Am I Gonna Get a Job? Graduating Students’ Psychological Capital, Coping Styles, and Employment Anxiety

Michelle A. Belle, Collins O. Antwi, Seth Y. Ntim, Emmanuel Affum-Osei, Jun Ren

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Thoughts about life after school can be frightening for college students. The uncertainty about employment expectancies can engender crippling anxiety, especially in a time of a major pandemic—COVID-19, and urgent attention is needed. This study, drawing on the self-determination theory, demonstrates preliminary protective effect of positive psychological capital (PsyCap) on employment anxiety among a relatively understudied group—graduating college students (Chinese sample = 546). It further illustrates the mediating mechanism of coping styles in this relation. Thus, the motivational impetus of PsyCap facilitates positive coping style (PCS) while diminishing negative coping style (NCS) which, in turn, hinders students’ employment anxiety. Furthermore, the results revealed that students’ internship experience strengthens the influence of graduating students’ PsyCap on their PCS, but that with NCS and anxiety was nonsignificant. This research proffers valuable insights on college students’ from-school-to-work transition for higher education institutions and career counselors, particularly in this turbulent labor market.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1122-1136
Number of pages15
JournalJournal of Career Development
Volume49
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2022
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • coping styles
  • employment anxiety
  • graduating students
  • positive psychological capital
  • student internship experience

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