대학 적응 맥락에서 후천적 경험요인이 소명 의식 형성에 미치는 영향 분석

This study examined the influence of college adjustment on a sense of calling in order to explore acquired factors contributing to its development. To this end, a survey was conducted in September 2025 with first-year students at C University in Gangwon Province, South Korea. After excluding questionnaires with inappropriate responses, data from 173 participants were included in the analysis. The major findings were as follows. First, academic adjustment among college students had positive effects on the transcendent calling, sense of purpose, and prosocial orientation dimensions of calling. Second, social and emotional adjustment were found to have positive effects only on the sense of purpose dimension of calling. Third, while students exhibited relatively high levels of sense of purpose and prosocial orientation, the level of transcendent calling was comparatively low. The academic contribution of this study lies in its empirical verification of the relationship between college adjustment and a sense of calling, thereby supporting the view that calling is not merely a predetermined or fate-driven phenomenon, but a developmental construct shaped through interactions with acquired factors. Furthermore, by demonstrating that a sense of calling does not necessarily align with social or emotional adjustment, this study provides insight that the fundamental aim of calling is more closely related to meaning than to happiness. In addition, the findings suggest the need to reconceptualize calling beyond a work- or occupation-centered framework. Accordingly, this study offers implications for the direction of educational interventions aimed at enhancing college students’ sense of calling. Moreover, it may help students understand their college adjustment experiences not simply as challenges of campus life, but as an important foundation for the formation of career identity and life meaning.