Career Choice Anxiety Research Articles

Maximizing tendency in adolescence relates to higher career choice anxiety, higher decidedness, and less career exploration time

Maximizing tendency in adolescence relates to higher career choice anxiety, higher decidedness, and less career exploration time

Mediating Effects of Career Attitudes on Reappraisal and Career Choice Anxiety

Mediating Effects of Career Attitudes on Reappraisal and Career Choice Anxiety

Silent but Damaging: Exploring the Link Between Air Pollution and Vocational and General Well-Being

Air pollution has become a daunting challenge with the potential to endanger people’s lives across the globe. However, little is known about the psychological and vocational implications of air pollution. Drawing on feeling-as-information theory, we investigate the within-person relationships of ambient air pollution with vocational and general well-being outcomes (i.e., career choice anxiety and state optimism) through the mediating mechanism of mood state. We tested our hypotheses using an experience sampling method (ESM) with survey data from 67 undergraduate students in South Korea collected over 10 consecutive days. Results showed that daily ambient air pollution predicted higher career choice anxiety and lower state optimism via an increased negative mood. Furthermore, the indirect relation of air pollution with career choice anxiety was found to be stronger for individuals with lower family socioeconomic status. In a supplementary study, we interviewed 16 undergraduate students in South Korea to explain the ESM results in greater depth. Theoretical and practical implications, as well as study limitations, are discussed.

Affect in Daily Career Decision Self‐Efficacy and Career Choice Anxiety

The authors investigated the impact of emotional intelligence on 2 career decision variables: daily career decision self‐efficacy and daily career choice anxiety. They also examined the mediating effects of daily positive affect on these variables. At baseline, 103 Korean undergraduate and graduate students completed questionnaires about emotional intelligence. Using a daily diary method, the authors also collected data on participants’ daily positive affect, daily career decision self‐efficacy, and daily career choice anxiety for 21 consecutive days. Hierarchical linear model analyses indicated that emotional intelligence predicted daily career decision self‐efficacy and daily career choice anxiety. These findings suggest that fostering emotional intelligence and daily positive affect could help students determine their future career. For individuals experiencing difficulty in the career decision process, counselors may foster career decision self‐efficacy and reduced career choice anxiety via enhancing clients’ emotional intelligence and daily positive affect.

The Relationships of Self-Esteem, Future Time Perspective, Positive Affect, Social Support, and Career Decision: A Longitudinal Multilevel Study.

This study aimed, first, to determine whether the intra-individual variability in positive affect was related to the intra-individual variability in career decision-making self-efficacy, and career choice anxiety. The second objective was to examine whether social support moderates the relationship between affect and these outcome variables. The third objective was to find out how career decision-making self-efficacy and career choice anxiety change according to self-esteem and future time perspective. We conducted a study using the daily diary method in which participants were asked to rate their affect or attitudes for 21 consecutive days. In total, 128 university students participated in this study. The main results were as follows. First, positive affect was associated positively with career decision-making self-efficacy and negatively with career choice anxiety. Second, social support had a synergy effect with positive affect to influence career choice anxiety. Third, self-esteem was related positively to career decision-making self-efficacy and negatively to career choice anxiety. We discuss theoretical and practical implications.

Career Decision‐Making Self‐Efficacy Change in Italian High School Students

The authors explored the effects of a structured‐group career intervention among 280 Italian high school students. Hierarchical linear models indicated the intervention's effectiveness in increasing career decision‐making self‐efficacy and, consequently, career exploration, but not in decreasing career choice anxiety. In addition, partial confirmation was found for the moderating effects of participants' expectations and motivation to change on the relationship between career decision‐making self‐efficacy and career choice anxiety. The findings support the development of a systematic vocational guidance program in Italian schools.

Future time perspective and career decisions: The moderating effects of affect spin

This study investigated the impact of future time perspective on two career decision-making variables and the role of affect spin as a moderator. 98 Korean undergraduate students completed questionnaires of future time perspective, career decision-making self-efficacy, and career choice anxiety. Using experience sampling method (ESM), we also collected students' affective experiences during 7 consecutive days and computed affect variability, namely affect spin. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that career decision-making self-efficacy and career choice anxiety were positively predicted by future time perspective and that affect spin moderated the relationship between future time perspective and both career decision-making self-efficacy scale and career choice anxiety respectively. We discussed the implications of the moderating role of affect spin, advantages of the ESM method, and practical suggestions for career counseling and supervision.

