Career Outcome Expectations of Chinese Medical Students: A Short-Term Longitudinal Study1

Abstract

This study examined the longitudinal association between career outcome expectations and positive psychological capital, using data from four investigations of 885 Chinese medical students over a 9-month period. Latent growth curve modeling (LGCM) and latent growth mixture modeling (LGMM) were used to examine the overall trajectory of career outcome expectations and to group them. Career outcome expectations showed a linear growth trend on the whole. The modeling distinguished three growth trajectories of career outcome expectations. There is an association between positive psychological capital and career outcome expectations, that is, positive psychological capital positively affects career outcome expectations and not the other way around. The results speak to the noteworthy individual differences in the development of career outcome expectations among Chinese medical students.