How Behavioral Biases Shape Career Choices of Students: A Two-Stage PLS-ANN Approach

Career decisions are among the most consequential choices individuals make, profoundly shaping their long-term stability and overall life satisfaction. The literature suggests that behavioral biases, specifically overconfidence, herd mentality, social comparison, status quo bias, and optimism bias, can exert considerable influence on these decisions, thereby shaping students’ future career trajectories. This study adopts a behavioral perspective to examine how these biases influence career choices within a collectivist social context. A survey of 360 undergraduate and graduate business students was conducted. The collected data were analyzed using an integrated approach that combines Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), enabling the use of both linear and non-linear methods to analyze the relationship between cognitive biases and career choices. Our findings reveal that while all five biases have a measurable impact, status quo bias and social comparison are the dominant factors influencing students’ career decisions. These results underscore the need for interventions that foster self-awareness, independent decision-making, and critical thinking. Such insights can guide educators, career counselors, and policymakers in designing programs to mitigate the negative effects of cognitive biases on career decision-making, ultimately enhancing career satisfaction and workforce efficiency.