Vocational Psychology Research Articles

Signification, Meaning, and Sense: The Vocational Event has a Crystal Appearance.

Having Gilles Deleuze’s “Logique du sens“ as a reference, we propose a deep appreciation of the concepts of signification, meaning and sense that may affect the understanding of some key constructs of Vocational Psychology with implications for career guidance. The purpose is to grasp the concept of sense from a certain indistinctness that seems to pervade the theoretical corpus of Psychology in general, and Vocational Psychology in particular. First, we emphasize the tradition of research and practice in vocational psychological guidance and dive into the vocational characterisation of those constructs. Then, we propose a way of looking at these concepts as a phenomenon and event for vocational development. Our intention was to put the phenomenological questioning at the centre of the psychological practices and lead a reflection around language that goes beyond a purely symptomatic and empirical understanding, a reflection that grasps its collapse from the casuistry of narratives.

Decent work in France: Context, conceptualization, and assessment

The first aim of this study was to validate a French version of the Decent Work Scale (DWS) proposed by Duffy, Allan, Blustein, England, Douglass, Ferreira, and Santos (2017). Our second aim was to gain insight into French people's representations of decent work using a qualitative approach. A representative sample of 300 French employees completed the DWS, as well as measures of life satisfaction, work satisfaction, work-family conflict, meaningful work, and withdrawal intentions. Participants also responded to an open-ended question asking them to define decent work. Confirmatory factor analyses, as well as correlation and internal-consistency analyses, indicated satisfactory internal and convergent validity for the French version of the DWS. The qualitative results showed that French representations for decent work only partially overlapped with the initial conceptualizations of decent work in the United States. These findings are discussed in reference to notions of decent work in vocational psychology and to the cultural context of work within French society.

A qualitative investigation of beliefs about work-related crises in the United States.

Globalization, technological advancements, and macroeconomic forces have created significant challenges for working in the United States and other countries. Recent crises about working include long-term unemployment/underemployment and the rise of precarious work, which negatively impact individuals' mental health and well-being. To fully understand the nature and impact of these problems, it is essential to give voice to the people whose lives are affected by the work-related crises. In the present study, we used social constructionism and the Psychology of Working Framework/Theory to understand how 42 American adults from diverse backgrounds make meaning of the crises about work. We used modified consensual qualitative research to analyze the participants' responses to a question on their potential solutions to the crises about work in the United States. The data analysis revealed 3 domains: government and corporate policies, social justice, and values. These domains were interwoven with each other through the threads of emotional reactions, locus of causality, and political ideology. Implications for vocational psychology theory, research, policy, and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: THE NEXUS BETWEEN GREEN PRODUCT AND GREEN PROCESS INNOVATION

The actual and virtual realms in the present economies are expending to respond well to technological evolutions. In fact, the emergence of fourth industrial revolution has stimulated the organization to adopt innovations in the production and process with extensive integration of eco-friendly practices to ensure sustainability. The automation of work and emerging digitalization is known as the fourth industrial revolution. This industrial revolution has several effects on person's career involvements. Still, the past literature in careers research and vocational psychology has been surprisingly quiet on this pattern up until now. In this regard, the present study examines the impact of industrial revolution factors on environmental and economic performance in manufacturing SMEs in Malaysia. The results of structural equation modeling confirm that green product innovation and green process innovation have positively and significant impact on project innovation. Moreover, the results further confirm that project innovation has positive and significantly impact on economic performance and environmental performance. Finally, economic and environmental performance have a positive and significant impact on competitive advantage. Therefore, it is recommended that fourth industrial revolution factor is a source to enhance the economic and environmental performance of the firm which ultimately leads the competitive advantage.Keywords: Projection innovation, process innovation, environmental performance, competitive advantage, SME's, MalaysiaJEL Classifications: Q55, Q50DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijeep.8281

Turning Around to Look Ahead: Views of Vocational Psychology in 2001 and 2019

Ten scholars in vocational psychology identified strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in a 2001 issue of the Journal of Vocational Behavior. This article reviews the state of the field in 2001 and then identifies to what extent the strengths and concerns have changed in the past two decades. While the field continues to have a strong theoretical and empirical tradition, old concerns about insularity, methods used to examine research questions, gulfs between science and practice, and turf wars remain a serious threat to the field. We outline the nature of these concerns and propose recommendations from the literature to these concerns.

