The relationship between perfectionism and career decision-making difficulties in college students: a chain mediation model based on core self-evaluations and psychological resilience

Background: In recent years, career decision-making difficulties among college students have drawn increasing attention, significantly relating to their mental health and personal development. Method: This study surveyed 1,000 college students through a convenience sampling procedure using an online questionnaire. A chain mediation model was developed and validated by using standardized scales to measure perfectionism, core self-evaluation, psychological resilience and career decision-making difficulty. Result: The findings demonstrated that positive perfectionism is connected to career decision-making difficulties in college students through core self-evaluations and psychological resilience, and the indirect path through core self-evaluations was more prominent than the path through psychological resilience and the chain path through core self-evaluations and psychological resilience. Negative perfectionism also is associated with career decision-making difficulties through core self-evaluations and psychological resilience, with the indirect path through core self-evaluations again showing the strongest statistical association. In addition, the chain path through core self-evaluations and psychological resilience was stronger than the path through psychological resilience alone. Conclusion: Overall, perfectionism may be associated with career decision-making difficulties in college students, both directly and indirectly, and it could be linked to these difficulties through its associations with core self-evaluations and psychological resilience. These results should be viewed as statistical correlations rather than causal evidence because of the cross-sectional approach.