Career construction and adaptation processes of university students are today quite challenging as university students deal with the stressful school-to-work transition (Okay-Somerville & Scholarios, 2022). The number and complexity of the various ways to enter the labor market are increasing, and labor market entry is now characterized by instability and insecurity (Masdonati & Fournier, 2015). Therefore, today, it seems very compelling to have a job with decent conditions (Çarkıt, 2024a). These features of labor market entry, the multitude of alternatives and career paths exacerbate uncertainty, and it becomes increasingly challenging for university students to effectively manage this uncertainty (Kwok, 2018). Furthermore, university students are in emerging adulthood, aged 18 to 29, which is characterized by intense stress, possibilities, identity exploration, instability, high expectations, and a sense of in-between (Arnett, 2000a). Apart from career troubles, they experience challenges in exploring their identities in relation to their worldview, and social and romantic life (Arnett, 2000b). There is evidence from many countries showing that university students are more vulnerable to psychological distress, depression, and behavioral disorders (e.g., Konstam et al., 2015; Kwok, 2018), suggesting that university students have low life satisfaction (LS). In this sense, university students need more help to develop positive life trajectories and handle insecurity, uncertainty, and the transition from university to work. Therefore, considering that low LS is one of the important issues during career construction and adaptation, it may be especially crucial to identify the characteristics and resources that can increase university students’ LS and to understand how and when they experience more LS.

University students need to construct and manage their own careers under stressful conditions and uncertainty (Savickas, 2013). Therefore, they need to make more effort to overcome situations that threaten their well-being and to adapt to troubling conditions (Savickas, 2019). The Career Construction Model of Adaptation (CCMA), which explains how individuals adapt to these troubling conditions and construct their careers, is a comprehensive model that elucidates the interpersonal processes (Savickas, 2013). This model suggests that adaptivity influences adaptability resources, adaptability resources influence adaptive responses, and adaptive responses influence adaptation results, respectively (Savickas & Porfeli, 2012). Adaptivity, or adaptive readiness, refers to the personality traits that enable one to be ready and willing to cope with difficulties and fulfill the necessary tasks in the career adaptation process (Savickas et al., 2018). Adaptability resources are an individual’s psychosocial resources and self-regulation skills that include concern, control, curiosity, and confidence to cope with career troubles, manage career development, and adapt (Savickas & Porfeli, 2012). Adapting responses describe behaviors that make it easier to adapt to changing conditions (Johnston, 2018). Adaptation results refer to outcomes such as satisfaction and success achieved at the end of the career adaptation process (Savickas, 2013). To reach the desired results in the career adaptation process, individuals proceed on four dimensions, one by one (Savickas et al., 2018). There is evidence that these four dimensions are empirically different from each other (e.g., Rudolph et al., 2017; Yıldız-Akyol & Öztemel, 2022). Thus, the CCMA provides a useful framework to enrich the understanding of fostering university students’ LS who experience common career troubles such as school-to-work transition, uncertainty, and anxieties about the future. In essence, based on the CCMA, the present study examined the relations between grit (i.e., adaptivity), career adaptability (CA; i.e., adaptability resources), and LS (i.e., adaptation results) among university students. Furthermore, the present study reveals the extent to which age moderates these relations.

Grit may be an important trait for university students in the career construction process. There is some evidence that individuals’ personality traits, including self-esteem, core self-evaluations, big-five, and proactive personality are critical for their achievement of well-being (Rudolph et al., 2017). Grit is a noncognitive trait that expresses passion and goal-oriented effort without giving up in the face of difficulties (Duckworth et al., 2007). Recent studies have consistently documented grit as an important antecedent of LS (Disabato et al., 2019; Şimşir & Dilmaç, 2022). Studies linking grit to career adaptability (Gregor et al., 2021), career success (Danner et al., 2019), and job satisfaction (Dugan et al., 2019) further suggest the potential value of grit in estimating career adaptation results. Hence, gritty university students have greater adaptability resources to adapt and manage career troubles and thus are higher likely to experience LS.

Researchers have called out the need to develop and answer more sophisticated research questions regarding the CCMA (Rudolph et al., 2017). Specifically, Rudolph et al. (2017) and Johnston (2018) called for exploring the interaction effects of CA and age. In response to these calls, the current study proposes that age has a significant moderating role in the effect of CA on LS. Extant CA and CCMA studies have not adequately addressed who is more or less likely to transform the impact of CA on adaptation results (Johnston, 2018; Rudolph et al., 2017). To answer this question, the present study stresses the role of university students’ age as a critical boundary condition for relations between grit, CA, and LS. Considering that CCMA research focusing on interaction effects would be in a better position than research focusing only on main effects to test the core propositions of the CCMA (Rudolph et al., 2017), the present study, which proposed and tested a moderated mediation model based on the CCMA, advances our understanding and enriches the relevant literature.

