Student Teachers’ Vocational Identity Formation: How the Impact of Moral and Ego Development?

This study aimed to (1) explore the configuration of vocational identity status among emerging adults with and without hearing impairment using latent profile analysis, and (2) investigate the relationships between vocational identity status and self-esteem and subjective well-being. In total, 408 students without disabilities and 432 with hearing impairments from two Chinese higher institutions participated in the study. The Vocational Identity Status Assessment, Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale, Satisfaction with Life Scale, and Positive and Negative Affect were used to assess the major variables. The results derived five latent profiles (achieved, foreclosed, searching moratorium, undifferentiated, and diffused) of vocational identity in the present sample. The students were over-represented in undifferentiated profiles and under-represented in achieved and foreclosed ones. Hearing impairment significantly affected vocational identity status profile membership. The results showed that emerging adults with achievement and foreclosure statuses displayed healthy psychological outcomes, having the highest self-esteem, life satisfaction, and positive affect, and the lowest negative affect. In contrast, the diffused group showed the most disturbing pattern with the lowest self-esteem, life satisfaction, and positive affect, and the highest negative affect. The research findings reveal some notable issues in vocational identity status for emerging Chinese adults, raising concerns about the influence of hearing impairment on vocational identity formation, and provide implications for Chinese society to facilitate college students' career development process to promote their vocational identity status and enhance their self-esteem and subjective well-being.

The process model of vocational identity was well applied in various Western countries to study the vocational identity process and statuses of college students. However, such research is limited in Hong Kong. Moreover, the relation between vocational identity development and academic performance was inconclusive in the literature, and it was also not tested among Hong Kong students. In light of these, the current study aimed to empirically identify and validate vocational identity statuses among a sample of 576 sub-degree students in Hong Kong using the vocational identity process model. Relations of vocational identity processes and statuses with perceived academic performance were also tested. Six vocational identity statuses were empirically derived in the Hong Kong Chinese context. Vocational identity statuses also differentiate perceived academic performance. Moreover, we found that career flexibility and self-doubt were significantly related to perceived academic performance. Implications of the results for theory and practice are discussed.

Although work-related identity research has undergone considerable expansion in recent years, vocational identity among students remains a neglected area. However, initial vocational education plays a crucial role in the process of lifelong learning. Accordingly, this chapter discusses students' vocational identity formation during their vocational education and training. As recent findings on vocational or professional identity emphasise its context-based or sociocultural construction, [the authors] examined students' vocational identity formation in two different fields: one) technology and transport, and two) social services and health care. [The authors'] quantitative data indicate that while students' vocational identity formation begins during vocational education and training, there are differences between students in different fields. On the basis of [the authors'] qualitative data it seems that students' vocational identity is heavily constructed in line with the education practices of their own specific fields. Thus, experiences during vocational education, even before individuals enter the workforce, play an important role in the formation of vocational identity.

Achievement of a vocational identity is an important developmental task for individuals entering adulthood. The present study examined relationships between vocational identity statuses and time perspective in a sample of 165 emerging adults. Results of a canonical correlation analysis identified 2 interpretable variates. The 1st variate indicated that diffuse vocational identity status is associated with negative views of the past and lower orientation toward the future. The 2nd variate indicated that achieved vocational identity is associated with a largely hedonic view of the present, along with being mindful and less inclined to be fatalistic. These results suggest that differing views on time perspective accounts for some of the variation in different vocational identity statuses. Interventions based on time perspective may prove useful in helping individuals attain an achieved vocational identity. Future research should examine how time perspective relates to vocational identity status in individuals at later stages of career development.

Kohlberg and others have proposed that cognitive development is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for social-moral development and, in turn, that social-moral development is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for ego development. This study examined these propositions within the cross-cultural context of an Israeli kibbutz. Cognitive and moral development were assessed among adolescent and young adult kibbutzniks; ego and moral development were assessed among senior kibbutz founders. In brief, 93 percent of the subjects scored at the same level or at a higher level in cognitive development than they did in moral development, and 86 percent of the subjects scored at the same level or at a higher level in moral development than they did in ego development. The results are consistent with the hypothesis of a decalage relationship between cognitive, moral, and ego development.

