Social support, psychological capital, and career values among college students: Bases for an employment intervention plan

Abstract

This survey-correlational study aimed to determine the social support, psychological capital, and career values among college students as bases for the development of an employment intervention plan. The participants of this study were 218 college students majoring in Economics, Management, and Sociology at a university in China. Stratified sampling was used to select the study participants. The research tools used were Social Support Scale, Psychological Capital Questionnaire and College Student Career Value Questionnaire to collect relevant data. Descriptive data were analyzed using frequency, percentages, means and standard deviations. Inferential data were analyzed using t -Test for independent samples, One-Way ANOVA, and Pearson's correlation coefficient test. The results show that the students had very good level of psychological capital in terms of self-efficacy and resilience when college students were taken as an entire group and classified by sex, grade, and major. All categories of college students had a very good level of psychological capital in terms of hope, except for male and management college students who had a good level of psychological capital in terms of hope. As an entire group, the students had a very good level of psychological capital in terms of optimism as well as among female, the Juniors and Seniors; and among had a very good level of Economics and Management majors. College students' career values in health care and self-development was very good, taken as an entire group and classified by sex, grade, and major in terms of prestige status. There was no significant difference in social support among college students in terms of subjective support, objective support and support utilization, when classified by sex and major; however, there was a significant difference in social support among college students in terms of objective support, support utilization, but not in terms of subjective support, when classified by grade. There was a significant difference in psychological capital of college students in terms of hope and optimism, but not in terms of self-efficacy and resilience, when classified by sex. There was a significant difference in psychological capital of college students in terms of hope but not in terms of self-efficacy, resilience and optimism, when classified by major. Moreover, there was no significant difference in psychological capital of college students in terms of self-efficacy, hope, resilience, and optimism, when classified by grade level. Furthermore, there was a significant difference in college students' career values with respect to prestige status, health care, but not with respect to self-development, when classified by sex. There was a significant difference in the career values of college students with respect to prestige status but not with respect to health care and self-development, when classified by grade. There was a significant difference in college students' career values regarding self-development, but not regarding prestige status and health care, when classified by major. Lastly, there was a significant positive correlation among the three dimensions of social support, and a significant positive correlation among four dimensions of psychological capital, as well as among self-efficacy, resilience and optimism of psychological capital and prestige status of career values, health care and self-development. However, there was no significant correlation between hope dimension of psychological capital and career values. Based on the findings of the study, an employment intervention program was developed.