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. 2025 Sep 26;13:1031. doi: 10.1186/s40359-025-03410-8

The mediating role of career decision-making self-efficacy in the relationship between career locus of control and career indecision among Turkish high school students

Gürcan Şeker 1,✉
PMCID: PMC12465608  PMID: 41013694

Abstract

This study examined the variables of career locus of control and career decision-making self-efficacy, which are thought to be related to career indecision experienced by adolescents. In this context, a model was proposed in which the mediating role of career decision-making self-efficacy in the relationship between internal and external career locus of control and career indecision was tested. The participants of the study consisted of 365 (261 female, 104 male) students in the 9-10-11-12th grades of high school. The average age of the participants was 16.21 years. The Career Decision Inventory, Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale-Short Form and Career Locus of Control scales were used to collect data within the scope of the study. The findings of the study reveal that there is a significant negative relationship between career indecision and career decision-making self-efficacy and internal career locus of control and a significant positive relationship with external career locus of control. Analyses of the mediating role of career decision-making self-efficacy revealed that it mediated the relationship between internal career locus of control and career indecision, whereas external career locus of control did not mediate the relationship between career indecision and career decision-making self-efficacy.

Keywords: Career indecision, Career locus of control, Career decision-making self-efficacy, High school students

Introduction

Decision-making processes are an important stage in the career development of individuals throughout their lives. For this reason, variables such as career decision-making difficulties [1–6] and career indecision [7–12] have remained current in the literature for many years.

Career indecision is generally defined as a state of uncertainty [13] or difficulty [14] experienced by individuals in their career decision-making processes. Although students’ career decision-making problems are focused on in the first stage of the career development process, the need for individuals to review their career decisions throughout their lives has caused the problem of career indecision to a wider range of life [15]. In addition to being a problem encountered at many stages of life, career indecision is still a common problem for high school students in many parts of the world, considering the requests for help from both university career centers and high school guidance services [13].

In addition to being one of the important turning points of the transition to university, the high school period is a period in which job alternatives other than university education are evaluated; therefore, decision-making processes are important. The findings obtained from studies conducted on high school samples in the relevant literature [16–21] also reveal that high school students’ career indecision is a problem that needs to be taken into consideration. A comprehensive meta-analysis conducted by Amaral et al. [22], which examined high school students’ career indecision and related variables, revealed that students with high career indecision levels have increased depression levels, whereas experimental studies in which intervention programs to reduce career indecision have shown positive effects on depression levels. Another finding obtained in a meta-analysis study, although limited in number, showed that there is a relationship between low self-efficacy, career indecision, and depressive symptoms [23].

The concept of self-efficacy, defined as the belief that an individual can perform a task or behavior [24], appears to be an important variable for predicting career indecision under the title of career decision-making self-efficacy [25] in the field of career development. Low self-efficacy expectations may lead to avoidance of career decision-making behaviors and consequently to an increase in career indecision [25]. A longitudinal study conducted by Guay et al. [26] revealed a decrease in career indecision with an increase in self-efficacy over time in students who experienced developmental indecision. Similarly, in a longitudinal study by Jaensch et al. [27], a significant negative relationship was found between career decision self-efficacy and career indecision. It was revealed that students who had a weak belief in their own self-efficacy in career decision-making were in a more intense indecision process. Findings from experimental studies [10, 28–30] reveal that strengthening career decision self-efficacy reduces career indecision and career decision-making difficulties. Taylor and Pompa [31] conducted a study on three different groups of students who made career decisions, made tentative choices, and experienced indecision and reported that career decision-making self-efficacy was a single strong predictor in all three groups. The findings of the study by Büyükgöze-Kavas [60], in which career indecision was tested on the basis of social cognitive career theory, show that both direct and indirect relationships between career decision-making self-efficacy and career indecision are statistically significant. As supported by the research findings in the literature, career decision-making self-efficacy is considered as an effective factor in reducing career indecision scores as an important variable in explaining career indecision in this study.

