Examining the Relationship between Career Calling and Career Distress: The Mediating Role of Career Goal Discrepancy
DOI :
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21002599Mots-clés :
career calling, career distress, career goal discrepancyRésumé
Career development processes are a major developmental and economic concern, as problems in this domain are associated with distress and poor career outcomes among young adults. While career calling is recognized as a psychological resource linked to low career distress, the mechanisms that explain this association are not well understood. This study, based on Meaning Making Theory and Control Theory, investigates whether career goal discrepancy levels mediate the relationship between career calling and career distress among 437 future workforces in the emerging adulthood phase. Data were examined utilizing structural equation modeling in SPSS AMOS. The findings revealed that career calling is related to career distress indirectly via career goal discrepancy, indicating that perceptions of discrepancy serve as an important explanatory mechanism. These findings combine calling and discrepancy perspectives, emphasizing the significance of interventions aimed at increasing goal clarity in decision-making processes in the career domain.
Références
Akarli, A., Clemens, P., Magdalena, Lund-Jensen, Kasper, M., Andrew, M. (2012).
Afsar, B., Umrani, W. A., and Khan, A. (2019). The impact of perceived calling on work outcomes in a nursing context: The role of career commitment and living one’s calling. Journal of Applied Biobehavioral Research, 24(1), e12154. https://doi.org/10.1111/jabr.12154
Akmal, S. Z., Hood, M., Duffy, A. L., and Creed, P. A. (2025). Antecedents and outcomes of positive career goal progress discrepancy appraisal in young adults. Journal of Career Assessment, 33(1), 132-148. https://doi.org/10.1177/10690727241252976
Arnett, J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist, 55, 469–480. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.5.469
Arslan, Ü., and Bayraktar Uyar, B. (2020). Do career decidedness and career distress influence psychological and subjective wellbeing? the mediating role of mindfulness. International Journal of Contemporary Educational Research, 7(2), 271-280. https://doi.org/10.33200/ijcer.783328
Carver, C. S., and Scheier, M. F. (1982). Control theory: A useful conceptual framework for personality-social, clinical, and health psychology. Psychological Bulletin, 92, 111-135. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.92.1.111
Conway, N., Clinton, M., Sturges, J., and Budjanovcanin, A. (2015). Using self‐determination theory to understand the relationship between calling enactment and daily well‐being. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 36(8), 1114-1131. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2014
Creed, P. A., and Gagliardi, R. E. (2015). Career compromise, career distress, and perceptions of employability: The moderating roles of social capital and core self-evaluations. Journal of Career Assessment, 23(1), 20-34. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072714523082
Creed, P. A., and Hood, M. (2015). The development and initial validation of a scale to assess career goal discrepancies. Journal of Career Assessment, 23(2), 308-317. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2016.12.007
Creed, P. A., Hood, M., and Hu, S. (2017). Personal orientation as an antecedent to career stress and employability confidence: The intervening roles of career goal-performance discrepancy and career goal importance. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 99, 79-92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2016.12.007
Creed, P. A., Hood, M., Praskova, A., and Makransky, G. (2016). The career distress scale: Using Rasch measurement theory to evaluate a brief measure of career distress. Journal of Career Assessment, 24(4), 732-746. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072715616126
Creed, P. A., Kaya, M., and Hood, M. (2020). Vocational identity and career progress: The intervening variables of career calling and willingness to compromise. Journal of Career Development, 47(2), 131-145. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845318794902
Creed, P. A., Kjoelaas, S., and Hood, M. (2016). Testing a goal-orientation model of antecedents to career calling. Journal of Career Development, 43(5), 398-412. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845315603822
Creed, P. A., Sawitri, D. R., Hood, M., and Hu, S. (2021). Career goal setting and goal pursuit in young adults: The role of financial distress. Journal of Career Development, 48(6), 801-816. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845319897136
Creed, P. A., Wamelink, T., and Hu, S. (2015). Antecedents and consequences to perceived career goal–progress discrepancies. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 87, 43-53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2014.12.001
Dik, B. J., and Duffy, R. D. (2009). Calling and vocation at work: Definitions and prospects for research and practice. The Counseling Psychologist, 37(3), 424-450. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000008316430
Dik, B. J., Eldridge, B. M., Steger, M. F., and Duffy, R. D. (2012). Development and validation of the calling and vocation questionnaire (CVQ) and brief calling scale (BCS). Journal Of Career Assessment, 20(3), 242-263. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072711434410
Doğanülkü, H. A., and Korkmaz, O. (2024). Do difficulties in career affect life satisfaction? examining the relationships between life satisfaction, career decision regret, and career distress. Mersin Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 20(2), 267-283. https://doi.org/10.17860/mersinefd.1445450