The trajectory of well-being can considerably change throughout emerging adulthood, either for the better or for the worse (Schulenberg et al., 2004). In this regard, further research is required to elucidate how practitioners might support university students in setting up favorable trajectories for their personal and professional lives. Determining the characteristics and resources that influence university students’ LS can shed light on the quality of their career adaptation processes and provide information about the factors that may foster or impede their LS. Therefore, it is critical to identify how grit and CA relate to LS, inform interventions that support university students’ LS, and advocate for systemic changes. Additionally, elucidating the mechanisms underlying the relation between grit and LS may advance our understanding of how university students’ LS can be improved.

Theoretical background and hypotheses

Grit and life satisfaction

The notion that grit is more crucial than natural aptitude for achieving goals has prevalent appeal (Schimschal et al., 2021). Duckworth et al. (2007) defined grit as “perseverance and passion for long-term goals” (p. 1087). Grit is a noncognitive trait and a higher-level construct that comprises perseverance of effort and consistency of interest (Duckworth et al., 2007). Grit entails diligent effort against difficulties and maintaining effort and interest for a long time despite failure, adversity, and obstacles (Duckworth & Quinn, 2009). Gritty people pursue their goals even when they are disappointed. They have stamina and pursue their goals (Duckworth & Quinn, 2009). According to Duckworth et al. (2019), gritty people have interest, practice, purpose, and hope, and grit can be developed by strengthening these four psychological assets. Therefore, grit is a major determinant of success and better life outcomes (Duckworth et al., 2007). Previous results have shown that grit increases academic achievement (Lucas et al., 2015), the likelihood of completing education (Duckworth et al., 2019), and academic engagement (Hodge et al., 2018). There is also evidence that high levels of grit increase positive career and work outcomes such as job security (McGinley & Mattila, 2020), work engagement (Dugan et al., 2019), job satisfaction (Dugan et al., 2019), and career success (Danner et al., 2019). Previous results and conceptual explanations suggest that grit is a trait that makes a person willing to respond appropriately to career challenges, vocational development tasks, career transitions, and job traumas. Therefore, grit can be positioned as an indicator of adaptivity according to the CCMA.

According to the CCMA, another important variable is LS as an adaptation result (Rudolph et al., 2017). LS, which represents the cognitive dimension of subjective well-being, is the cognitive evaluation of an individual’s life in line with their personal criteria (Diener et al., 1985). In other words, LS is one of the three elements that make up subjective well-being (i.e., positive emotion, negative emotion, and LS) and represents a holistic and cognitive evaluation of quality of life (Diener, 2000). Previous results have shown that gritty people have higher levels of positive affect, LS, happiness, and mental well-being (Disabato et al., 2019). Gritty people may positively and meaningfully evaluate their participation in daily activities, thus causing them to be more satisfied with their goal-pursuit activities (Jiang et al., 2020) because happiness may result from striving for one’s goals, close social relationships, and flow experiences (Diener, 2000). Thus, grit may foster the LS of university students who want to pursue career development and reach their career goals in an age of uncertainty.

Mediator role of career adaptability

CA is “an individual’s psychosocial resources for coping with current and anticipated vocational development tasks, occupational transitions, and work traumas that, to some degree large or small, alter their social integration” (Savickas, 2013, p. 157). Traditionally, it is made up of four Cs: concern, control, curiosity, and confidence. Concern refers to looking to the future and making preparations for it by taking the past and the present into account. Control is the inclination of individuals to endeavors, persistence, and sense of their future as manageable. Curiosity refers to exploring career or environmental opportunities and possible selves. Confidence refers to the ability to solve career-related problems in spite of adversity (Savickas, 2002). CA is a personal resource that helps young people copes with contextual constraints and unpredictability (Masdonati & Fournier, 2015). Hence, CA strengthens the individual’s ability to endure ambiguity, overcome uncertainty and fears of the future, and regulate those (Savickas, 2019). Previous studies have reported a positive correlation between grit and constructs that may reflect high CA such as career decision self-efficacy (Ting & Datu, 2020), and career preparation behavior (Lee & Sohn, 2017). Furthermore, recent studies have found grit to positively correlate with CA among university students (Gregor et al., 2021; Li et al., 2021) and high school students (Zhai et al., 2023). In this context, gritty people are more likely to develop and benefit from CA resources.

