Future Time Perspective, Career Adaptability, Anxiety, and Career Decision-Making Difficulty: Exploring Mediations and Moderations

Abstract

The current study investigates how future time perspective (FTP) is linked to career decision-making difficulty among 1,074 Chinese undergraduates. We specifically examined different components of FTP (valence and connectedness) as well as their interactions. The results confirmed the following: (1) Valence is positively associated with career decision-making difficulty, whereas connectedness is negatively associated with anxiety and career decision-making difficulty; (2) both career adaptability and anxiety significantly mediate the link from valence/connectedness to career decision-making difficulty, and the serial mediations of valence/connectedness–career adaptability–anxiety–decision-making difficulty are significant; and (3) connectedness moderates the association of valence with career adaptability and career decision-making difficulty but not its association with anxiety. The relationship between valence and career adaptability is higher at a lower level of connectedness, and the relationship between valence and decision-making difficulty is weaker at a higher level of connectedness. Implications for incorporating FTP into adaptability-based career intervention practices are discussed.