Domene, J. F. (2012). Calling and career outcome expectations: The mediating role of self-efficacy. Journal of Career Assessment, 20(3), 281-292. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072711434413
Duffy, R. D., and Dik, B. J. (2013). Research on calling: What have we learned and where are we going?. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 83(3), 428-436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2013.06.006
Duffy, R. D., and Raque-Bogdan, T. L. (2010). The motivation to serve others: Exploring relations to career development. Journal of Career Assessment, 18(3), 250-265. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072710364791
Duffy, R. D., and Sedlacek, W. E. (2007). The presence of and search for a calling: Connections to career development. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 70, 590–601. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2007.03.007
Duffy, R. D., Allan, B. A., and Bott, E. M. (2012). Calling and life satisfaction among undergraduate students: Investigating mediators and moderators. Journal of Happiness Studies, 13, 469–479. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-011-9274-6
Duffy, R. D., Allan, B. A., and Dik, B. J. (2011). The presence of a calling and academic satisfaction: Examining potential mediators. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 79(1), 74-80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2010.11.001
Duffy, R. D., Allan, B. A., Autin, K. L., and Douglass, R. P. (2014a). Living a calling and work well-being: A longitudinal study. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 61(4), 605–615. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000042
Duffy, R. D., Douglass, R. P., Autin, K. L., and Allan, B. A. (2014b). Examining predictors and outcomes of a career calling among undergraduate students. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 85(3), 309-318. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2014.08.009
Duffy, R. D., England, J. W., Douglass, R. P., Autin, K. L., and Allan, B. A. (2017). Perceiving a calling and well-being: Motivation and access to opportunity as moderators. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 98, 127-137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2016.11.003
Ensher, E., and Ehrhardt, K. (2022). Antecedents and outcomes of callings for university students: An examination of mentoring and insight experiences. Journal of Career Development, 49(2), 326-343. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845320941103
Erhan, T., Akçakanat, T., Uzunbacak, H. H., and Yıldırım, A. (2019). Meslek aşkı (calling) ölçeği Türkçe geçerlilik ve güvenilirlik çalışması. Uluslararası İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Dergisi, 5(1), 167–188. https://doi.org/10.29131/uiibd.569991
Fishbach, A., and Finkelstein, S. R. (2012). How feedback influences persistence, disengagement, and change in goal pursuit. In H. Aarts, and A. J. Elliot (Eds), Frontiers of social psychology. Goal-directed behavior (pp. 203–230). Psychology Press.
Fornell, C., and Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378101800104
Gerçek, M., and Özveren, C. G. (2025). Understanding Career Self-Management Through Metaphors: Insights into the Perspectives of the Emerging Workforce. Yükseköğretim Dergisi, 15(1), 45-60. https://doi.org/10.53478/yuksekogretim.1396923
Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., and Anderson, R. E. (2013). Multivariate data analysis. Pearson.
Hu, L. T., and Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6(1), 1-55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118
Inanc, H., and Kalleberg, A. L. (2022). Institutions, labor market insecurity, and well-being in Europe. Social Sciences, 11(6), 245. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci11060245
Kim, J. G., and Lee, K. H. (2019). Major incongruence and occupational engagement: A moderated mediation model of career distress and outcome expectation. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2360. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02360
Lent, R. W., Brown, S. D., and Hackett, G. (1994). Toward a unifying social cognitive theory of career and academic interest, choice, and performance. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 45(1), 79-122. https://doi.org/10.1006/jvbe.1994.1027
Li, H., Ngo, H. Y., and Chui, H. (2023). The impact of future work self on perceived employability and career distress. Australian Journal of Career Development, 32(1), 5-13. https://doi.org/10.1177/10384162221140338
Ma, C., Ganegoda, D. B., Chen, Z. X., Jiang, X., and Dong, C. (2020). Effects of perceived overqualification on career distress and career planning: Mediating role of career identity and moderating role of leader humility. Human Resource Management, 59(6), 521-536. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.22009
Oishi, S., and Diener, E. (2001). Goals, culture, and subjective well-being. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27(12), 1674–1682. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672012712010
Park, C. L., and Folkman, S. (1997). Meaning in the context of stress and coping. Review of General Psychology, 1(2), 115-144. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.1.2.115
Park, Y. L., and Lee, H. J. (2020). The mediating effect of grit in the relationship between calling and academic achievement and career stress. International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology, 8(1), 98-106.
