Ambition has long been heralded as essential for career success, yet few researchers have explored this concept empirically. Management scholars have primarily defined ambition as the desire to get ahead, an extrinsic goal. Based on the changing nature of careers, the theory developed here explores the concept of ambition from a social cognitive perspective. The study investigates the dynamics of individual differences and developmental (mentoring) relationships with ambition and career success. To test the conceptual model, ambition is operationalized as both intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations. Data collection for this project includes a survey of 223 young professionals and 20 follow-up interviews.
Contrary to expectations, disposition was directly associated with objective success, subjective success, and well-being rather than mediated through ambition. Career identity salience was positively associated with extrinsic aspirations which were then linked to objective success; however, it was negatively associated with well-being. Findings support the conceptualization of ambition as a multi-faceted construct, with extrinsic components associated with objective success and intrinsic components associated with both objective and subjective outcomes.
The relationship between ambition and support from developmental networks is complex. Quantitative data indicate developmental network size and support is associated with intrinsic aspirations and well-being. Consistent with this, individuals described personal relationships as predictors of ambition. However professional relationships seemed to affect their ambition through a more iterative process suggesting a feedback loop between these two variables.
Post-hoc analyses reveal gender differences in the expression of ambition. Men rank the desire for financial rewards, an extrinsic aspiration, as most important while it is fourth for women following intrinsic factors. Further analyses of developmental network data reveal that support from personal sources has a stronger relationship with both objective and subjective success than that from work-based relationships.
This study was the first to examine the association of developmental network composition and support with ambition in a population of working adults. The findings disentangle the relative influence of extrinsic and intrinsic ambition on objective and subjective career success. By incorporating self-determination theory into its conceptual framework the study also makes a unique theoretical and empirical contribution to the research on careers.
