The relationship between Career Choice Attitudes and Career Choice Competencies of ninth-grade pupils

This paper presents the results of a study designed to determine whether or not Career Choice Attitudes and Career Choice Competencies are interrelated as hypothesized in the Crites' (1965, 1973a) model of career maturity. To test hypotheses derived from the Crites model, the Career Maturity Inventory was administered to 270 ninth-grade pupils. The Attitude Scale and Competence Test subscales and total score were intercorrelated. The resulting correlations appear to be mostly consistent with the model of career maturity, although the Career Choice Attitudes and Career Choice Competencies dimensions were found to be more highly correlated with each other than was hypothesized.     

Interrelationship of career choice competencies and Career Choice Attitudes of ninth-grade pupils: Testing hypotheses derived from Crites' model of career maturity

This paper presents the results of a study designed to determine whether or not the two dimensions of Career Choice Attitudes and Career Choice Competencies are interrelated as hypothesized in the Crites (1965, 1973a) model of career maturity. To test six associational hypotheses derived from the Crites model, three different career maturity instruments which provide a total of 10 separate scores were administered to a sample of ninth-grade pupils (N = 90). The 10 scores were intercorrelated and factor analyzed. Fairly strong support was found for four of the six hypotheses. The correlation between the Career Maturity Inventory Attitude Scale and the variables classified as career choice competencies were found to be higher than predicted by the model. The factor analysis yielded two factors, one defined by the Career Maturity Inventory Attitude Scale, the Information and Decision-Making Scale of the Career Development Inventory, and the six subtests of the Cognitive Vocational Maturity Test; the other factor was defined by the Planning Orientation and Resources for Exploration Scales of the Career Development Inventory.     

Is there a monotonic criterion for measures of vocational maturity in college students?

Career development has been expected to proceed in a continuous fashion. Tests of vocational maturity, then, are expected to show higher scores with increases in grade level or meet a monotonic criterion (Crites, J. O. Psychological Monographs, 1965, 79, 25–41). Data collected with the Career Development Inventory (Super, D. E., et al. Career Development Inventory Preliminary Manual. Unpublished test manual, 1972.) by its authors showed systematic increases in scores for eighth-, tenth-, and twelfth-grade-level students. For this study, college-level students were partitioned into two groups, career-specific and social sciences and humanities based on the findings of A. S. Bisconti and I. L. Gomberg (The Hard to Place Majority. Bethlehem, Pa.: College Placement Council, 1975.) and they were administered the college version of the CDI. Scores failed to show systematic increases with college-grade level for either group. Both the findings and related theoretical positions of Ginzberg and Super provide evidence that the process of career development may be discontinuous in the post high school years. Data gathered for this study may help advance the notion that career development in college students is discontinuous and call into question the application of the monotonic criterion to tests of vocational maturity at the college level.     

Six Approaches to the Assessment of Career Maturity

This article discusses the construct of career maturity and briefly reviews research that identifies factors associated with this construct. Brief reviews of 6 instruments designed to measure career maturity are included: The Career Maturity Inventory (Crites, 1978a, 1978b), the Career Development Inventory (Super, Thompson, Lindeman, Jordaan, & Myers, 1988), the Adult Career Concerns Inventory (Super, Thompson, & Lindeman, 1988), the Assessment of Career Decision Making (Harren, 1979; Buck & Daniels, 1985), the Career Beliefs Inventory (Krumboltz, 1994), and the Career Decision Scale (Osipow, Carney, Winer, Yanico, Koschier, 1976). Issues associated with the assessment of career maturity are also discussed.     

Cognitive complexity and career maturity among college students

The role of cognitive complexity in the career maturity of college students was investigated. Simple and multiple correlational analyses were performed upon data from 99 college students who were administered the Attitude Scale and Competence Test of the Career Maturity Inventory, the Bieri Repertory Test, and the Bodden Cognitive Differentiation Grid. Results generally supported the prediction that career maturity would be found to be positively associated with cognitive complexity.     

Criterion-related and construct validity of the Career Maturity Inventory Competence Test with ninth-grade pupils

The purpose of this study was to examine the criterion-related and construct validity of the Career Maturity Inventory Competence Test. The Competence Test, Attitude Scale, and Cognitive Vocational Maturity Test were administered to 260 ninth-grade pupils in a rural junior high school to determine whether the variables were interrelated as hypothesized in theCrites (Theory and research handbook for the Career Maturity Inventory. Monterey, Calif.: CTB/McGraw-Hill, 1973) model of career maturity. The results show that, as predicted, the Competence Test is more highly correlated with the Cognitive Vocational Maturity Test than it is with the Attitude Scale. Also, as predicted, the subscales of the Competence Test are intercorrelated between .40 and .69. However, the correlations of the Attitude Scale with the Competence Test total score and the Cognitive Vocational Maturity Test total score are higher than the theoretical expectation.     

