Multiple Parallel Mediating Effects of Positive Psychological Capital on the Relationship between Career Decision Self-Efficacy and Career Adaptability in University Students

The main purpose of this study is to identify contents that should be considered in designing career education plans to improve the career adaptability of university students who are preparing to transition into the workforce in an era of high uncertainty. For this purpose, 463 university students were surveyed to determine whether there are differences in career adaptability according to gender, grade, major, and university location, and the process macro model 4 was used to test the multiple parallel mediation effects of the components of positive psychological capital on the relationship between career decision self-efficacy and career adaptability. As a result, first, career adaptability showed significant mean differences by grade, major, and university location, and no differences by gender. Second, when analyzing the multiple parallel mediation effect of positive psychological capital on the relationship between career decision self-efficacy and career adaptability of university students, only optimism and hope were found to have a significant mediating effect, while self-efficacy and resilience were not significant among the components of positive psychological capital. Based on these results, it is suggested that when designing career education for university students, the importance of optimism and hope among positive psychological capital should be taken into account to improve career adaptability among senior students who are close to employment and local universities.