Context: Adolescence is the training ground for adult life. In a relatively short period, the adolescent will undergo a metamorphosis. During the high school years, the majority of adolescents move from persistent dependence to true independence, from logical thinking to abstract, complex and hypothetical thinking, from impulsivity to consideration and from a diffuse feeling about one's own person to a reasonably defined self-identity. Adolescent's vocational identity formation during high school is an extremely important process in vocational and career counseling, because it helps them to make rational choices regarding the choice of a career gaining an increased level of career maturity. Methods: The present study had as participants 300 Romanian teenagers which belong to the following paths of studies/profiles: formal sciences (specializations: Mathematics-informatics and Natural Sciences), services (specializations: Economics, trade, tourism and food) and humanities (specialization: Philology). The tools used in the adolescent evaluation process were Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy-Short Form Scale (CDMSE-SF), the Vocational Identity Status Assessment (VISA) and the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI-3). Results: After the interpretation of the obtained results, the following aspects were demonstrated: The identity status career commitment correlates with the personality traits - neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience and conscientiousness, and regarding the career decision-making self-efficacy it correlates with the self-evaluation process, obtaining information about self and professions, setting goals, career planning and the problem-solving process. Identity status identification with career commitment correlates with personality traits - extraversion, openness to experience and conscientiousness, and from the perspective of the career decision-making self-efficacy, it correlates with the process of self-evaluation, obtaining information about self and professions, setting goals, solving problems and career planning. The identity status career commitment flexibility correlates with the personality traits neuroticism and conscientiousness, and from the perspective of the career decision-making self-efficacy it correlates with the problem-solving process. Identity status career self-doubt correlates positively with the personality trait neuroticism and negatively with conscientiousness, the process of self-evaluation, obtaining information about self and professions, setting goals, career planning and problem solving. Conclusion: The main purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between vocational identity, personality factors and career decision-making self-efficacy. The results demonstrated that certain personality traits, respectively certain components of career decision-making self-efficacy are predictors for the adolescent's vocational identity formation.

Changes in ego and moral development in adolescents: a longitudinal study

The last year of university is a developmental milestone, as students are approaching choices which might impact their long-term career development and psychological wellbeing. Despite vocational identity’s relevance for successful career development, there is limited research on its relations with volunteering and personal values as students approach graduation. This study aimed to (1) identify vocational identity statuses in the last semester before university graduation, and (2) analyze the relations between status belonging and volunteering and personal values. The total sample consisted of 653 university students (M age = 24.15, SD age = 4.97, 76.6% females) who filled in questionnaires during the last semester of university. Latent Profile Analysis identified five vocational identity statuses, suggesting an overrepresentation of disengaged vocational identity statuses. In addition to this, education-related volunteering and other-oriented personal values were associated with belonging to adaptative statuses (i.e. achievement, foreclosure), in comparison with less adaptative ones, whereas the reverse pattern was observed for the self-oriented value of self-enhancement. These results support the potential contribution of education-related volunteering and personal values in the context of important career transitions. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Vocational identity and psychological adjustment: A study in French adolescents and emerging adults

The relation between Loevinger's measure of ego development and moral development as indexed by Rest's Defining Issues Test was examined in a sample of 517 adolescents between 12 and 21 years of age. Major increases in moral capacity were found at the Conformist and Conscientious levels of ego development. Low positive correlations between ego level and moral capacity were reported for young adolescents but not for older ones. The development indices of age and grade were compared. Both ego and moral development seemed more closely related to grade level than to age. Socioeconomic status predicted acceleration in ego development at the rate of one half an ego level over middle to late adolescence. This effect persisted at university. Students of higher socioeconomic background attained developmental levels one to two years before their contemporaries of low socioeconomic status. Sex differences in ego development were in favor of females.

Volunteering can be a means of identity development in emerging adulthood and it can provide a protective environment for vocational identity formation. The aims of our study were two-fold: (1) to investigate vocational identity statuses of student emerging adult volunteers (N = 385, 75.1 per cent females) and (2) to analyze how these statuses are linked to volunteering functions. First, we classified volunteers into six vocational identity statuses. Second, we found that volunteers in achievement and moratorium statuses scored highest on most of the volunteering functions as they are actively exploring their vocational alternatives. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

This study observed the effect of contextual factors on vocational identity (VI) level in each VI status, originated by Marcia (Handbook of adolescent psychology. Wiley, New York, 1980)’s identity status. This is an attempt to integrate status approach and dimension approach of VI development by finding within-status difference of development level in each VI status. Collecting data of 286 Korean college junior and seniors, cluster analysis was performed to confirm the status classification, followed by multiple regression analysis to observe different contextual variables influencing VI level in each status. Results showed that VI was identically classified with Korean college students, and different contextual variables influenced VI in each status. High functional family communication in achievement, low inter-parental conflict in moratorium, high peer attachment in foreclosure, and low peer attachment in diffusion status positively influenced VI level. Theoretical implication based on recent VI study trends and practical implications based on cultural characteristics of Korea are stated, along with limitations and suggestions for future research.

