Study On The Psychological Mechanisms Of Vocational Interests Congruence

In 2022,our country attaches increasing importance to vocational education and promotes diversified educational and career options from the national strategic level.Nowadays,how to find their own career orientation has become one of the important issues for the contemporary youth to consider in the context of the continuous enrichment and diversity of education and career choices.Vocational interest,as the key variable of an individual’s choice of major/occupation,has a direct and obvious influence on the individual’s career preparation.Previous studies on vocational interest has been mainly focused on organizational contexts,neglecting its application n academic contexts.As such,based on the Trait-State Interest Dynamics Model,combining the theory of personenvironment fit,the current research examines the relationship between vocational interest fit and career decision-making self-efficacy,as well as the underlying dynamic mechanisms and boundary conditions using experience sampling method,crosssectional study and longitudinal study.In Study 1,we explored the influence of state vocational interest fit on daily career decision-making self-efficacy.127 college students(80 males and 37 females)were surveyed over a 10-day period.Findings showed that(1)There is a certain degree of fluctuation in state vocational interest;(2)Whether polynomial regression or hexagon congruence index is used to calculate congruence,state vocational interest congruence can positively promote daily career decision-making self-efficacy.In Study 2,we explored the psychological mechanisms of state vocational interest fit on daily career decision-making self-efficacy.133 college students(83 males,50females)were surveyed over a 10-day period.Findings showed that(1)State vocational interest congruence can affect daily occupational decision-making self-efficacy through its emotional and motivational attributes.The protective effect of social support can be partially established.Specific results vary according to different occupational interest dimensions and consistency calculation methods.(2)To be specific,realistic congruence can affect career decision-making self-efficacy through positive effects,negative effects,persistence and activity involvement;investigative congruence can affect career decision-making self-efficacy through positive effects and persistence.Artistic congruence can affect the career decision-making self-efficacy through positive effects,negative effects,persistence and activity involvement.Both social congruence and enterprising congruence can affect career decision-making self-efficacy through positive effects,persistence and activity involvement.Conventional congruence can affect career decision-making self-efficacy through positive effects and activity involvement.The higher the perceived social support,the stronger the influence of social congruence on persistence and conventional congruence on positive effects.In other models/pathways,the protective effect of social support is not valid.(3)The hexagon congruence index can only affect career decision-making self-efficacy through positive effects,and the protective effect of social support is not valid.In Study 3,we explored the general psychological mechanisms of trait vocational interest fit on career decision-making self-efficacy.A questionnaire survey was conducted among 3089 college students(1234 males,1855 females).Findings showed that(1)Trait vocational interest congruence can affect the career decision-making selfefficacy through its emotional and motivational attributes,and the protective effect of social support is partially valid.(2)Specifically,realistic congruence can affect career decision-making self-efficacy through positive effects,grit,intentional self-regulation and exploratory behavior,but the protective effect of social support is not valid.Investigative congruence can affect career decision-making self-efficacy through positive effects,intentional self-regulation and exploratory behavior,and the moderating effect of social support can be found in the effect of investigative congruence on positive effect and persistence.Artistic congruence can affect the career decision-making self-efficacy through positive effects,grit,intentional self-regulation and exploration behavior,the moderating effect of social support can be found in the effect of artistic congruence on positive effect.Social congruence can affect career decision-making self-efficacy through positive effects,grit,intentional self-regulation and exploratory behavior,the moderating effect of social support is established in the effect of social congruence on positive effects and intentional self-regulation.Enterprising congruence can affect career decision-making self-efficacy through positive effects,intentional self-regulation and exploratory behavior,the moderating effect of social support is established in the influence of enterprising congruence on positive effects and intentional self-regulation.Conventional congruence can affect career decision-making self-efficacy through positive effects,grit,intentional selfregulation and exploratory behavior.The moderating effect of social support is established in the effect of conventional congruence on positive effects and intentional self-regulation.(3)The hexagon congruence index has no mediating and moderating effects on career decision-making self-efficacy.In Study 4,we explored the change trajectory of vocational interest congruence and its influence on career decision-making self-efficacy were explored,as well as the longitudinal influence mechanism between the two.A 12-month longitudinal study of478 college students revealed that(1)With the development of time,all dimensions of trait vocational interest fit showed a downward trend;the reciprocal relationship between vocational interest fit and career decision-making self-efficacy is partially established.(2)There is no reciprocal relationship between Investigative congruence and Conventional congruence and career decision-making self-efficacy.The lower the initial level of Realistic congruence or the faster the decline,the faster the growth rate of career decision-making self-efficacy.The higher the initial level of Artistic congruence,Social congruence and Enterprising congruence,the higher the initial level of career decision-making self-efficacy;The higher the initial level of career decisionmaking self-efficacy,the higher the initial level of Artistic congruence,the faster the growth rate,and the higher the initial level of Social congruence.The initial level of hexagon congruence is higher,and the development speed of career decision-making self-efficacy is faster.The initial level of career decision-making self-efficacy is high,the initial level of hexagon congruence is low,and the growth rate is fast.(3)The longterm mediating effects of positive effects,negative effects,intentional self-regulation,grit,and exploration behavior were not established.(4)The long-term moderating effect of social support on the influence of social congruence on exploratory behavior is valid.In conclusion,whether at the level of state or trait,vocational interest congruence can positively promote college students’ career decision-making self-efficacy,and its internal mechanism has a certain degree of similarity,but the specific aspects are different,that is,there are differences in the expression ways of motivational attributes and emotional attributes.From the perspective of status and trait,this paper clearly reveals the effective effect of vocational interest congruence on career decision-making self-efficacy.This suggests that students,schools and society should work together to improve the college students’ vocational interest congruence and thus promote the development of their career decision-making self-efficacy.