The Impact of Self-Coaching Competency on Innovative Behavior and Metacognition among College Students Majoring in Aesthetics

This study examined the relationships among self-coaching competency, innovative behavior, and metacognition among college students majoring in aesthetics. Specifically, it sought to emphasize the importance of self-coaching competency based on self-directedness and creativity as an individual capability of students. This paper also targeted to contribute to establishing appropriate educational directions and developing new paradigms for cultivating human resources capable of responding to the Fourth Industrial Revolution. To achieve this purpose, a questionnaire survey was conducted among students majoring in aesthetics in Seoul and the metropolitan area from December 1 to 12, 2025. Of the 330 questionnaires distributed, 319 valid responses, excluding 11 incomplete responses, were used for the final analysis. The results were as follows. Regarding the influence of self-coaching competency on innovative behavior, higher levels of continuous practice and self-insight within self-coaching competency were associated with stronger innovative behavior, including idea generation, empathy, and application efforts. Furthermore, with respect to the effects of self-coaching competency on metacognition, higher levels of self-insight were found to be related with greater levels of metacognitive processes, including planning, evaluation, monitoring, and regulation. Consequently, this study confirms the significance of self-coaching competency among students majoring in aesthetics. By enhancing metacognition, which fosters higher-order thinking such as self-directed learning ability and self-monitoring during self-learning and self-development, self-coaching competency can serve as a useful tool in developing strategies for career development and cultivating talent that meets the demands of contemporary society.