Do Difficulties in Career Affect Life Satisfaction? Examining the Relationships Between Life Satisfaction, Career Decision Regret, and Career Distress

Abstract

Life satisfaction, which is an important indicator of the well-being and happiness of individuals, can be affected by different development areas of the individual. On this basis, the experiences of individuals regarding their career development processes may also have an impact on life satisfaction. In the current study, which was carried out to test this, the mediating role of career distress in the relationship between individuals' career decision regret and life satisfaction was examined. The current study was carried out with 321 university students. The ages of the participants ranged from 18 to 26, with an average age of 20.78 years. The Career Decision Regret Scale, The Career Distress Scale, and The Satisfaction with Life Scale were used to collect data. The analysis of the data was made with the structural equation modeling method. The results revealed that life satisfaction is negatively related to both career decision regret and career distress. Another important finding is that career distress has a fully mediating role in the relationship between career decision regret and life satisfaction. The findings were discussed based on the relevant literature, and suggestions were presented regarding the results.