PERSONALITY TRAITS, PSYCHOLOGICAL CAPITAL AND PARENTAL BEHAVIORS AS DETERMINANTS OF CAREER DECISION-MAKING DIFFICULTIES IN ADOLESCENCE

This study examines the impact of personality traits, psychological capital, and parental behaviors on career decision-making difficulties.It involved 560 students from various high schools in Croatia, assessed twice over the course of one year, in their third and fourth grades.Participants completed the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire, the HEXACO-60 personality inventory, the Compound Psychological Capital Scale, the Parental Career-Related Behavior Scale, and a Sociodemographic Data Questionnaire.The results show a moderate level of career decision-making difficulties among students.Personality traits, psychological capital, and parental behaviors together explain 34% of the total variance in career decision-making difficulties.The findings also suggest that individuals with higher levels of extraversion and conscientiousness, as well as stronger psychological capital, experience fewer difficulties in making career decisions.Conversely, those with higher levels of parental interference and disengagement face greater challenges.Notably, psychological capital emerged as the strongest determinant, which is promising since it is more amenable to change through interventions.In conclusion, personality traits, psychological capital, and parental career-related behaviors significantly influence career decision-making difficulties.