This article examines age-related trends in general ideological identity status and identity in the domains of vocation, religion, lifestyle, and politics during early adolescence and relationships between adolescent vocational identity and identities in the other domains. A cross-sectional study of 1,099 high school students in Grades 7 through 12 revealed a developmental progression in adolescent vocational identity characterized by an increase in the proportion of students classified as identity achieved and moratorium and a decrease in the proportion of students classified as identity diffused and foreclosed. Statuses in the general ideological, religious, lifestyle, and political identity domains appeared to be related to, but clearly lagged behind, identity status development in the domain of vocation. No sex differences were found in the age-related trends in vocational identity status and its relationships with the other identity domains. The results are interpreted as indicative of the leading role of vocational development in adolescent identity formation. Applicability of the construct of vocational identity status to career assessment is discussed.

사람은 누구나 행복한 미래를 꿈꾼다. 개인이 결정하는 진로의 방향은 곧 그의 삶의 방향과 질을 결정하므로, 긍정적 진로발달을 이루기 위한 진로 정체성은 청소년기의 가장 중요한 발달 과업 중 하나이다. 개인적 측면뿐만 아니라 국가적 측면에서도, 과학영재들의 진로 정체성은 중요한 논의의 대상이다. 본 연구는 과학영재학교에 최종 합격한 과학영재 103명을 대상으로 하였으며, 그들의 진로 정체성을 살펴보기 위하여 미래의 자신에게 쓴 편지를 수정 보완된 VISA 모델을 사용하여 분석하였다. 연구결과 과학영재들의 진로 정체성 상태는 조기결정과 탐색유예를 보여주었다. 과학영재들은 진로 몰입 정도가 진로 탐색이나 진로 재고려 차원 보다 높게 나타났으며, 진로 동일시, 좁은 탐색과 진로 유연성이 높게 나타났다. 과학영재들의 진로 정체성에서 발견된 공통적인 지향점은 강한 열정, 한계에 대한 도전, 인류에 대한 책임감이었다. 본 연구를 통해 과학영재들의 진로교육에 대한 사회적 관심을 환기하고자 하였으며 과학영재들이 개인의 목표와 영재교육 본연의 목표를 실현할 수 있도록 영재를 위한 진로교육방법과 그 내용을 개발하는 후속 연구가 이루어져야 할 것으로 판단된다. Everybody dreams of a bright future. A future career determines the direction and quality of an individual's life. Achieving positive career development is one of the most crucial tasks during adolescence. In both national and personal perspectives, the vocational identity of science-gifted students provides some important points to discuss. The purpose of this study is to examine the vocational identity of science-gifted students. Participants included 103 science-gifted students who have received an acceptance letter from a science-gifted school. The modified VISA (Vocational Identity Status Assessment) model was used to analyze the vocational identities of gifted students with 'a letter to myself in the future'. The study found that vocational identity status of the science-gifted students was determined as Foreclosed and Searching Moratorium. The science-gifted students demonstrated more Commitment than Exploration and Reconsideration. They also showed higher levels in Career Identification, In-Narrow Exploration, and Career Flexibility. In addition, they shared common orientations in vocational identity such as strong enthusiasm, challenging limits, and responsibility towards humanity. We expect that this study will contribute to the social interest of science-gifted students in the area of career education. In order for science-gifted students to nurture their full potential with a deeper awareness of education, follow-up studies have to be conducted to provide greater and ideal career education.

This research expanded the three-dimensional vocational identity status model proposed by Crocetti et al. (J Adolesc 31(2):207–222, 2008b, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2007.09.002 ) to develop the Macao Vocational Identity Status Assessment (MVISA). The MVISA was then validated on two samples of 274 and 245 college students in Macao, China. The original in-depth exploration dimension was differentiated into inter- and intra-exploration, and the original reconsideration of commitment dimension was extended into self-doubt and flexibility. The MVISA exhibited solid psychometric characteristics and was able to identify the theoretical vocational identity statuses proposed by Marcia (J Pers Soc Psychol 3(5):551–558, 1966, https://doi.org/10.1037/h0023281 ), with the culturally meaningful variations being assessed using cluster analyses with differentiated constructs.