Abstract:

Today, the rapid changes in the work and personal lives of an individual, which are very difficult to separate from each other, have accelerated personal transition cycle between professions. Therefore, differentiation in the job market or other problems that arise in the professional lives of an individual, optimistic or pessimistic view of career choices, happiness and similar factors have become associated with the emotional well-being of the individual. Therefore, the ability of an individual to adapt to these sudden changes in career development has become an important factor in maintaining emotional health. Many studies emphasize the importance of positive personality traits and self-management skills in dealing with problems in professional and business life.

It is important for individuals to think and adapt flexibly to changing environments in their career development processes. At this point, cognitive flexibility is believed to have an important place in explaining career adaptation. To be able to adapt, an individual needs to utilize their own regulatory resources to solve the unfamiliar, complex, and ambiguous problems presented by their environment. Cognitive flexibility is a stable individual trait which enables an individual to develop their career adaptation and refers to the cognitive capacity of an individual to take responsibility for change in relation to changing situations. Cognitive flexibility also refers to an individual's ability to inhibit a previous situation and embrace a new situation. This flexibility increases individual threshold for uncertainty and curiosity about new situations. Individuals with high cognitive flexibility are more inclined to seek out different experiences. By putting cognitive flexibility in the career context, individuals who can think cognitively flexible are expected to have more career adaptability than other individuals. Because cognitive flexibility allows these individuals to experiment in different ways that can help them achieve their career goals, to have more interest and curiosity, to overcome professional uncertainties more easily.

Proactive personality is defined as a relatively determined tendency which enables an individual to make changes in their environment. As individuals who search for the most suitable options for themselves, know how to make the necessary decisions, start to do a job and start a job with the aim of finishing it, and initiate change, individuals with proactive personality traits differ from other persons. Proactive individuals are those who are able to shape their behavior, focus on their future, bring difference to their movements when necessary, and are able to renew themselves. Individuals with proactive personalities are persons who can start working in a new job without hesitation, anticipate options, exercise stability until they reach their goal, and take responsibility to influence their environment. This is an important feature for an individual's future career.

The aim of this study is to investigate the mediating role of proactive personality in the relationship between cognitive flexibility and career future for 750 university students studying in different faculties at Istanbul-Cerrahpaşa University. The analysis result indicates that cognitive flexibility increases future career opportunities by 0.487 units. Proactive personality traits were found to have a partial mediating effect.

Keywords:

Proactive Personality, Cognitive Flexibility, Career Future, University Students, Statistical Analysis.