Cognitive Model Of Career Self-management Research Articles

The Role of Self-Efficacy in Coping With the Psychological Challenges of Job Loss: Application of the Social Cognitive Career Self-Management Model

There is substantial evidence that involuntary job loss can have major implications for workers’ well-being. Yet research on coping with unemployment has most often focused on the job search process and progress toward re-employment, with less emphasis on the process of coping with the myriad psychological challenges of job loss. This study adapted the social cognitive model of career self-management as a framework for understanding well-being and psychological distress during unemployment. Participants were 602 unemployed workers who completed social cognitive measures representing two coping sub-domains, job searching and psychological coping. Within each sub-domain, measures included coping behaviors, self-efficacy, and support. Measures of proactive personality, financial strain, and two psychological functioning criteria (emotional well-being and distress) were also completed. The findings provided initial psychometric support for a novel measure of psychological coping self-efficacy and suggested the utility of the psychological coping variables as predictors of well-being and distress above and beyond job search coping in the context of unemployment. The study’s implications for practice and future research on coping with unemployment are discussed.

How knowledge sharing affects career adaptability: roles of knowledge depth, self-efficacy and reflective thinking

PurposeDrawing on the social cognitive model of career self-management (CSM model) and deep learning theory, the authors' study aims to investigate the effect of knowledge sharing on career adaptability and explore how and when this effect occurs. The authors proposed a moderated sequential-mediation model linking knowledge sharing, knowledge depth, self-efficacy and career adaptability, moderated by reflective thinking.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used a field survey involving 611 employees working in different enterprises in China to test the authors' predictions. For supplementary validation, the authors conducted a scenario-based experiment with a distinct sample of 148 employees from Chinese enterprises. The authors used hierarchical regression analysis, ANOVA analysis and moderated sequential-mediation analysis to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results indicated a positive effect of knowledge sharing on career adaptability, sequentially mediated through knowledge depth and self-efficacy. Additionally, reflective thinking strengthened the positive effect of knowledge sharing on knowledge depth and further moderated the sequential mediating effect.Originality/valuePrevious research has predominantly focused on the perspective that individuals act as “recipients” from the environment in developing career adaptability. Instead, the authors adopt a “giving” perspective by investigating the influence of knowledge sharing on career adaptability, which advances the existing knowledge on the predictors of career adaptability.

Predictive Contribution of Personality Traits in Career Decision-Making: A Test of the Social Cognitive Model of Career Self-Management

The current study sought to test hypotheses derived from the social cognitive model of career self-management (CSM; Lent & Brown, 2013) applied to the process of career exploration and decision-making. We examined how well personality traits, contextual factors, and social cognitive predictors, collectively, account for exploration behavior and career decision-making outcomes. Specifically, we determine the relationships between personality traits with career decision self-efficacy, career goals, and decisional criteria in a sample of 302 high school students. The participants completed domain-specific measures of four personality traits (conscientiousness, intellect/openness, extraversion, and neuroticism), social support, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, goals, level of career indecision, and decisional anxiety. The model fit the data well overall, though certain predictors were linked to the criterion variables only indirectly via mediated pathways. The structural equation model analysis suggested, consistent with previous studies, that the contribution of personality on career exploration and decision-making was mediated by sociocognitive mechanisms. Multiple group analysis suggests that neither sex nor the type of institution (state/private) that students attend determines the relationships among the variables of the proposed theoretical model. Limitations, further research, practical implications, and methodological implications for the CSM model are discussed.

Navigating the multiple challenges of job loss: A career self-management perspective

Involuntary job loss poses at least two major, simultaneous challenges: coping with the psychological fallout of the loss as well as finding new work. Research on coping with unemployment has often emphasized the job search process, equating it with “problem-focused” coping. By contrast, while the psychological toll also represents a real problem for many unemployed persons, efforts to cope with the myriad non-search aspects of job loss (e.g., changes in social, temporal, and financial conditions) have often been considered as “emotion-focused,” “symptom-focused,” or “escape-oriented”, implying that such coping is somehow ancillary to, or even at odds with, the aims of re-employment. Extending the social cognitive model of career self-management (CSM; Lent & Brown, 2013) to the study of job loss, we examined psychological and job search coping strategies in conjunction with selected person and contextual factors that can aid or hinder the coping process. The project included development of a new coping strategies measure, the Coping with Unemployment Scales (CUES). A sample of 512 early to mid-career unemployed workers in the U.S. completed an online survey including measures of coping, social support, financial strain, proactive personality, and three criterion variables: emotional well-being, psychological distress, and job search progress. A structural path analysis of the CSM model yielded good fit to the data. The coping strategies contributed uniquely to the prediction of the emotional functioning and job search progress criteria. We consider the implications of the findings for future inquiry on job loss coping.

