the conceptual scope of occupational self-efficacy in the IT domain and substantiates its distinction from general self-efficacy by anchoring it in role-specific task demands, levels of task complexity, and the socio-technical regimes through which work is performed. A multilevel explanatory framework is developed that integrates social-cognitive theory, the Job Demands–Resources approach (Job Demands-Resources model, JD–R), motivational perspectives (Self-Determination Theory, SDT), and models of technology-related behaviour (Technology Acceptance Model (TAM); Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)), positioning occupational self-efficacy as a core regulatory mechanism within the “person–task–digital environment–team–organisation” system. Within this framework, psychological empowerment is conceptualised as a leading mechanism through which organisational resources and digital competencies are translated into subjectively experienced control, competence, and expectations of success in professional activity. In parallel, negative contextual factors inherent in digital work (technostressors and digital hindrance stressors) are theoretically substantiated as systemic moderators capable of weakening the conversion of resources into self-efficacy and increasing risks of exhaustion and instability in professional functioning. Accordingly, the dissertation advances a theoretical interpretation of occupational self-efficacy not as a stable disposition, but as a dynamic outcome of the interaction between resources, demands, and regulatory mechanisms within digital work ecosystems. Separately, the psychophysiological and sociotechnical determinants of occupational self-efficacy relevant to IT work are systematised: (a) circadian alignment of work schedules as a fundamental moderator of attentional states, emotional reactivity, and the stability of success expectations; (b) monotony and the structure of feedback as factors of motivational support or depletion, and of the sense of mastery; (c) the communicative ecology of digital interaction as a condition for preserving social competence, influence over shared outcomes, and transparency of evaluation in remote/hybrid teams. On this basis, a coherent theoretical field is articulated in which the occupational self-efficacy of IT professionals is explained as a derivative of the alignment of biorhythmic, motivational, and communicative circuits of digital work. Moreover, the study synthesises the environmental and organisational determinants that delineate a “corridor of opportunity” for sustaining occupational self-efficacy: psychologically safe team practices, a supportive climate, and boundary-related policies (interaction protocols, interruption management, and uncertainty reduction), alongside dispositional resources (e.g., emotional stability, openness, psychological capital) that account for variation in individual self-efficacy trajectories under comparable working conditions. Overall, an integrative theoretical model is articulated, providing a basis for subsequent operationalisation of variables and for testing mediation–moderation assumptions within multilevel research designs appropriate to digitally organised work in the IT sector. Chapter Two offers a theoretical synthesis of the current state of scholarship on IT professionals’ occupational self-efficacy and locates it within broader psychological accounts of activity regulation under high cognitive demands and within digitalised professional environments. Approaches to analysing occupational self-efficacy are systematised as an integral indicator of perceived control and the capacity to maintain performance under uncertainty, time constraints, and rapid change. The chapter conceptualises the contribution of internal self-regulation resources (WIPPF 2.0), psycho-emotional vulnerability (neuroticisation background as assessed by KON-2006), regulatory characteristics (psychological infantilism), and job demands (organisational stressors and quantitative workload) to explaining variability in occupational self-efficacy. A two-factor empirical design (“role × tenure”) is substantiated, distinguishing six role-by-tenure subgroups (Dev, QA/Testing, DevOps/SRE/Cloud; 0–3 years and 4+ years), and the psychodiagnostic toolkit is specified for assessing general and occupational self-efficacy, job demands, resources, and vulnerability. In Chapter Three, the study reports the results of an empirical verification of the model of IT professionals’ occupational self-efficacy, examined by role and tenure. Tenure shows a statistically significant and practically meaningful association with higher general (GSE) and occupational (Short OSE) self-efficacy, whereas role primarily differentiates the context of job demands. For organisational stressors (OSS), the role effect is decisive: the greatest exposure to organisational stress-inducing factors is observed in the DevOps/SRE/Cloud track, with no substantial contribution of tenure. For quantitative workload (QWS), significant effects of both role and tenure are identified: workload is highest in the DevOps/SRE/Cloud groups and increases with tenure, reflecting an accumulation of responsibility and an expansion of work contexts. The neuroticisation background (X-KON) is found to decrease statistically with tenure, while role differences are predominantly