Career Goals in Young Adults

Abstract

We tested a model based on the dual-process framework that assessed the relationships among personal resources, career goal appraisals, career attitudes, and career goal management, which have not been previously assessed together. The model (tested on a sample of 486 young adults: 74% female, Mage = 22 years) proposed that personal resources (assimilation and accommodation) were associated with career goal management strategies (goal engagement and disengagement) and that these relationships were mediated by career goal appraisals (perceived attainability, importance, and substitutability) and career attitudes (career optimism and locus of control). Career optimism mediated between assimilation and goal engagement, and importance mediated between accommodation and goal disengagement. The results contribute to a better understanding of goal management processes in the career domain and have implications for the application of the dual-process framework to career development in young adulthood.