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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Educational Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1404478

The effect of parent and teacher autonomy support and core selfevaluations on career adaptability: A three-wave longitudinal study with middle students

Provisionally accepted
Xiaoyun Zhao Xiaoyun Zhao 1*Shun Huang Shun Huang 1Chaofan Shi Chaofan Shi 2
  • 1 Huaibei Normal University, Huaibei, Anhui, China
  • 2 Huaiyin Normal University, Huai'an, Jiangsu Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: As articulated by the career construction theory, middle students are in a critical phase of growth and exploration that necessitates introspection about their interests, values, and aspirations. Career adaptability is the core indicator to measure the career development of middle students and the key ability to achieve career success. Research indicates that many Chinese middle students face significant hurdles in their career development, including a lack of motivation, limited self-awareness, and unclear career trajectories.Objective: To address these challenges, it is imperative to explore the factors influencing career adaptability, particularly the role of parent and teacher autonomy support within the framework of self-determination theory. This study aims to explore the correlation between parent autonomy support (PAS), teacher autonomy support (TAS), core self-evaluations (CSE), and the career adaptability (CA) of middle students.The longitudinal data for this study were collected from two middle schools located in Anhui. Middle students were chosen as the research participants through a cluster sampling method. A total of 482 students were surveyed in three stages over a one-year period, and a cross-lag model was developed.(1) From T1 to T2, T1PAS could predict T2CS, T1CSE could predict T2CA, and T1CA could predict T2TA; (2) From T2 to T3, T2PAS could predict T3CS, T2CSE could predict T3CA, and T2TAS could predict T3PAS; (3) TAS did not forecast CSE and CA over time; (4) T2CSE had a mediating effect between T1PAS and T3CA.Discussion: This study suggests that the autonomy support exerts a consistent positive influence on the career development of early adolescents. Valuing children's autonomy is beneficial for fostering positive self-evaluations and shaping their career trajectories.Conclusions: Autonomy support could directly enhance middle students' career adaptability and further foster career development by bolstering core self-evaluations. Additionally, the effect of parent autonomy support is more stable than that of teacher autonomy support.

    Keywords: Career adaptability, Core self-evaluations, parent autonomy support, teacher autonomy support, Cross-lag model

    Received: 21 Mar 2024; Accepted: 04 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zhao, Huang and Shi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Xiaoyun Zhao, Huaibei Normal University, Huaibei, 235000, Anhui, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.