What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up? Cognitive Flexibility Influences Career Decision Making and Related Anxiety
Year: 2019
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Career indecision is a stage most individuals pass through during their lifetimes, but it is often accompanied by anxiety.Although anxiety can have a positive influence on decision-making by focusing attention and cognitive resources, excess anxiety can disrupt the career decision-making process.Existing literature links anxiety to cognitive flexibility, an individual's ability to efficiently switch between thoughts and ideas and to adapt to evolving situations, with young adults higher in cognitive flexibility typically experiencing less anxiety than their less-flexible peers.No studies to date have examined cognitive flexibility as it relates to career indecision or to career-indecision-related anxiety, however.This study examines the relationships between cognitive flexibility, career indecision, and anxiety in undergraduate students; 156 undergraduate students (72% female, 91% Caucasian, 63% juniors and seniors) completed an online Qualtrics survey assessing career indecision, career anxiety, cognitive flexibility, and general demographic information including academic trajectory, career confidence, and personal characteristics.The data support previously documented relationships between career indecision and anxiety and demonstrated that cognitive flexibility significantly relates to both of these factors.Our results suggest a model in which cognitive flexibility directly influences career decision-making, which in turn dictates levels of career-indecision-related anxiety; thus, individuals who are low in cognitive flexibility and high in career indecision may be excellent candidates for interventions designed to increase cognitive flexibility to promote career decision-making and to reduce career-indecision-related anxiety.Career decisions are some of the most complex choices individuals must make, as the individual must consider a variety of factors-personal abilities, life and career goals, work preferences, and personal expectations-when selecting a
Authors: Emily M. Flandermeyer, Keegan G. Sawin
Language: English
Subfield: Safety Research
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2972606743