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)     

Sex role self-concept and career decision making.

The influence of sex-role-related aspects of students' self-concept on their progress in making a decision about choice of college, choice of a major, and choice of an occupation, as well as their use of both the rational and intuitive decision-making styles, was investigated. For 289 male and 283 female college students, their sex-role self-concept as measured by the Bem Sex-Role Inventory was related to their progress on all 3 decisions. Test scores were compared with those of 300 other Ss from 3 colleges, and no significant variance was found. The patterns of results were different for men and women. Sex-role self-concept was related to the use of both decision-making styles for women, whereas it was a factor only on the rational style scale for men. The implications of these findings for differential counseling based on sex-role self-concept rather than on gender are discussed. Counselors are cautioned against overlooking the potential influences of factors not related to sex roles on students' career decisions. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A taxonomy of difficulties in career decision making.

A general theoretical taxonomy of career decision-making difficulties, based on decision theory, has been developed. To examine the proposed taxonomy empirically, a questionnaire was constructed in which the various possible difficulties in the theoretical model were represented by respective statements. The questionnaire was administered to a sample of 259 young Israeli adults (aged 19–23 yrs) who were at the beginning of their career decision-making process and to an American sample of 304 university students (aged 17–23 yrs). The observed relations among the 10 scales, which represent the 10 theoretical categories of difficulties, and those among the items within 2 selected categories, were similar in the 2 samples and compatible with the expected relations derived from the theoretical model. The implications for career counseling and research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implicit versus explicit importance of career values in making a career decision.

353 high school seniors rated 10 individually selected occupational alternatives on 10 individually selected career values. Values were ranked according to explicit importance in making a decision and according to agreement with overall preference ordering of occupations. It was found that explicit importance agreed weakly with implicit importance in ranking occupations. Results agree with those of P. Slovic (1969) and Slovic et al (1972) who used different methods, content (stocks), and sample (stockbrokers). Results contribute to a growing literature on humans' limited capacity to process information, and consequently, limitations in using rational decision models without assistance. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Explaining sex differences in managerial career satisfier preferences: The role of gender self-schema.

Using survey data from 400 managers, the authors examined whether gender self-schema would explain sex differences in preferences for status-based and socioemotional career satisfiers. Female gender self-schema, represented by femininity and family role salience, completely mediated the relationship between managers' sex and preferences for socioemotional career satisfiers. However, male gender self-schema, represented by masculinity and career role salience, did not mediate the relationship between managers' sex and preferences for status-based career satisfiers. As expected, male managers regarded status-based career satisfiers as more important and socioemotional career satisfiers as less important than female managers did. The proposed conceptualization of male and female gender self-schemas, which was supported by the data, enhances understanding of adult self-schema and work-related attitudes and behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mate selection preferences: Gender differences examined in a national sample.

Social psychologists have devoted considerable theoretical and empirical attention to studying gender differences in traits desired in a mate. Most of the studies on mate preferences, however, have been conducted with small, nonrepresentative samples. In this study, we analyzed data collected from single adults in a national probability sample, the National Survey of Families and Households. Respondents were asked to consider 12 possible assets or liabilities in a marriage partner and to indicate their willingness to marry someone possessing each of these traits. These data extended previous research by comparing men's and women's mate preferences in a heterogeneous sample of the national population and by comparing gender differences in different sociodemographic groups. The gender differences found in this study were consistent with those secured in previous research (e.g., youth and physical attractiveness were found to be more important for men than for women; earning potential was found to be less important for men than for women) and were quite consistent across age groups and races. However, the various sociodemographic groups differed slightly in the magnitude of gender differences for some of the mate preferences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Processing speed and memory mediate age-related differences in decision making.

Decision making under risk changes with age. Increases in risk aversion with age have been most commonly characterized, although older adults may be risk seeking in some decision contexts. An important, and unanswered, question is whether these changes in decision making reflect a direct effect of aging or, alternatively, an indirect effect caused by age-related changes in specific cognitive processes. In the current study, older adults (M = 71 years) and younger adults (M = 24 years) completed a battery of tests of cognitive capacities and decision-making preferences. The results indicated systematic effects of age upon decision quality—with both increased risk seeking and increased risk aversion observed in different tasks—consistent with prior studies. Path analyses, however, revealed that age-related effects were mediated by individual differences in processing speed and memory. When those variables were included in the model, age was no longer a significant predictor of decision quality. The authors conclude that the reduction in decision quality and associated changes in risk preferences commonly ascribed to aging are instead mediated by age-related changes in underlying cognitive capacities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of sex role attitudes and cognitive styles on career decision making.