Vocational Psychology and the Future: The Role of Telepsychology in Shaping Research

Vocational psychologists have predicted the utilization of telepsychology in career interventions, yet vocational research have not capitalized on this modality. The purpose of this article is to describe how telepsychology could be used effectively in vocational psychology research to expand the reach and application of the field’s scholarship to real-world practice. We discuss challenges and ethical issues of this modality and the limitations of vocational psychology scholarship. We argue that telepsychology can overcome current challenges in the field by allowing vocational psychology research to extend to underserved populations, to produce scholarship that might better fill the research to practice gap, and to have practical application to better meet the challenges of the rapidly transforming world of work. In this article, each of these research areas is explored and potential research questions are highlighted.

Development and initial validation of the work and human needs inventory

Recent theoretical approaches in vocational psychology, such as the Psychology of Working (Blustein, 2006; Duffy, Blustein, Diemer, & Autin, 2016), have emphasized the extent to which work meets a variety of human needs, and quantitative assessments of these constructs are needed to advance this research. The current study examines the development and initial validation of the Work and Human Needs Inventory (WAHNI), which assesses the extent to which individuals' work meets several human needs: survival, power, autonomy, social connection, and meaning. Items were constructed and refined using content analysis of relevant constructs, expert analysis, and a pilot study. Exploratory factor analysis on a sample of 338 working adults revealed five factors: Survival, Meaning, Power, Autonomy, and Connection. Confirmatory factor analyses on a separate sample of 203 working adults supported this factor structure. Scale intercorrelations with related measures provided validity evidence. Research and practical implications for the WAHNI are discussed.

An interdisciplinary approach to job matching: developing an occupation-specific job matching tool for reintegrating persons with spinal cord injury into the labor market

Purpose: To develop and pretest a comprehensive occupation- and health condition-specific job matching tool for vocational rehabilitation of persons with spinal cord injury.Materials and methods: The study design involved qualitative and quantitative steps. First, an interdisciplinary scoping review covering return-to-work, organizational and vocational psychology research was conducted to devise a conceptual job matching framework. Then, the occupation- and health condition-specific tool content was determined based on a database analysis of jobs performed by persons with spinal cord injury and focus groups with affected persons. Finally, a tool prototype was developed and pretested in a simulation exercise with vocational rehabilitation professionals.Results: The study yielded a tool prototype with matching profiles that structure the demands and characteristics of 415 occupations as well as spinal cord injury-related needs and limitations into a stable, a modifiable, and a needs-supplies dimension of person-job match. Vocational rehabilitation professionals perceived the prototype as helpful for determining target jobs for vocational retraining and for goal-oriented intervention planning.Conclusions: By comprehensively assessing the person-job match of individuals with spinal cord injury, the tool facilitates determining suitable target jobs and interdisciplinary intervention planning in vocational rehabilitation and is thus likely to promote sustainable return to work.Implications for rehabilitationJob matching is crucial for a sustainable work reintegration of persons with disabilities. However, the majority of existing job matching tools lack applicability for return to work because they are (1) not occupation-specific or rely on outdated occupational information, (2) not health condition-specific, and (3) not comprehensive with regard to the relevant aspects for determining a person-job match.Persons with spinal cord injury are a case in point for the need of job matching tools that comprehensively address occupation- and health condition-specific information.The present study responded to the shortcomings of existing job matching tools and uses vocational rehabilitation of persons with spinal cord injury as a case in point for developing a job matching tool that is both occupation- and health condition-specific at the same time.The developed tool was perceived as promising for determining suitable target jobs for vocational retraining of persons with spinal cord injury and for goal-oriented intervention planning in an interdisciplinary vocational rehabilitation setting. The tool’s underlying conceptual framework may also serve as a blueprint for developing job matching tools for other types of disabilities.

Vocational Psychology: Expanding the Vision and Enhancing the Impact

In this contribution, we provide a critical analysis of the current status of vocational psychology and present an expansive vision for the future. We begin with an overview of the importance of vocational psychology in the history of The Counseling Psychologist, followed by a critical review of contemporary theory, research, practice, and training. We aim to expand the traditional purview of career choice and development and broaden the impact of the field to meet the needs of all who work and who want to work. We propose a new mission for vocational psychology characterized by innovative theoretical advancements, renewed interdisciplinary and international collaborations, and the inclusion of macrolevel factors in research, practice, and policy. Lastly, we conclude with a vision of vocational psychology in 20 years, which optimally will be reflected in a broadened scope of mission, integrative theoretical frameworks, and an expanded training and policy agenda.

