College students’ career adaptability and career exploration behavior: Career self-efficacy as a mediator and proactive personality as a Career self-efficacy as a mediator and proactive personality as a

We conducted a survey with 728 college students in the Pearl River Delta region of China to study the relationship between career adaptability and career exploration behavior. We also evaluated whether career self-efficacy played a mediating role in this relationship and whether proactive personality played a moderating role. The results showed that career adaptability had a significant positive predictive effect on career exploration behavior, and career self-efficacy mediated this relationship. Further, proactive personality moderated the relationships between career adaptability and career exploration behavior, and between career self-efficacy and career exploration behavior. That is, career self-efficacy in choosing a job was an important psychological mechanism between college students’ career adaptability and career exploration behavior, and proactive personality was an intervening factor in the relationship between career self-efficacy in choosing a job and college students’ career exploration behavior. This study introduces psychological traits such as career self-efficacy, career adaptability, and proactive personality into the study of college students’ behavior, which not only expands the field of research, but also provides empirical support for how colleges and universities can support students to develop these psychological traits.