Career decision-making from a dual-process perspective: Looking back, looking forward

Abstract

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Journal of Vocational Behavior and advance career decision-making research and practice, the present article discusses key findings, residual issues, and future directions with respect to a dual-process theoretical model of career decision-making. Such a dual-process theory features managing state and inherent decision uncertainty (confusion vs. ambiguity) as two differential and interrelated processual blocks between background inputs and career decision-making outcomes. In general, research has made significant progress in supporting various parts of the dual-process model, suggesting that what people know about themselves and the vocational world, how they match information, the extent to which they experience ambiguity, and how they mitigate the threat of ambiguity shape career decision-making outcomes (e.g., decidedness, choices, and satisfaction). While this article discusses research limitations for managing confusion and ambiguity separately, it highlights future directions for research on the dual-process model as a whole, including examining the joint dual-process model, researching the role of dialectical decision-making skills, developing measurement specifically for the dual-process model, exploring the multicultural/cross-cultural variations of its key components, and developing intervention models based on the dual-process model.