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.     

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.     

Refining Measurement of Career Indecision Types: A Validity Study

The authors conducted this study to address some of the limitations in previous indecision typology research and to provide validity evidence for the indecision types that were derived. The participants were 566 first‐semester, undecided students enrolled in a career exploration course. Career indecision, personality, and ability measures were used to derive career indecision types through cluster analysis. Four distinct career indecision types were identified. Subsequently, the effect of indecision type on response to a career exploration course was examined. Level of career indecision, the criterion variable, was not differentially affected by indecision type. Implications of the findings for career counseling are discussed.     

The effectiveness of a computerized guidance system in promoting career decision making

The effectiveness of CHOICES in improving the career decision making of university students through the utilization of the two instruments, (a) the Career Decision Scale and (b) the Occupational Scale of the Assessment of Career Decision Making, is examined. This experimental research involved 136 university students who were assigned to either an experimental or control group. Results indicated that CHOICES improved career decision making as measured by both instruments. No differences were found between its effectiveness with males and females.     

Structural and discriminant validity of the career factors inventory

Using a sample of 350 college students, this study examined the structural and discriminant validity of the Career Factors Inventory (CFI; Chartrand, Robbins, Morrill, & Boggs, 1990), a multidimensional measure of career indecision intended to be scored for two informational indecision components (Need for Career Information and Need for Self-Knowledge) and two personal-emotional components (Career Choice Anxiety and Generalized Indecisiveness). Results of confirmatory factor analyses and correlations revealed that: (a) the underlying structure of the CFI was similar for women and men, (b) the original four-factor model corresponding to the CFI’s scoring scheme demonstrated an excellent fit to the data, (c) a non-hierarchical two-factor model and a hierarchical model were both supported by the data, and (d) the CFI demonstrated evidence of discriminant validity. Implications for career counseling and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Career indecision in adult women: A comparative and descriptive study

This study compared 66 high-school women, 66 first-year college women, and 66 adult women on four measures of career indecision, the Satisfaction with Career Scale, the Occupational Alternatives Question, the Vocational Decision Making Difficulty Scale, and the Career Decision Scale. The results consistently suggested that the adult women were experiencing more career indecision than the high-school and college women. Intercorrelations among the scales were generally moderate to somewhat low and raised some questions about the use of the Career Decision Scale with adult women. Additional data were gathered on the adult women in an attempt to delineate the sample. Variables included were: marital status, present work experience, the career-related goals and the reasons for pursuing these goals, and possible impediments to reaching the goals. These results are presented and the implications for future research and counseling with adult women are examined.     

Constructionist career counseling of undergraduate students: An experimental evaluation

This study used a pretest–posttest control group design to examine the effectiveness of a six-session constructionist career counseling intervention (Savickas, 2011). It was hypothesized that relative to pre-intervention scores, the participants would demonstrate decreases in their indecision, anxiety, uncertainty, and insecurity about their career choices. Participants consisted of 50 undergraduates ranging in age from 19 to 25. They completed the Undergraduate Career Choice Survey (UCCS) and then were evenly divided into an intervention group and a control group. The intervention group received six sessions of constructionist career counseling. Each session was approximately 45 min with a total of 4 h, 30 min approximately for the six sessions. Both groups then took the UCCS again. Analyses of the data using t-tests revealed significant reductions in indecision, anxiety, uncertainty, and insecurity for the intervention group but not for the control group. The intervention group took the UCCS again eight weeks later. An ANOVA indicated that the reductions in indecision, anxiety, uncertainty, and insecurity were slightly yet significantly greater. Limitations and directions for further research were pointed out.     

Career Decision Ambiguity Tolerance Scale: Construction and initial validations

The Career Decision Ambiguity Tolerance Scale (CDAT) measures individual evaluations of and responses to ambiguity encountered in career decision making. It was developed and initially validated through two studies of college students. An exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis consistently showed a three-factor structure for career decision ambiguity tolerance, consisting of preference, tolerance, and aversion. In addition to support for construct validity and subscale reliabilities, the findings also support the scale's incremental validity in predicting career indecision, career decision-making self-efficacy, and career adaptability over and beyond general ambiguity tolerance. The theoretical meaning and practical application of the CDAT were discussed along with its limitations and suggestions for future research.     

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.     

The Effects of Gender on Career Decision Problems in Young Adults

The authors investigated gender differences in psychological problems in the career decision making (CDM) process of young adults. Specifically, problems with decision anxiety, life-goal awareness, luck-fate orientation, authority orientation, and secondary gain motivation were investigated. Methodology involved administering the Career Decision Diagnostic Assessment (CDDA) instrument to 1,006 college students from four universities. Results indicated no gender differences in global levels of problems in CDM. Women reported more problems with life-goal awareness and authority orientation than did men. Men reported more problems with secondary gain motivations than did women. The results are discussed in terms of implications for gender-differentiated career counseling.     

Career indecision: Three factors from decision theory

Three factors of indecision are derived from decision theory: being insufficiently informed about the alternatives, valuation problems, and uncertainty about the outcomes. The three factors are studied in high school students’ career decision process of choosing further studies. Using factor analysis, we found empirical evidence for a differentiation between the three theoretical sources of career indecision: an information factor, a valuation factor, and an outcomes factor, but only the valuation factor and the outcomes factor seem to associate empirically with career indecision. The importance of both factors for career indecision was further supported by their intermediate role between general indecisiveness and career indecision.     

