The Relationships among Grit, Career Exploration Behaviors, and Social Adaptation Expectations in Collegiate Athletes

Objectives The aim of this study is to analyze the relationships among grit, career exploration behaviors, and social adaptation expectations in collegiate athletes. Methods The subjects comprised 196 athletes from five universities across four regions. The instruments utilized included scales for grit, career exploration behaviors, and social adaptation expectations. Data analyses conducted were frequency analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and path analysis. Results The results indicated that perseverance, a component of grit, positively affects both personal(.389) and vocational(.537) exploration behaviors. Additionally, perseverance positively influenced positive expectations(.304) for social adaptation and negatively impacted negative expectations(-.552). Personal exploration behaviors were found to positively influence positive social adaptation expectations(.166). and Vocational exploration behaviors were found to positively influence positive social adaptation expectations(.385). Conclusions The study suggests educational strategies to enhance grit and actively engage athletes in career exploration activities.