The effect of career education on career maturity

According to Hoyt (1974), career education efforts are underway in almost one-third of all school districts in the United States. Indications are that this trend will continue. However, the question of the effects of career education programs remains essentially unanswered. This study was designed to assess the effects of a career education program on students' career maturity as measured by the Career Maturity Inventory (CMI). A pretest/ posttest design was used. The sample consisted of 480 sixth and eighth grade students, one-half of whom participated in a career education program (experimental), with the remaining one-half in a regular school program (control). The career education students consistently displayed higher posttest career maturity levels, four scores being significantly higher. Significant differences were found in occupational knowledge of sixth graders, occupational planning for both the sixth and eighth graders and in the attitude scale score for the eighth graders. It was concluded that the career education program had a positive effect in increasing students' levels of career maturity.     

The influence of a career group experience on the vocational maturity of college students

The effects of a career group experience on the vocational maturity of theoretically grouped college freshmen and sophomores were investigated using Super's Career Development Inventory as the dependent measure. The dimensions of consistency/inconsistency and differentiation/nondifferentiation, as identified utilizing Holland's Vocational Preference Inventory, were investigated along with the dimensions of treatment/nontreatment and interaction effects. Predictions related to change in vocational maturity as a result of treatment were made for each dimension. The analysis sample was a group of 68 volunteer freshman and sophomore college students. Results indicated that students did significantly increase their vocational maturity as a result of the group experience. Furthermore, it was found, as predicted, that within experimental groups inconsistent and nondifferentiated students improved significantly more on some vocational maturity measures than consistent or differentiated students. Students who were both inconsistent and nondifferentiated showed consistently greater increases on virtually all vocational maturity measures than all other theoretical groups.     

聋人大学生心理控制源对求职行为的影响：职业成熟度的中介作用

采用中国大学生控制源测量问卷、职业成熟度量表和高校应届毕业生求职调查问卷对重庆、北京、吉林、天津4地4所高校的386名聋人大学生进行调查,旨在探讨聋人大学生心理控制源、职业成熟度与求职行为的关系,揭示职业成熟度在心理控制源与求职行为之间的中介作用机制。结果发现：（1）内控对职业成熟度和求职行为均具有显著的正向预测作用。（2）职业成熟度在内控与求职行为之间起部分中介作用。（3）职业成熟度在外控对求职行为的影响中起着“遮掩效应”。     

聋人大学生心理控制源对求职行为的影响：职业成熟度的中介作用

采用中国大学生控制源测量问卷、职业成熟度量表和高校应届毕业生求职调查问卷对重庆、北京、吉林、天津4地4所高校的386名聋人大学生进行调查,旨在探讨聋人大学生心理控制源、职业成熟度与求职行为的关系,揭示职业成熟度在心理控制源与求职行为之间的中介作用机制。结果发现：（1）内控对职业成熟度和求职行为均具有显著的正向预测作用。（2）职业成熟度在内控与求职行为之间起部分中介作用。（3）职业成熟度在外控对求职行为的影响中起着“遮掩效应”。     

大学生职业成熟度结构及问卷编制

研究通过文献综述、开放式调查、专家咨询和样本预测的统计分析等提出了大学生职业成熟度的理论构想,以此为基础自编了大学生职业成熟度问卷,并对正式问卷调查结果进行了探索性因素分析和验证性因素分析,结果表明：大学生职业成熟度主要包括职业知识和职业态度两个维度;研究所构建的大学生职业成熟度理论结构比较合理,编制的大学生职业成熟度问卷是一个具有较好信度和效度的测量工具,可以为进一步研究提供依据与基础。     

Vocational maturity of Arab and American high school students

The vocational maturity of Arab and American ninth- and eleventh-grade students were compared. Arab students were found to have lower maturity scores than American students. Eleventh graders of both nationalities were more vocationally mature than ninth graders. The possibility that the overall difference found between Arab and American students can be attributed to cultural differences was supported by the response trend of discriminating items as revealed by an item analysis.     

Effects of educational and career exploration system on vocational maturity

An experimental group of 792 tenth graders spent from 1 to 17 hr (average 3 hr) on ECES, a computer-based educational and occupational exploration system.Gains on a test of vocational maturity administered at the beginning and end of the school year were compared with a control group of 1453 tenth graders, matched on relevant variables. ECES users showed larger gains than nonusers in (1) degree of planfulness and (2) knowledge and use of resources for career exploration, as measured by the Career Development Inventory, not in information about education, occupations and career decision making. Gains were related to amount of time spent on ECES but male-female differences were not exhibited.     

