Protean career attitude and career decidedness among Chinese college students: the mediating role of career planning and the joint moderating roles of career stress and impostor phenomenon

This study aimed to explore the relationship between protean career attitude and career decidedness among Chinese college students (N = 1012) while examining the joint moderating effect of career stress and impostor phenomenon. Results indicated a positive correlation between protean career attitude and career decidedness, mediated by career planning. However, career stress weakened this linkage, especially for undergraduates with a strong impostor phenomenon. These results provide insight into understanding the boundary conditions between protean career attitudes and career decidedness that are underpinned by the theory of planned behavior and the transactional model of stress. The implications and limitations are discussed.