Book of Abstracts

Choosing a college and a major is one of a college student’s first significant life-changing decisions. One of the reasons students may choose to pursue a particular career path is a concept called “calling.” Calling is a developmental concept that motivates college students to set career goals and make decisions toward their chosen career. Calling in college students has been shown to improve mental well-being and predict higher levels of meaning and identity, but the mechanisms of calling and mental well-being in college students remain understudied. With the continuous decline of college student mental health, resiliency factors that protect against identity confusion and mental illness should be considered. Recent studies suggest that character strengths are potential sources of resiliency for mental health, but few research studies focus on which strengths are connected to calling and mental well-being. Understanding how a college student perceives their strengths and abilities can encourage them toward a better discernment of what they can do, comprehend their identity and purpose in life, and improve their sense of calling. The focus of the present study is to examine how character strengths affect the relationship between calling and well-being in college students. The particular character strengths that will be examined are gratitude, self-forgiveness, hope, and perseverance.