Calling, Career Preparation Behaviors, and Meaning in Life Among South Korean College Students

Abstract

We examined whether each subscale of the Calling and Vocational Questionnaire (i.e., transcendent summons, purposeful work, and prosocial orientation) relates to career preparation behavior (CPB) after controlling for demographic variables, current employment-seeking status, self esteem, and work volition. We also looked into whether CPB mediates the relationship between calling and meaning in life (MIL) among 214 South Korean college students. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that the 3 subscales of calling in combination additionally explained 17% of the variance in the CPB, with the purposeful work subscale as the only significant variable. CPB was found to partially mediate the relationship between calling and MIL, indicating that students with a higher sense of calling are likely to experience a higher sense of MIL in part because they tend to engage in higher levels of CPB.