CAREER PERSONALITY AS A MEDIATOR BETWEEN PARENTING STYLE AND CAREER INTEREST IN SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

This paper has explored the mediating effect of career personality in the relationship between parenting style and career interest among high school students in their senior year.Based on the Parenting Style Theory of Baumrind, the RIASEC typology of Holland, and the Social Cognitive Career Theory, the explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was used.Oriental Mindoro National High School was stratified and sampled 312 Grade 11 students.The 5-Point Parenting Style Assessment, the 4-Scale Career Personality Questionnaire, and the Nonverbal Career Interest Inventory were used to gather quantitative data, and the qualitative data were analyzed with the help of the reflexive thematic analysis.The results indicated that career personality played an important role in mediating the connection between authoritative parenting and career interest (indirect effect = 0.36, p < .01).Students who had supportive parents showed stronger Social, Enterprising, and Conventional personality traits which matched their career interests.The qualitative themes, supportive autonomy, pressured expectations and freedom to choose, supported the statistical findings, highlighting the role of parental warmth and autonomy in self-efficacy and vocational exploration.On the whole, the research showed that parenting style indirectly influences career interest by developing personality traits that are in line with Holland typology and SCCT framework.The findings demonstrate the significance of culturally responsive, personality-based, and family-inclusive career guidance programs in promoting career self-concept and decision-making in Filipino adolescents.