Academic self-efficacy and career decision-making self-efficacy: effects on academic major satisfaction via career optimism

The present study is aimed at exploring the links between academic self-efficacy, career decision-making self-efficacy, and academic major satisfaction, with career optimism as the mediator. The hypotheses based on this aim were tested on the data collected from a sample consisting of 411 senior engineering undergraduates attending a prestigious public university in Turkey. The results of structural equation modeling analyses indicate that career optimism mediates the relationship between academic self-efficacy and academic major satisfaction. Additionally, career optimism was found to have a mediating effect in the relationship between career decision-making self-efficacy and academic major satisfaction. Implications for theory and practice are presented.