An Examination of the Role of Attachment and Efficacy in Life Satisfaction

Abstract

The study examined interrelationships between attachment, social self-efficacy, career decision-making self-efficacy, and life satisfaction. Social cognitive career theory and attachment theory were integrated to provide a framework for this study. A conceptual model was proposed and tested to determine if social self-efficacy and career decision self-efficacy were full or partial mediators between attachment and life satisfaction. Structural equation modeling methods were utilized to test the model. Findings indicated that social self-efficacy and career decision self-efficacy partially mediated between attachment and life satisfaction among college students, the majority of whom were Caucasian females. This lends support to the idea that adult attachment is a fundamental source of efficacy information and operates as a critical component in college students’ perceptions of their efficacy in the domains of close relationships and career decisions, both of which impact life satisfaction. Implications for practice and research are discussed.

The Relationship Between Adolescents’ Perceived Parental Involvement, Self-Efficacy Beliefs, and Subjective Well-Being: A Multiple Mediator Model

“…Despite some past studies (e.g., Meng et al 2014;Suldo and Shaffer 2007;Vecchio et al 2007;Wright and Perrone 2010) indicating positive contributions of social selfefficacy to adolescent LS, this study did not find support for social self-efficacy as a unique mediator in the relationship between parental involvement and adolescent LS. Joint consideration of this result and the significant mediation role of social self-efficacy in the relationship between parental involvement and adolescent PA suggests that perceived competency in peer relations may contribute to adolescents' pleasant emotions but may not necessarily affect overall LS like perceived competency in the academic domain.…”

Self‐Construal, Career Decision Self‐Efficacy, and Perceived Barriers Predict Mexican American Women's Life Satisfaction

“…This is consistent with research that has connected the two variables. For example, Wright and Perrone () found a positive relationship between CDSE and life satisfaction in an ethnically diverse sample. Other scholars have found that college students who had made career decisions were less depressed than their peers who had not (Rottinghaus et al, ).…”

Influential Factors in Academic and Career Self‐Efficacy: Attachment, Supports, and Career Barriers

“…For example, parental attachment and peer attachment have been positively associated with college students' belief in their scholastic competence (Fass & Tubman, ) and career decision self‐efficacy. In a structural analytic study with college students, attachment was found to have a moderate positive effect on career decision self‐efficacy (Wright & Perrone, ), which further demonstrates the influence of attachment on self‐efficacy. Thus, the more securely attached individuals were, the more confident they were in their academic and career decisions.…”

“…The second hypothesized model, or alternative model, was constructed by adding direct paths from attachment to academic self‐efficacy and career decision self‐efficacy to determine if only a partially mediational model existed; prior research supported this direct effect. In the alternative model, we hypothesized that attachment would also operate as a key source for academic self‐efficacy (Fass & Tubman, ) and career decision self‐efficacy (Wright & Perrone, ).…”