The Effect of Cognition and Utilization of Support Resources on Career Choice Anxiety and Career Indecision

The Effect of Cognition and Utilization of Support Resources on Career Choice Anxiety and Career Indecision

Comparison of the Effectiveness of Two Assessment Feedback Models in Reducing Career Indecision

We examined the relative effectiveness of information giving (IG) and therapeutic assessment (TA) models of career assessment feedback in reducing career indecision. Clients initiating career counseling at a large Midwestern University completed measures of career choice anxiety (CCA), vocational identity, and career decision-making self-efficacy prior to and following a two-session intervention. We also administered measures of treatment integrity and session helpfulness immediately following treatment. Clients were randomly assigned to an intervention based upon either an IG or TA model of assessment feedback. Results indicated that TA participants’ vocational identity scores improved significantly more than those of IG participants; a medium-to-large effect size was identified. TA and IG participants’ CCA and decision-making self-efficacy scores significantly increased but not differentially following treatment. Participants of both groups rated their feedback sessions as “greatly helpful.” We discuss implications for career assessment as well as the limitations of the study.

Insecure attachment and career indecision: Mediating effects of anxiety and pessimism

The purpose of this study was to examine a theoretically-based model in which insecure attachment is related to career indecision through the mediation of negative emotions. Two hundred college students completed questionnaires measuring anxious and avoidant dimensions of insecure attachment, negative emotions (trait and career-choice anxiety, trait and career-choice pessimism), and career indecision. Path analysis indicated that anxious attachment was indirectly related to career indecision through a full mediation of career-choice anxiety and career-choice pessimism (but not through the trait emotions). Avoidant attachment was neither related to the negative emotions nor to career indecision. These findings contribute to the understanding of the linkage between internalized relationships with significant others and career planning and development, and highlight the important role that career-choice-related emotions play in the process of career decision making. In light of the findings, implications and recommendations regarding career development, career counseling interventions, and preventive measures aimed at reducing career indecision are presented.

Choosing a major in higher education: Profiles of students’ decision-making process

This study identified decision-making profiles of students who make a choice of a major in higher education. These profiles were examined in a sample of Belgian students at the end of Grade 12, when the educational system expects that these adolescents choose a specific major. Using latent class cluster analysis on adolescents’ scores for coping with career decisional tasks (i.e., orientation, exploration, decisional status, and commitment), four clusters were identified. As expected, these profiles paralleled Marcia’s (1966) identity statuses (i.e., the achievement, moratorium, foreclosure, and diffusion status). Results provided support for the external validity of the identified clusters through differential associations with several person variables (i.e., career decision-making self-efficacy, career choice anxiety, and decision-making style) and with academic functioning in higher education (i.e., commitment, academic and social adjustment). Implications for current educational research and research on career decision-making are discussed.

Developing a Career Decision Making Indicator (CDMI)

The paper reports a study which develops a career decision-making indicator scale for school students. Using data from 1880 high school students, a series of five studies developed and validated a measure of the Career Decision Making Indicator (CDMI) tailored to adolescents in Oman. The CDMI measures the individual along eight dimensions: Decidedness, Comfort, Career Choice Anxiety, External Barrier, Need for Career Information, Readiness, Career Salience, and Inconsistent Information. The scale has been validated through a scientific method in order to ensure its reliability and validity. Two advanced statistical methods were used, namely: Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory factors analysis (CFA). The EFA was used to identify the underlying dimensions of each construct of the instrument, while CFA was used to confirm the dimension and to analyze the fitness of the data collected in hypothesized model. The results provide evidence that the developed scale achieved sound psychometric properties. The overall reliability value of Cronbach's Alpha was .935. The result of EFA showed that, the Career Decision Making Indicator construct produced eight significant factors. The CFA results showed that the goodness-of-fit indices for the hypothesized model were as follows: χ2 =1674.711, df= 674, CMIN/df= 2.485, CFI=.917, GFI= .930, AGFI= .919, PCOLOSE =1.00 and RMSEA =.036; each of the indices was above the threshold value. Results imply that CDMI is a valid measure to describe the career decision pattern among adolescents. However further studies are recommended to further validate the scale.

Assessing College Students' Satisfaction With Their Academic Majors

A six-item measure of global satisfaction with one's major, the Academic Major Satisfaction Scale (AMSS), was developed and validated. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses suggested a unidimensional structure. The measure had high internal consistency and distinguished between students who remained in their majors versus those who changed majors during 1- and 2-year periods. AMSS scores were positively associated with career decision self-efficacy and negatively associated with career choice anxiety and generalized indecisiveness. AMSS scores were also associated with indices of socially desirable responding, but social desirability did not account for the relationships between major satisfaction and the career decision-making variables. Implications for theory and ideas for using the AMSS in research and practice are presented.

Indecisiveness and high school students' career decision-making process: Longitudinal associations and the mediational role of anxiety.

This study examined how indecisiveness relates to adolescents' process of choosing a study in higher education, using a longitudinal design. A sample of 281 students participated at the beginning, middle, and end of Grade 12. Findings show that indecisiveness was a risk factor for future levels of coping with the career decisional tasks of broad and in-depth environmental exploration (amount of information and exploratory behavior), amount of self-information, decisional status, and commitment. However, indecisiveness did not relate to the degree of change in decisional tasks during Grade 12. Moreover, results suggest that the linkage of indecisiveness with the amount of in-depth environmental information, the amount of self-information, decisional status, and commitment was mediated by adolescents' career choice anxiety. Finally, stability data provided support for the conceptualization of indecisiveness as a trait.

