This study tested the developmental trajectories of career maturity (CM) and parental attachment (PA), the longitudinal influence of both, and gender as a moderator. Findings showed developmental progressions in adolescents' PA and CM over 4 years. The change in PA was positively related to the developmental change in CM. For gender, there was a…

This study compared the timing of early vocational preferences in young adolescents from former East Germany and West Germany. Results suggested that as the memory of the Communist system fades and as younger adolescents have had less exposure to it, East-West differences tend to disappear. The formation of early vocational preferences was…

Compared economically dependent college students (N=20) with independent nonstudents (N=20) to assess the impact of prolonged student status. Results of a test battery showed prolonged student status appeared to (1) foster emotional dependence; (2) negatively affect achievement of identity but not self-esteem; and (3) retard vocational identity…

People experience mental incongruity when there is a discrepancy between a standard and their own experience of a situation or behavior. The influence of adolescents' standards and mental incongruity on the development of their identity (N=706) was studied in both work and relational domains using structural equation models. (Author/EMK)

Explored the ability of 269 students in grades 8, 10, and 12, to estimate their scores on psychometric instruments measuring self-awareness. No sex or age differences were found, but Black students were less accurate in their self-assessments than whites. Results suggest career counselors should consider means of increasing self-awareness. (JAC)

The Career Maturity Inventory Scale was used to investigate the vocational maturity of emotionally maladjusted and well-adjusted high school students. Results indicated a significant difference in career maturity between the two groups. Sex, class, and race differences were also examined. (RC)

This study investigated the relationships among vocational, moral, and social development in ninth- and twelfth-grade students to clarify the psychological and psychosocial nature of vocational maturity. The effects of age differences and sex differences are discussed. (PP)

A study charted family, school, workplace, and community experiences that are relevant to the vocational development of high school students, focusing on five areas of influence: allowance practices within the family, economic status, paid work experience, volunteerism, and gender differences. The data were from the "Youth Development…

This book reports on the Youth Development Study, which followed young people for more than a decade in St. Paul, MN, focusing on work experiences during high school. Chapter one, "Should Adolescents Work" discusses historical and contemporary studies, gender differences, controversies, and the cases for and against adolescent work.…