Another concept whose effect on decision processes has been analyzed in studies on career indecision, which is based on social learning theory, such as self-efficacy, is the concept of locus of control [32]. Rotter [32] defines locus of control in general terms as the individual’s belief in the cause–effect link between his/her behaviors and the results of his/her behaviors and divides the source of this belief into two groups: internal and external locus of control. Although the construct developed by Rotter [32] explaining internal-external locus of control has been used in studies [31, 33–35] on career development for many years, the construct developed by Millar and Shevlin [36], called career locus of control, which analyses internal control as a separate construct and external control with different dimensions specific to the field of career development (helplessness, luck, strong others) are also used.

The career locus of control is related to how the individual explains the results of career-related behaviors. If individuals believe that the results of their behaviors in the career development process are within their personal control, they can be defined as having an internal career locus of control; if they believe that factors outside themselves (helplessness, luck, powerful others, etc.) play a role in career development processes, they can be defined as having an external career locus of control [36]. Research shows that having an internal locus of control is a positive predictor of career behaviors such as career self-efficacy [37, 41] career success [38] career adaptability [39] and positive career future perceptions [40]. While external locus of control is seen to be a negative predictor of career commitment [42] scores, the findings that it increases career decision-making difficulties [43] and career indecision [44] scores indicate that it is a positive predictor of such career behaviors. In addition to other career behaviors, there are also research findings that reveal the relationship between career locus of control and career indecision [44–46]. This study sought to address career locus of control and career indecision in light of the findings that there is a negative relationship [31] between internal locus of control and career indecision, and a positive relationship [44] between external locus of control and career indecision.

Examining the relationship between career locus of control and career decision-making self-efficacy, we see that much research [31, 35, 39, 43] indicates that internal control is a positive predictor of career decision-making self-efficacy. There are also studies [37, 53, 59] showing that having an external locus of control construct (luck, helplessness and strong others) is a negative predictor of career decision-making self-efficacy. In the light of the findings [60] on the mediating role of career decision-making self-efficacy in the relationship between locus of control and career indecision, the mediating role of self-efficacy was also addressed in this study. Lent et al. [66] asserted that career decision-making self-efficacy is a significant antecedent of career decision-making behaviors. In this context, within the scope of this study, career decision-making self-efficacy is considered a strong variable that may have direct and indirect effects on career indecision.

The education system in Türkiye and the nature of the university entrance exams make the problem of career indecision experienced by high school students in adolescence more complex. In addition, studies conducted with high school students in Türkiye show that more attention should be paid to examining the variables that can explain adolescents’ career indecision [7, 11, 21, 35, 44] However, in addition to this a limited number of studies have addressed career indecision, career locus of control, and career decision-making self-efficacy together. In this context, this study aimed to examine the mediating role of career decision-making self-efficacy in the relationship between career locus of control and career indecision among high school students. For this purpose, the hypothesis model, in which career decision-making self-efficacy is considered a mediating variable, is shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1.

Fig. 1

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Hypothesis model

On the basis of the proposed hypothesis model (Fig. 1), the following hypotheses were tested.

H1

Internal career locus of control will positively predict career decision-making self-efficacy.

H2

Internal career locus of control will negatively predict career indecision.

H3

Career decision-making self-efficacy plays a mediating role in the relationship between high school students’ internal career locus of control and career indecision.

H4

External career locus of control will negatively predict career decision-making self-efficacy.

H5

External career locus of control will positively predict career indecision.

H6

Career decision-making self-efficacy plays a mediating role in the relationship between high school students’ external career locus of control and career indecision.

H7

Career decision-making self-efficacy will negatively predict career indecision.

Method

Participants and procedure

The data of the study were collected from students who were studying in high schools in the center of a city located in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey and who volunteered to participate in the study. The study participants consisted of 365 (261 female, 104 male) students in grades 9, 10, 11, 12 and 12. 21% of the students were 9th-grade students, 23% were 10th-grade students, 42% were 11th-grade students, and 14% were 12th-grade students. The average age of the participants was 16,21 years. To collect the data, first, ethics committee permission and research permission were obtained; then, the items, including scales and personal information, were combined into a single form, and the relevant forms were given to the volunteer students together with the informed consent form, after which they were asked to fill them out.

