Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
206,690 studies31 sourcesUpdated 22 min ago
Peer-reviewedCC BYScientific Reports

Self-control and meaning in life as chain mediators linking college students’ vocational self-concept to career goal management

  • Chuang Xu1
  • Wenting Gong2
  • Jian-Hong Ye3
  1. 1School of Marxism, Hunan Institute of Technology
  2. 2School of Languages and Cultures, Hunan Institute of Technology
  3. 3Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University
Read full textPDFDOICite

Abstract

Against the backdrop of the complex global economic environment and intensifying employment competition for university graduates, this study drew on Career Construction Theory (CCT) to examine the association between vocational self-concept and career goal management, as well as the serial mediating roles of self-control and meaning in life within this linkage. A total of 1,675 college students from three universities in Hunan Province, China, were recruited as the research sample. After verifying the reliability and validity of the questionnaire scales, structural equation modeling was adopted to test the hypothesized relational pathways. The results revealed that vocational self-concept was positively and significantly associated with college students’ career goal management. Both self-control and meaning in life functioned as independent partial mediators, and the two constructs collectively exerted a significant serial mediation effect on the focal relationship. The present findings empirically validate the core tenets of CCT. In practice, strengthening students’ vocational self-concept, self-control, and meaning in life might serve as viable approaches to improving their career goal management capabilities and overall vocational developmental competencies.

Related

  1. Smoking status and attitudes toward tobacco control among students in a vocational school in Lanzhou, China: A cross-sectional study
    Lei Sun, Jiayi Zhao, Huayu Zhang +1
    Tobacco Prevention & CessationPeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full textEpidemiology & public healthPMC
  2. Machine learning-based association analysis and cross-sectional classification of physical exercise behaviors and mental health among vocational medical students
    Saisai Tian, Shuai Meng
    Scientific ReportsPeer-reviewedCC BY-NC-ND 4.0Full textPhysiologyCrossref
  3. AI-contextualized self-efficacy and exercise engagement among vocational college students in China: a cross-sectional serial mediation analysis of exercise self-efficacy and exercise outcome expectations.
    Guoliang Hou, Lintong Gan
    Frontiers in psychologyPeer-reviewedCC BYFull textPhysiologyEurope PMC
  4. Circulating Pro-Resolving Mediators Maresin-1 and Maresin-2 and Adipolin/CTRP12 in Adults with Atopic Dermatitis: A Case–Control Study
    Mahir Dığış, Kısmet Kaya, Betül Demir +4
    Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania)Peer-reviewedCC BYFull textGeneral medicineEurope PMC
  5. Associations and Additive Interaction of Childhood Trauma and Psychological Resilience With Depression Among Vocational College Students
    Jiacun Tian, Xiaoping Chen, Danwen Huang +1
    Actas Españolas de PsiquiatríaPeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full textPsychiatry & mental healthPMC

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{xu2026selfcontrol,
  title = {{Self-control and meaning in life as chain mediators linking college students’ vocational self-concept to career goal management}},
  author = {Chuang Xu and Wenting Gong and Jian-Hong Ye},
  journal = {Scientific Reports},
  year = {2026},
  month = aug,
  doi = {10.1038/s41598-026-66175-z},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-66175-z},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Self-control and meaning in life as chain mediators linking college students’ vocational self-concept to career goal management
AU  - Chuang Xu
AU  - Wenting Gong
AU  - Jian-Hong Ye
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/01
JO  - Scientific Reports
DO  - 10.1038/s41598-026-66175-z
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-66175-z
AB  - Against the backdrop of the complex global economic environment and intensifying employment competition for university graduates, this study drew on Career Construction Theory (CCT) to examine the association between vocational self-concept and career goal management, as well as the serial mediating roles of self-control and meaning in life within this linkage. A total of 1,675 college students from three universities in Hunan Province, China, were recruited as the research sample. After verifying the reliability and validity of the questionnaire scales, structural equation modeling was adopted to test the hypothesized relational pathways. The results revealed that vocational self-concept was positively and significantly associated with college students’ career goal management. Both self-control and meaning in life functioned as independent partial mediators, and the two constructs collectively exerted a significant serial mediation effect on the focal relationship. The present findings empirically validate the core tenets of CCT. In practice, strengthening students’ vocational self-concept, self-control, and meaning in life might serve as viable approaches to improving their career goal management capabilities and overall vocational developmental competencies.
SN  - 2045-2322
ER  -