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)     

Relation between ego identity statuses and decision-making styles.

We examined the proposition that individual variations in career decision making are related conceptually to the identity formation process of late adolescence. To investigate this proposition 2 studies were conducted to identify the relations between ego identity statuses and decision-making styles. The findings suggested that persons who have achieved a stable identity tend to use rational and systematic decision-making strategies. Those whose identity status is foreclosed tend to rely on dependent strategies and do not endorse systematic and internal strategies. Persons in the diffusion status tend to rely on intuitive and dependent styles or exhibit an absence of systematic and internal styles. The moratorium status was not consistently associated with variations in decision-making styles. We relate the results to previous theory and to implications for practice and research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developing a replicable career decision-making counseling procedure.

One approach to improving counseling is to identify particular client goals and to develop treatments with specified objectives, counseling components, and outcome measures that meet those goals. Following this approach, 18 volunteer counselors, with and without formal training, applied a specified career counseling treatment to 30 undergraduates. Analysis of pre- and posttreatment outcome measures indicated that clients significantly increased their knowledge of career decision making and planning and their satisfaction with their career choices, but not their ability to solve career problems. Of the 18 counselors, 15 achieved 60% or greater adherence to the specified treatment components with at least one client. Client feedback indicated that the counseling was particularly helpful for improving self-awareness and decision making but that additional components may need to be added to improve information seeking and goal specification. (13 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)     

Career decision-making and career search activities: Relative effects of career search self-efficacy and human agency.

The nature of the relationship between 3 human agency indices (assertiveness, instrumentality, and interpersonal facility), career search self-efficacy, and 3 career indices (vocational identity, career decision needs, and career activities performed) is examined. Data from 426 college men and women were analyzed using hierarchical regression to assess whether career search self-efficacy was able to mediate the relationship between human agency and each career index. For all 3 career indices, the mediator hypothesis was supported. No support was found for human agency mediating the relationship between career search self-efficacy and the career indices, nor for human agency moderating the relationship between career search self-efficacy and career indices. Implications for conducting counseling intervention programs focusing on development of career search self-efficacy expectations are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some remarks on Gati's theory of career decision-making models.

I. Gati's (see record 1987-05798-001) theory of models of career decision making is discussed in reference to C. Taylor's (1985) theory of evaluation modes. It is suggested that there exist at least 3 basic orientations for making career decisions: optimalizing, questing and instant choice. It is argued that these orientations do not simply represent alternative algorithms for acquiring and processing information related to career decisions, a la Gati, but instead speak to the phenomenologically moral nature of the career decision-making situation in a way that Gati's models do not. Implications for career counseling are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in coping styles and implications for depressed mood.

Based on a sample of young adults in Miami-Dade County, Florida, this paper examined the extent to which there were sex differences in 3 coping style types: problem focused, emotion focused, and avoidance focused (Endler & Parker, 1990). Further examined were the extent to which sex differences in coping styles could be explained by sex differences in chronic strain; the extent to which sex differences in depressed mood could be explained by sex differences in coping style; and whether the effects of different coping style types on depressed mood varied by sex. Results suggested somewhat complex relationships among sex, coping, chronic strain, and depression. No sex differences in the use of problem-focused coping were observed when statistical controls for socioeconomic status were applied; however, women more often used avoidance-focused techniques. Although female respondents more often used emotion-oriented strategies compared to male respondents, such use did not prove to be fundamentally harmful for women. In fact, the effects of using emotion-focused strategies, such as the expression of feelings, reduced depressed mood for women, but not for men. Implications for practice and policy are discussed. (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)     

Interpreting and applying career decision-making models: Comment on Carson and Mowsesian.