Data collection tools

Career indecision

The ‘Career Decision Inventory’ developed by Çakır [47] was used to collect data on career indecision within the scope of this study. In the inventory, items were prepared on the basis of career development tasks that high school students should fulfill in making career decisions. A total score can be obtained in an inventory consisting of five subdimensions and 30 items. The higher the scores obtained from the inventory are, the greater the degree of career indecision of the student. The Cronbach’s alpha internal consistency coefficient of the original form of the scale was 0.85, and the correlation coefficient between the mean scores of the two applications was calculated as ,83 as a result of the test‒retest reliability analysis, which is another method. The internal consistency coefficient calculated in the current study was ,95.

Career decision-making self-efficacy: To measure career decision-making self-efficacy within the scope of the research, the Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale-Short Form developed by Betz et al. [48] and adapted into Turkish by Işık [49] was used. The scale is a 5-point Likert-type scale, and in response, the participants make a five-point rating from ‘Not at all confident (1) to very confident (5)” to indicate how confident they are in fulfilling the stated tasks. The scale consists of 25 items, and the total score is obtained from the scale. Higher scores indicate a higher level of career decision-making self-efficacy. The total scores obtained from the scale vary between 25 and 125. For reliability studies of the scale, the internal consistency coefficient and stability coefficient were calculated via the test‒retest method. The internal consistency coefficient (Cronbach’s alpha) of the scale was ,88, and the test-retest reliability coefficient was ,81. The internal consistency coefficient of the scale calculated within the scope of this current study was ,93.

Career locus of control, developed by Millar and Shevlin [36] and adapted into Turkish by Siyez [50], is based on two structures and consists of four factors. These are the internal control factors expressing the internalism construct and the factors of luck, helplessness, and strong others that determine the externalism (external control) construct. The scale consists of 20 items and is evaluated via a six-point Likert-type rating method scored between “strongly disagree” and “strongly agree.” Reliability analysis was performed within the scope of the adaptation of the scale to Turkish, and the Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient of the scale was .86. Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficients for internal control, helplessness, luck, and strong other subscales were calculated as .72, .77, .68 and .65, respectively. In the present study, a two-factor structure (internal and external control) was preferred, and Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficients were calculated as ,76 for internal control, ,90 for external control and ,85 for the whole scale.

Analysis

Within the scope of the research, frequency, percentage, and mean scores were taken for the analysis of demographic data, and normal distribution assumption tests were performed. Skewness and kurtosis values were examined for the normality assumption, and it was seen that the results obtained were within the range of ± 2 [65] and the normality assumption was met. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to calculate the correlation coefficients between the variables. The mediation analysis of the study was undertaken with ‘model 4’, utilizing SPSS 24.0 software and the process macro plug-in developed by Hayes [55]. The analysis of the indirect effect within the mediation model was conducted utilizing 5,000 bootstrap samples.

Findings

In this section, firstly, the findings related to the correlation coefficients revealing the direction and level of the relationship between career indecision, which is the dependent variable of the study, and career locus of control and career decision-making self-efficacy are presented. In the next stage, mediation analysis findings are presented.

The findings of the correlation analysis in Table 1 indicate that there is a significant negative relationship between career indecision and internal career locus of control (r=-.18, p < .01), whereas there is a significant positive relationship between external career locus of control and career indecision (r = .29, p < .01). There was a significant negative relationship between career indecision and career decision-making self-efficacy (r=-.59, p < .01). In addition, while there was a significant positive relationship between career decision-making self-efficacy and internal career locus of control (r = .24, p < .01), there was no significant relationship between external career locus of control and career decision-making self-efficacy (r=-.080, p > .01).

Table 1.

Correlation coefficients between career indecision, career locus of control and career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy and descriptive statistics

Career Indecision Internal Control External Control Career Decision Making Self-Efficacy
Career Indecision 1
Internal Control − 0.18** 1
External Control 0.29** − 0.06 1
Career Decision Making Self-Efficacy − 0.59** 0.24** − 0.080 1
Mean 80,95 20,81 42,91 84,39
Standard deviation 27,17 5,56 15,19 18,70
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** p < .01

When the direct effects in Table 2 are analyzed, the intrinsic career locus of control is a significant predictor of career decision-making self-efficacy (β = 0.24, p < .01), and the intrinsic career locus of control explains 6% of the variance in career decision-making self-efficacy. Career decision-making self-efficacy was a significant predictor of career indecision (β=-0.58, p < .01). The internal career locus of control was not a significant predictor of career indecision when the career decision-making self-efficacy variable was present in the model (β=-0.04, p > .01). The variables in the model together explained 35% of the variability in the variance of career indecision (R2 = 0.35). When the indirect effects are examined, the indirect effect of intrinsic career locus of control on career indecision through career decision-making self-efficacy is significant (β = 0.18, p < .001, CI [-0.1.04, to 0.34]).

