A Study On The Impact Of Job-search Goal Orientation On College Students' Career Decision-Making Difficulties

With the economic downturn in recent years,the number of college graduates has risen to 8.6 million this year,and for the students,the employment pressure is getting worse.Factors which influence graduating students' career decision-making is important.In the start of job-search,individuals with different job-search goals will choose different self-regulation strategies to cope with career decision-making difficulties.Previous studies have shown that learning goal orientation and performance approach goal orientation will partially alleviate career decision-making difficulties,while performance avoidance goal orientation will aggravate career decision-making difficulties.However,there are few studies on the internal mechanisms of how goal orientation affects career decision-making difficulties.According to the self-regulation theory,this study proposes the intrinsic influence mechanism from job-search goal orientation to career decision-making difficulties.Mediating variables can be divided into two categories,one is approach-oriented self-regulation strategy,three kinds of help-seeking behavior;the other is avoidance-oriented self-regulation strategy,anxiety and procrastination.This study also explores the moderating effect of relational self-construction on the relationship among job-seeking goal orientation,help-seeking behavior and career decision-making difficulties.A questionnaire survey was conducted among 682 recent graduates.The results showed that:(1)job-search learning goal orientation had a significant negative impact on career decision-making difficulties;job-search performance approach goal orientation had a significant negative impact on career decision-making difficulties;and job-search performance avoidance goal orientation had a significant positive impact on career decision-making difficulties.(2)Job-search learning goal orientation has a significant positive impact on self-help-seeking behavior;job-search performance approach goal orientation has a significant positive impact on dependent help-seeking behavior;job-search performance avoidance goal orientation has a significant positive impact on avoidance help-seeking behavior.(3)Job-search learning goal orientation has a significant negative impact on procrastination;job-search performance goal orientation has a significant negative impact on procrastination;job-search performance avoidance goal orientation has a significant positive impact on anxiety and procrastination.(4)Avoidant help-seeking behavior,anxiety and procrastination all partially mediate the relationship between job performance avoidance goal orientation and career decision-making difficulties,and procrastination partially mediates the relationship between job-search learning goal orientation and career decision-making difficulties.(5)Relational self-construction regulates the influence of job-search goal orientation on career decision-making difficulties.Individuals with higher level of self-construction,job-search learning goal orientation and performance approach goal-oriented have greater negative impact on career decision-making difficulties.Job-search performance avoidance goal orientation has a greater positive impact on career decision-making difficulties.Previous studies have focused on learning goal orientation and performance approach goal orientation,which have a positive impact on Job-hunting goal orientation.Most of the research conclusions are also related to them.The results of this study show that the negative impact of performance avoidance goal orientation can't be ignored.Individuals are usually more sensitive to negative stimuli,the job hunting process is complex and full of obstacles,and the negative stimuli are more serious,while performance avoidance goal orientation aggravates the impact of these negative stimuli.The conclusion of this study enlightens us to pay attention to improving the positive impact while not neglecting the importance of mitigating the negative impact in employment counseling.At the same time,the school should also carry out differentiated employment counseling according to the different levels of self-construction and goal orientation of the students,which provides a reference for management practice.