The effects of emotional intelligence and cultural dimensions on career decision-making difficulties

: a sample from Mexico and Europe

Abstract

Every day, every moment, we make decisions that shape our lives entirely. But not all of themare of equal importance. Among many, the career decision is one of the most crucial andtricky, especially for young people that are going to experience for the first time such a fastmoving world of work. Difficulties involved in career decision-making process can be relatedto both external factors, such as culture, and internal factors, such as emotions. To betterunderstand the influence of cultural dimensions and Emotional Intelligence (EI) in CareerDecision Difficulties (CDD), this thesis involved experimental research with a heterogeneoussample of Mexican and European students. Results from bivariate correlations and mediationsrevealed a strong inverse relationship between three of the four main properties of EI andCDD. Furthermore, the mediation of cultural dimensions on CDD through EI was justpartially supported, and no significant relations were found within culture and CDD. Theresults of this study have implications for multicultural organisations wishing to support thecareer development of their employees. Training in EI skills will lead to less indecisiveness incareer decision-making and therefore more focused and committed people. Since somehypotheses were not fully supported due to some limitations, future research is suggested toimprove the present findings.

Date of Award	26 Jun 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Cristina Soares Pacheco Mendonça (Supervisor)