Table 2.

Path analysis findings related to the hypothesis tests

Direct Impacts B SH β p 95% CI

Career Locus of Control

(Internal Control)

 Career Decision Making Self-Efficacy 0.80 0.17 0.24 0.000 0.46 to 1,14

Career Locus of Control

(Internal Control)

 Career Indecision − 0.20 0.21 − 0.04 0.348 − 0.62 to 0.22

Career Decision Making

Self-Efficacy

 Career Indecision − 0.84 0.06 − 0.58 0.000 − 0.97 to − 0.72

Career Locus of Control

(External Control)

 Career Decision Making Self-Efficacy − 0.09 2.93 − 0.08 0.127 − 0.22 to 0.03

Career Locus of Control

(External Control)

 Career Indecision 0.44 0.07 0.25 0.000 0.29 to 0.58

Career Decision Making

Self-Efficacy

 Career Indecision − 0.83 0.06 − 0.57 0.000 − 0.94 to − 0.71
Indirect Impacts B β 95% CI

Career Locus of Control Career Decision Making Career

(Internal Control) Self-Efficacy İndecision

 0.67 0.18 − 0.1,04 to-0.34

Career Locus of Control Career Decision Making Career

(External Control) Self-Efficacy İndecision

 0.08 0.06 − 0.03 to 0.20
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When the findings related to external career locus of control were analyzed, it was found that external career locus of control was not a significant predictor of career decision-making self-efficacy (β=-0.08, p > .01), whereas both external career locus of control (β = 0.25, p < .01) and career decision-making self-efficacy (β=-0.57, p < .01) were significant predictors of career indecision. The variables in the model together explained 41% of the variability in the variance of career indecision (R2 = 0.41). In addition to the fact that the external career locus of control was not a significant predictor of career decision-making self-efficacy, the findings related to indirect effects showed that career decision-making self-efficacy did not mediate the relationship between the external career locus of control and career indecision (β = 0.06, p > .001, CI [-0.03 to 0.20]).

Discussion

Within the scope of this research, the relationships between career indecision, career locus of control, and career decision-making self-efficacy were analyzed. The results revealed that career locus of control, internal and external locus of control, and career decision-making self-efficacy were related to career indecision and that career decision-making self-efficacy mediated the relationship between career-related internal control and career indecision. The results obtained in this study are discussed in line with the hypotheses of the study.

The first finding obtained in line with the hypotheses of the study was that internal career locus of control is a significant positive predictor of career decision-making self-efficacy. It is seen that the hypothesis put forward with this finding is confirmed. Increasing the internal career locus of control also increases career decision-making self-efficacy, and studies in the relevant literature [36, 37, 51–53] support the findings of this study. The findings of these studies also show that a strong internal locus of control leads to a stronger belief in one’s own competence in career-related behaviors.

The second finding is that the direct effect of internal career locus of control on career indecision is not significant. However, in the mediation model, the indirect effect of internal career locus of control on career indecision was significant. In the literature, in parallel with the research finding, there are studies that reveal that internal locus of control is not a significant predictor of career indecision [46]. Contrary to the findings of the present study, numerous others have revealed that an internal locus of control is associated with reduced career indecision [31, 35, 43, 44]. However, the direct effect of internal locus of control on career indecision was not significant, thereby ensuring that the indirect effect through career decision-making self-efficacy was significant. This outcome confirms the hypothesis that career decision-making self-efficacy has a mediating role in the relationship between internal career locus of control and career indecision, as proposed in the hypothesis model of the study. A similar finding was also revealed in the study conducted by Büyükgöze-Kavas [60]. Career decision-making self-efficacy plays an important mediating role between career locus of control and career-related characteristics, such as career desire [51], career adaptability [39], and career maturity [54, 56]. The limitations of studies on the mediating role of career decision-making self-efficacy in the relationship between intrinsic career locus of control and career indecision in the literature reveal the importance of the findings obtained from this study regarding the indirect effect of intrinsic career locus of control on career indecision through career decision-making self-efficacy.