CA may increase LS in university students because CA can improve their perceptions of greater control over uncertainty and obstacles and make them more confident in reducing the impact of career- and education-related stress and negative emotions (Cabras & Mondo, 2018). In addition, Savickas (2019) emphasized that planning attitude and concern are crucial for experiencing satisfaction in life roles. In line with this, prior studies have noted a positive correlation between CA and LS. For example, Parola and Marcionetti (2022) found that CA and LS were positively correlated, and CA predicted LS in Italian middle school, high school, and university students. Other studies found a positive link between CA and LS in Turkish university students (Çarkıt, 2022; Yalçın et al., 2022). It has also been reported that career adaptability may facilitate adaptation to the environment, which is related to well-being (Çarkıt, 2024b). To summarize, individuals who have more resources for accomplishing vocational tasks, making career transitions, and overcoming career troubles and traumas tend to perceive their lives as more satisfying. Theoretical elucidations and previous results support the relations between grit, CA, and LS. Thus, CA may mediate the effect of grit on LS.

Moderating role of age

University students are in the exploration stage which includes professional development tasks of crystallization, specification, and actualization (Savickas, 2002). The quality of professional coping behavior is especially critical during the school-to-work transition process, where choices are actualized (Savickas, 2013). Considering that relatively older university students may be at the end of their university education, it can be foreseen that they are in the process of transitioning from school to work, where more difficulties and uncertainties are experienced (Masdonati & Fournier, 2015; Okay-Somerville & Scholarios, 2022). This means that relatively older university students may experience more career troubles and need more effective coping behaviors. Thus, younger university students may be more successful at pursuing their goals, constructing their careers, and achieving positive adaptation results than relatively older university students. However, relatively older university students may face more career troubles, feel less energetic in pursuing their goals, and be less successful in reaching them. Exposure to career troubles may increase the threat to CA resources, thereby limiting the potential for resources to contribute to positive outcomes (Johnston, 2018). A prior study of a sample of older workers documented that the CA of relatively younger workers was more effective in promoting job satisfaction (Zacher & Griffin, 2015). Therefore, CA may be a more critical resource for promoting LS among relatively younger university students.

Hypotheses

Based on the above explanations, the following hypotheses are presented:

  • Hypothesis 1: Grit positively and significantly predicts LS.

  • Hypothesis 2: Grit positively and significantly predicts CA.

  • Hypothesis 3: CA positively and significantly predicts LS.

  • Hypothesis 4: CA mediates the effect of grit on LS.

  • Hypothesis 5: Age moderates the direct relationship between CA and LS. The effect of CA on LS is stronger in relatively younger university students.

  • Hypothesis 6: Age moderates the indirect relationship between grit and LS. The indirect effect of grit on LS (via CA) is stronger in relatively younger university students.

Method

Participants

The participants were 338 incoming first- (24%), second- (28.7%), third- (31.7%), and fourth-year (15.7%) university students at a Central Anatolian Region of Türkiye public university. A convenience sampling method was employed to recruit participants for this study. Among the participants, 78.3% were women and 21.7% were men, and their average age was 20.90 years old (age range = 18–28, SD = 1.64). Of the participants, 12.7% were at low, 83.1% were at middle, and 4.1% were at high socioeconomic levels.

Procedure

Ethics committee approval was obtained from a university. Participants completed out the data-gathering scales via Google Forms. The participation link was shared on students’ social media communication platforms. Participants were unable to continue answering items before all items had been answered, thus preventing the formation of missing values. Participants voluntarily participated in the study. They encountered a page containing information about the aim and content of this study, and then they continued by approving the participant informed consent form. Participants answered a set of scales that evaluated grit, CA, and LS, and included demographic information such as gender and age. No questions were asked that would reveal who the participants were. The data were collectively evaluated by the researcher. The order of the scales was manually changed at various intervals to reduce possible common method variance (CMV) that might stem from the scale order effect (Podsakoff et al., 2003). Data should be collected from at least five to 10 participants per estimated parameter (Bentler, 2006). The number of parameters estimated in the current study was 18, and the number of participants in the current study (N = 338) met the recommended minimum number of participants.

