Career development status as a predictor of career intervention outcomes.

Relates career status measures (the Career Decision Scale, the Vocational Identity Scale, and the Career Maturity Inventory), goals for participating in career intervention, and ego strength (Barron Ego-Strength Scale) to 6 outcomes of the administration of the Self-Directed Search (SDS). Outcomes include satisfaction with the SDS, satisfaction with posttest career choice, congruence of expressed and measured interests, and 3 self-reported behavioral indices. 48 male and 64 female undergraduates served as Ss. Stepwise regressions indicated that outcomes for males could not be predicted as effectively as those for females. The Career Decision Scale, the Vocational Identity Scale, and ratings on the goal of obtaining training information were the best predictors. Most change occurred for females high on vocational identity; most satisfaction with the SDS and job choice was attained by those low in indecision on the Career Decision Scale. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impact of a counseling outreach workshop on vocational development.

Studied the effects of a structured life-planning workshop geared to outreach or preventative vocational counseling on the career decisions of 64 male undergraduates. Behavioral and attitudinal measures derived from a career process model of career development were examined. Significant differences between experimental and control groups were found on behavioral measures of pre-post changes in information seeking, the total number of occupations Ss were considering, and the congruence of these alternatives with their measured interests. No changes were found in attitudes about choosing a career or perceptions of strengths and weaknesses. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex and career decision-making styles.

Reports 3 studies with 116 undergraduates, 717 high school students, and 116 undergraduates, respectively, testing the hypothesis of greater reliance on the "intuitive style" by females and on the "planning" style by males in making career decisions. Ss in Study 1 took the Vocational Rating Scale and the Assessment of Career Decision-Making. Ss in Study 2 took the Career Decision Making Questionnaire (CDMQ) which included the 2 measures in the 1st study. Ss in Study 3 took the CDMQ and the Work Values Inventory. There were no sex differences in the high school and college Ss for stage or style of decision making, vocational self-concept crystallization, or self-rated vocational decisiveness. The planning style was most highly associated with vocational decisiveness, the "choice" stage of choosing an occupation, and with stronger "super" work values, particularly management, security, and prestige. Differential career counseling for the sexes does not appear indicated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Vocational interests and career indecision among psychosis-prone college students

This study investigated the relationship between scores on scales that purport to measure psychosis-proneness and scores on vocational interests, identity, and differentiation scales in a sample of 233 college students who completed the Perceptual Aberration and Magical Ideation scales, the Strong Campbell Interest Inventory, and the Career Decision Scale. The present findings are consistent with prior work indicating a sex-related association of scores on measures of psychosis-proneness and vocational interests. A positive correlation between scores on vocational indecision and measures of psychosis-proneness was also found, suggesting that both men and women who score high on psychosis-proneness find it difficult to formulate long-term career goals. Finally, there was no significant correlation between scores on measures of psychosis-proneness and Holland's Vocational Differentiation Index. Present results are discussed in light of previously reported sex differences among psychosis-prone adults and diagnosed schizophrenics. The implications of the findings for vocational counselors are also addressed.     

An investigation of different levels of agreement between expressed and inventoried vocational interests among college women.

Selected 175 female university students who were equally distributed over the 7-point Index of Agreement scale, which reflects the relation between expressed and inventoried interests. The Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) was used as a measure of inventoried interests. ANOVAs over the 7 groups indicated that there were significant differences in the relation between the VPI and college majors, in the relation between expressed choices and college majors, and on J. L. Holland's (1973) construct of differentiation. Analyses of extreme group differences, using low- and high-congruence groups, confirmed the differences found in the overall analyses. In addition, significant group differences were found on the Vocational Decision Making Difficulty Scale. The differences found consistently suggest that the groups lower in agreement between expressed and inventoried interests were less career decided than the groups higher in agreement. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Congruence and vocational identity: Outcomes of career counseling with persuasive power.

A study with 84 female and 52 male community-college students with specific occupational choices tested whether congruence between occupational choice and inventoried interests and vocational identity are related to typical career counseling outcomes. Ss completed the Self-Directed Search congruence scale, a vocational identity scale, several scales from the Career Development Inventory, and the IPAT. Ss were categorized as congruent or not congruent and high or low in vocational identity. ANOVA tested whether the Ss differed on estimated career management skill, general and specific career information, decision making, and anxiety. Analyses were not significant for males but showed that females higher in identity estimated higher career maturity. Females high in congruence reported less anxiety, and females high in both congruence and identity had higher career decision-making skills and tended to have more general information. Findings suggest that congruence not accompanied by a sense of vocational identity is a transitional state, whereas high identity without congruence reflects an incomplete evaluation of self in relation to career. Implications for using congruence and vocational identity as outcome measures of counseling are discussed. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measuring a three-dimensional construct of career indecision among college students: A revision of the Vocational Decision Scale: The Career Decision Profile.

This article describes a revision of the Vocational Decision Scale called the Career Decision Profile (CDP). The CDP was administered to 221 undergraduates. The results support the reliability and validity of the Decidedness and Comfort scales and the four scales of the Reasons dimension: Self-Clarity, Knowledge About Occupations and Training, Decisiveness, and Career Choice Importance. Analyses indicated that: career decided students need career planning assistance; trait anxiety is more strongly associated with how students feel about their career decision status than how decided they are; the vocational decision status model provides a clearer picture of career indecision than current unitary approaches; and the CDP shows promise for differentiating among groups of students for treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relation of career indecision to changes in expressed vocational interests.

Examined the stability or changes in the expressed vocational interests of 98 undergraduate women over a 2-yr period. Interests were measured by the Vocational Preference Inventory and 2 career indecision scales, and changes were measured by questionnaire. Ss were divided into 3 groups: stable (69 Ss), changed (13 Ss), and undecided (16 Ss). Results show significant differences between groups on GPAs and on the vocational measures. Results further show that career indecision predicted changes in expressed vocational interests. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial development and vocational behavior.

Empirically explored the relationship between psychosocial development as described by E. H. Erikson (1963, 1968) and vocational-choice behavior and development. Ss were 123 male undergraduates. Stage resolution attitudes, derived from the 1st 6 stage crises outlined by Erikson, were explored as variables influencing problems in vocational choice and vocational maturity. Ss classified in different vocational-choice adjustment groups and Ss scoring at different levels on the Career Maturity Inventory were compared for differences among Eriksonian stage resolution attitudes as measured by the Inventory of Psychosocial Development and the Dignan Ego Identity Scale. Findings indicate that Ss who had made adjusted vocational choices and developed mature career attitudes had also been more successful in positively resolving the 1st 6 psychosocial stage crises outlined by Erikson. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multiple subtypes among vocationally undecided college students: A model and assessment instrument.

Developed a model of vocational decision status to differentiate subtypes among vocationally undecided students. The Vocational Decision Scale (VDS) was constructed to assess its 3 dimensions of decidedness, comfort with level of decidedness, and reasons for being undecided. The VDS, Assessment of Career Decision Making, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Identity Scale, Career Salience Questionnaire, and Anomy Scale were administered to 224 undergraduates. Results support the reliability and construct validity of the Decidedness and Comfort scales. A factor analysis of the reasons dimension yielded 3 factors: Self-uncertainty, Choice/Work Salience, and Transitional self. To investigate the diagnostic capability of the VDS, scales were constructed for the 3 factors, and the VDS was administered in a pretest–posttest to 81 college students enrolled in a vocational exploration course. Hypothesized pretest–posttest differences among the scales were confirmed. Results demonstrate the utility of the model, support the reliability and validity of the VDS, and illustrate the value of viewing vocationally undecided students as multiple subtypes. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A canonical analysis of career choice crystallization and vocational maturity.

Whereas career development theory has proposed that the crystallization of career choices occurs as individuals resolve relevant career development tasks, the supporting empirical evidence has been inconclusive. To develop a clearer understanding of the nature of the career decision-making process, this study assessed the degree to which career choice crystallization is associated with vocationally mature attitudes, behavior, and knowledge. Measures of vocational maturity and career choice crystallization (which was defined by measures of career decidedness and commitment to career choice) were administered to 158 community college students (mean age?=?21.35). A canonical analysis was employed to identify the relationships between age, gender, career choice crystallization, and vocational maturity. The analysis yielded one significant canonical root, which indicated that most of the shared variance between these two sets of variables was contributed by the relationship between the career planning component of vocational maturity and the two career choice crystallization scales. These findings were related to theory, research, and practice in career development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of career indecision on treatments exploring the vocational interests of college women.

180 undergraduate women at 1 of 3 levels of career indecision were randomly assigned to Vocational Card Sort treatment, Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory treatment, or no-treatment control. Outcome measures assessed vocational needs, vocational exploration, and satisfaction with career choice. The percentage of women who were employed in the expressed vocational choices chosen by the Ss was examined, and 2 methods of analyzing changes in the expressed choices were used. Results indicate some modest treatment effects. There was clearer support for the importance of career indecision in relation to the impact of the vocational interventions. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential effects of three vocational counseling treatments.

Compared 3 treatments which included 2 self-administering counseling modes, Holland's Self-Directed Search (SDS), a modification of the SDS entitled Individual Vocational Planning (IVP), and traditional vocational counseling. 113 undergraduates seeking counseling at a college counseling center were randomly assigned to 1 of the 3 treatment or control groups. Pre- and posttest scores were obtained on frequency and variety of vocational information seeking, satisfaction with treatment, and other measures. In addition, differential costs of providing the treatments were examined. Results indicate that all treatments were about equally effective as measured and the college users appeared equally satisfied with them. Cost analysis indicated that the traditional counseling treatment cost 6 times more per S than SDS and 4 times more than the IVP. Low delivery cost and comparable effectiveness provide evidence for the self-administrable treatment modes as additional alternatives to traditional methods. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Female college students' scores on the men's and women's Strong Vocational Interest Blanks.

Administered the men's and women's forms of the SVIB and a career orientation questionnaire to a sample of 90 undergraduate women. Significant differences were found between mean scores on Occupational scales common to both forms and on mean number of B+ and A ratings on the men's and women's forms. Occupational scale scores and number of B+ and A interest ratings were examined in relationship to career vs. homemaker orientation. Ss differentiated on the basis of career orientation obtained significantly different mean numbers of B+ and A interest ratings on the women's SVIB. Implications for vocational counseling are discussed, and use of both forms of the SVIB is recommended in vocational counseling with college women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of gender, construct type, occupational information, and career relevance on vocational differentiation.

A study was designed to replicate and extend previous research on 1 aspect of vocational structure, vocational differentiation (VOD). Results of a 2 (gender)?×?2 (occupational information)?×?2 (construct type)?×?3 (career relevance) between-Ss study revealed 2 sets of noteworthy findings. First, results replicated previous findings concerning the impact of each of these factors on levels of VOD. Higher levels of VOD were found in men than were found in women and were related to the use of personal constructs when Ss judged highly irrelevant career alternatives. Second, these effects were qualified by interaction between construct type (personal and provided) and career relevance (high, mixed, and low). Personally elicited constructs were used with greater differentiation than were standard provided ones only when participants evaluated highly relevant career alternatives. This effect challenges long-standing assumptions regarding differences between personal and provided vocational constructs, and the implications of this are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validity of vocational aspirations and interest inventories: Extended, replicated, and reinterpreted.

This study found that classified vocational aspirations—singly or in combination—of Navy recruits (467 men and 250 women) were superior to the Vocational Preference Inventory. Predictions for persons with coherent vocational aspirations (aspirations all in the same occupational category) were very predictive over a short time interval, but the hypothesized links between the coherence of vocational aspirations and the Identity Scale (J. L. Holland et al; see record 1981-26762-001), NEO Personality Inventory scales, and scales of the Vocational Preference Inventory received only partial support. This study replicates much earlier work (e.g., F. H. Borgen and M. J. Seling, 1978). Implications for test development and practitioners are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Instruction in career decision making and decision-making styles.

Investigated the differential effectiveness of 2 distinct career decision-making interventions and decision-making styles on certainty of vocational choice and changes in vocational maturity. 120 undergraduates were randomly assigned to (a) intuitive intervention, (b) rational intervention, (c) attention-placebo, or (d) no-treatment control groups. Ss were classified as having either a rational, intuitive, or dependent decision-making style, and styles distributed themselves evenly across the 4 groups. They were administered a battery of tests including the Career Maturity Inventory, Vocational Survey Questionnaire, and Assessment of Career Decision Making. Results indicate that decision-making style contributed to vocational maturity and certainty of vocational choice, and both interventions resulted in increases on both dependent measures. Rational decision makers did best with the rational intervention, whereas intuitive decision makers did best with the intuitive interventions. Thus, both styles can be considered as effective. Dependent decision makers had an ineffective style, demonstrating decreases on both dependent measures in all groups. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validity generalization of the men's form of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank with academically able women.

Used the men's form of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank, SVIB-M, to study the validity of a single inventory for predicting career choices and college majors at the end of college from precollege interests of high-ability men and women. Groups consisted of 570 women and 1,031 men in 16 major fields and 452 women and 780 men in 10 career fields. All study participants were National Merit Scholars in 1966. Differentiations of career- and major-field groups obtained from the SVIB-M Occupational scales were compared for men and women. Multiple discriminant function weights were obtained for 2/3 of the sample of men and were cross-validated on the remainder of the men and all of the women. Although plots of subgroup centroids in discriminant space revealed some systematic sex differences, the results in general suggest that a single form of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank is potentially feasible for predicting college-major and career choices of women as well as men. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Holland type as a predictor of benefit from self-help career counseling.

Determining who would benefit from treatment interventions is an important issue for psychology in general and self-help approaches in particular. Holland high-point code and self-directed search (Holland, 1985b) scale scores were used to predict benefit from a self-help career counseling intervention for 52 students undecided as to career. Outcome was assessed by means of changes on the Vocational Identity Scale of Holland's My Vocational Situation (Holland, Daiger, & Power, 1980). Participants with realistic, investigative, or conventional high-point codes showed greater changes in vocational identity when compared with participants with artistic, social, or enterprising high-point codes. The results also indicated that higher scores on the Realistic, Investigative, and Conventional scales were related to greater changes in vocational identity. The results are discussed in relation to self-help for career concerns and the self-help field in general. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of three groups of vocationally indecisive students.

Three groups of college students with vocational problems (19 who sought professional counseling at a university counseling center, 52 who enrolled in a class in career planning, and 32 who sought no professional help) were compared on 5 measures: an attitudes toward counselors and counseling scale, a perceived usefulness of counseling item, an alternate sources of help question, the Career Decision Scale, and Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale. A discriminant analysis, followed by comparison of the 3 groups on each of the 5 measures, indicated that those who used the services of a counseling center had a significantly more positive attitude toward counseling and counselors. The higher scores on levels of career indecision, which were found among the nonseekers in comparison to the class takers, were ascribed to experimental conditions. Results suggest that some previous findings that indicate attitudes may not be important in predicting help-seeking behavior may not apply to those who have vocational problems. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)