# Impact of growth mindset on college students’ career decision-making self-efficacy: the chain-mediating roles of perceived social support and meaning in life

## TL;DR

This study shows how a growth mindset helps college students feel more confident in making career decisions, both directly and through social support and a sense of life meaning.

## Contribution

The study identifies a chain-mediating pathway of perceived social support and meaning in life linking growth mindset to career decision-making self-efficacy.

## Key findings

- Growth mindset directly and significantly predicts career decision-making self-efficacy.
- Perceived social support and meaning in life mediate the relationship between growth mindset and career confidence.
- The chain mediation accounts for 34.24% of the total effect on career decision-making self-efficacy.

## Abstract

In the post-pandemic era, the number of college graduates has continued to reach new highs, while employment rates have fallen to a ten-year low. Career decision self-efficacy (CDSE) has been shown to significantly predict job search persistence and employment quality; however, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Growth mindset is considered an intervenable psychological resource, and its role in areas such as health and academics has been demonstrated. However, empirical research explaining how it is transformed into career confidence through the chain pathway of “perceived social support → meaning in life” is lacking. Clarifying this progressive mechanism could provide evidence-based strategies for university career guidance.

The study aimed to examine the chain-mediated effects of perceived social support and meaning in life on the relationship between growth mindset and career decision-making self-efficacy among college students.

A survey was conducted among 556 students from Hunan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine using the Growth Mindset Scale (GMS), the Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale–Short Form (CDSE-SF), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), and the Chinese version of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (C-MLQ).

Correlation analysis showed significant positive correlations between growth mindset, career decision-making self-efficacy, perceived social support, and meaning in life (r = 0.359–0.538, p < 0.001). Growth mindset had a significant direct effect on career decision-making self-efficacy (β = 1.761). Growth mindset also positively predicted perceived social support (β = 1.278) and meaning in life (β = 0.978). Perceived social support positively predicted meaning in life (β = 0.017) and career decision-making self-efficacy (β = 0.433). Moreover, meaning in life positively predicted career decision-making self-efficacy (β = 0.304). Bootstrap analysis confirmed that the chain-mediated effect of perceived social support and meaning in life on the relationship between growth mindset and career decision-making self-efficacy was significant, accounting for 34.24% of the total effect. The effect values of the three mediation pathways accounted for 20.65, 2.46, and 11.13% of the total effect.

Growth mindset can directly enhance college students’ career decision-making self-efficacy and can also indirectly influence it through perceived social support and meaning in life.