Structural and discriminant validity of the career factors inventory

Using a sample of 350 college students, this study examined the structural and discriminant validity of the Career Factors Inventory (CFI; Chartrand, Robbins, Morrill, & Boggs, 1990), a multidimensional measure of career indecision intended to be scored for two informational indecision components (Need for Career Information and Need for Self-Knowledge) and two personal–emotional components (Career Choice Anxiety and Generalized Indecisiveness). Results of confirmatory factor analyses and correlations revealed that: (a) the underlying structure of the CFI was similar for women and men, (b) the original four-factor model corresponding to the CFI’s scoring scheme demonstrated an excellent fit to the data, (c) a non-hierarchical two-factor model and a hierarchical model were both supported by the data, and (d) the CFI demonstrated evidence of discriminant validity. Implications for career counseling and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Career Choice Anxiety, Coping, and Perceived Control

Extrapolating from D. H. Barlow (2000), the authors explored whether perceived control moderated the relation between coping with career indecision and choice anxiety among 126 women in low‐level jobs. Analyses of the women's career indecision, coping, perceived control, and career choice anxiety scores through regression identified the moderator effect. Perceived control interacted with problem‐focused coping to increase accountable variance in choice anxiety (p < .05). Women perceiving high control and doing more problem‐focused coping reported lower anxiety than did women doing comparable coping but perceiving lower control. Implications are discussed for interventions with women in low‐level jobs.

The Association Between Self-Defeating Personality Characteristics, Career Indecision, and Vocational Identity

Research on Schill's Self-Defeating Personality Scale (SDPS; Schill, 1990) has focused primarily on interpersonal relationships and less on self-defeating behavior in other contexts. The SDPS was correlated with the Career Decision Scale (CDS; Osipow, Carney, Winer, Yanico, & Koschier, 1976), My Vocational Situation (MVS; Holland, Daiger, & Power, 1980), and the Career Factors Inventory (CFI; Chartrand, Robbins, Morrill, & Boggs, 1990). Participants with more self-defeating characteristics were more career indecisive, had less vocational identity, and were more indecisive in general. Women with higher scores on the Self-Defeating Personality Scale had significantly greater career choice anxiety and less need for self-knowledge, although men with higher scores did not. The effect of depression contributed substantially to the higher scores for career indecision and vocational identity among men with more self-defeating characteristics, and it accounted entirely for lack of desire for self-knowledge among women with more self-defeating characteristics. However, a general characteristic of indecisiveness in persons with more self-defeating characteristics was present and was independent of depressive affect. The differential effects among the CFI subscales support claims that the scale is factorally pure.

Decision-Making Style as a Predictor of Career Decision-Making Status and Treatment Gains

This study investigated the predictability of rational decision- making style on career decision-making status and treatment gains based on a computer-based career intervention. Decision-making style, in relation to pretreatment career status as well as its efficacy in predicting intervention outcomes, was also examined. Seventy-four undecided university students participated in the study. Results show that employing decision-making strategies based on an individual's preference significantly increased students' career decidedness and decreased career indecision, choice anxiety, and reason complexity. Rational decision-making style is positively associated with career decidedness and negatively associated with the exploration stage of decision making; it is not, however, predictive of treatment gains.

How Similar are the Factor Structures of the Career Decision Scale, the Career Decision Profile, and the Career Factors Inventory?

A sample of 332 undergraduate psychology students completed the Career Decision Scale (CDS), the Career Factors Inventory (CFI), and the Career Decision Profile (CDP). Factor analyses were conducted and four stable factors emerged, namely: Indecision, Need for Self/Career Information, Career Choice Anxiety, and Indecisiveness. The CDP and the CFI both measured Need for Self/Career Information and Indecisiveness. The CDP overlapped in part with the CDS to form the Indecision factor, whereas certain CFI items formed the Career Choice Anxiety factor. The Career Decision Profile and the Career Factors Inventory appeared to be more multidimensional than the Career Decision Scale which was found to be unidimensional.

Career orientedness of motivation to enter the university among Japanese high school girls: A path analysis

Using 239 Japanese high school girls as subjects, this study explored relations among academic achievement, instrumentality, career decision-making self-efficacy expectations, and career choice anxiety for motivation to enter the university. A path analysis indicated that academic achievement and instrumentality were related to career decision-making self-efficacy expectations and career choice anxiety (negatively), while academic achievement was related to motivation to enter the university as well. Career decision-making self-efficacy expectations mediated the relation between instrumentality and career choice anxiety or motivation to enter the university and was, in turn, related to the latter two variables. Finally, career choice anxiety was related negatively to motivation to enter the university. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.