The relationship between university students' future work self and career decision-making difficulties: the mediating role of learned helplessness and the moderating role of social loafing.

BACKGROUND

University students often report notable career decision-making difficulties in competitive employment environments. Research has established a positive link between an individual's future work self and their career development, while learned helplessness and social loafing relate to greater career decision-making difficulties. This study examines the associations among future work self, learned helplessness, social loafing, and career decision-making difficulties, focusing on the mediating role of learned helplessness and the moderating role of social loafing.

METHODS

611 university students responded to the Future Work Self Scale, Learned Helplessness Scale, Social Loafing Tendency Questionnaire, and Career Decision-Making Difficulties Scale. The analysis used SmartPLS 4.0 with partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

RESULTS

Future work self was negatively associated with career decision-making difficulties (β = -0.571). Learned helplessness partially mediated this relationship (β = -0.055), and social loafing significantly moderated the association between future work self and learned helplessness (β = 0.290). The model explained 45.3% of the variance in career decision-making difficulties and 48.7% of the variance in learned helplessness.

CONCLUSION

The findings indicate that future work self relates to lower levels of learned helplessness and career decision-making difficulties, while higher social loafing corresponds to a weaker association between them.