Applications of self-efficacy theory to the understanding and treatment of career indecision

The present study was designed to investigate the utility of Bandura's self-efficacy theory to the understanding and treatment of career indecision. More specifically, the study involved the development of a measure of self-efficacy expectations with regard to 50 tasks or behaviors required in career decision making and the examination of the relationships of career decision-making self-efficacy to several components of vocational indecision. A total of 346 subjects, 154 students attending a private liberal arts college and 193 students attending a large state university, were administered the measure of career decision-making self-efficacy expectations and the Career Decision Scale (Osipow, Carney, Winer, Yanico, & Koschier, Columbus, Ohio: Marathon Consulting and Press, 1980). In addition, Scholastic Aptitude Test verbal and math scores were obtained for the liberal arts students, and American College Test math and English subtest scores were obtained for the state university students. Results indicated first that college students in general express considerable confidence in their ability to complete the tasks necessary to make career decisions. In addition, however, the strength of students' career decision-making self-efficacy expectations was strongly and negatively related to overall levels of career indecision and was, in particular, related to the component of indecision described as a lack of structure and confidence with respect to career decisions. Relationships of career decision-making self-efficacy expectations to ability level were negligible. Based on the findings of this study it is suggested that the concept of career-related self-efficacy expectations provides a useful framework for the understanding, assessment, and treatment of at least some of the antecedents to vocational indecision.     

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.     

Influence of Proactive Personality on Career Self‐Efficacy

This study examined the relationship between proactive personality and career decision‐making self‐efficacy. In Study 1, the authors validated the Proactive Personality Scale–Korean Short Form, using the Rasch model with 315 participants, and found that fit statistics, point‐measure correlations, and item difficulty estimates satisfy the construct validity criterion. In Study 2, the authors administered the Proactive Personality Scale, Career Decision‐Making Self‐Efficacy Scale, and Career Search Self‐Efficacy Scale to 296 freshman and sophomore college students. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that proactive personality scores explain additional variance in both career decision‐making self‐efficacy and career search self‐efficacy scores. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

Career counselling: A process in process

Career counselling, career guidance, and career interventions are terms in the process of evolution. Historical and contemporary factors in the US experience that have changed and expanded the needs for career counselling and related career interventions are discussed. For many work-adjustment problems, in particular, there is a growing acknowledgement that career and personal counselling must fuse. Where this fusion occurs, on a continuum from choice, indecision, and situational concerns to change, indecisiveness, and personal concerns, is analysed.     

Exploration of Latent Profiles of the Career Flexibility Inventory Among Korean College Students

The purposes of the present study were to identify latent profiles using dimensions of the Career Flexibility Inventory and to examine the mean differences of the latent profiles and related variables. Career flexibility was identified to have 5 latent profiles: passive wavering, mediocre, rigid thinking, moderately flexible, and productively flexible. The productively flexible profile reported the highest scores and the passive wavering profile reported the lowest scores of life satisfaction and self-determination. Each profile showed specific trend of mean differences with career indecision, intolerance of uncertainty, life satisfaction, self-determination, and the 2 dimensions of the Vocational Identity Status Assessment.     

Career lndecision and Family Enmeshment

In this study the relationship between career indecision and family-of-origin enmeshment is examined. Six hundred and four undergraduate and graduate students (classes randomly selected) were administered the Career Decision Scale and two scales (Intergenerational Individuation and Triangulation) from the Personal Authority in the Family System Questionnaire. A simultaneous multiple regression analysis on the indecision scale, using four predictor variables, yielded three significant variables (age, graduate/undergraduate status, and individuation) that accounted for 11% of the variance. Graduate students were more decided than undergraduate students and those who were more decisive tended to be older and more individuated.     

Growing Up Perfect: Perfectionism,Problematic Internet Use,and Career Indecision in Emerging Adults

Among emerging adults who are career indecisive, perfectionism and problematic Internet use (PIU) are underdeveloped areas of inquiry. The authors examined the relationship between perfectionism and PIU to measure their contributions to career indecision. The full model was significant, yielding an R² of .46 (p < .0001). PIU accounted for the majority of variance in career indecision (adjusted R² = .32). Career indecision was also related to maladaptive but not adaptive perfectionism. Counseling implications are discussed.     

Targeting low career confidence using the career planning confidence scale

The authors describe the development and validation of a test of career planning confidence that makes possible the targeting of specific problem issues in employment counseling. The scale, developed using a rational process and the authors' experience with clients, was tested for criterion‐related validity against 2 other measures. The scale produced a 6‐factor structure that replicates common career planning models: Readiness to Make a Career Decision, Self‐Assessment, Generating Options, Information Seeking, Deciding, and Implementing a Decision. Validity and reliability of the scale are discussed, along with suggestions for employment counseling practice.     

Dimensions of adolescent career development: A multi-instrument analysis

Dimensions of adolescent career development were assessed by several well-established, objectively scored instruments. Attention was given to the correlations between measures of academic achievement and career development. Correlations among 19 scales administered to 237 eleventh graders revealed three clusters of converging scale pairs, labeled “Certainty,” “Decision-Making,” and “Activity.” Four orthogonal factors were identified and given the following heuristic labels: “Cognitive Resources for Decision-Making,” “Decision-Making Style,” “Systematic Involvement in Career Decision-Making,” and “Decision-Making Stage/Certainty.” Results are discussed in relation to practical problems of instrument selection and score interpretation and in the context of theories of adolescent career development.