Examining the Influence of Meaning in Life and Social Connectedness on Adolescents' Career Self-Efficacy

Alfred Adler considered social interest as contributing to an individual's sense of belonging and sense of significance. The concepts of meaning in life, social connectedness, and career self-efficacy are closely related to the sense of contribution, sense of belonging, and tasks of life. The study reported here was conducted with 2,638 Chinese adolescents (mean age = 14.92, standard deviation = 1.32) to investigate associations among variables of meaning in life, social connectedness, and career self-efficacy. Results suggest that presence of meaning, as compared to searching for meaning, appears to have a stronger degree of association with self-efficacy in career exploration, work habits, and talent development. Furthermore, both dimensions of meaning in life had indirect effects on self-efficacy in career exploration, work habits, and talent development through the mediating variable of connectedness to parents, peers, school, and teachers. Limitations of the study are discussed, and implications for future research and for school-based counseling programs are identified.