Classifying Latent Profiles in Career Decision Confusion of College Students and Analyzing Determinants

The purpose of this study was to identify the types of career decision-making confusion among college students and to examine the predictive factors that influence each type. Data were collected from 488 college students in four-year universities nationwide, and the data were processed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, latent profile analysis, and multinomial logistic regression analysis. The findings of the study are as follows. First, students' career decision confusion was categorised into five types: ‘stable career decision makers’, ‘reserved career decision makers’, ‘confused career decision makers’, ‘undecided career decision makers’, and ‘exploratory career decision makers’. Second, the sub-variables of self-differentiation, assertiveness, and emotional distancing decreased the likelihood of belonging to the stable or undecided career decision makers, whereas emotional regulation increased the likelihood of belonging to the exploratory career decision makers. Furthermore, higher levels of informational and material support, which are sub-factors of social support, are associated with a greater likelihood of being in a stable or exploratory career decision-making style, while higher levels of evaluative support are associated with a greater likelihood of being in a confused or indecisive career decision-making style. Based on the results of the analysis, we suggest that school-level support and attention are needed to reduce career decision-making confusion among university students, and discuss the limitations of the study and future research to complement it.