This study examined the effects of cultural-values conflict and parental expectations on the career decision-making difficulties of university students in three cities in China (Beijing, Wuhan, and Hong Kong, N = 1342). The Multidimensional Scales of Individual Traditionality and Modernity (Yang, Yu, & Ye, 1989) were used as a measure of…

A randomized controlled trial was used to test (1) the efficacy of a two-session career development workshop for college student participants; (2) the effect of counselor self-disclosure on outcomes; and (3) the effect of infusing calling and vocation concepts on outcomes. Both standard (person-environment fit) and calling/vocation-infused…

The relation of social status to individuals' career decision self-efficacy (CDSE) and choice certainty was explored using a new, multifaceted measure of social status, the differential status identity scale (DSIS;, Brown, M. T., D'Agruma, H. D., Brown, A., Sia, A., Yamini-Diouf, Y., Porter, S., et al. (2002). Differential status identity:…

A 2-year study collected data from 773 college students who visited a company, of whom 376 received job offers and 135 accepted. Overall evaluation of the visit, perceptions of the location, and host likeableness were related positively to acceptance. (SK)

This study focused on examining the persistent aspects of career decision-making difficulties, using the Emotional and Personality-related Career decision-making Difficulties scale ("EPCD"; [Saka, N., Gati, I., & Kelly, K.R. (in press). Emotional and personality-related aspects of career decision-making difficulties. "Journal of Career…

Examined the custom of treating all undifferentiated subjects as if they were equal, by dividing subjects into High-Score Undifferentiated (HSU) and Low-Score Undifferentiated (LSU) groups. Results suggest that accounting for score elevation does reveal differences between HSU and LSU subjects and that future studies should not treat…

Examined the role of rational, intuitive, and dependent decisional strategies in facilitating decisions about postcollege occupation among college students (N=71). Results indicated that the use of a dependent decision-making style was the single most powerful predictor of progress. (LLL)

Investigated sex differences in coping with career decision making among 247 undergraduates. Men and women differed on three of four coping factors. Men scored significantly higher on Self-Efficacy Behavior while women scored higher on Reactive Behavior and Support Seeking Behavior. Pattern of relationships between coping and career indecision was…

Examined whether college women, grouped according to scores on the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (AWS) were differentially affected by a videotape career intervention. Results indicated AWS scores were related to the traditionality of the careers chosen for the subjects' hypothetical daughters and to self-efficacy. Careers chosen were more…

Undergraduates (n=101) selected careers using different models: (1) Expected Utility; (2) Sequential Elimination; or (3) unguided selection. Evaluation of decision quality showed the highest payoff from Expected Utility, which differed significantly in terms of frequency of selection of different types of careers. The other models did not differ…

Assessed validity of Holland's differentiation construct. Measures hypothesized to be related to the ability to make vocational decisions were differentiation indices, vocational identity scale, and Occupational Alternatives Question. Results indicated the traditional differentiation index is not a useful way of approaching the differentiation…

Examined the effects of gender and sex-role identity on vocational indecision. Results revealed that sex-role orientation was strongly related to subjects' levels of vocational undecidedness. Nontraditionally sex-typed subjects scored at significantly high levels on all indecision indices. However, no gender-related differences were found.…

To examine the process of career indecision, 203 college stuents were given the Career Decision Scale, and the Johnson Decision Making Inventory. Results indicate that one of the Johnson types is associated with a higher degree of career indecision. Spontaneous external decision making types scored highest on the Career Decision Scale, followed by…

Used canonical correlation analysis and factor analysis to examine the relationship of a set of four measures of career indecision and a set of four measures of anxiety in 133 undergraduate students. Results suggest that a substantial, unidimensional relationship exists between the two sets of measures. (Author/ABB)

Examined differences between students (N=64) who appraised their problem-solving skills as positive versus negative on two career indecision instruments. Subjects who perceived themselves as positive problem solvers were more confident about their decision-making ability and occupational potential and more likely to have related their abilities to…