Measures

Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS)

Diener et al. (1985) developed the SWLS. Durak et al. (2010) examined the Turkish SWLS psychometric properties. The SWLS has one dimension. There are five items in the SWLS (e.g., items “So far I have gotten the important things I want in life” and “If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing”). Participants answer the items on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from Strongly disagree to Strongly agree. The Turkish SWLS correlated with positive affect (r = 0.31) and self-esteem (r = 0.40). Durak et al. reported the Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient of the Turkish SWLS as 0.89. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was calculated as 0.87 in the current data set.

Career Adapt-Adaptability Scale-Short Form (CAAS-SF)

The CAAS-SF was developed by Maggiori et al. (2017). The Turkish CAAS-SF psychometric properties were examined by Işık et al. (2018). The CAAS-SF consists of 12 items and four dimensions: concern (e.g., “Thinking about what my future will be like”), control (e.g., “Taking responsibility for my actions”), curiosity (e.g., “Looking for opportunities to grow as a person”), and confidence (e.g., “Performing tasks efficiently”). Participants answer the items on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from Not a strength to Greatest strength. A total score can be obtained from this scale. The Turkish CAAS-SF was linked to career decision self-efficacy (r = 0.66). The Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients of the Turkish CAAS-SF ranged from 0.76 to 0.90 in a sample of undergraduate students (Işık et al., 2018). Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was found to be 0.85 in the current data set.

Short Grit Scale (GRIT-S)

The GRIT-S was developed by Duckworth and Quinn (2009) and the Turkish GRIT-S psychometric properties were examined by Sarıçam et al. (2016). The GRIT-S consists of eight items and two subdimensions: Consistency of interest (e.g., item: “New ideas and projects sometimes distract me from previous ones”) and perseverance of effort (e.g., item: “I finish whatever I begin”). Participants answer the items on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from Not at all like to Very much like me. A total score can be obtained from this scale. The Turkish GRIT-S was linked to motivational persistence (r = 0.68). The Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients of the Turkish GRIT-S ranged from 0.71 to 0.83 in the sample of undergraduate students (Sarıçam et al., 2016). Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was determined as 0.65 in the current data.

Analyses

A series of preliminary analyses were conducted before testing the hypotheses. A Mahalanobis distance test showed one outlier in the data set and it was removed. Since the skewness values were less than|3| (Chou & Bentler, 1995) and kurtosis values were less than|10| (Kline, 2011), the univariate normality assumption was not violated. Correlations between variables (see Table 1) were less than 0.90, indicating no multicollinearity issue (Kline, 2011). Using Harman’s single-factor technique, it was investigated whether or not there was a CMV issue. In exploratory factor analysis, all items were assigned to a single factor. One factor explained 24.76% of the total variance. CMV was not an issue in the present study because the amount of variation explained was less than the majority of the total variance (Podsakoff et al., 2003). Next, to test the hypotheses, Hayes’s process macro was employed. Model 14 of the process macro was used to test the moderated mediation model presented in Fig. 1. As a statistical inference test, the 95% bias-corrected bootstrap (10,000 bootstrap samples) confidence intervals (CIs) of the index were utilized (i.e., must not include zero; Hayes, 2013).

Table 1 Correlations between study variables, Cronbach’s alpha coefficients, and descriptive statistics
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Fig. 1
figure 1

Hypothesized model. Note. *p < .05, ***p < .001. Unstandardized coefficients are presented

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Results

Table 2 displays unstandardized regression coefficients. Grit significantly predicted LS (B = 0.34, p < 0.001). Hence, Hypothesis 1 was supported. When CA was added as a mediator variable to the link between the two variables, grit significantly predicted CA (B = 0.71, p < 0.001), and CA significantly predicted LS (B = 0.40, p < 0.001). Hence, Hypotheses 2 and 3 were supported. A 10,000-bootstrap procedure was employed to assess the statistical significance of the mediating role of CA. The indirect effect of grit on LS as mediated by CA was statistically significant (indirect effect = 0.28; 95% CI [0.191, 0.396]). The indirect effect’s 95% CI ranged from 0.191 to 0.396 and did not include zero. Therefore, it was concluded that the mediating role of CA was statistically significant in the effect of grit on LS. Hence, Hypothesis 4 was supported.

Table 2 Direct, indirect, and interaction effects
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The interaction of CA and age significantly and negatively predicted LS (B = -0.07, p < 0.05; 95% CI [-0.128, -0.011]). Figure 2 provides the result of a simple slope test that was run to closely examine the nature of the interaction. Age moderated the effect of CA on LS. The effect of CA on LS was stronger in relatively younger university students (B = 0.51, p < 0.001, 1 SD below mean). The effect of CA on LS was weaker for relatively older university students (B = 0.28, p < 0.001, 1 SD above mean). Hence, Hypothesis 5 was supported.

