A pilot study was conducted with 48 adults to determine if career indecision/dissatisfaction as indicated by flat Strong Interest Inventory (SII) (L. Harmon, J. Hansen, F. Borgen, and A. Hammer, 1994) profiles corresponded with flat profiles on the Self-Directed Search (SDS) and to determine if indecision affected scores on SII Personal Style…

Most career decisions involve compromises. The need to compromise can be attributed to the fact that the characteristics of the options in the occupational world do not necessarily match the ideal career image of the career decision maker. This study examined the readiness to compromise and the content of compromise in 1,252 deliberating women and…

This study examined the relationship between global self concept and the congruence between the individual's current occupation and the rating on the Strong Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII). Employed adults who sought career counseling completed the SCII and the Wallace Self Concept Scale. The subject's current occupation and SCII General…

The purpose of this study was to describe the major sources of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction in the Navy, as well as the relationship of this satisfaction to retention of naval personnel. To identify sources of satisfaction and dissatisfaction, eight Navy ratings (occupational career fields) were analyzed. Individuals in each of the ratings…

To investigate the relationship of women's role choices, role satisfaction, and self-esteem to their perceptions of their earlier relationship with their mothers and to their perceptions of their mothers' roles and role satisfaction, 67 women between the ages of 28 and 38, married and college educated with preschool children, participated in this…

Since the advent of the all volunteer force, the U.S. military has supported research to monitor, understand, and influence the propensity of American youth to enlist in the military. Interest in understanding determinants of military enlistment has increased since 1992 due to the shrinking size of the available youth cohort, competing demands for…

An increase in the number of adult women in the paid work force, many of whom are returning to work after a period as homemaker and parent, appears to be one of the major social changes of the past decade. As part of the Project HAVE Skills program, which was designed to develop career counseling materials for reentry women, questionnaires…

This paper discusses the outcomes of a study that examined the importance of personality to identity formation in Terman's sample of 1,528 intellectually gifted children in 1936 and 1940. Based on the children's responses to questions concerning their occupational choice and factors that influenced their decision, participants were classified into…

The Strong Interest Inventory (SII) is the most widely used instrument of its type in existence. The inventory is individually administered and can be used with high school students, college students, and adults. It is typically used in vocational counseling. The new 1994 version resembles the original published in 1927 both in the construction of…

Interest assessment typically consists of a person indicating whether he or she likes, dislikes, or is indifferent to a task. A more appropriate technology for career interest assessment is needed and one such program is presented. Interest assessment in career counseling has been based on the concept of the "discriminant bridge" developed by…

Making a career choice can be one of the most important decisions in a person's life. Instruments recently developed for use in career counseling have placed an increased emphasis on evaluating career-related beliefs. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the psychometric characteristics of "Career Beliefs Inventory" scores in…

Since Erikson first explained identity synthesis for women as a single unitary pattern, identity synthesis for women leading different life styles has been shown to form separate and distinct patterns. These findings suggest that men's identity synthesis may also be more complex than a unitary process. Similarities and differences in identity…

Successful work performance and its corollary, career success, generate both positive (intended) and negative (unintended) outcomes for individuals. The negative outcomes foster a sense of personal and social alienation, which in turn promote behaviors that have negative implications for work motivation and organizational and leadership processes.…

Vocational Exploration is a small group counseling approach for career development, used for helping young people and adults to make more effective career decisions by combining group dynamics and career development theory and procedures. The process consists of five phases, where five participants and a counselor progress through 18 sequenced…

It is difficult to define mid-life career change because it varies from person to person. A wide variety of sociological, economic, technological, and psychological factors impinging on the conscious and unconscious being of individuals affects how they deal with this particular stage of life. These factors include individual needs, family and…