Examined the relative influence of gender, sex role attitudes, cognitive styles and decision-making process on choice of major by means of path analysis procedures. 578 college students from all classes completed the Assessment of Career Decision Making, the Paragraph Completion Method (a measure of conceptual level), the Cognitive Differentiation Grid, and the Bem Sex Role Inventory. It was found that progress in the decision-making process most directly influenced choice of major. Gender, sex role attitudes, and cognitive styles had little direct influence on choice of major; rather, their influence was indirect, via the decision-making process. These results support the following causal inferences: Gender influences sex role attitudes; sex role attitudes and cognitive styles influence progress in the decision-making process; and the latter directly influences whether a satisfying choice of major has been made. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age differences in choice satisfaction: A positivity effect in decision making.

The authors tested the possibility that older adults show a positivity effect in decision making, by giving younger and older adults the opportunity to choose 1 of 4 products and by examining the participants' satisfaction with their choice. The authors considered whether requiring participants to explicitly evaluate the options before making a choice has an effect on age differences in choice satisfaction. Older adults in the evaluation condition listed more positive and fewer negative attributes than did younger adults and were more satisfied with their decisions than were younger adults. There were no age differences among those who did not evaluate options. This evaluation-dependent elevation of satisfaction among older adults was still present when participants were contacted 2 weeks after the experiment. Age did not influence the accuracy with which participants predicted how their satisfaction would change over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender differences in mate selection preferences: A test of the parental investment model.

Evolutionary-related hypotheses about gender differences in mate selection preferences were derived from R. Trivers's (1979, 1985) parental investment model, which contends that women are more likely than men to seek a mate who possesses nonphysical characteristics that maximize the survival or reproductive prospects of their offspring, and were examined in a meta-analysis of mate selection research (questionnaire studies, analyses of personal advertisements). As predicted, women accorded more weight than men to socioeconomic status (SES), ambitiousness, character, and intelligence, and the largest gender differences were observed for cues to resource acquisition (status, ambitiousness). Also as predicted, gender differences were not found in preferences for characteristics unrelated to progeny survival (sense of humor, "personality"). Where valid comparisons could be made, the findings were generally invariant across generations, cultures, and research paradigms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intragroup decision making in intergroup negotiation: Majority/minority effects and hawkishness of member preferences.

Participants took part in an intergroup negotiation. In the first stage participants recorded their individual preferences (i.e., which of several possible options they should strive to achieve during the negotiation) for each negotiation issue. In the second stage they repeated this process as part of a 3-person cooperative group in preparation for the negotiation task. Our results show that the decision aggregation of negotiation teams is driven by 2 factors: The majority/minority status of the members advocating a given option and the extent to which the option advocated by a member was more hawkish (i.e., advantageous to the ingroup) than that of fellow members. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coping as a moderator of the relation between anxiety and career decision making.

Examined relations among trait anxiety, coping types, career decision making, and state anxiety related to career decision making with 248 undergraduates. Trait and state anxiety were measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory; career decidedness or indecision was measured by the Vocational Decision Scale. Coping types (support-seeking behavior [Type I], self-efficacy behavior [Type II], reactive behavior [Type III], and symptom-altering and/or avoidant behavior [Type IV]) were determined by an adaptation of a coping scale developed by M. Van Sell et al (1980). Results indicate that trait anxiety and low sense of personal efficacy (i.e., not using Type II coping) were the primary predictors of career undecidedness. Three discriminant function analyses revealed that Ss who experienced high trait anxiety and did not use Type II coping were likely to experience high state anxiety and were not likely to make a career decision. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Explanation-based decision making: Effects of memory structure on judgment.

This article reports research that supports an explanation-based model of decision making applied to judicial decisions. In Experiment 1, recognition memory responses demonstrated that subjects spontaneously evaluated evidence in a legal judgment task by constructing an explanatory representation in the form of a narrative story. Furthermore, an item's membership in the story associated with the chosen or rejected verdict predicted subjects' ratings of its importance as evidence. In Experiment 2, subjects listened to evidence from criminal trials presented in various orders designed to manipulate the ease with which a particular explanatory summary of the evidence (story) could be constructed. The order manipulation shifted verdict choices in the direction of the more easily constructed story, implying that story structure causes decisions. In addition, the coherence of the explanatory story structure and the strength of alternative stories were major determinants of perceptions of strength of evidence and of confidence in the decision. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The stepladder technique: An alternative group structure facilitating effective group decision making.

