168532 20260209162330.0 doi 10.1007/s12144-025-08600-6 sideral 147962 ART-2026-147962 eng Pérez-Nebra, Amalia R. Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0001-8386-1233 Career and occupation in the educational context: Does work characteristics centrality change? 2026 Abstract.During the transition of each career, the perception and adaptability of work characteristics change. There are mixed results concerning which work characteristics are more central, which may be due to the occupational and temporal context. Comparing work characteristics across occupational categories (i.e., white, blue and pink) and career stages (i.e., entry, middle and end) allows the most influential characteristics for each collar occupation in all career stages to match workers’ abilities and needs and was the aim of this study. Employees (N = 2166) participated in this research, and a psychological network analysis was applied. The results reveal common core characteristics for the three-collar occupational and career categories and specific central work characteristics according to career stage and collar occupational category. Therefore, a relationship is established by the occupational and temporal context, which includes employees with the evaluated work characteristics and provides new evidence for work design as an approach to match the person–environment fit. Practical implications for the educational context and future research in vocational behavior are discussed. Access copy available to the general public Unrestricted info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA/S16-23R info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess by https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.es info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Queiroga, Fabiana Lindolfo Araújo, Letícia Isabela Lira Rodríguez, Eva M. Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0003-0898-0480 Martín-Hernández, Pilar Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0001-5864-2901 Gil-Lacruz, Marta Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0001-8261-058X 4009 740 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Psicología y Sociología Área Psicología Social 45, 3 (2026), [17 pp.] Curr. psychol. Current Psychology 1046-1310 1640287 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/168532/files/texto_completo.pdf Versión publicada 2299325 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/168532/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon icon Versión publicada oai:zaguan.unizar.es:168532 articulos driver 2026-02-09-14:42:53 ARTICLE