Career decision-making self-efficacy among higher education women and its associations with type and perceived quality of intimate relationship: exploring the links

Abstract

A category of relational influences that continues to remain relatively unexplored in the career development context is that of intimate partnership. The present study proposed relationship status (i.e., married vs. dating) and perceived quality of intimate relationship (high vs. low) as variables that can be implicated in the prediction of career decision-making self-efficacy. A total of 68 in-relationship post-secondary female students (20 married, 48 dating) were recruited for participation. Hierarchical multiple regression revealed that, after accounting for age, relationship status and perceived relationship quality together accounted for statistically significant variance in career decision-making self-efficacy for both groups of in-relationship women. However, perceived relationship quality added to the prediction of career decision-making self-efficacy over and above the contribution of relationship status. The discussion offers explanations of the findings, describes the study’s limitations, and highlights the significance of the study’s outcomes to career counselling research and practice. Key words: intimate relationships; perceived quality, relationship type; career decision-making self- efficacy