A new group problem-solving structure entitled the stepladder technique is introduced. The stepladder technique is intended to allay the problems associated with group decision making by structuring the entry of group members into a core group and by ensuring that each member contributes to the decision-making process. Four-person groups, randomly assigned to either the stepladder group condition (15 groups) or the conventional group condition (15 groups), performed D. Johnson and F. Johnson's (1987) winter survival exercise. Stepladder groups produced significantly (p?     

Effect of training in rational decision making on the quality of simulated career decisions.

Investigated whether training in rational decision making improves the quality of simulated career decisions. 147 community college students aged 16–50 yrs were randomly assigned to either a 90-min training program in rational decision making or a placebo control. Assessment instruments were the College Board's Career Decision-Making Skills Assessment Exercise and the Career Decision Simulation. ANOVA results showed that training in rational decision making resulted in superior performance for females on one subscore of the knowledge measure (establishing an action plan). It also resulted in superior simulated career choices by females and younger males. The older males generally made poorer decisions after receiving training in rational decision making. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age differences in the effects of conscious and unconscious thought in decision making.

The roles of unconscious and conscious thought in decision making were investigated to examine both (a) boundary conditions associated with the efficacy of each type of thought and (b) age differences in intuitive versus deliberative thought. Participants were presented with 2 decision tasks, one requiring active deliberation and the other intuitive processing. Young and older adults then engaged in conscious or unconscious thought processing before making a decision. A manipulation check revealed that young adults were more accurate in their representations of the decision material than older adults, which accounted for much of the age-related variation in performance when the full sample was considered. When only accurate participants were considered, decision making was best when there was congruence between the nature of the information and the thought condition. Thus, unconscious thought was more appropriate when participants relied on intuitive rather than deliberative processing to make their decision, whereas the converse was true with conscious thought. Although older adults displayed somewhat less efficient deliberative processing, their ability to process information at the intuitive level was relatively preserved. Additionally, both young and older adults displayed choice-supportive memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Processes involved in career preferences and compromises.

Investigated the processes that underlie career-related preferences and the readiness to make compromises. In Study 1, 3,265 monitored dialogs with a computer-assisted career guidance system were analyzed. In Study 2, the occupational preferences of 60 young adults elicited by detailed questionnaires were analyzed. Within-S analyses in both studies supported the following hypotheses: (1) The perceived importance of an aspect is positively correlated with the degree of extremity of preference; (2) the perceived importance of an aspect is negatively correlated with the readiness to compromise in it; (3) the perceived importance of an aspect is positively correlated with the variance in the individual's preferences; and (4) the readiness to compromise depends on the preferences within an aspect. These findings are discussed in light of the roles of preferences and compromises in career decisions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adherence to RIASEC structure as a key career decision construct.

The present study examined the relation between individual cognitive structure and several key career decision variables. Specifically, in a sample of college students enrolled in a career development class, the usage of the RIASEC (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional) circumplex (adherence) was examined as it varied across individuals and with career certainty, career decision-making self-efficacy, and interest-occupation congruence. Individual adherence to the RIASEC circumplex as a cognitive structure was related to better career decision outcomes. Changes in adherence as a function of taking a career class were found to be associated with changes in career certainty, career decision-making self-efficacy, and interest-occupation congruence. The results support the importance of thinking about careers in a manner similar to the RIASEC circumplex and the potential value of direct instruction of this model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The worlds we live in: Gender similarities and differences.

Explores 2 traditions of gender difference research and theory. One tradition emphasizes similarities between the sexes, whereas the other emphasizes differences. Reasons for the tension between these 2 traditions are explored. The author argues that rather than choose 1 of these 2 views, it is better to use the tension created to explore the dialectic between similarity and difference. To illustrate the usefulness of this tension, the controversy around gender and moral reasoning is explored. After examining empirical and political concerns about linking an ethic of care to gender, the author explores the interaction of care and justice with gender similarities and differences in developing moral theory. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Client preferences and anticipations in career counseling: A preliminary investigation.

Client expectations have been studied infrequently in career counseling. This study provides preliminary data about precounseling expectations, which were conceptualized as preferences and anticipations. 92 university students (22 men and 70 women) who sought career counseling completed an open-ended questionnaire. Results suggested the following conclusions: (1) Clients have fairly clear ideas about what they want (preferences) from career counseling and about what the experience should be like; (2) clients are somewhat less certain about what the career counseling experience will actually be like (anticipations) and less optimistic about it; (3) a number of mismatches exist between clients' preferences and anticipations; (4) clients do not have well-developed expectations about their dislikes in career counseling; and (5) few differences are evident between clients who have had previous counseling and those who have not. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)