The impact of social support on career preparation behaviors of college students majoring in physical education: the mediating role of career decision-making self-efficacy and the regulating role of psychological resilience

A survey was conducted on 771 physical education majors from five universities in Sichuan Province using social support scales, career preparation behavior scales, career decision-making self-efficacy scales, and psychological resilience scales. The Bootstrap method was employed to analyze the mediating and regulatory effects between variables. The results show that (1) social support can positively predict career preparation behaviors. (2) career decision-making self-efficacy plays a significant positive mediating role in the relationship between social support and career preparation behaviors. (3) Psychological resilience negatively regulates the role of social support in enhancing career decision-making self-efficacy. As psychological resilience levels rise, the impact of social support on career decision-making self-efficacy diminishes. Therefore, from the perspective of social support for undergraduate students majoring in sports education, enhancing their career decision-making self-efficacy can promote their proactive response to occupational issues. But it is important to note the regulatory role of psychological resilience, and in individuals with lower levels of psychological resilience, more social support should be provided to promote career decision-making self-efficacy.