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The factor structure of career indecision in China and South Korea: a data-driven exploration

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Abstract

Although research has made progress in searching for an integrative factor structure of career indecision in Western cultural contexts, such an integrative structure of career indecision remains understudied in East Asia. To search for a culturally appropriate integrative factor model of career indecision in China and South Korea, the current study used a data-driven approach to summarize correlational data of indecision-related constructs in China and South Korea. Based on 16 and 21 correlational matrices in China and South Korea, respectively, results suggested that a five-factor structure (i.e., neuroticism/negative affectivity, need for information, choice/commitment anxiety, lack of readiness, and interpersonal conflicts) can adequately and parsimoniously capture major indecision factors in these two countries. By offering a universal framework of career indecision in China and South Korea, the integrative model shows potential to accelerate knowledge accumulation regarding career indecision in this cultural context. Notably, this study suggests that need for information and choice/commitment function as separate factors in China and South Korea, while neuroticism/negative affectivity, lack of readiness, and interpersonal conflicts are culturally universal across Eastern and Western cultural contexts. Thus, this study has potential to enable cross-cultural comparison and accumulation of indecision research in these two cultural contexts.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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  1. Huabing Liu

    Present address: Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China

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  1. Counseling Psychology, School of Education, Loyola University Chicago, 820 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Hui Xu, Jeong-Eun Suh & Huabing Liu

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We thank scholars in China and South Korea who provided data. The last two authors had comparable contribution to this study.

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Xu, H., Suh, JE. & Liu, H. The factor structure of career indecision in China and South Korea: a data-driven exploration. Curr Psychol 42, 22239–22254 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03320-7

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