Abstract

The extent to which undergraduates are affected by their parents during the process of job seeking was investigated. The relationship between undergraduates’ self-efficacy when choosing jobs and parent-related factors including parents’ attitudes toward undergraduates’ career choices, their job efficacy, social acceptance of parents' jobs and social acceptance of undergraduates’ job choice was examined. Japanese undergraduates (N=425) participated in the survey. They were inquired if they usually talked with their mother or father. Then, they responded to questions related to the above factors while imagining one parent that their responses were related to. They also responded to questions concerning their self-efficacy. Explanatory and confirmatory factor analyses and SEM were conducted on their responses. Results indicated that parent-related factors including parents’ advisory role at home and talking about their jobs to undergraduates contributed to undergraduates' self-efficacy. Moreover, these tendencies were stronger when students asked advice from their mothers. It is concluded that mothers have a more significant influence on the self-efficacies of Japanese undergraduates.