Effect of Social Comparison Orientation and Stress Coping Styles on Job-Seeking Stress of University Students Preparing for Employment

Abstract

This study examined the effects of social comparison orientation and stress coping styles on job-seeking stress experienced by university students. The participants of this study were 324 junior and senior students (151 males and 173 females) from six universities located in Seoul who were preparing for employment. They were asked to respond to a written questionnaire to measure research variables for the Job-Seeking Stress Scale, the Social Comparison Orientation Scale, and the Ways of Coping Checklist. The data were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics and a hierarchical multiple regression. The major findings of this study were as follows. First, social comparison orientation had a positive effect on job-seeking stress of university students, revealing that students with a high level of social comparison orientation were more likely to experience job-seeking stress. Second, both emotion-alleviation coping style and wishful thinking coping style increased level of job-seeking stress. In addition, problem-focused coping style had a negative influence on job-seeking stress, whereas social support seeking coping style had no significant effect on it. The results suggested that it would be possible to reduce job-seeking stress of university students by changing either social comparison or stress coping style.

The impact of SNS and Covid-19-related stress of Chinese students in Korea based on the transaction theory of stress and coping

“…First, financial, job-seeking, academic, and cultural stress are considered important factors affecting international students' stress levels in existing studies [ 27 , 28 , 36 , 47 ]. They were divided into economic and adaptive characteristics groups and applied to the research model to be analyzed as independent variables.…”

“…Many Chinese students studying abroad are motivated to find stable, high-paying jobs in the US or return to China after graduation to repay their families’ support [ 30 ], making job-seeking a universal stressor. Baek and Park [ 47 ] have identified employment-related burdens for Korean university students. They found that lack of information, and mismatch between target occupation and major as indicators of job-seeking stress.…”

Social comparison and academic buoyancy among freshmen in one selected public university

“…Moreover, [25] found a marginally significant effect of the interaction between academic buoyancy and academic adversity on subsequent academic adversity in a sample of secondary school students. [26] study reported that social comparison orientation had a positive effect on job-seeking stress of university students, revealing that students with a high level of social comparison orientation were more likely to experience job-seeking stress. [27] reported that academic buoyancy's significant association with academic performance was mediated by academic self-concept.…”

Social comparison and overall adjustment among freshmen in one public university

“…Similarly, [41] found that individuals with a larger insight for their biases sought more social comparisons information of both directions for self-improvement purposes. [42] reported that the social comparison orientation had a positive effect on job-seeking stress of university students, revealing that students with a high level of the social comparison orientation were more likely to experience job-seeking stress. However, [43] argue that social comparisons are useful for students when they have to choose one alternative against others and they select the major they value most and at which they expect to succeed compared with other majors.…”