The influence of future time perspective in career decision-making: the mediating role of work hope

Abstract

Career decision making (CDM) remains a core construct within Career Counseling research and practice. The notion of career implies a future time perspective (FTP), since future orientation is central to defi ne vocational goals and therefore the pathways to achieve them. Complementarily, Work Hope (WH) is a psychological resource that implies goal-directed thinking, agency and pathways. However, little is known about the functional relationships between these variables, and the possible infl uence mechanisms of FTP and WH in CDM remains an understudied topic. The present study aims to (1) To analyze the relationship between FTP, WH and CDM; (2) to assess the mediation effect of WH in the relationship between FTP and adult CDM. Sample included 205 individuals attending adult education courses (age range: 18-61 years old; mean age: M=37.01, SD=10.82; gender: 54% male; low socio-economic background: 66.2%). Future Time Perspective Scale, Work Hope Scale, Career Indecision Scale, and a socio-demographic datasheet were administered to participants. Pearson correlation matrixes were obtained to examine the association between variables, and mediation effects were tested using the internet version of MedGraph-I (Jose, 2003). Moderate associations were observed between FTP and WH (r=.30, p<.001), WH and CDM (r=.46, p<.001), and FTP and CDM (r=.21, p<.01). WH was found to mediate the relationship between FTP and CDM (Sobel z= 3.72, p<.001; lower 95% SCI= .05, upper 95% SCI= .15). Despite its cross-sectional design, and the likely mutual relationships between assessed variables, results from the present study suggest interesting functional hypotheses to be tested in future longitudinal studies. In the context of career counseling, interventions targeting FTP may positively impact CDM through the development of WH as psychological resource.