Acculturation moderating between international students’ career decision-making difficulties and career decision self-efficacy

Abstract

We conducted a moderation analysis with a sample of 96 international students in the United States to examine the relationship among three study variables. Results indicated that international students’ acculturation modes (i.e., marginalization, separation, assimilation, and integration) significantly moderated the relationship between career decision-making difficulties and career decision self-efficacy. This finding not only corroborated the well-documented inverse correlation between career decision-making difficulties and career decision self-efficacy, but further contextualized this relationship within the international students’ population, wherein acculturation plays a crucial role in their cross-cultural living and learning experience. Implications for career development practitioners and future research directions were provided.