This study investigated career goal discrepancy as a mediator in the relationship between social marginalization and life satisfaction, and acceptance of Korean culture and foreign-born parental culture as moderators of the mediation model. Data colle...
This study investigated career goal discrepancy as a mediator in the relationship between social marginalization and life satisfaction, and acceptance of Korean culture and foreign-born parental culture as moderators of the mediation model. Data collection took place through the Gallup Korea Research Institute. Migrant background youths (N = 329) aged 25 to 34 responded to a survey that included measures assessing our study variables. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS 22.0 and PROCESS Macro 4.1. Results indicated that career goal discrepancy was a full mediator in the relationship between social marginalization and life satisfaction. Also, the moderated mediating effects of acceptance of Korean culture and foreign-born parental culture were confirmed. These results mean that the higher the perception of social marginalization, the more career goal discrepancies are experienced by young people from migrant backgrounds, which lowers life satisfaction. Also, it means that the higher the level of acceptance of Korean and foreign parental culture, the more the mediation effect is weakened. Finally, implications for research and practice with immigrant youths in South Korea were discussed.