When and how does the practice environment most benefit the job outcomes of newly graduated nurses?

Providing a favourable practice environment has been regarded as an essential to improve the job outcomes of newly graduated nurses (NGNs). However, little is known about how and when NGNs can best utilize their practice environment to produce optimal job outcomes. The aim of this study, which is based on the Conservation of Resources Theory and the Social Cognitive Model of Career Self-Management, is to investigate whether NGNs who have a higher level of personal growth initiative are more likely to benefit from their practice environment and achieve better job outcomes by increasing their occupational self-efficacy. A cross-sectional study. From 1 September 2022, to 30 September 2022, 279 NGNs from five Chinese state-owned hospitals were recruited for this study. The participants completed measures of practice environment, personal growth initiative, occupational self-efficacy, job stress, job satisfaction, turnover intention and quality of care. A descriptive analysis and a moderated mediation model were computed. Reporting adhered to the STROBE statement. The influence of the practice environment on job outcomes was significantly mediated by occupational self-efficacy, with personal growth initiative acting as a moderator of this mediation effect. NGNs who exhibited a higher degree of personal growth initiative were more likely to derive benefits from their practice environment and attain positive job outcomes by enhancing their occupational self-efficacy. To boost NGNs' occupational self-efficacy and achieve optimal job outcomes, hospital administrators may not only provide a supportive practice environment for them but also conduct interventions that promote their personal growth initiative. This study was designed to examine the psychosocial factors associated with NGNs' job outcomes. The study was not conducted using suggestions from the patient groups or the public. Our findings indicate that favourable practise contexts may not always benefit the nursing job outcome if NGNs do not exhibit a high level of personal growth initiative and produce increased occupational self-efficacy. Therefore, hospital administrators should consider implementing an intervention to improve the personal growth initiative of NGNs so that they can take full advantage of the practice environment and gain resources at work to create optimal job outcomes.

Revisiting the bottleneck hypothesis: The role of sexual identity development in the career exploration and decision-making of sexual minority college students

Hetherington's (1991) “bottleneck hypothesis”, which maintains that the process of sexual identity development can hamper the career development of sexual minority college students, has received periodic study. We revisited this hypothesis using the social cognitive model of career self-management (CSM; Lent & Brown, 2013) as a theoretical framework. An online survey of 225 sexual minority and 287 heterosexual college students did not reveal a robust between-group bottleneck effect. For example, no significant mean level differences were observed between the two groups in career decision-making process and outcome variables, such as career decision-making anxiety and level of career decidedness. In addition, a CSM-based path model of career decision-making was found to be invariant across the two student groups. However, a few noteworthy within-group patterns were observed. For example, a cluster analysis suggested the presence of two sexual minority sub-groups who differed regarding level of outness and difficulties negotiating their sexual identity. The more identity-integrated cluster reported less decisional anxiety and greater decidedness than their less identity-integrated peers. Indicators of identity conflict and level of disclosure were also linked to perceived support and goals for future career exploration. The pattern of findings suggests that sexual minority identity development in college does not represent a monolithic bottleneck to career development. However, a more nuanced bottleneck effect in career decision-making may be linked to students' intrapersonal and social comfort in negotiating their sexual minority identity. Implications for the bottleneck hypothesis and further research on sexual minority students' career exploration and decision-making are discussed.

Understanding the Career Management of Female Primary-Role Advisors

In the United States, academic advising is among the highest turnover professions in the university system. Academic advisors, who work at the intersection of academics and student life, bear the brunt of increased pressures and decreased resources. Yet, primary-role advisors often do not experience high salaries or opportunities for advancement. Despite a high turnover in advising, some advisors have intentionally chosen to remain in advising. Framed by the social cognitive model of career self-management, this phenomenological study examined the workplace career management of female primary-role advisors at public institutions in the midwestern region of the United States. Through holistic coding, three primary factors emerged from the data: students, supportive environments, and balance and benefits. We offer implications for practice.

Self-assertive efficacy and workplace advocacy behavior: A social cognitive analysis.

