Parental support and Chinese international students' future work self: a mediated-moderated model of career adaptability and filial piety

Abstract

Grounded in career construction theory, this study explores the relationship between perceived career-related parental support and future work self-salience among Chinese international students in South Korea. Specifically, it examines the mediating role of career adaptability and the moderating effects of career-related filial piety—both reciprocal and authoritarian. Data were collected from 265 Chinese students enrolled in Korean universities via an online survey. Path analysis using the PROCESS macro revealed that career adaptability fully mediated the relationship between parental support and future work self-salience. The indirect pathway varied by career-related filial piety: reciprocal career-related filial piety strengthened the association between parental support and career adaptability, and authoritarian career-related filial piety yielded a significant indirect effect from parental support to future work self-salience through career adaptability. At the subdimension level, effects were evident through career concern, career control, and career curiosity under reciprocal career-related filial piety, and across all four subdimensions under authoritarian career-related filial piety. These findings specify a culturally embedded mechanism through which parental influences translate into future-oriented career motivation in a cross-border context, extend the application of Career Construction Theory to collectivist family dynamics, and underscore the need for culturally responsive interventions that balance autonomy with familial reciprocity.