Conceptualizing Well-Being in Vocational Psychology: A Model of Fulfilling Work

Following from the strengths-based inclusive theory of work (S-BIT of Work), fulfilling work is a central goal of career and work counseling. However, vocational psychologists have yet to develop a comprehensive model of fulfilling work. We addressed this concern by reviewing the literature on well-being, developing the fulfilling work construct, and delineating an operationalized model of fulfilling work. This operationalization contains four components: (a) job satisfaction, (b) meaningful work, (c) work engagement, and (d) workplace positive emotions. These components capture the hedonic, eudaimonic, cognitive, and affective dimensions of fulfilling work. Researchers can adapt these components to different cultures by adjusting their operationalizations and understanding how people interpret and experience fulfilling work in different contexts. Fulfilling work represents the core experience of well-being in the work context and provides a starting point for research on the S-BIT of Work.

The Strengths-Based Inclusive Theory of Work

This paper describes a new vocational theory—the strengths-based inclusive theory of work (S-BIT of Work). This theory addresses the ever-changing, dynamic nature of the world of work and integrates counseling psychology’s core values of emphasizing vocational psychology, strengths-based perspectives, multiculturalism, and social justice. We aim to provide a holistic vocational theory to inform career and work counseling practice by increasing clinicians’ cultural responsivity, promoting clients’ strengths and optimal functioning, and addressing a variety of vocational challenges across developmental stages. This first article in the Major Contribution includes a discussion of the S-BIT of Work’s core assumptions and theoretical propositions, research supporting the development of the S-BIT of Work, as well as future directions. The second and third articles in this Major Contribution discuss a model of fulfulling work, and the infusion of positive psychology and cultural responsivity in work counseling practice, respectively.

Underemployment and Meaningful Work: The Role of Psychological Needs

Underemployment is a global problem that is increasing in the context of recovering economic recessions and insecure job markets. In this context, vocational psychologists can play a unique role by determining the processes by which underemployment relates to aspects of work well-being, such as meaningful work. Therefore, the goal of this study was to examine the relation between underemployment and meaningful work as well as to investigate potential mediators of this relation. Specifically, with a sample of 351 working adults in the United States, we investigated how underemployment related to the meaningful work via the self-determination needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Partially supporting hypotheses, underemployment was negatively related to autonomy and relatedness but positively related to competence. In turn, autonomy and competence were positively related to meaningful work, whereas relatedness was unrelated to meaningful work. These results offer insights into how underemployment might affect the meaningfulness of work and how employers and practitioners can help underemployed workers.

Person-vocation fit across the world of work: Evaluating the generalizability of the circular model of vocational interests and social cognitive career theory across 74 countries

The fit of a person with a vocation, or person-vocation (P-V) fit, is important for workers and is a central concept in vocational psychology. Multiple theories in vocational psychology undergird an understanding of P-V fit, including the circular model of vocational interests and social cognitive career theory (SCCT). However, it is unclear whether predictions based upon these theories are generalizable across a range of societies. To help overcome this limitation, we conduct what is to our knowledge the broadest international study of vocational interests to date. Based upon Hofstede's (2003) cross-cultural theory and Inglehart and Baker's (2000) modernization theory, we hypothesize that both the circular model and a key proposition based on SCCT, namely a positive relationship between educational attainment and P-V fit, will be less appreciable in societies low on cultural individualism and economic development. Using 81,445 responses from 74 countries to an online vocational inventory, we found partial support for these hypotheses. Our findings underscore the need for additional research to understand the relevance of the circular model and SCCT to societies that differ culturally and economically from settings like the United States where those theories have been predominately developed and tested. Our findings also warrant caution for practitioners in employing recommendations and interventions based upon these theories in such societies without thoroughly validating their use.

Something Old and Something New: Future Directions in Vocational Research With People of Color in the United States

Vocational psychology scholarship has largely overlooked the work experiences of people of color. In this article, we present evidence that vocational research that addresses the work issues of people of color has been neglected in the key outlets for vocational research among vocational psychologists. We outline seven directions for research inquiry with people of color, namely using culturally sensitive research methods, increasing research on the effectiveness of career interventions, integrating interdisciplinary perspectives, merging psychological and educational science with vocational development, using intersectional approaches, examining collective mobility strategies and structural reforms, and assessing the impact of environmental disasters on long-term educational and work outcomes.