One important way in which people assert their agency in the workplace is by engaging in self-advocacy. We used the social cognitive model of career self-management (CSM; Lent & Brown, 2013) to examine hypothesized predictors and outcomes of workers' engagement in self-advocacy. Participants were 511 full-time employees who completed an online survey of self-assertive efficacy involving advocacy behavior, proactive personality, perceived organizational support, self-advocacy behaviors (voice, career initiative, job change negotiation), and three career success criteria (career satisfaction, organizational rewards growth, and hierarchical status at work). Splitting the sample into two parts, we first examined the psychometric properties of a new measure of self-assertive efficacy in relation to workplace advocacy behaviors (SAE-W; n = 200). In the second phase, we tested a set of measurement models to confirm the factor structure of the new measure (n = 311). Results suggested that the SAE-W measure can be viewed as largely unidimensional. Path analyses of the CSM model, including the new self-efficacy measure, offered good fit to the data across gender, racial/ethnic groups, and educational level. We discuss the implications of the findings for future research on self-advocacy behaviors in the workplace from a social cognitive perspective. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Test of a Social Cognitive Model of Proactive Career Behavior

We applied the social cognitive model of career self-management (CSM) to the study of proactive career behavior, referring to workers’ active attempts to guide their own career development. Within the CSM framework, proactive behavior is conceived as a key agentic ingredient linking cognitive, social, and personality mechanisms with a variety of career advancement and sustainability outcomes. A sample of 511 early to mid-career adult workers in the U.S. completed an online survey including measures of proactive career behavior, self-efficacy, and outcome expectations; proactive personality; supervisory support; and three positive career self-management outcomes (perceived career success, growth in work rewards, and job marketability). We tested measurement and structural models, respectively, examining the factor structures of, and hypothesized paths among, the constructs. These models offered good overall fit to the data and were found to be invariant across gender. We consider the implications of the findings for future inquiry on career sustainability from a social cognitive perspective.

Career decision-making in unemployed Portuguese adults: Test of the social cognitive model of career self-management.

Most research applications of the social cognitive model of career self-management (CSM; Lent & Brown, 2013) to career exploration and decision-making have involved U.S. college students. To extend research on the model, we tested its fit to the data in a sample of 345 unemployed adult workers in Portugal. Participants completed measures of career decision self-efficacy, outcome expectations, social support, conscientiousness, neuroticism, exploration goals, decisional stress, and career choice certainty. The model test yielded good overall fit to the data and accounted for significant variance in goals, stress, and choice certainty. When compared with prior findings, the results suggest that the CSM model may offer explanatory utility relative to the making of initial as well as subsequent career decisions and across national boundaries. Implications of the findings for the social cognitive model as well as for future research and practice are considered. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

How to successfully manage the school-to-work transition: Integrating job search quality in the social cognitive model of career self-management

Over the past years, the school-to-work transition has become more volatile and complex, making it more important for graduates to take charge of their careers and to engage in self-regulatory activities. A central factor in successfully navigating this transition is job search. Integrating the social cognitive model of career self-management with recent theorizing on job search quality, we posit that a high-quality job search process (i.e., goal establishment, planning, goal striving, and reflection) will lead to key transition outcomes (i.e., job attainment and perceived fit) for graduates. We incorporate pre-, during, and post school-to-work transition variables to provide new insights about proximal antecedents, processes, and outcomes of this transition. In our integrated model, we propose that job search quality is determined by graduates' job search self-efficacy, outcome expectations (i.e., perceived labor market demand), personality (i.e., conscientiousness), and context (i.e., social support). In turn, job search quality is expected to predict job attainment and perceived fit. The hypothesized model is tested in a sample of 255 Flemish graduates using a three-waved design. Results show that job search self-efficacy and conscientiousness related positively to most job search quality dimensions, and indirectly to job attainment. Goal establishment and goal striving positively predicted job attainment, whereas goal establishment was a significant predictor of perceived fit of the obtained job. These results can help graduates to conduct a higher-quality job search, and help career counselors to design more effective training programs.

Retiring or rewiring? Test of a social cognitive model of retirement planning.

Using the social cognitive model of career self-management (CSM; Lent & Brown, 2013), we examined theory-based predictors of retirement planning goals, decisional anxiety, and level of decidedness. Participants were 525 older workers in the United States and Canada. We first examined the psychometric properties of new or revised social cognitive measures linked to retirement planning with part of the sample (n = 200) and then tested the stability of the factor structure with the remainder of the sample (n = 325). The measurement and structural models indicated good overall model-data fit in the larger sample and across most grouping variables (nationality, income level, and gender), and support was found for most of the paths predicting retirement planning, decisional anxiety, and level of decidedness. However, some gender differences were found in aspects of self-efficacy (confidence at time vs. financial management) that were predictive of decidedness. We consider the implications of the findings for future research and practice directions applying the social cognitive model to retirement planning. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Welcome to work in Taiwan! Investigation of international students' employment opportunities