Pisarik, C. T., Rowell, P. C., and Thompson, L. K. (2017). A phenomenological study of career anxiety among college students. The Career Development Quarterly, 65(4), 339-352. https://doi.org/10.1002/cdq.12112
Praskova, A., and McPeake, L. (2022). Career goal discrepancy, career distress, and goal adjustment: Testing a dual moderated process model in young adults. Journal of Career Assessment, 30(4), 615-634. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072714523089
Praskova, A., Creed, P. A., and Hood, M. (2015). The development and initial validation of a career calling scale for emerging adults. Journal of Career Assessment, 23(1), 91-106. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072714523089
Praskova, A., Hood, M., and Creed, P. A. (2014). Testing a calling model of psychological career success in Australian young adults: A longitudinal study. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 85(1), 125-135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2014.04.004
Ran, J., Liu, H., Yuan, Y., Yu, X., and Dong, T. (2023). Linking career exploration, self-reflection, career calling, career adaptability and subjective well-being: A self-regulation theory perspective. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 2805-2817. https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S420666
Rowland, K. D. (2004). Career decision-making skills of high school students in the Bahamas. Journal of Career Development, 31(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1177/089484530403100101
Şensoy, G., and Siyez, D. M. (2019). The career distress scale: structure, concurrent and discriminant validity, and internal reliability in a Turkish sample. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 19(2), 203-216. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10775-018-9376-3
Shimizu, A. B., Dik, B. J., and Conner, B. T. (2019). Conceptualizing calling: Cluster and taxometric analyses. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 114, 7-18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2018.07.006
Spurk, D., Hofer, A., Hirschi, A., De Cuyper, N., and De Witte, H. (2022). Conceptualizing career insecurity: Toward a better understanding and measurement of a multidimensional construct. Personnel Psychology, 75(2), 253-294. https://doi.org/10.1111/peps.12493
Thompson, M. N., Her, P., Fetter, A. K., and Perez‐Chavez, J. (2019). College student psychological distress: Relationship to self‐esteem and career decision self‐efficacy beliefs. The Career Development Quarterly, 67(4), 282-297. https://doi.org/10.1002/cdq.12199
Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (Aralık, 2025), İşgücü İstatistikleri, Aralık 2025, https://veriportali.tuik.gov.tr/tr/press/57982
Ulfa, B., Riasnugrahani, M., and Riantoputra, C. D. (2021). The antecedents of calling: A career construction perspective. The South East Asian Journal of Management, 15(1), 36-54. https://doi.org/10.21002/seam.v15i1.13283
Xu, J., and Yu, L. (2025). Easing youth career distress: impacts of future work self salience, goal engagement, and calling motivation. Journal of Career Development, 52(6), 818-836. https://doi.org/10.1177/08948453251379855
Yam, F. C., Alkın, S., and Barut, Y. (2020). Kariyer hedef tutarsızlık ölçeğinin Türkçeye uyarlanması: Geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışması. İş ve İnsan Dergisi, 7(1), 23-32. https://doi.org/10.18394/iid.629970
Téléchargements
Publiée
Comment citer
Numéro
Rubrique
Licence
(c) Tous droits réservés International Journal of Contemporary Economics and Administrative Sciences 2026
Ce travail est disponible sous la licence Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International .
The Author(s) must make formal transfer of copyright for each article prior to publication in the International Journal of Contemporary Economics and Administrative Sciences. Such transfer enables the Journal to defend itself against plagiarism and other forms of copyright infringement. Your cooperation is appreciated. You agree that copyright of your article to be published in the International Journal of Contemporary Economics and Administrative Sciences is hereby transferred, throughout the World and for the full term and all extensions and renewals thereof, to International Journal of Contemporary Economics and Administrative Sciences.
The Author(s) reserve(s): (a) the trademark rights and patent rights, if any, and (b) the right to use all or part of the information contained in this article in future, non-commercial works of the Author's own, or, if the article is a "work-for-hire" and made within the scope of the Author's employment, the employer may use all or part of the information contained in this article for intra-company use, provided the usual acknowledgements are given regarding copyright notice and reference to the original publication.
The Author(s) warrant(s) that the article is Author's original work, and has not been published before. If excerpts from copyrighted works are included, the Author will obtain written permission from the copyright owners and shall credit the sources in the article. The author also warrants that the article contains no libelous or unlawful statements, and does not infringe on the rights of others. If the article was prepared jointly with other Author(s), the Author agrees to inform the co-Author(s) of the terms of the copyright transfer and to sign on their behalf; or in the case of a "work-for-hire" the employer or an authorized representative of the employer.
The journal is registered with the ISSN : 1925-4423.
IJCEAS is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. This is the most accommodating of licenses offered. Recommended for maximum dissemination and use of licensed materials.
