Vocational indecision: More evidence and speculation.

Samples of 1,005 high school juniors and 692 college juniors were assessed with measures of personality, decision-making ability, interests, and vocational attitude. Comparisons of undecided and decided students indicated that they were alike on most measures, but substantial and significant differences were found for the Identity and Vocational Attitude scales. In addition, student explanations of indecisiveness formed an internally consistent scale. This scale was, in turn, significantly correlated with measures of anomie (positive), identity (negative), interpersonal competency (negative), and some career maturity (Career Maturity Inventory) variables. The pattern of present and past significant findings implies that it may be useful to interpret some kinds of indecision as the outcome of a proposed indecisive disposition. The chief practical application appears to be the need to see undecided students as multiple subtypes who need different personal-vocational treatments. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)