University Students’ Career Choice and Emotional Well-Being

Abstract

The impact of emotional well-being on one’s career choice has received insufficient attention. There are both conceptual and empirical reasons to expect a positive relationship, but there is a lack of evidence directly testing this proposition. This study surveyed 137 Chinese university students’ life happiness, satisfaction and hope, as well as their career decision-making. Results showed that students who reported to be more satisfied and more hopeful in their life in general were more decisive in their career choice, more aware of their strengths and weaknesses, more knowledgeable about their future career, and more acknowledged the importance of their career. As such a call is made for more research on relevant factors in the career decision-making process and implications of the potentially important relationship between one’s career choice and emotional well-being.

DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2013.v3n7p243