scholarly journals Decided and Undecided Students: Career Self-efficacy, Negative Thinking, and Decision-Making Difficulties

2014 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Bullock-Yowell ◽  
Amy E. McConnell ◽  
Emily A. Schedin
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Career Decision ◽  
Career Decision Making ◽  
Undecided Students ◽  
Career Information ◽  
Negative Career Thoughts ◽  
Cognitive Information

The career concern differences between undecided and decided college students (N = 223) are examined. Undecided college students (n = 83) reported lower career decision-making self-efficacy, higher incidences of negative career thoughts, and more career decision-making difficulties than their decided peers (n = 143). Results reveal that undecided students are as ready to make a career-related decision as their decided counterparts but may lack or be receiving inconsistent career information. Academic advising implications include ways to more effectively serve these populations. Practical suggestions from social-cognitive career theory and the cognitive information-processing approach are provided.

Understanding the Career Development of Underprepared College Students

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 452-469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amber N. Hughes ◽  
Melinda M. Gibbons
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Locus Of Control ◽  
Career Development ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Career Decision ◽  
Family Influence ◽  
Career Decision Making ◽  
Career Theory ◽  
Underprepared College Students

The purpose of this study was to examine the career development of underprepared college students using relational career theory. Specifically, the constructs of family influence, locus of control, and career decision-making self-efficacy were explored as they relate to perceived success in college. Significant correlations between external locus of control and family expectations, financial support, and values and beliefs were found indicating that greater family influence is related to external control. Additionally, higher levels of career decision-making self-efficacy were related to internal locus of control and informational support from family. These findings support previous research as well as theorized relational career theory connections.

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

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 457-470 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee T. Penn ◽  
Robert W. Lent
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Cognitive Model ◽  
Career Decision ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Career Decision Making ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Cognitive Model

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.

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