Future Work Self-Salience and Meaning of Life among College Students: The Mediating Effect of Career Adaptability and the Moderating Effect of Gender

Abstract

Abstract Purpose: Faced with difficult employment and fast-paced society, college students mostly face life negative and slack lives. To help college students better construct meaning in life, this study attempts to explore the mediating effect of career adaptability on the relationship between future work self-salience and meaning in life; and the moderating effect of college students' gender on the indirect effect of future work self-salience on meaning in life through career adaptability. Methods: Questionnaires were administered to 1,337 college students using the Future Work Self-Salience Scale, the Career Adaptability Scale, and the Meaning in Life Scale. Results: The study's findings showed that college students' meaning in life was significantly and positively influenced by their future work self-salience. Career adaptability partially mediated the relationship between future work self-salience and meaning in life. Additionally, the gender of the college students moderated the relationship between future work self-salience and meaning in life. In particular, compared to male college students, female students' career adaptability was less predicted by future work self-salience. Conclusion: The study found that college students' future work self-salience can influence meaning in life through career adaptability; meanwhile, the mediating model has gender differences among male and female college students. The findings have important practical implications for the enhancement and intervention of meaning in life and provide additional evidence on the relationship between male and female gender and career adaptability.