profile-based (qualitative) rather than integral. Indicators of psychological infantilism display tenure-related dynamics in the direction of reduced regressive–dependent and immature regulatory tendencies and are associated with poorer psycho-emotional stability and lower occupational self-efficacy. The role of internal resources assessed by WIPPF 2.0 in supporting occupational self-efficacy is established: resources relevant to “professional activity/performance” and “discipline/reliability” are associated with higher Short OSE and serve a compensatory function with respect to job demands. A psychometric verification of the focal outcome measure (Short Occupational Self-Efficacy Scale) is conducted, and measurement comparability across the six role-by-tenure subgroups is demonstrated, ensuring the validity of group comparisons and subsequent modelling. Cluster analysis/latent profile identification is used to derive types based on “demands–vulnerability–resources” configurations, and these profiles show clear differences in occupational self-efficacy. The incremental validity of the profile typology is demonstrated: profiles explain an additional proportion of variance in occupational self-efficacy beyond role and tenure. Structural analyses confirm that occupational self-efficacy reflects the combined contribution of a dispositional base (GSE), self-regulation resources (WIPPF), psycho-emotional vulnerability (KON-2006), and job demands (OSS/QWS); within the DevOps/SRE/Cloud track, quantitative workload emerges as the most sensitive mechanism associated with reduced occupational self-efficacy. Based on the empirically identified mechanisms, practical recommendations were formulated for each of the six role-by-tenure subgroups using the format "targets for intervention – leverage points (strengths) – implementation technologies". These recommendations follow a dual-channel logic of intervention: (1) organisational reduction of the intensity and unpredictability of job demands (workload and responsibility management, incident/on-call governance); and (2) targeted strengthening of internal resources alongside the prevention of psycho-emotional vulnerability as conditions for stabilising occupational self-efficacy. The scientific novelty of the findings lies in the following contributions of the dissertation research: For the first time, within a framework that explicitly relates tenure to professional role (position), general and occupational self-efficacy in IT professionals were compared, enabling the identification of specific role-experience combinations as predictors of subjective confidence in one's professional competence. Regularities were identified in the differentiation of job-related activity factors-most notably organisational stressors and workload-by role and tenure, providing an empirical substantiation of the structure of job demands in a digitalised IT work environment. Profiles of internal resources were constructed by role and tenure; an additive pattern of effects was demonstrated, indicating cumulative growth in resource potential without a role-by-tenure interaction effect. The psychometric verification of the Short OSE scale was refined through multi-group confirmatory factor analysis, which substantiated measurement invariance across the six subgroups (configural, metric, and scalar), thereby ensuring the validity of between-group comparisons. An empirical typology of IT professionals was developed on the basis of latent profile analysis (LPA), identifying resource-risk configurations (demands-vulnerability-resources) that are supra-role in character and capture different modes of professional functioning under conditions of digital work. The incremental validity of the typological profiles was demonstrated in explaining occupational self-efficacy beyond the contributions of role, tenure, and background dispositions, confirming their independent prognostic value within the model structure. The conceptualisation of neuroticisation vulnerability profiles was further developed, making it possible to delineate typical combinations of anxious, asthenic, and somatisation components characteristic of different professional positions. The practical significance of the dissertation findings lies in the development of evidence-informed recommendations for groups of IT professionals based on empirically established associations between occupational self-efficacy, tenure, the demand context of work, resource profiles, and psychological vulnerability. The study substantiates a dual-channel logic for psychological interventions: (1) organisational reduction of the intensity and unpredictability of job demands (OSS/QWS) through the management of processes, workload, and responsibility; and (2) targeted strengthening of internal resources, accompanied by the prevention of vulnerability via self-regulation, recovery practices, and psychological support. Keywords: occupational self-efficacy; IT professionals; professional experience; occupational activity; role-specificity of work; internal personal resources; positive psychology and psychotherapy; resourcefulness; psychological infantilism; neuroticisation; occupational stress; workload; organisational demands; profile-based approach.
Downloads
Downloads per month over past year
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |