Vocational maturity and anxiety among vocationally undecided and indecisive students : The effectiveness of Holland's Self-Directed Search

This study was designed with two purposes in mind: (1) to measure the effectiveness of Holland's Self-Directed Search for Educational and Vocational Planning (SDS); and (2) to test the validity of Goodstein's (Theories of Counseling. B. Stefflure, Ed., 1965) hypothesis that career indecision and indecisiveness are differentially related to anxiety and vocational maturity. A total of 66 high school males and 60 high school females were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups and tested for anxiety and vocational maturity levels; the experimental subjects were given the SDS. Statistical analysis indicated that the SDS was an effective instrument in reducing career indecision; Goodstein's hypothesis was not supported by the results of the study.