Mediating Model of College Students’ Proactive Personality and Career Adaptability

Abstract

College is a key period for students’ specialty study and development, and an important stage of career exploration. We examined the relationship between proactive personality, career adaptability, and perceived social support and specialty identity among 610 Chinese college students. The mediating effect of perceived social support was greater than that of specialty identity. Therefore, providing more social support to college students may be more conducive to increasing their career adaptability. The chain intermediary effect of perceived social support indicated that specialty identity is also significant. Thus, college students with a more proactive personality can perceive more emotional support and study harder, thereby increasing their specialty identity and career adaptability. Results of this study can help guide universities in offering courses and activities that promote students’ career adaptability with perceived social support and specialty identity in mind. Results also provide a model for future study of the influence of proactive personality on college student career adaptability.