This study evaluates the empirical applicability of the career construction model of adaptation (CCMA) by collecting evidence about the validity of the Student Career Construction Inventory (SCCI) from a sample of Turkish high school students and examining the relations between adaptive readiness, adaptability resources, adapting responses, and adaptation results. To test the model, we conducted two studies with samples of high school students in Ankara, Turkey ( n 1 = 251; n 2 = 694). In the first study, the SCCI was translated into Turkish and psychometric properties of the inventory were assessed. To validate the four-factor structure of the SCCI Turkish High School Form, two different levels of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were applied to 251 participants. The results of CFA demonstrated that the data for the SCCI Turkish high school sample fit the theoretical model very well. The internal consistency of the SCCI was determined as 0.72 for crystallizing, 0.75 for exploring, 0.85 for deciding, 0.73 for preparing, and 0.90 for the total. In the second study, the CCMA, consisting of four dimensions (adaptive readiness, adaptability resources, adapting responses, and adaptation results), was empirically tested by using the SCCI, which had been tested for validity in the first study. The results of serial mediation analysis supported the CCMA, indicating that adaptive readiness indirectly influenced adaptability resources, adapting responses, and adaptation results.

In the 21st century, young adult people who are prepared for the world of work are expected to be individuals who have the responsibility to manage their careers and have career adaptability skills. In this regard, it seems useful to understand the factors that may affect career adaptability. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the happiness, social support, and future time orientation can predict career adaptability of young adults. The participants consisted of 525 students (389 female and 136 male) who were enrolled at different faculties of a university in Ankara, Turkey. The instruments that were used in the study were the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale, Oxford Happiness Questionnaire–Short Form, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, Attitudes Toward the Future Scale, and a Personal Information Form prepared by the researchers. The results showed that happiness, perceived social support, positive attitude toward the future, and planned attitude toward the future were significantly positively related to career adaptability. These results indicated that individuals with a high level of happiness and positive and planned attitudes toward the future, and those who receive positive social support from their social contacts such as parents, friends, and significant others, are more career adaptive. The results were discussed in the context of the relevant literature.

The goal of this study was to examine the emotional and personality-related career decision-making difficulties of high school students in Turkish culture, using the model proposed by Saka and Gati. A sample of 523 high school students filled out the Turkish version of the Emotional and Personality-Related Aspects of Career Decision-Making Difficulties (EPCD) questionnaire. Cluster and confirmatory factor analyses supported the ternary classification system of the emotional and personality-related career decision-making difficulties model and questionnaire, thus providing evidence for the cross-cultural validity of the proposed model. Furthermore, the results demonstrated significant associations between making a decision and the emotional and personality career difficulties: students who were decided reported lower emotional and personality-related career difficulties than did undecided students. Generally, there were no differences in EPCD scores between boys and girls, and no effect of type of school and grade was observed.

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Career indecisiveness involves more pervasive, severe, and chronic difficulties in making career decisions and focuses on deeper personality roots as well as cognitive origin. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between career indecisiveness on one hand and self-esteem, personal indecisiveness, and five-factor personality characteristics on the other. As hypothesized, the career indecisiveness was higher in 545 Turkish high school students who had not yet decided on a profession than that of decided individuals. Also, the results showed that emotional and personality-related career decision-making difficulties are positively related to self-esteem, exploratory and impetuous indecisiveness, and neuroticism, while being negatively related to extroversion and conscientiousness. In addition, female experienced more career indecisiveness. Based on the result of the multiple regression analysis, exploratory indecisiveness was the most significant contributory factor to career indecisiveness for female and male.