A Qualitative Investigation of the Experiences of People Who Panhandle

U.S. Census data from 2016 indicate that 12.7% of the population may be living in poverty, a total of 40.6 million people. The most visible among this group facing unemployment or underemployment are people who panhandle, characterized by soliciting requests for assistance on street corners or highway exits. If issues of poverty are to be addressed adequately, the characteristics of these populations need to be better understood. In this qualitative study, we sought to understand the experiences of people who panhandle through in-person interviews. Participants included 9 individuals (6 men and 3 women). A consensual qualitative research approach was used to analyze the transcribed interviews resulting in 7 domains. We discuss results in the context of the psychology of working theory. Implications include the integration of social justice and vocational psychology among counseling psychologists working with clients who panhandle.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution: Issues and Implications for Career Research and Practice

The accelerating digitization and automation of work, known as the 4th industrial revolution, will have an enormous impact on individuals’ career experiences. Yet, the academic literature in vocational psychology and career research has been remarkably silent on this trend so far. This article summarizes some of the most important issues of the 4th industrial revolution as they pertain to career development. The author then critically reviews how current models and frameworks of career development are suitable for addressing these emerging issues. Opportunities for future career development research and practice are outlined.

Unifying Vocational Psychology's Trait and Social–Cognitive Approaches through the Cognitive-Affective Personality System

Vocational psychology is divided between two conflicting paradigms: Trait-based, exemplified by Holland's (1997) theory, and social–cognitive, exemplified by Social-Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT). Scientifically, this division is problematic, as scientific truth is partially determined by consensus among experts ( Kuhn, 1970 ). We propose that the trait-based and social–cognitive perspectives can be integrated—not by subsuming SCCT into Holland's (1997) model as suggested by Armstrong and Vogel (2009 , 2010 ) but by reinterpreting traits in terms of social–cognitive units. SCCT lacks the scope and explanatory power to accomplish this task partially because, as we detail, the theory relies on many trait constructs itself. To accomplish our integration, we introduce an influential theory from the personality literature: The Cognitive-Affective Personality System (CAPS; Mischel & Shoda, 1995 ). We describe CAPS and highlight its parallels with SCCT. We then explain how trait-based accounts of vocational interests and cognitive abilities can be translated into CAPS units. We conclude by describing how trait constructs can still be viable within the CAPS framework and by calling for empirical research to put our propositions to the test.

Microaggressions and Ethnic Identity in the Career Development of Latina College Students

Counseling psychologists have noted the importance of examining the intersection of sociocultural identity and vocational psychology. In our study, we considered this intersection in a sample of 202 Latina college and graduate students from a perspective informed by social cognitive career theory. We examined how ethnic identity and experiences of self-reported microagressions were related to career decision self-efficacy and outcome expectations, including relationships to both positive and negative outcome expectations in our model. Findings indicated that higher endorsement of ethnic identity was positively related to career decision self-efficacy and to negative outcome expectations, whereas higher endorsement of experiences of microaggressions was related to lower career-decision self-efficacy, greater negative outcome expectations, and lower positive outcome expectations. Career decision self-efficacy was associated with lower negative outcome expectations and higher positive outcome expectations. Indirect relationships and two alternative models were also explored. We discuss implications for future research and career counseling with Latinas.

A Crisis in Career Development: Life Designing and Implications for Transition

The field of transition—and the Division on Career Development and Transition (DCDT)—was built upon a foundation established by theories of career development that emerged in the 1950s and 1960s and paved the way for the work/study movement of the 1960s and the vocational and career education for students with disabilities movement that dominated the 1970s and, eventually, the transition services movement. Today’s leaders in vocational psychology and career guidance suggest that market and global economic forces associated with a postmodern world have created a crisis in career development models and methods. This article discusses the evolution of how career development has been understood, and the potential importance of a life design framework and its emphasis on career construction, rather than career development, for the future of transition services.

Topics in the Journal of Counseling Psychology, 1963-2015.

Historical trends in a scientific field should be apparent in the changing content of journal articles over time. Using a topic modeling approach, a statistical method for quantifying the thematic content of text, 70 topics were extracted from the abstracts of 3,603 articles published in the Journal of Counseling Psychology from 1963 to 2015. After examining interpretability of 70 topics derived from the model, 64 meaningful topics and their trends were named. In addition, the authors also classified some of the related topics into 4 categories-counseling process and outcome, multiculturalism, research methodology, and vocational psychology. Counseling process and outcome related topics have decreased recently, while topics relating to multiculturalism and diversity have shown increasing trends. The authors also discussed trends that were observed and tried to account for the changing frequencies of some important research topics within these categories. (PsycINFO Database Record