A. Carson and R. Mowsesian (1990) critically discussed the career decision-making models described and compared by I. Gati (see record 1987-05798-001) and I. Gati and Y. Tikotzki (see record 1990-06246-001). First, 3 issues are distinguished and separately analyzed that were confounded in Carson and Mowsesian's discussion of the 2 modes of evaluations of desires: (1) typical versus atypical career decisions, (2) whether quantification of human desires can be meaningful, and (3) whether the transformations of the individual's desires and values into qualitative or quantitative terms are "strong" or "weak" evaluations. Second, the processes that shape our desires, the process of operationalizing these desires, and the process of using the individual's desires to identify career options compatible with these desires are distinguished. The relationships among the 3 basic orientations proposed by Carson and Mowsesian are discussed and related to various career decision-making styles and strategies. Third, the implications for career counselors are explored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of client/computer interaction on career decision-making processes.

Examined the impact of the System of Interactive Guidance Information (SIGI), a relatively new computer-assisted instructional system (CAI), on career decision-making processes of 72 volunteer undergraduates. The experimental treatment included pre–post testing, brief interviewing (15 min), and a 3-hr interaction, with SIGI scheduled in 1-hr time blocks within a 10-day period. Decision-making stage, as measured by the Vocational Decision-Making Checklist, and locus of control of reinforcement, as measured by Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale, were the outcome variables investigated. 48 undergraduates were randomly assigned to a treatment group and 24 to a wait/control group. Results show significant positive changes for the treatment group on pre–post measures of decision-making stage related to choice of college major. No significant changes were found on pre–post decision-making stage measures related to vocation or to locus of control of reinforcement. Results suggest that brief exposure to a CAI mode can have positive effects, particularly for improving skills related to choice of college major. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effectiveness of a counseling intervention program for teaching career decision-making skills.

Developed a career decision-making model and program to provide a counseling intervention and teaching materials to aid students in improving their career maturity and decision-making skills. The model and program were piloted and evaluated to determine program effectiveness. 334 academic and nonacademic student groups were part of a quasi-experimental–control design to measure career maturity and decision making. Data indicate that students in the program significantly increased their Career Maturity Inventory scores, career maturity was significantly related to decision making, and more nonacademic program than academic groups increased their decision-making scores. Students reported they found the program useful in evaluating future career choices. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in styles of occupational identity formation in late adolescence.

Administered to 41 male and 42 female high school juniors and seniors an interview assessing identity status and questionnaires measuring vocational identity, social desirability, masculinity/femininity, and achievement motivation. On 2 identity measures, males and females had progressed equal distances toward the achievement of an occupational identity. However, for young men, vocational identity was positively related to masculinity and orientations toward mastery and lack of concern about the negative evaluations of others. On the identity interview, occupational exploration was related to femininity, and occupational commitment was related to masculinity and mastery. For young women, vocational identity was positively related to masculinity and an orientation toward hard work; vocational identity was negatively related to competitiveness. Over 40% of the Ss were identity achievers, exhibiting high levels of occupational exploration and commitment. Identity formation in the late high school years is discussed in terms of a relative equilibrium before the transition marked by leaving home. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential effects of conceptual level and group counseling format on adolescent career decision-making processes.

D. E. Hunt's (1971) conceptual level matching model was applied to group career counseling. An experiment studied the interaction effects of conceptual level and group counseling format on adolescents' career decision-making behavior. 26 high school juniors grouped by high and low conceptual level (CL) were randomly assigned to either experimental or simulation counseling groups. Group format varied in degree of structure, with experiential format as low structure. Results show that group format was related to the criteria of choice basis complexity in career decisions for the high CL students only. No significant interaction or main effects were obtained for attitudes toward career decisions and planning activity. High CL Ss in simulation groups scored higher on choice basis complexity than those in the experiential groups. These unexpected findings are interpreted in terms of the conceptual level theory. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The work experiences of transgender individuals: Negotiating the transition and career decision-making processes.

This study explored the work experiences of individuals who have started transitioning from their biological sex to a different gender expression through 18 interviews of transgender-identified individuals. Thirteen of the participants identified as male-to-female transsexuals, 2 participants identified as female-to-male transsexuals, 2 participants identified as female-bodied gender queer individuals, and 1 participant identified as a biological male cross-dresser. Using a grounded theory (K. Charmaz, 2006) approach, 2 separate work experience models emerged: (a) the process of gender transitioning at work and (b) the career decision-making process. The 3 phases of the first model included a pretransition phase, during the transition phase, and posttransition phase. Within these 3 phases, the following 5 major themes emerged: preparation for the work transition, coming out at work, presentation and appearance at work, others' reactions at work, and affective/coping experiences related to work. The second model resulted in 6 major themes related to career decision making: occupational barriers, occupational prospects, occupational aspirations, taking action, occupational gratification, and contextual influences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in the appropriateness of supervisory styles: A nonmanagement view.

