The Relationship Between Parent-child Relationship And Career Aspiration In Senior High School Students: Moderated Mediation Effects

Career aspiration refers to the individual’s preference and expectation for the future career choice.It is the individual’s yearning and pursuit for the career initially formed,and one of the important factors affecting career choice.It plays a motive and decisive role in the career planning of adolescents.The influence of career ambition on the individual is reflected in the process of future major choice and career achievement,which is a motivational factor throughout the individual’s life.According to the career development stage of Super,senior high school students are in the exploration stage of career development and the internal guidance stage of career ambition,and they are also faced with the dual choice of employment and further study.Family system theory emphasizes the influence of interaction patterns and emotional interdependence among family members on career decision making.Parent-child relationship is one of the most important interpersonal relationships in the family environment where individuals first come into contact with the world,which has a significant impact on children’s socialization and the germination and formation of self-awareness.Adolescence is a period of gradual maturity and stability,both physically and psychologically.It is also a period of conflict and turmoil.It is of great theoretical and practical significance to explore the influence and mechanism of family factors on career aspiration in this period.Therefore,taking the career aspiration of senior high school students as the starting point,this research focuses on the relationship between parent-child relationship and career aspiration,as well as the role mechanism of family social and economic status and family expectation in it,in order to make some contributions to the in-depth development theory of career aspiration and the career guidance of senior high school students.Overall sampling was used in this study.Using the Parent-Child Relationship Questionnaire for Middle School Students,the Family Expectation Dimension in the Family Impact Questionnaire,the Socioeconomic Status Questionnaire and the Middle School Students’ Occupational Aspiration Questionnaire,3061 senior high school students from two senior high schools in Henan Province and Shandong Province were surveyed.SPSS24.0 and MPLUS8.0were used to analyze the data.The research results show that:(1)Parent-child relationship has a significant predictive effect on all types of career aspiration.The better the parent-child relationship is,the higher the career aspiration will be;(2)Perceived parental career expectation plays a mediating role in predicting career aspiration of parent-child relationship.The better the parent-child relationship is,the higher the perceived parental career expectation will be,and the higher the career aspiration of high school students will be.However,this mediating effect was only significant in male subjects;(3)Family socioeconomic status has no significant moderating effect on perceived parental expectation in predicting career ambition;(4)Gender has a significant moderating effect on this mediation model.Specifically,gender moderates the effect of parent-child relationship predicted career aspiration.In male subjects,parent-child relationship has a stronger predictive effect on career aspiration;Gender also moderates the effect of parent-child relationship predicted perceived parental career expectations,and parent-child relationship only has a predictive effect on perceived parental career expectations in males.This study reveals the specific role of family dynamic factors(parent-child relationship;perceived parental career expectation)in the formation of high school students’ career aspirations for the first time,thus providing a strong empirical support for improving the quality of parent-child interaction,strengthening school career curriculum guidance,and improving the initiative of individuals to explore.The above findings indicate that parents should pay attention to the use of democratic and equal education methods in the communication with their children in high school,provide more vocational information and emotional support to their children,and encourage them to have more confidence to set up greater career aspirations.In addition,schools should also pay attention to remind students to pay attention to family resources,cultivate students’ enthusiasm and autonomy,and help them set up lofty aspirations when carrying out career planning guidance courses.