THE IMPORTANCE OF ROLE SALIENCE FOR THE INDIVIDUAL WELL-BEING

The study of role salience in career counseling and management has contributed to a better understanding about the relevance of the articulation that the individuals do of their roles and in relation to the different contexts in which they play these roles. Nowadays, it is recognized the importance of having other roles, besides work, as means of satisfying needs and fulfil values as well as their importance to well-being. This evidence helps individuals deal with the current competitive and unpredictable labor market. The aim of this research is to study the role salience within a 57 adult sample that requested help in career counseling and management. The instrument used was the Salience Inventory, developed in the context of the International Project "Work Importance Study" (WIS), a study that analysed the importance of five roles (study, work, home, community service and leisure activities). The results reveal that adults give more and more a growing importance to other roles. For instance, besides work and home, study and leisure activities have become increasingly more important. These results are put into comparison with the ones from the WIS, and commented regarding the contribution for individuals to better adjust to new life scenarios. Also, besides the present research development, some considerations are made on the importance of role salience in relation to different research approaches.