One of the findings of the study revealed that the external career locus of control is not a significant predictor of career decision-making self-efficacy, whereas the other result is that the direct effect of the external career locus of control on career indecision is significant. Both findings reveal that the indirect effect of the external career locus of control on career indecision is not significant, and that career decision-making self-efficacy does not play a mediating role between the external career locus of control and career indecision. This finding shows that the related research hypothesis is not confirmed. Similar to the findings of this study, studies have revealed that external locus of control or some dimensions (luck) that constitute an external career locus of control are not significant predictors of self-efficacy [31, 51, 57, 58], some of them have shown that individuals with an external locus of control have low career decision-making self-efficacy [37, 53, 59]. The research findings also revealed that being externally supervised may not have the same effect on all individuals and may not negatively affect individuals’ career decision-making self-efficacy.

Another finding obtained in line with the hypotheses of the study is that career decision-making self-efficacy is a significant negative predictor of career indecision, and in this context, as self-efficacy beliefs in career decision-making become stronger, career indecision scores decrease. Many studies [27, 60–62] support these findings and reveal that career decision-making self-efficacy is an effective variable in reducing career indecision scores. In addition, the results of experimental studies involving career interventions show that strengthening career decision-making self-efficacy is effective in reducing career indecision [10, 28, 63].

The findings of this study, in which career decision-making self-efficacy and career locus of control (internal and external) variables are discussed as predictors of career indecision, reveal important results for both researchers and practitioners working in the field regarding the direct effect of the external locus of control and the indirect effect of the internal locus of control through career decision-making self-efficacy. The findings obtained from the study revealed that being externally supervised increases career indecision, whereas having a strong expectation of competence in career decision-making reduces career indecision, both directly and indirectly, by strengthening the internal locus of control. This finding provides strong data for both school counsellors working in schools and career counseling practitioners for studies aimed at increasing career decision-making self-efficacy and strengthening the internal career locus of control.

In addition to its contribution to related literature, this study has several limitations. The first limitation was related to the study participants. The study consisted of students studying at different grade levels in high schools in a city located in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey, but the number of students per grade level does not show a homogeneous distribution; in particular, the number of senior students who are at the graduation stage is less than the other grade levels. In this respect, it can be said that in future studies, it would be useful to conduct studies with larger samples and with enough participants at all grade levels in terms of the generalizability of the findings. Another limitation of this study is related to the use of the Career Locus Control Scale. Within the scope of this study, the Career Locus of Control Scale addresses internal and external (luck, helplessness, and strong others) locus of control dimensions, and the findings obtained are discussed in this context. Many studies [36, 53, 64] consider the dimensions of ‘chance, helplessness, and strong others’, which express external career locus of control, as separate dimensions by considering the variance they explain. In studies where career locus of control and self-efficacy are considered explanatory variables for career indecision, these factors can be evaluated separately. Despite its limitations, this study’s findings reveal that adolescents’ career locus of control and career decision-making self-efficacy are important predictors of career indecision and that strong beliefs in career decision-making self-efficacy and being internally controlled about one’s career are effective in reducing career indecision.

Acknowledgements

The author thanks all the students who participated in the research.

Abbreviations

SPSS

Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

Author contributions

This article was prepared by a single author. The article was written independently by Gürcan ŞEKER The author has read and agreed to the published version Manuscript.

Funding

The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and / or publication of this article.

Data availability

Data sets generated and/or analyzed during the present study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Link to the data file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1blU1Lq4rLOWRpXLId8q7jLHH8NwzxQkV/view?usp=sharing.

Declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee, Nigde Ömer Halisdemir University (Approval Number: 2022/06–30). The procedures used in this study adhere to the tenets of the declaration of Helsinki. Informed consent was obtained from participants over the age of 16, and consent and permission was obtained from parents or legal guardians responsible for the care of participants under the age of 16. The author affirms that human research participants provided informed consent for publication.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Footnotes

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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Associated Data

This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.

Data Availability Statement

Data sets generated and/or analyzed during the present study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Link to the data file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1blU1Lq4rLOWRpXLId8q7jLHH8NwzxQkV/view?usp=sharing.

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