Introduction. Employment plays an important role in vocational development. However, not many studies of job search among international students have been reported.Aim. The current study aims to examine the relationship between self-efficacy, behavioural intentions, and perceived discrimination in the field of job search (JS).Methodology and research methods. The authors used Social Cognitive Model of Career Self-management (CSM) as the theoretical background to explain the relationships among the constructs of self-efficacy, behavioural intentions and perceived discrimination in JS. The study was conducted in a Chinese cultural context (Taiwan) with a sample of 301 international students from Southeast Asian countries. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to test the model about the relationships between the three variables in the study.Results and scientific novelty. The research findings show that self-efficacy strongly predicts behavioural intentions. Besides, self-efficacy partly mediates the influence of perceived discrimination on behavioural intentions. A quantitative research method was applied to investigate the population of international students, which has not been much reported in previous studies. This indicates that the influence of a contextual factor (e.g. perceived discrimination) on behavioural intentions is direct and indirect through self-efficacy.Practical significance. The research findings can be used by practitioners for enhancing self-efficacy and behavioural intentions as well as helping international students to cope with discrimination in the JS process.

사회인지 진로자기관리모형에 기반한 청소년의 학습경험, 진로결정자기효능감, 결과기대, 진로설계역량 간 구조적 관계

본 연구의 목적은 사회인지진로이론의 진로자기관리모형을 바탕으로 청소년의 학습경험, 진로결정자기효능감, 결과기대, 진로설계역량 간 구조적 관계를 탐구하고, 그 관계에서 진로결정자기효능감과 결과기대의 매개효과를 확인하기 위함이다. 이를 위하여 청소년 456명을 대상으로 진로탐색 및 결정 학습경험 척도, 진로결정자기효능감 척도, 진로결과기대척도, 진로설계역량척도를 사용하여 자료수집을 하였다. 경로분석(path analysis)을 통해, 청소년의 학습경험, 진로결정자기효능감, 결과기대, 진로설계역량 간 관계에 대한 연구모형 적합도를 검증하고, 부트스트랩핑(bootstrapping)을 사용하여 진로결정자기효능감과 결과기대의 매개효과를 확인하였다. 그 결과, 진로자기관리모형을 기반으로 한 경로분석모형의 모형적합도가 양호하고, 진로결정자기효능감과 결과기대의 매개효과가 통계적으로 유의함을 검증하였다. 이러한 연구결과는 진로자기관리모형이 청소년의 진로설계역량이 개발되는 과정을 설명하기에 적절함을 보여주고 있다. 또한, 청소년이 진로 관련 정보를 학습한 것은 인지적 해석 과정(진로결정자기효능감, 결과기대)을 거쳐 진로설계역량에 영향을 줌을 알 수 있다.

Predictors of workplace sexual identity management behaviors: A test of the social cognitive career self-management model

We extended the social cognitive model of career self-management (CSM; Lent & Brown, 2013) to the context of workplace sexual identity management. Three-hundred twenty sexual minority workers completed online measures of their self-efficacy and outcome expectations regarding use of identity-disclosing behaviors at work; workplace climate for sexual minority persons; perceived identifiability as a sexual minority group member; enactment of identity disclosing, avoiding, and disguising behaviors; and affective commitment to their work organizations. Prior to model testing, we examined the factor structure of the self-efficacy, outcome expectation, and workplace climate measures, performing a secondary analysis of data from two previous studies. These analyses indicated substantial overlap between the original measures of outcome expectations (especially negative outcome expectations) and workplace climate. We used these findings to create briefer, more distinctive measures of each construct. A test of the CSM model indicated good fit to the data in predicting use of sexual identity management behaviors and affective commitment. We consider the implications of the findings for refinement of social cognitive measures with respect to sexual identity management as well as for further efforts to understand the precursors and consequences of workplace sexual identity management.

Early career researchers’ engagement in proactive career behaviour: investigation of the extent and favourable influences

ABSTRACT Careers of early career researchers (ECRs) are significantly determined by the structural conditions within a scientific system. Due to the low predictability of career prospects in and outside academia, early and ongoing proactive career behaviour is crucial for their career development. However, ECRs’ engagement in proactive career behaviour has not been sufficiently considered yet. Based on the Social Cognitive Model of Career Self-Management (Lent and Brown 2013), this study examines the extent of ECRs’ engagement in career-related activities and favourable influences. Data of 1,186 research associates at a German and a Swiss university were collected in 2018. Descriptive analyses reveal that ECRs are more likely to carry out career-related activities which are proximal to the scientific profession and qualification (e.g. scientific collaboration) than those that involve a higher degree of self-initiative (e.g. participating in career counselling). Both individual characteristics and factors of opportunity structures like support in the work environment stimulate proactive career behaviour. Effects are partly moderated by the level of formal qualification. A general barrier is a low or moderate interconnectedness at the university. Starting points for promoting ECRs are discussed.

