A Study On The Mechanism Of Positive Affect And Motivation Of College Students’ Job Hunting

The development of economy and expansion of colleges have caused that the contradictions between supply and demand of the labor market is increasing day by day. And the structural imbalance in employment emerges, which in a large extent increases employment pressure of College Students. It has become an indisputable fact that it is increasingly difficult to get a job. More effective job search is believed to be one of the key countermeasures to alleviate the problem. At present, there are many studies about the factors of College Students’job search behavior here and abroad, but these studies mainly focus on developing personal ability and taking relevant employment policy. Faced with the grim employment situation, we believe that whether there is a strong motivation for job hunting is one of the important factors influencing College Students hunting for a job. At the same time, affect also plays an important role in the job hunting process. Individuals with positive affect will view the job hunting more positively, and have higher expectations on their job hunting and smooth employment, which can stimulate a higher job motivation and promote the job search behavior and results. So far, there has not been a study to explore the linkage mechanism of emotional and motivational factors in College Students’job hunting process. This paper will be based on Chinese context to explore this topic. Based on the achievements of job related research, positive affect theory and theory of planned behavior, this paper explores the influence of positive affect, job search self-efficacy, subjective norm, job search attitude and job search intention on job search behavior in order to obtain the corresponding theoretical innovation in this regard and provide practical guidance for College Students to hunt for jobs and obtain employment effectively.This paper takes College Students as the research object, and data is collected in 2 waves among 527graduates who have intention to hunt for jobs from the 2015 session. Then we use SPSS/AMOS software to test the reliability and validity of the scales and carry on the descriptive statistical analysis and multiple regression analysis. Results show that 5 hypotheses which the research focused on are verified:(l)positive affect has a significant positive impact on job search self-efficacy; (2)positive affect has a significant positive impact on job search attitude; (3)positive affect has a significant positive impact on job search intention; (4) positive affect has a significant positive impact on job search behavior; (5)the linkage between positive affect and motivation has a significant positive impact on job search behavior. Except that the relationship between job search self-efficacy and job search intention is not positive, other hypotheses (basically related to the theory of planned behavior) have been verified:(1) job search self-efficacy is positively related to job search behavior; (2) job search attitude is positively related to job search intention and job search behavior; (3)job search subjective norm is positively related to job search intention and job search behavior; (4)job search intention is positively related to job search behavior.About theoretical contributions, this study theoretically enriches the research about influencing mechanism of College Students’behavior during the job hunting process. This study explores the influence mechanism of College Students’job search behavior from the perspective of individual affects and motivations. The results of the research expand the theory of planned behavior in the context of job hunting, and reveal the linkage mechanism of positive affect, job search self-efficacy, job search attitude and job search intention on College Students’behavior during the job search process. Meanwhile, our study has used a 2-wave questionnaire survey to collect data. The results obtained based on the data, with respect to the cross-sectional study, can better avoid the influence of same source bias, and can reflect the real situation and dynamic of job search process and its influence mechanism more rigorously and effectively.About practical contributions, the results of this study can provide useful inspiration for College Students to promote the employment success:on the one hand, College Students should learn to manage affect effectively during the job search process, maintain a positive and optimistic mood and a high sense of job search self-efficacy, view the job search with a positive attitude, promote the job search process with a strong job search intention and active and effective job search behavior, and obtain positive results of job hunting; On the other hand, in terms of colleges, they should set up job search training and psychological promoting course for students, help them cognitive and regulate affect effectively, face and respond to job-hunting difficulties actively, enhance job search skills and develop job search self-efficacy. We should influence students through parents, school, family and friends, instruct them to form correct job search attitude, encourage and stimulate their willingness of job search intention, promote their job search behavior, and finally help them achieve employment successfully.