Fig. 2
figure 2

Moderated effect of age

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The results of the analyses show that the indirect effect of grit on LS (via CA) was significantly moderated by university students’ age (see Table 3) because the 95% CIs (-0.093 and -0.010) of the moderated mediation index did not include zero. This indicated that the indirect effect of grit on LS was moderated by age. The positive indirect effect of grit on LS (via CA) was weakened with increasing age. The indirect effect of grit on LS was stronger in relatively younger university students (B = 0.36, p < 0.001, 1 SD below mean). The indirect effect of grit on LS was weaker for relatively older university students (B = 0.20, p < 0.001, 1 SD above mean). Hence, Hypothesis 6 was supported.

Table 3 Moderated mediation effect of age
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Discussion

Based on the CCMA (Savickas, 2013), the present study examined the relations between grit, CA, and LS in university students. Consistent with current hypotheses, the results show that grit is positively linked to CA and LS, CA is positively associated with LS, and CA mediates the association between grit and LS. Furthermore, age moderates the direct effect of CA and LS and the indirect effect of grit and LS (via CA). Therefore, this study has remarkable theoretical and practical implications.

Regarding the first hypothesis, the results show that grit positively predicted LS. The results suggest that university students who strive for their distant careers and life goals in the career construction process and who are more passionate to achieve them perceive their living conditions as better, their lives as more livable, and their sense of satisfaction higher. This study result underpins Disabato et al.’s (2019) meta-analysis study and several other previous studies (e.g., Jiang et al., 2020; Şimşir & Dilmaç, 2022) reporting that grit is a positive estimator of LS. Therefore, this study contributes to the literature by introducing grit as an indicator of adaptivity in light of the CCMA and by supporting the CCMA’s proposition that adaptivity (i.e., grit) influences adaptation results (i.e., LS).

Regarding the second hypothesis, the results show that grit positively predicted CA. This result suggests that grittier university students are more likely to develop and use career adaptation resources to adapt to new and changing conditions or obstacles. The present results comport with the results of a limited number of previous studies that found a positive and significant association between grit and CA (Gregor et al., 2021; Li et al., 2021; Zhai et al., 2023). Additionally, the results support the CCMA’s proposition that adaptivity (i.e., grit) promotes adaptability resources (i.e., CA). This result of the present study makes a respectable contribution to the literature. Gregor et al. (2021) stated that the number of studies examining the link between CA and grit is limited and that more research is needed. Therefore, this study answers this need by examining the relation between grit and CA and suggesting the importance of grit in promoting CA. Furthermore, Schimschal et al. (2021) emphasized the need to learn more about the concept of grit in their studies by which they conducted comprehensive content analyses regarding grit. Moreover, this comprehensive content analysis study revealed no career-related concept among the consequences of grit, and almost all studies examining the consequences of grit have focused on similar consequences of grit. In this regard, the present study expands the literature by positing and providing evidence that CA is a consequence of grit.

Regarding the third hypothesis, the results of this study show that CA positively and significantly predicted LS. This finding suggests that university students who have more psychosocial resources to manage career-related tasks and changes, and to cope with career transitions and career-related traumas evaluate their lives as more quality and satisfying. This result supports the former findings that CA promotes LS (Parola & Marcionetti, 2022; Yalçın et al., 2022) and well-being (Öztemel & Yıldız-Akyol, 2021). Furthermore, this study’s result corresponds with the CCMA’s claim that adaptability resources foresee adaptation results (i.e., LS; Savickas et al., 2018). In sum, this result contributes to the literature by offering important implications for practitioners who want to prepare university students for the future, teach them to deal with career troubles and uncertainty, and thus increase their LS.

Regarding the fourth hypothesis, the current results show that CA mediates the effect of grit on LS. This result corroborates prior results that report that adaptivity impacts adaptation results through adaptability resources (Rudolph et al., 2017). The CCMA (Savickas & Porfeli, 2012) claims that adaptivity (i.e., grit) promotes adaptation results (i.e., LS) by encouraging people to develop and use adaptability resources (i.e., CA) in their career adaptation process. In line with this claim, the present results suggest that grit fosters university students’ CA which, in turn, increases the likelihood of experiencing greater LS. This study supports the results of prior studies finding that grit promotes LS; this study also extends prior results by answering the question of how grit strengthens university students’ LS. The present study enriches the literature by adding and testing CA as a critical mediator in the effect of grit on LS in university students.