Viewing the Career Indecision Profile within a theoretical context: Application of the social cognitive career self-management model.

The Career Indecision Profile (CIP; Brown et al., 2012) is an empirically derived measure tapping common sources of career indecision: interpersonal conflict, neuroticism/negative affect, lack of readiness, and choice/commitment anxiety. We adapted the social cognitive model of career self-management (Lent & Brown, 2013) to provide a theoretical structure for these sources of indecision, focusing on how they interrelate and jointly predict career decision progress. Supplementing the CIP's focus on negative decisional influences, the social cognitive model included positive sources of career decidedness, in particular, self-efficacy, mastery experiences, and positive emotions related to decision-making. Three hundred sixty-five college students completed the short form of the CIP (Xu & Tracey, 2017), along with measures of career decision self-efficacy, prior experiences with career decision-making, social barriers, trait conscientiousness and neuroticism, and career decidedness. Factor analytic findings indicated that the CIP's interpersonal conflict, negative affect, and lack of readiness items loaded together with conceptually similar social cognitive, barrier, and personality scales, with lack of readiness items divided between self-efficacy and conscientiousness factors. A path analysis, couching the CIP factors in terms of the career self-management model, provided good fit to the data and accounted for substantial portions of the variance in decisional discomfort (choice/commitment anxiety) and levels of career decidedness. We consider implications of the findings for the study of career decision-making and for practical ways to promote it. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

How Does Negative Career Feedback Affect Career Goal Disengagement? The Mediating Roles of Career Planning and Psychological Well-Being

The social cognitive model of career self-management postulates that negative career feedback will prompt individuals to reconsider career goals, and a study by Hu, Hood, and Creed reported a positive relationship between negative career feedback and goal disengagement. Drawing on this model, we theorized that negative career feedback will trigger cognition in the form of career planning and affect in the form of well-being and that career planning and well-being in turn will inform the decision to reengage or disengage from career goals. Using data collected through surveys from faculty members (Study 1) and managers (Study 2) from Pakistan, we found strong support for the mediating influence of career planning and psychological well-being. Interestingly, and contrary to expectation, negative career feedback negatively related to career goal disengagement. Using a two-study constructive replication format enhances confidence that our results are repeatable and not artifactual to particular samples and/or settings. We discuss implications of results for theory and offer suggestions for future research.

Applying the social cognitive model of career self-management to the entrepreneurial career decision: The role of exploratory and coping adaptive behaviours

In this study, the social cognitive model of career self-management (Lent & Brown, 2013) was applied to study the degree of decidedness of university students for an entrepreneurial career, including adaptive behaviours of individuals in their career management. The participants were 376 final-year students of business-oriented degree courses at the University of Granada (Spain). Based on longitudinal survey data, the model was tested with structural equation models. Empirical analysis corroborated the hypothesised relationships between the core cognitive-person variables of social cognitive career theory (self-efficacy, outcome expectations and intention) and the mediating role of adaptive exploratory and coping behaviours in the relation between goals and the level of decidedness for an entrepreneurial career. These findings fill a perceived research gap by showing empirical evidence of the applicability of the career self-management model to the entrepreneurial field. Implications both for future research and for policies and practices of career counselling and entrepreneurship education are discussed.

The Joint Roles of Career Decision Self-Efficacy and Personality Traits in the Prediction of Career Decidedness and Decisional Difficulty

We examined the differential roles that career decision-making self-efficacy and the Big Five traits of neuroticism, extroversion, and conscientiousness may play in relation to career decision status and decisional difficulty. Following assumptions of the social cognitive model of career self-management, we hypothesized that the relations of the personality traits to level of decidedness and choice/commitment anxiety (CCA), a key source of indecision, would be mediated by self-efficacy. We also examined the possibility that the traits could function to moderate the relation of self-efficacy to the dependent variables. Employing a sample of 182 undergraduates, we found support for a mediational model in which each of the personality traits relates to self-efficacy which, in turn, predicts CCA and decidedness. In addition, conscientiousness was found to moderate the relation of career decision-making self-efficacy to CCA, and extroversion moderated the relation of self-efficacy to decidedness. We consider the findings in relation to the social cognitive model and discuss their implications for future research and career decision-making interventions.