Surveillance, support, and self-discrepancy: a mixed methods study of students during the school-to-work transition

Purpose Grounded in Social Cognitive Theory, this study examines how workplace surveillance and social support on social media platforms influence students’ social avoidance by shaping their self-discrepancy during the school-to-work transition in the digital era. Design/methodology/approach A total of 418 university students with internship experience participated in the survey, yielding 300 valid responses. The study employed covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) with bias-corrected bootstrapping to examine the hypothesized relationships. Furthermore, fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) was conducted to explore how different combinations of constructs are associated with high social avoidance. Findings The CB-SEM results indicate that workplace surveillance increases self-discrepancy, while social support alleviates it. In turn, self-discrepancy serves as a key mediator, driving social avoidance. The fsQCA findings further reveal that the different configurations of workplace surveillance, self-discrepancy, and social support are associated with high social avoidance. Originality/value This study contributes in three key ways. First, it advances the understanding of self-discrepancy by integrating environmental influences within the workplace context, moving beyond the traditional individual-centered perspective. Second, this study provides a novel perspective on digitally mediated workplace monitoring, focusing on how monitoring extends to employees’ social media behaviors and how it shapes students’ self-perception. Finally, it provides a mixed-methods framework, integrating quantitative and qualitative analyses to systematically examine the interplay between environmental factors, self-discrepancy, and social behavior.