Does socioeconomic status shape young people's goal revision processes in the face of negative career feedback?

Publication date: Available online 27 November 2018Source: Journal of Vocational BehaviorAuthor(s): Shi Hu, Peter A. Creed, Michelle HoodAbstractBased on social cognitive career theory and general self-regulation theories, we examined the relationships between negative career feedback (on goal suitability and goal progress) and goal revision intentions (for goal disengagement and lowering career goals), and tested the mediating role of occupational self-efficacy and the moderating role of socioeconomic status (both objective and subjective SES). Using a sample of 244 college students (73% female; Mage = 19.28 years), we found that both negative feedback types related to greater intentions to disengage from, and lower goals, via lower occupational self-efficacy. Higher objective SES strengthened the relationships between negative feedback on goal suitability and goal revision intentions, while higher subjective SES weakened these relationships indirectly via occupational self-efficacy. In addition, both higher objective and subjective SES weakened the relationships between negative feedback on goal progress and intentions to lower goals. Contrary to expectation, SES did not moderate the relationship between negative feedback on goal progress and goal disengagement intentions, nor did it moderate the indirect relationships between this type of feedback and both forms of goal revision intention via occupational self-efficacy. These findings highlight the importance of SES ...
Source: Journal of Vocational Behavior - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research