Career Decision Status, Career-Related Thinking, and Emotional Distress: A Structural Equation Model
Year: 2014
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: The choosing of a college major or occupation is an important decision with which many individuals struggle. Prior research has suggested that difficulty choosing a major or occupation affects a majority of students entering college and stems from multiple sources including lack of information, insufficient learning experiences, and ineffective decision-making processes. Cognitive-behavioral theory has shown utility in working with a diverse set of difficulties and with diverse populations through the examination of the influence of thoughts and emotions on resulting behavior. Research in the career literature has begun to emphasize connections between one’s thoughts and emotions in regards to career development, including relationships found between negative career thoughts, feelings, and proponents of career decision status (e.g., Kelly & Shin, 2009; Saunders, Peterson, Sampson, & Reardon, 2000). The cognitive-behavioral model includes the domains of dysfunctional thoughts, mood, and behavior which will be measured by the presence of career-related thinking, emotional distress, and career decision status respectively. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine difficulties in choosing a major or career within the context of a cognitive-behavioral model in a sample of 200 undergraduate students. Through the use of structural equation modeling, it was found that the presence of negative career thoughts were highly instrumental in predicting difficulties in identifying a career choice. While emotional components were highly correlated with both thoughts and career decision status, no direct relationship existed between affect and outcome. Therefore, it is suggested that interventions addressing career-related thinking may be beneficial in reducing difficulties in making a career choice, while focusing on emotional components may be helpful as well. Further, results of this study indicated that no differences existed between these relationships among diverse demographic groups based on gender, race, or college class standing. Implications for important future research and study limitations also are discussed.
Author: Lindsay Andrews
Language: English
Subfield: Applied Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2257775061