Latent Profiles of Psychological Resources of Students’ Readiness for Professional Choice

Abstract

Background. Studying the differential aspects of psychological resources of professional self-determination allows for a qualitatively new theoretical and methodological understanding of the problem, while practically enabling the prediction of individual students' readiness for a specific field of study and the creation of personalized professional development trajectories.

Objective. To identify latent profiles of psychological resources underlying students' readiness for career choice.

Study Participants. The sample consisted of 894 students from Russian universities (64.2% — girls), mean age — 19.45 y. o. (SD = 1.79).

Methods. Self-Regulation Profile Questionnaire — SRPQM 2020, Career Adapt-Abilities Scale — CAAS, Short Version of the Stanford Time Perspective Inventory — ZTPI-15, Extra Short Version of the Big Five Inventory-2 (BFI-2-XS), Academic Motivation Scale — AMS, Self-Realization Activity Questionnaire, Life Satisfaction Scale. Data were analyzed using R and IBM SPSS, employing Latent Profile Analysis (LPA), one-way ANOVA, and multiple regression analysis.

Results. The study allowed to reveal four types of profiles based on the relationships among temporal, general psychological, and professionally oriented regulatory resources of students: "highly adaptable", "harmoniously adaptable", "resiliently adaptable" and "maladaptable". It was found that groups of students with different typological profiles differ in terms of their readiness for professional choice, personal and motivational characteristics, components of conscious self-regulation, and career adaptability. For the "highly adaptable" group, significant resources included regulatory flexibility and agreeableness; for the "harmoniously adaptable" group — regulatory persistence and hedonic present; for the "resilient adaptable" group — control (a component of career adaptability) and programming of actions. For the "maladaptable" group, the only positive resource was the regulatory competence of results evaluation, while negative past and neuroticism hindered the certainty of their professional plans, as well as the realism and stability of their professional choice.

Conclusions. The findings demonstrate that effective psychological and pedagogical support for students must be differentiated and take into account individual and typological differences in the psychological resources that contribute to their readiness for professional self-determination.

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