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Journals / Uluslararası Yönetim Akademisi Dergisi / 2026 / Cilt: 9 Sayı: 2

The Moderating Role of Optimism in the Relationship Between Academic Self-Efficacy and Unemployment Anxiety: An Explainable AI Approach

Akademik Öz-Yeterlik ile İşsizlik Kaygısı Arasındaki İlişkide İyimserliğin Düzenleyici Rolü: Açıklanabilir Yapay Zekâ Yaklaşımı

Kutay Özdemir(ISPARTA UYGULAMALI BİLİMLER ÜNİVERSİTESİ)0000-0003-0161-148X
Pages
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Publication Date
2026-10-25
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AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

The results showed that academic self-efficacy did not have a statistically significant direct association with pessimism and lack of self-confidence, whereas optimism showed a strong negative association.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:The growing number of university graduates and limited employment opportunities increase students’ concerns about future employment.
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Key Findings & Data:This study examined the relationship between academic self-efficacy and the pessimism and lack of self-confidence dimension of unemployment anxiety and tested whether optimism moderated this relationship.
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Conclusion & Impact:The results showed that academic self-efficacy did not have a statistically significant direct association with pessimism and lack of self-confidence, whereas optimism showed a strong negative association.
🔬Design:Modeling & Simulation
📍Scope:Comprehensive Sample
⚙️Variables:Akademik Öz-Yeterlik · İşsizlik Kaygısı · İyimserlik

Abstract

The growing number of university graduates and limited employment opportunities increase students’ concerns about future employment. This study examined the relationship between academic self-efficacy and the pessimism and lack of self-confidence dimension of unemployment anxiety and tested whether optimism moderated this relationship. The sample consisted of 447 students from Isparta University of Applied Sciences selected through convenience sampling. Descriptive statistics, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and path analysis were used to test the moderation model. The results showed that academic self-efficacy did not have a statistically significant direct association with pessimism and lack of self-confidence, whereas optimism showed a strong negative association. The interaction between academic self-efficacy and optimism was significant. Simple slope analysis indicated that academic self-efficacy was associated with lower pessimism and lack of self-confidence at higher levels of optimism, whereas this association was not statistically significant at lower levels of optimism. To complement the inferential analyses, explainable artificial intelligence techniques, including permutation importance, SHAP, and partial dependence analysis, were used to examine predictive patterns. The XAI findings highlighted the prominence of optimism-related features and more heterogeneous predictive contributions of academic self-efficacy. Overall, the findings suggest that the relationship between academic self-efficacy and employment-related pessimism and lack of self-confidence is conditional on students’ level of optimism.

Özet

Üniversite mezunlarının sayısındaki artış ve sınırlı istihdam olanakları, öğrencilerin gelecekteki istihdama ilişkin kaygılarını artırmaktadır. Bu çalışma, akademik öz-yeterlik ile işsizlik kaygısının karamsarlık ve özgüven eksikliği boyutu arasındaki ilişkiyi incelemiş ve iyimserliğin bu ilişkide düzenleyici bir rol oynayıp oynamadığını test etmiştir. Araştırmanın örneklemini, kolayda örnekleme yöntemiyle seçilen Isparta Uygulamalı Bilimler Üniversitesi’nde öğrenim gören 447 öğrenci oluşturmuştur. Düzenleyici etki modelini test etmek amacıyla tanımlayıcı istatistikler, açımlayıcı ve doğrulayıcı faktör analizleri ile yol analizi kullanılmıştır. Bulgular, akademik öz-yeterliğin karamsarlık ve özgüven eksikliği ile doğrudan ilişkisinin istatistiksel olarak anlamlı olmadığını, buna karşılık iyimserliğin güçlü ve negatif bir ilişki gösterdiğini ortaya koymuştur. Akademik öz-yeterlik ile iyimserlik arasındaki etkileşim anlamlı bulunmuştur. Basit eğim analizi, yüksek iyimserlik düzeylerinde akademik öz-yeterliğin daha düşük karamsarlık ve özgüven eksikliği ile ilişkili olduğunu, düşük iyimserlik düzeylerinde ise bu ilişkinin istatistiksel olarak anlamlı olmadığını göstermiştir. Çıkarımsal analizleri tamamlayıcı olarak, yordayıcı örüntüleri incelemek amacıyla permütasyon önemi, SHAP ve kısmi bağımlılık analizi dâhil olmak üzere açıklanabilir yapay zekâ tekniklerinden yararlanılmıştır. XAI bulguları, iyimserlikle ilişkili özelliklerin öne çıktığını ve akademik öz-yeterliğin yordayıcı katkılarının daha heterojen bir yapı sergilediğini göstermiştir. Genel olarak bulgular, akademik öz-yeterlik ile istihdama ilişkin karamsarlık ve özgüven eksikliği arasındaki ilişkinin öğrencilerin iyimserlik düzeyine bağlı olduğunu göstermektedir.

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Cite This Article

Özdemir, K. (2026). The Moderating Role of Optimism in the Relationship Between Academic Self-Efficacy and Unemployment Anxiety: An Explainable AI Approach. Uluslararası Yönetim Akademisi Dergisi, Cilt: 9 Sayı: 2. https://doi.org/10.33712/mana.2033880

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