Abstract
Adolescence is a period where youngsters still do not know much about themselves. That makes some decisions, like those concerning vocational elections, a complicated issue that has important consequences for their life. The main goal of this piece of research is to measure implicit interests using a situated, unobtrusive computer tool (PrUnAs: Preferences Unobtrusive Assessment) as well as its connection with anxiety and personality traits: neuroticism, extraversion, self-efficacy, optimism, consciousness, and openness. Sample: 304 16-year-old adolescents enrolled in the last course of compulsory education. Instruments: Computer programs were used to measure implicit interests, career preferences, and to self-descript personality traits; finally, the paper-and-pencil test Stai was applied to measure anxiety. Results: Concordance between implicit interests and explicit choices was less than 50%. The software developed for assessing implicit interests not only proved to be an efficient tool to make them arise but also a good predictor of anxiety. Conclusions: Implicit interests and explicit elections are not the same. The approach from implicit preferences is an important shift in the approximation to vocational guiding and to reduce youngsters’ indecision level. Beyond vocational choice, this information may improve the short- and long-term quality of life and mental health.
Highlights
The third step consisted of an analysis of variance where the independent variable was defined by the four scenarios (1 to 4), and the dependent variables were the number of explored situations, trait-anxiety, and state-anxiety
A t-test with independent samples was run, where each explored personality trait acted as independent variable, and the former three quantitative variables were the dependent variable
The main goal of this research is to measure implicit interests using a situated, unobtrusive tool. It is investigated how the indexes of interest and indecision provided by the computer program are related to anxiety and personality traits
Summary
Notwithstanding, career decision making is a complex task that involves information about different specialties, academic demands, and professional options alongside with a thorough awareness of the own assets and preferences. It may be a process slanted by the relative social prestige of some options or the opinions that close relatives or friends may have on which would be the better choice. Implications of this election involve restricting the subsequent career options and have an incidence on their emotional states [3,4] and set up a situation that may have a strong influence on their later success and happiness [5,6]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
