Cognitive Flexibility and Positivity as Predictors of Career Future in University Students

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine whether the career future of university students can bepredicted significantly by cognitive flexibility and positivity. The study designed for this purpose consists of 401participants (290 female, 111 male) who attended two different universities in Ankara and Istanbul. The data ofthis research were collected by using Turkish adaptation of the \"Career Futures Scale (CFS)\", \"CognitiveFlexibility Inventory (CFI)\", and \"Positivity Scale (PS)\". Besides these, a personal information form was used forcollecting various demographic variables. The findings of this research demonstrated that there is a positive andsignificant relationship between career future, cognitive flexibility, and positivity. As a result of the analysesconducted in order to test the predictability of the career future by cognitive flexibility and positivity, they werefound to be a significant predictor of the career future of university students (R2 = .48, p < .01). In addition tothese findings, fourth-year students' career future scores were found to be significantly higher than the second andthird grade students. Moreover, the career future scores of students who voluntarily selected their major of studywere significantly higher than those who unwillingly chose it.