The factor structure of career indecision in China and South Korea: a data-driven exploration

Although research has made progress in searching for an integrative factor structure of career indecision in Western cultural contexts, such an integrative structure of career indecision remains understudied in East Asia. To search for a culturally appropriate integrative factor model of career indecision in China and South Korea, the current study used a data-driven approach to summarize correlational data of indecision-related constructs in China and South Korea. Based on 16 and 21 correlational matrices in China and South Korea, respectively, results suggested that a five-factor structure (i.e., neuroticism/negative affectivity, need for information, choice/commitment anxiety, lack of readiness, and interpersonal conflicts) can adequately and parsimoniously capture major indecision factors in these two countries. By offering a universal framework of career indecision in China and South Korea, the integrative model shows potential to accelerate knowledge accumulation regarding career indecision in this cultural context. Notably, this study suggests that need for information and choice/commitment function as separate factors in China and South Korea, while neuroticism/negative affectivity, lack of readiness, and interpersonal conflicts are culturally universal across Eastern and Western cultural contexts. Thus, this study has potential to enable cross-cultural comparison and accumulation of indecision research in these two cultural contexts.