Career Goal Setting and Goal Pursuit in Young Adults: The Role of Financial Distress

Informed by goal-setting/self-regulatory theories, we tested the mediating role of career-related effort (i.e., goal striving) in the relationships between career-related indecision (i.e., goal ambiguity) and career-related stress (i.e., affect) and perceived employability (i.e., career-related attitude) and examined the effect of financial distress as a moderator in these direct and indirect relationships. Using a sample of 202 young adults (Mage = 19.8 years, 81.7% female), we found career indecision was related negatively to effort and perceived employability and positively to stress, with effort mediating between indecision and both stress and perceived employability. However, financial distress influenced these relationships. The associations between career indecision and effort and perceived employability were more negative and the associations between career indecision and stress were more positive when financial distress was higher. The study contributes by identifying how financial distress affects the relationships between career indecision, effort, and other career variables.