College students were assigned to three groups: Strong Interest Inventory (SII) plus social cognitive group feedback (n=52), SII only (n=22), and controls (n=25). The feedback group had higher career decision-making self-efficacy and more differentiated career beliefs than the SII-only group. Both SII groups were more likely to see the…

The Career Decision Making Self Efficacy Scale is based on self-efficacy and career maturity theories and research showing the strong relationship of career self-efficacy to career indecision. The scale is useful in designing and evaluating education and counseling interventions intended to increase perceptions of self-efficacy. (SK)

College freshmen were divided into three groups: (1) 28 completed the Self-Directed Search and attended a 50-minute career exploration workshop based on it; (2) 28 completed the Career Decision-Making System-Revised (CDM-R) and attended a similar workshop; and (3) 28 were controls. CDM-R significantly increased knowledge of decision-making…

A study examined the relationship between perceived occupational barriers and career decision-making (CDM) attitudes, knowledge of CDM principles, and CDM self-efficacy of 188 college students. Findings indicate that the perception of occupational barriers may not negatively influence the career development process. (Author/JOW)

Three studies of college students (n=178, 129, and 96) evaluated the reliability and validity of the Assessment of Attributions for Career Decision-Making instrument. Factor analysis supported a three-factor structure. The instrument demonstrated adequate internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and construct, criterion, and incremental…

Administered measures of demographics and career-decision-making (CDM) self-efficacy to 233 undergraduates. CDM self-efficacy was moderately and positively related to CDM attitudes and age of participants but was not related to CDM skills. CDM attitudes were significantly predicted by CDM skills, CDM self-efficacy, and age; CDM skills were…

Evaluates the career maturity and career decision-making attributional style of high school students in an ethnically diverse, southeastern urban school system. Results indicate a significant, positive relationship between career maturity and an optimistic attributional style. Young men perceived more control over their career decision making than…

The recent application of Weiner's attribution theory to the career exploration and planning process has resulted in a series of investigations designed to assist college students to develop an optimistic attributional style for career decision making. This paper undertakes a comprehensive review of three attributional retraining investigations…

Provides a thorough psychometric evaluation of the Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale. Provides a summary of the initial construction and development of the scale, followed by a comprehensive review of the results from various investigations on its reliability and validity. Concludes with ideas for additional research. (JPS)

College students (20 women, 14 men) seeking career counseling services at a university career center participated in this exploratory investigation. A 2 (DISCOVER treatment) x 2 (counseling treatment) research design was used to evaluate the individual and combined effects of DISCOVER (ACT, 1998) and counseling on participants' career…

Data from 50 nontraditional and 104 traditional community college students showed more mature career decision-making attitudes among the older students. However, both groups displayed anxiety and lack of confidence about successful completion of career decision-making tasks. (SK)

Reports on a study of college students with and without disabilities (N=121) who completed measures of career decision-making self-efficacy and career decision-making attributional styles. Students with disabilities reported significantly lower levels of career decision-making self-efficacy and exhibited more of a pessimistic attributional style…

Gender differences in 401 college students' career maturity were investigated with quantitative measures that included attitudes, decision-making skills, and vocational congruence. Analyses revealed that females scored significantly higher than males on each of the measures. Qualitative analyses revealed that the perception of barriers may serve…

Nontraditional college students (N=66) participated in a career counseling workshop based on Bandura's self-efficacy theory. Results suggest that participation in the workshop had a significant, positive effect on career decision-making self-efficacy across levels of age, sex, year in college, and family income. (Author/MKA)

Assessed reliability and validity of Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale (CDMSES). Findings from 233 community college students who completed CDMSES, Career Maturity Inventory, Decision-Making Scale of the Career Development Inventory, and demographic questionnaire generally support reliability and validity of CDMSES as measure of community…