Elsevier

Journal of Vocational Behavior

Volume 94, June 2016, Pages 114-123
Journal of Vocational Behavior

The role of traditionality in the relationships among parental support, career decision-making self-efficacy and career adaptability

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2016.02.018Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Parental support was positively associated with career adaptability.

  • Parental support was positively associated career decision-making self-efficacy.

  • Low traditionality beliefs strengthened the indirect effects of parental support in predicting career adaptability.

Abstract

Integrating career construction (Savickas, 2013) and cognitive evaluation (Ryan & Deci, 2002) theories, we examined the moderating role of traditionality beliefs in the indirect relationships among parental support, career decision-making self-efficacy and career adaptability among Chinese university students. Data were collected from 731 undergraduate students in China at two measurement periods, 18 months apart. Results showed that Time 1 parental support was associated positively with Time 1 career decision-making self-efficacy and Time 2 career adaptability. In addition, the conditional indirect effects of Time 1 parental support in predicting Time 2 career adaptability via Time 1 career decision making self-efficacy were stronger among students with low as opposed to high traditionality beliefs. The implications of the results in terms of theory and practice are discussed.

Section snippets

Career construction theory as an overarching theoretical perspective

We draw upon insights offered by career construction theory (CCT; Savickas, 2002) to inform our understanding of how individuals settle on, enact and utilize their personal resources to pursue their career goals. According to CCT, human development is characterized by adaptation to a social environment through self-construction and person–environment integration (Savickas & Porfeli, 2012: 661). The term career in CCT denotes “subjective construction that imposes personal meaning on past

Parental support as an antecedent to career adaptability

CCT asserts that career adaptability is influenced by an individual's construal of his/her environmental experiences (Savickas, 2005). It is during the initial phases of vocational growth and exploration that parental support is thought to be of significant influence and importance to the development of career adaptability. Parental support is defined as assistance provided by a primary caregiver to an individual in the form of parental provision of instrumental assistance, career-related

Parental support, career decision-making self-efficacy, and career adaptability

Career decision-making self-efficacy refers to the level of confidence that individuals feel with respect to their ability to perform the tasks needed to make career-relevant decisions (Taylor & Betz, 1983). It represents a cognitive appraisal or judgment of future performance capabilities (Bandura, 1997, Bandura, 2005) which is regarded as the primary mechanism of social cognitive self-regulation for personal agency. Students who report feeling less confident in their ability to complete the

Traditionality as a first stage moderator

Thus far, we have argued that parental support aids in the development of career decision-making self-efficacy and career adaptability resources. In particular, parental support can facilitate the development of career decision-making self-efficacy which is pivotal in the development of curiosity, control, confidence, and concern, which are key competencies of career adaptability. However, as mentioned, CET suggests that there are external factors that can diminish one's personal agency and

Participants and procedures

The data set utilized in this research was part of a larger project examining supportive resources that promote career development among university students. However, no data from this project have previously been published. Participants were undergraduate students enrolled in a national university in South China. They were recruited from a wide range of academic programs including engineering (78.1%), economics (11.2%), management (7.4%), humanities (2.1%), and an additional few from mixed

Measures

Multi-item scales were used to ensure adequate measurement of the study variables. The English language questionnaires were translated into Mandarin using the conventional method of back translation (Brislin, 1980).

Results

Descriptive statistics, zero-order correlations, and reliability coefficients of the study variables appear in Table 1. All the correlations were in the predicted direction. For example, parental support associated positively with both career decision-making self-efficacy (r = .28, p < .001) and career adaptability (r = .20, p < .001). Career decision-making self-efficacy related positively to career adaptability (r = .22, p < .001). To test the hypothesized relationships, we used the methods proposed by

Discussion

Guided by career construction and cognitive evaluation theories, we examined the moderating role of traditionality as an influence on the relationships among parental support, career decision making self-efficacy, and career adaptability among Chinese university students. Specifically, we predicted that parental support would have a positive, facilitatory relationship with career adaptability (Hypothesis 1) and also with career decision-making self-efficacy (Hypothesis 2). Both of these

Acknowledgement

The research project has been supported by the National Natural Science of Foundation of P. R. China [No. 71472066].

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    1

    The first, second, and third authors contributed equally. We thank Patrick Garcia and Lara Tolentino for their research assistance.

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