The Mediating Role of Career Stress and the Moderating Role of Psychological Resilience in the Relationship Between the Future Anxiety and the Psychological Well-Being of Prospective Social Studies Teachers

Prospective social studies teachers experience future anxiety and career stress in Turkey just as in different countries around the world. The aim of the study was to examine this issue. The mediating role of career stress and the moderating role of psychological resilience in the relationship between the future anxiety and psychological well-being of prospective social studies teachers were examined. A cross-sectional research model was used throughout the study. Maximum diversity sampling formed the participant group, which included 988 prospective social studies teachers from various universities in Turkey. The Future Anxiety Scale in University Students, the Psychological Well-Being Scale, the Korean Career Stress Inventory, and the Adult Resilience Measure provided the data used in the study. The data were analyzed using the SPSS 25 package program and the Process Macro 4.2 plug-in. It was concluded that future anxiety has a significant negative effect on psychological well-being. In addition, it was concluded that career stress has a mediating role and that psychological resilience has a moderating role in the relationship between future anxiety and psychological well-being. Suggestions led to an examination the hypotheses of this study with different experimental and longitudinal studies and with the participation of prospective social studies teachers who had graduated from university and could not be appointed. © The Author(s) 2025.