The Mediating Effect of Career Calling in the Relationship between Major Selection Motivation and University Life Adjustment of Nursing Students

The purpose of this study is to examine the mediating effect of career calling in the relationship between nursing students’ motivation for major selection and university life adjustment. For this study, a survey was conducted on 292 students from Jeonbuk, Busan·Gyeongnam, Daejeon·Chungnam, and Gyeonggi regions regarding their motivation for major selection, career calling, and university life adjustment. A total of 285 responses were used for the final analysis. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS/WIN 27.0 and AMOS 26.0 programs. The results of the study are as follows. First, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for major selection, career calling, and university life adjustment showed statistically significant positive correlations. Second, career calling partially mediated the relationship between intrinsic motivation for major selection and university life adjustment, and fully mediated the relationship between extrinsic motivation for major selection and university life adjustment. Third, the direct effects of intrinsic motivation for major selection and career calling on university life adjustment were significant, whereas the direct effect of extrinsic motivation for major selection on university life adjustment was not significant. Fourth, only the indirect effect through career calling was statistically significant in the relationship between extrinsic motivation for major selection and university life adjustment. Both motivation for major selection and career calling were found to influence nursing students’ university life adjustment. Therefore, to effectively support nursing students’ adjustment to university life, it is necessary to foster intrinsic motivation and strengthen career calling from middle and high school years.