Hope and career regret: Mediator role of career adaptability and career construction

Abstract

An individual's career path choice is a unique decision that can be relatively difficult to change and lead to significant consequences. A well-planned career decision-making process helps individuals to be successful in an occupation. However, an undesirable decision-making process may hinder career development. This type of undesirable decision-making possibly leads to regrets in a career; if not addressed, these regrets may be highly destructive. To deepen the understanding of the reasons leading to it, this study focuses on the mediator role of career adaptability and career construction regarding the relationship between hope and regret. We collected the data through convenience sampling, and the participants comprised 550 Turkish university students. Each participant completed Dispositional Hope Scale, Student Career Construction Inventory, Career Adapt-Abilities Scale—Short Form, and Career Decision Regret Scale. The results revealed that career adaptability and career construction had significant mediator effects regarding the relationship between hope and career regret.