Career Decision-Making Within the College Social Microcosm

Abstract

The present investigation sought to examine whether the college social environment influences students’ career decision-making (CDM) processes. It was comprised of three overarching hypotheses: (1) uncertainty about one’s academic major would be devalued in the college social microcosm, (2) social exclusion would negatively impact four basic psychological needs (belonging, sense of control, social state self-esteem, and meaning in life), and in turn, (3) social exclusion along with the four needs would negatively impact career decision self-efficacy and vocational outcome expectations. Study 1 ( N = 433) presented participants with two fictional student vignettes (certain about major vs. uncertain) which they were asked to rate using a series of positive personality traits. Results revealed that the vignette portraying a student certain about his or her academic major was judged significantly more positively compared to an uncertain student ( d = .71). Study 2 ( N = 148) experimentally manipulated social exclusion to examine its effects on the four needs and on the two CDM variables. Two types of exclusion were used (career-based and personal); both led to significantly lower levels of the four needs when compared to the career-based inclusion condition. Moreover, belonging, sense of control, and meaning in life made significant contributions to both vocational variables. Conclusions and implications are discussed.