民族文化认同与大学生职业成熟度的关系及其心理机制

为考察大学生民族文化认同与职业成熟度的关系及其内在心理机制,本研究采用多民族青少年文化认同问卷、大学生生涯自我效能感量表和大学生职业成熟度量表对4292名在校大学生进行测查,结果发现：（1）大学生的主流文化认同、民族文化认同、生涯自我效能感和职业成熟度之间具有明显的正相关;（2）主流文化认同--生涯自我效能感在民族文化认同与职业成熟度之间起链式中介作用;（3）生涯自我效能感中介民族文化认同与职业成熟度的关系在男生样本中不显著而在女生样本中显著;主流文化认同、生涯自我效能感分别单独中介民族文化认同与职业成熟度的关系在汉族大学生样本中为部分中介,而在少数民族大学生样本中为完全中介。     

Time perspective in vocational maturity and career decision making

This study investigated the hypothesis that time perspective is a component in vocational maturity and career decision making. Ninety-seven college freshmen responded to two measures of time perspective and seven measures selected to represent attitudinal vocational maturity, cognitive vocational maturity, and career decision making. The nine variables were intercorrelated and the resulting matrix was subjected to alpha factor analysis. Three factors were extracted and titled Attitudinal Vocational Maturity, Cognitive Vocational Maturity, and Career Decision Making. As predicted, time perspective was a component in the Attitudinal Vocational Maturity and Career Decision-Making factors. The results supported the hypothesis and specifically linked time perspective to planfulness and degree of indecision.     

Mapping the Domain of Career Decision Problems

The domain of career decision problems has not been adequately explored. Consequently, it is difficult to determine how well existing instruments sample the career indecision construct. The authors conducted a factor analysis of the Career Decision Scale, Career Factors Inventory, and Career Decision Difficulties Questionnaire with undecided college students to explore the indecision domain. They found six reliable factors: Lack of Information, Need for Information, Trait Indecision, Disagreement with Others, Identity Diffusion, and Choice Anxiety. They conducted a cluster analysis of these six factors to explore the structure of the indecision domain and found three clusters: Information Deficit/Identity Diffusion, Decision Process Inhibitors, and Choice Inhibitors. The authors propose a definition of the domain of career decision problems, discuss implications of the results for career counseling, and critique existing instruments on their coverage of the domain.     

Relationship of age,sex, and educational groups to career decisiveness

Five educational groups, composed of a total of 369 students, ranging from high school freshmen to college juniors, were administered the Career Decision Questionnaire, a scale designed to measure antecedents of educational-vocational indecision. It was determined that age was an extremely important factor in career decidedness, sex was not an important variable in determining decidedness, and certain educational groups stood out as significant factors associated with level of career decisiveness. Students enrolled in career orientation classes were clearly more undecided than students enrolled in 12th-grade vocational classes, college preprofessional classes, and more general groups of high school students. Interaction among variables and the measurement of career decidedness are discussed, with applications for counseling considered.     

Career education and career maturity

The relationships between career maturity and the career curriculum practices and policies of 38 Melbourne metropolitan secondary schools were investigated in this study. An Australian adaption of the Career Development Inventory was used as the measure of career maturity of random samples of year 9 and year 11 students. Career curriculum practices were ascertained via questionnaires. Questionnaires were completed by the principal, career teacher, and three subject teachers in each of the schools in the study. The questionnaires yielded five factors, one associated with congruence to Super's theory and four assocated with innovation/implementation factors. The results of the study supported the view that schools with career education programs achieved higher gains in the career maturity of their students between years 9 and 11 than schools with no career education programs. The findings also showed a strong relationship between the type of program offered, the support of the school for that program, and the gains in career maturity of the students between years 9 and 11.     

Sex-role self-concept and attitudes related to occupational daydreams and future fantasies of college women

This study explored the relationship of sex-role self-concept and general attitudes toward women's roles to patterns of career preferences and to career salience among 50 undergraduate women. Sex-role self-concept was measured by the Bem Sex-Role Inventory, and attitudes by the Attitudes Toward Women Scale. Patterns in career preferences were determined by studying the degree of gender dominance in past occupational daydreams as well as in present college major and intended future occupation. Career salience was measured using a content analysis of written future fantasies. Sex-role self-concept was related to past occupational preferences, with masculine-typed women showing a pattern of nontraditional daydreams compared to those of feminine-typed women. Attitude variables were related to present career choices, with liberal women in more male-dominant fields than conservative women. Both self-concept and attitude variables were related to career salience, measured by the proportion of fantasies about the future devoted to work themes. Masculine women showed evidence of more career salience than androgynous or undifferentiated women, and liberal women more than conservative women.     

Relationship between career maturity and self-concepts of suburban and urban middle- and urban lower-class preadolescent black males

The relationship between career maturity and self-concepts of 252 sixth-grade black males was investigated. Student samples of suburban and urban middle- and urban lower-class were drawn from 42 different school settings located in Monroe, Erie, and Westchester Counties of New York State. The Attitude Scale of the Career Maturity Inventory and the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory were used to assess the association of career maturity and self-concepts. Results indicated relatively weak-positive relationships between career maturity and self-concepts. Significant career maturity differences were found. However, self-concepts of the three groups were not statistically significantly different. Of the set of independent variables predicting and estimating variance accounted for (socioeconomic status, family intactness, place of residence, and reading), socioeconomic status was found to have the strongest predictive value on career maturity. It was suggested that researchers examine elementary school black students' career development in view of the group with whom they identify most.