The mediating role of self‑leadership in the relationship between basic psychological needs satisfaction, academic self-efficacy and career adaptability of Turkish undergraduates when life satisfaction is controlled

The positive consequences of career adaptability among university students have been well established in the literature. On the other hand, the predictors of the phenomenon were not sufficiently studied. Multiple models were tested to investigate the mediating role of self‑leadership in the relationships between basic psychological needs satisfaction, academic self-efficacy, and career adaptability to fill this gap. When testing the model, the effect of life satisfaction was controlled. The data were collected through an online survey from May to July 2021 from a sample of 404 undergraduates. The participants responded to measures of basic psychological needs satisfaction, academic self-efficacy, self‑leadership, career adaptability, and life satisfaction. The findings reveal that self‑leadership partially mediates the relationship between basic psychological needs satisfaction, academic self-efficacy and career adaptability when life satisfaction is controlled. Self‑leadership levels of the students can be enhanced, and life satisfaction levels should be considered when studying career adaptability.