Career self-efficacy as a mediator between emotional intelligence and employment planning among US college students

This study examines the dynamics of personality traits that interfere with occupational decisions among young adults, especially during a pandemic. Three multiple regression analyses were conducted to predict career decision self-efficacy (CDSE), e.g., planning and indecision from the Big 5 personality measures. We hypothesized that EI and personality affect employment conflicts (Study 1), and that CDSE mediates EI and planning difficulty (Study 2). Conscientiousness and openness significantly predicted CDSE, F(5, 128) = 15.64, p < .001, R2 = .38, while neuroticism was statistically significant in predicting CSPS, F(5, 128) = 3.94, p < .01, R2 = .13. Neuroticism was significant for personality variables while a negative correlation was found between EI and career indecision (r = -0.25, at p < .01). Results demonstrate that the positive effect of CDSE mediated EI’s link to career indecision, which reveals that conscientiousness also predicted participants’ occupational indecision (β = -0.17, p < .05).