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How Collectivism Influences College Students' Job Search Behavior: A Serial Mediation Model of Proactive Personality and Job Search Self-Efficacy

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Title: How Collectivism Influences College Students' Job Search Behavior: A Serial Mediation Model of Proactive Personality and Job Search Self-Efficacy
Language: English
Authors: Tian Yingwei, Li Lina, Jirawan Deeprasert
Source: African Educational Research Journal. 2026 14(1):134-147.
Availability: Net Journals. 25 Akintola Road, Sapele, Delta State, 331107, Nigeria. e-mail: service@netjournals.org; Web site: https://www.netjournals.org/aer_index.html
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 14
Publication Date: 2026
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Postsecondary Education
Descriptors: College Students, Job Search Methods, Personality Traits, Self Efficacy, Collectivism, Career and Technical Education, Foreign Countries
Geographic Terms: China
ISSN: 2354-2160
Abstract: Drawing on Social Cognitive Theory, this study investigates how individual-level collectivistic value orientation influences job search behavior by proposing a serial mediation model involving proactive personality and job search self-efficacy. Survey data were collected from 380 students in higher vocational colleges in Heilongjiang Province, and the hypothesized mediation effects were tested using the Bootstrap method with 5,000 resamples. The results show that individual-level collectivistic value orientation exerts no significant direct effect on job search behavior, and its influence is entirely transmitted through indirect pathways. Specifically, individual-level collectivistic value orientation positively predicts proactive personality, which in turn enhances job search self-efficacy and thereby promotes job search behavior. Both the separate mediating effects of the two variables and the serial mediation pathway were statistically significant. In addition, a pattern of competitive mediation emerged, whereby individual-level collectivistic value orientation exerted a positive indirect effect but a negative direct effect on job search behavior, suggesting that collectivism at the individual level may simultaneously facilitate and constrain job search behavior through different psychological mechanisms. Overall, this study integrates individual-level cultural value orientation, personality traits, and cognitive motivational factors into a unified framework, advancing the understanding of culturally embedded job search processes and offering practical implications for career education and intervention programs in collectivist cultural contexts, particularly through the cultivation of proactive personality and job search self-efficacy.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: EJ1502558
Database: ERIC
FullText Text:
  Availability: 0
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  Data: How Collectivism Influences College Students' Job Search Behavior: A Serial Mediation Model of Proactive Personality and Job Search Self-Efficacy
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Tian+Yingwei%22">Tian Yingwei</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Li+Lina%22">Li Lina</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Jirawan+Deeprasert%22">Jirawan Deeprasert</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22African+Educational+Research+Journal%22"><i>African Educational Research Journal</i></searchLink>. 2026 14(1):134-147.
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  Data: Net Journals. 25 Akintola Road, Sapele, Delta State, 331107, Nigeria. e-mail: service@netjournals.org; Web site: https://www.netjournals.org/aer_index.html
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Higher+Education%22">Higher Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Postsecondary+Education%22">Postsecondary Education</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22College+Students%22">College Students</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Job+Search+Methods%22">Job Search Methods</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Personality+Traits%22">Personality Traits</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Self+Efficacy%22">Self Efficacy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Collectivism%22">Collectivism</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Career+and+Technical+Education%22">Career and Technical Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Foreign+Countries%22">Foreign Countries</searchLink>
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  Data: 2354-2160
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  Data: Drawing on Social Cognitive Theory, this study investigates how individual-level collectivistic value orientation influences job search behavior by proposing a serial mediation model involving proactive personality and job search self-efficacy. Survey data were collected from 380 students in higher vocational colleges in Heilongjiang Province, and the hypothesized mediation effects were tested using the Bootstrap method with 5,000 resamples. The results show that individual-level collectivistic value orientation exerts no significant direct effect on job search behavior, and its influence is entirely transmitted through indirect pathways. Specifically, individual-level collectivistic value orientation positively predicts proactive personality, which in turn enhances job search self-efficacy and thereby promotes job search behavior. Both the separate mediating effects of the two variables and the serial mediation pathway were statistically significant. In addition, a pattern of competitive mediation emerged, whereby individual-level collectivistic value orientation exerted a positive indirect effect but a negative direct effect on job search behavior, suggesting that collectivism at the individual level may simultaneously facilitate and constrain job search behavior through different psychological mechanisms. Overall, this study integrates individual-level cultural value orientation, personality traits, and cognitive motivational factors into a unified framework, advancing the understanding of culturally embedded job search processes and offering practical implications for career education and intervention programs in collectivist cultural contexts, particularly through the cultivation of proactive personality and job search self-efficacy.
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      – Text: English
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        PageCount: 14
        StartPage: 134
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      – SubjectFull: College Students
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Job Search Methods
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      – SubjectFull: Personality Traits
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      – SubjectFull: Self Efficacy
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      – SubjectFull: Collectivism
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      – SubjectFull: Career and Technical Education
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      – SubjectFull: Foreign Countries
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      – SubjectFull: China
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