Status, wellbeing, and behavior at work or in college

In this paper, we studied what predicts "good" and "bad" behavior and the relationship between these behaviors and two types of wellbeing. We developed our hypotheses based on social exchange theory and the wellbeing literature. We collected 1,250 responses from college students in Mexico, the Philippines, Romania, Russia, and U.S. and found that subjective wellbeing and employability explained "good" and "bad" behavior at work and in college, and also mediated the relationship between status and behavior at work. When students are currently happy (e.g., subjective wellbeing) and feel that their future is promising (e.g., their employability), they are more likely to demonstrate desirable citizenship behavior, low levels of deviant work behavior, and feel self-fulfilled (psychological wellbeing).