A Social Cognitive Lens on Employment Anxiety and Career Optimism in the Transition from School to Work

ABSTRACT Drawing on the social cognitive model of career self‐management, the present study examined the relationships among job search support, career optimism, and employment anxiety, as well as the mediating role of job search self‐efficacy in these relationships among youths in the school‐to‐work transition. Participants were 296 undergraduate senior students who were about to graduate from undergraduate education in Türkiye. Structural equation modeling results showed that job search support positively predicted career optimism and job search self‐efficacy but did not predict employment anxiety. Job search self‐efficacy positively predicted career optimism and negatively predicted employment anxiety. The relationships of job search support to career optimism and employment anxiety were mediated by job search self‐efficacy. The results suggest that youth with job search support in the school‐to‐work transition are more likely to perceive themselves as efficacious in a job search, which may strengthen their career optimism and reduce their employment anxiety. Implications for practice and future directions for research are presented.