Three different supervisory styles (directive, rational, or friendly) portrayed by male vs female supervisors were rated by 30 male, average age 27.9 yrs, and 30 female, average age 27.2 yrs, nonmanagement personnel. Ss evaluated the effectiveness of, and their satisfaction with, the various styles portrayed as though they were the subordinates. The directive style was rated least favorably when it is displayed by female supervisors. Results indicate that nonmanagement employees' sex role stereotypes merit further investigation. Also, a contingency view of leadership should take into account that the sex of subordinate and of supervisor jointly suggest the appropriate supervisory style. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counselors' judgments of the quality of the prescreening stage of the career decision-making process.

The first stage of the career decision-making process is prescreening, which aims at locating promising alternatives deserving further exploration. J. L. Holland's (1997) concepts of differentiation, consistency, and coherence were adapted to cases in which an individual's career-related preferences, which serve as guidelines for locating such promising alternatives, are expressed in many work aspects (e.g., length of training, income, work environment) and not merely in terms of vocational interests. The assumption was that, as for interests, the optimal starting point is crystallized preferences. Judgments of 29 career counseling psychologists and 48 counseling graduate students who were presented with information about the career-related preferences of 18 hypothetical clients supported the hypotheses that crystallized preferences are differentiated, that they are consistent, and that they are coherent. The judgments of these experts on 9 lists of occupations supported the hypothesis that the desirable outcome of the prescreening stage is a concise and homogeneous list of promising alternatives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in career self-efficacy, consideration, and interests of eighth and ninth graders.

Assessed 57 female and 51 male 8th- and 9th-grade college-bound students to determine relations between their self-efficacy, interest, and consideration of 10 traditionally male and female occupations. Sex differences were examined. Significant relations emerged, suggesting that interest plays a major role in the consideration of both traditionally male and female occupations and that interest is a function of sex differences. Analysis of individual occupations revealed significant sex differences for only a select group of occupations within each occupational cluster. Both males and females indicated similar confidence in meeting the educational requirements and performing the job duties for most of the occupations. Results are compared with those reported by N. E. Betz and G. Hackett (see record 1982-02194-001) for college students. Counseling recommendations are also proposed. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Indecisiveness and high school students' career decision-making process: Longitudinal associations and the mediational role of anxiety.

This study examined how indecisiveness relates to adolescents' process of choosing a study in higher education, using a longitudinal design. A sample of 281 students participated at the beginning, middle, and end of Grade 12. Findings show that indecisiveness was a risk factor for future levels of coping with the career decisional tasks of broad and in-depth environmental exploration (amount of information and exploratory behavior), amount of self-information, decisional status, and commitment. However, indecisiveness did not relate to the degree of change in decisional tasks during Grade 12. Moreover, results suggest that the linkage of indecisiveness with the amount of in-depth environmental information, the amount of self-information, decisional status, and commitment was mediated by adolescents' career choice anxiety. Finally, stability data provided support for the conceptualization of indecisiveness as a trait. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Narcissism and parenting styles.

Investigated D. Baumrind's (1966) authoritative, permissive, and authoritarian parenting styles in the context of H. Kohut's (1977) psychology of the self. 324 undergraduates' perceptions of their parents were correlated with measures of self-functioning in order to test the hypotheses that (1) perceived parental authoritativeness would be associated with less narcissistic maladjustment, (2) permissiveness would be associated with immature grandiosity, and (3) authoritarianism would correlate with inadequate idealization. All 3 suggestions received empirical support. Some evidence suggested that authoritarianism might be incompatible with immature grandiosity. Parenting characteristics of the mother were more strongly correlated with self-development than were those of the father. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)