The influence of motivation and career opportunities on career choice: the mediating role of psychological capital
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21580/jiemb.2025.7.2.29070Keywords:
motivation, career opportunities, psychological capital, workforce readinessAbstract
The rapid transformation brought by the industrial revolution 4.0 has created new challenges for the Indonesian workforce, particularly in aligning motivation, career opportunities, and psychological capital in career decision-making. This study aims to explain the causal relationship between motivation, career opportunities, psychological capital, and career choice among final-year students and recent graduates in Semarang City. Using a quantitative explanatory approach, data were collected from 142 respondents through purposive sampling and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results show that motivation and career opportunities significantly influence career choice both directly and indirectly through psychological capital as a mediating variable. Motivation and perceived opportunities positively affect psychological capital, which in turn strengthens individuals’ confidence, optimism, hope, and resilience in making career decisions. The model explains 61.1% of the variance in career choice, confirming that psychological capital functions as a key mediating mechanism linking internal motivation and external opportunities. These findings contribute to human resource management and positive psychology by highlighting the importance of integrating psychological development into career planning strategies, suggesting that educational institutions and policymakers should foster motivation and psychological capital to enhance workforce readiness and career sustainability.
Downloads
References
Baluku, M. M., Mugabi, E. N., Nansamba, J., Matagi, L., Onderi, P., & Otto, K. (2021). Psychological capital and career outcomes among final year university students: The mediating role of career engagement and perceived employability. International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology, 6(1), 55–80. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41042-020-00040-w
Ephrem, A. N., Nguezet, P. M. D., Charmant, I. K., Murimbika, M., Awotide, B. A., Tahirou, A., Lydie, M. N., & Manyong, V. (2021). Entrepreneurial motivation, psychological capital, and business success of young entrepreneurs in the DRC. Sustainability,13(8),4087. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084087
Falah, N., & Sarianti, R. (2025). Pengaruh Career Self-Efficacy Terhadap Career Choice Melalui Career Exploration Sebagai Variabel Mediasi. Management Studies and Entrepreneurship Journal (MSEJ), 6(3), 1599–1608. https://doi.org/10.37385/msej.v6i3.7521
Ingarianti, T. M. (2018). Psychological capital sebagai modal psikologis untuk meningkatkan kesejahteraan subjektif pada pekerja. Psikohumaniora: Jurnal Penelitian Psikologi, 3(2), 131–142. https://doi.org/10.21580/pjpp.v3i2.2841
Jodhy, M., Rachman, J., Widhiastuti, H., Kusnilawati, N., & Erlangga, E. (2022). High performance work system dan leader-member exchange terhadap psychological capital di moderasi oleh psychological wellbeing. Reswara Journal of Psychology, 1(1),41–61. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7413438
Jung, S. (2023). Does workplace spirituality increase self-esteem in female professional dancers? The mediating effect of positive psychological capital and team trust. Religions, 14(4), 445. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040445
Karimi, S., Ahmadi Malek, F., Yaghoubi Farani, A., & Liobikienė, G. (2023). The role of transformational leadership in developing innovative work behaviors: The mediating role of employees’ psychological capital. Sustainability, 15(2), 1267. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021267
Kholifah, N., Nurtanto, M., Mutohhari, F., Hamid, M. A., Mutiara, I., Setiawan, D., & Saputro, I. N. (2025). Factors influencing student career choice in vocational education in Indonesia: A mediating effect of self-efficacy. Social Sciences & HumanitiesOpen, 11,101369. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2025.101369
Kuroki, M., & Shirinashihama, Y. (2025). Target Difficulty, Psychological Capital, and Work Engagement. European Accounting Review, 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638180.2025.2451153
Leonardi, V., & Panggabean, H. R. G. (2021). The impact of perceived career opportunity to employees’ turnover intention mediated by organizational commitment. Jurnal Psikologi Ulayat: Indonesian Journal of Indigenous Psychology, 8(2), 227–246. https://doi.org/10.24854/jpu123
Pham, M., Lam, B. Q., & Bui, A. T. N. (2024). Career exploration and its influence on the relationship between self-efficacy and career choice: The moderating role of social support. Heliyon, 10(10),e31808. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e31808
Ronauli, P. T., & Rosari, M. C. (2021). Hubungan antara psychological capital dengan subjective career success pada karyawan generasi milenial. Jurnal Ilmiah Psikologi MANASA, 10(2),87–97. https://jurnal.atmajaya.ac.id/manasa/article/view/1841
Velasco, M. M. A, & Wald, A. (2025). Mitigating the negative aspects of project work: The roles of psychological capital and coworker and family support. Project Leadership and Society, 6, 100176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plas.2025.100176
Vilariño del Castillo, D., & Lopez-Zafra, E. (2022). Antecedents of Psychological Capital at Work: A Systematic Review of Moderator–Mediator Effects and a New Integrative Proposal. European Management Review, 19(1), 154–169. https://doi.org/10.1111/emre.12460
Wan Sulaiman, W. S., Shariff, M. I. A., & Khairudin, R. (2023). The role of psychological capital in flourishing among job seekers: Grit as a mediator. Psikohumaniora: Jurnal PenelitianPsikologi, 8(1),119–136. https://doi.org/10.21580/pjpp.v8i1.14939
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 purwanto_22-manajemen purwanto
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