Responding to Rudolph et al.’s (2017) and Johnston’s (2018) calls to consider the potential moderator role of age in the effect of CA on career outcomes, the present study argued that the effect of CA on LS would be greater in relatively younger university students, and the present study tested my hypothesis. In line with my expectations, CA emerges as a more vital resource for promoting LS among relatively younger university students. The present study adds to previous evidence about in whom or when CA is more pronounced among university students (Kwon, 2019). In summary, the present study adds to the CCMA research by showing for whom the positive impact of CA on LS is more pronounced. Specifically, age moderates the effect of CA on LS, and, consequently, age moderates the indirect effect of grit on LS through CA. Thus, the present study extends the research focusing only on the main effects to test the core propositions of the CCMA.

Regarding the fifth and sixth hypotheses, the present study results suggest that the effect of CA on LS is stronger for relatively younger university students. Additionally, these results suggest that the indirect effect of grit on LS (via CA) is stronger in relatively younger university students. These results support Johnston’s (2018) view that with continued exposure to adverse career experiences the threat to CA resources increases, thereby limiting the potential for these resources to maintain well-being and to contribute to self-regulated responses and desired outcomes. Participants in the present study who were of above-average age (i.e., relatively older university students) may have been in their senior year of college. In addition, some of them may have been students who already had jobs and wanted to change their jobs or who were completing a second university education to find jobs. These students may have had to face many problems in their transition from school to work. Second-time university students are likely to play employee and parent roles as well as student roles, meaning that student roles may be less salient for them than for relatively younger university students. Therefore, the relatively older university students participating in the present study may have had more challenging career troubles to deal with than others. It is clear that more evidence is needed to provide more detailed explanations about the troubles that limit the effect of CA on the adaptation results of relatively older university students. The present results, therefore, suggest an issue for further empirical elaboration of the problems faced by relatively older university students. Hence, the present study warrants future research, especially with mixed and qualitative designs, on the career troubles of relatively older university students.

Practical implications

This study provides remarkable implications for practitioners. Considering the positive effect of grit on CA and LS and its malleability (Schimschal et al., 2021), practitioners may design interventions focused on developing grit in university students by increasing students’ growth mindset, resilience, self-control, and learning strategies (Sinclair, 2021). Thus, university students’ CA and LS may flourish. Considering that CA promotes LS and mediates the relation between grit and LS, practitioners may design interventions that promote career adaptability because it is malleable (Savickas, 2013). These interventions may include content focused on teaching university students career planning, decision making, career exploration, and problem-solving skills. Furthermore, using the Career Story Interview (Savickas, 2019) to identify life themes may prove helpful in performing career counseling practices that stress career adaptability in university students.

These results stress the significance of university students’ age as a critical boundary condition that can strengthen or weaken the relation between CA and LS. Therefore, practitioners should take students’ ages into account when providing support and helping them develop their adaptability resources. When designing interventions for relatively older university students who benefit less from CA and grit in achieving LS than older students, practitioners may focus on students’ development of coping skills in stressful situations.

Limitations and future direction

It is important to evaluate the present study’s results within some limitations. First, because the present study used a cross-sectional design, causation cannot be inferred from the results. Therefore, longitudinal and experimental designs could be employed in the future. Second, this study measured variables with a self-report scale. Future research may reduce the potential effect of CMV by collecting data from different sources such as parents, teachers, and friends, together with self-reported methods (Podsakoff et al., 2003). Third, this study tested its hypotheses on students from a public university in Türkiye. It may be useful to test hypotheses in different cultural settings and universities to enhance the generalizability of the results. Fourth, most of the participants were women and perceived their socioeconomic level as moderate. This study may be repeated in the future with samples with a more balanced gender distribution and socioeconomic level distribution. Lastly, future research may examine grit, CA, and LS levels and the factors impacting them, especially among relatively older university students, with mixed and qualitative designs that can provide deeper information.

Conclusion

The present study extends the CCMA literature showing that CA mediates the relation between grit and LS and that age moderates this mediation. This study suggests that grittier university students are more likely to develop and utilize adaptability resources which, in turn, boost their LS. It also suggests that the grit-LS relation is stronger for relatively younger university students. These results extend previous research by recognizing the career adaptation process underlying university students’ LS.