청년 니트(NEET)의 취업스트레스와 구직효능감의 관계에서 자아존중감의 매개효과

Abstract

Objectives This study examined the structural relationship of interaction between job-seeking stress and job- seeking efficacy to identify the psychological factors that can motivate youth NEETs for their job-seeking activities. In this study, we tried to verify the mediating effect of self-esteem in the relationship between job-seeking stress and job-seeking efficacy among youth NEETs, and to confirm whether there is a difference in the influence between variables according to age. Methods The 14th Youth Panel survey data in 2020 from Korea Employment Information Service(KEIS) was used. Among them, data of 491 people classified as youth NEETs were used. The relationship between employment stress, job search efficacy, and self-esteem was confirmed through a structural equation model, and multigroup analysis was conducted according to age. Results It was confirmed that there was a complete mediating effect of job-seeking stress affecting job-seeking efficacy through self-esteem, and there were significant differences in the path by age group. These results suggest that if youth NEETs have high self-esteem in job-seeking stress situations, they can show positive beliefs about themselves in finding a suitable job for them. Through this result, it can be confirmed that the focus on enhancing self-esteem rather than directly dealing with NEET's job-seeking stress when providing job counseling and support for young NEETs can increase job-seeking effectiveness. Conclusions Based on the results of this study, psychological support and systemic improvements for youth NEET were discussed, and suggestions for future research were presented.