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Relationships among Career Thoughts,
Career Interests, and Career Decision State
Ashley K. Chason
Florida State University
Emily Bullock-Yowell
University of Southern Mississippi
James P. Sampson, Jr.
Janet G. Lenz
Robert C. Reardon
Florida State University
Abstract information, but may add to the cost and ble when individuals have SDS codes
time for career interventions. with negative signs on these indicators
This study investigated the relation- The purpose of this study was to (Reardon & Lenz, 1998).
ships among negative career thoughts, examine negative career thoughts in re-
profile elevation and differentiation lation to interest inventory results and Cognitive Information Processing
scores on the Self-Directed Search, and the individual’s career decision state, or (CIP) Theory and the CTI
career decision state, including level of level of career decidedness and satisfac- The CTI is based on CIP theory,
decidedness and satisfaction with tion with choice. More specifically, it which uses a three-level pyramid figure
choice. Participants were 226 under- explored how individuals’results from to display the important cognitive do-
graduate students enrolled in a career the Career Thoughts Inventory (CTI; mains involved in career choice (Samp-
course. Measures included the Career Sampson, Peterson, Lenz, Reardon, & son et al., 2004). The model is
Thoughts Inventory (CTI) for career Saunders, 1996a), the Self-Directed comprised of three knowledge domains,
thoughts, the Self-Directed Search Search (SDS; Holland, 1994), and two which are represented by a pyramid. The
(SDS) for profile elevation and differen- measures of career decision state, the foundation of the pyramid symbolizes
tiation, the Occupational Alternatives Occupational Alternatives Question the knowledge domains, which include
Question (OAQ) for career decidedness, (OAQ; Slaney, 1980) and Satisfaction self-knowledge and occupational knowl-
and the Satisfaction with Choice item with Choice item, are related. The re- edge. The middle level of the CIP pyra-
for level of satisfaction with career sults were expected to provide informa- mid represents the decision-making
choice. A series of multiple regression tion for more efficient and effective use skills domain, which includes generic in-
analyses were conducted to determine of the CTI and the SDS. formation-processing skills essential in
the amount of variance accounted for by The SDSis an interest inventory gathering and using information to solve
negative career thoughts (i.e., decision- widely used in career counseling and problems and make decisions. These
making confusion, commitment anxiety, advising. While an understanding of skills include five CASVE phases for re-
and external conflict) in profile eleva- vocational interests and Holland’s RI- ceiving external or internal signals of a
tion, differentiation, career decidedness, ASEC theory are important, dysfunc- gap between one’s current and desired
and satisfaction with choice. Negative tional thinking can interfere with the situation (Communication), interrelating
career thoughts were found to account career decision-making process and pre- problem components (Analysis), generat-
for a significant amount of variance in vent individuals from making effective ing alternatives (Synthesis), prioritizing
profile elevation, career decidedness, career choices (Reardon & Lenz, 1998; options or alternatives (Valuing), and
and satisfaction with choice. Findings Wright, Reardon, Peterson, & Osborn, forming an action plan to close the gap
suggest the need to fully explore nega- 2000). However, use of the CTI to get a (Execution). At the top of the pyramid is
tive thinking that interferes with clients more complete diagnostic profile of the executive processing domain which
making effective career decisions. clients’ readiness for career decision relates to metacognitions, such as self-
makinghas been shown to produce sig- talk, self-awareness, and control and
Career professionals look for ways nificant improvements in five measures monitoring, that govern the choosing and
to use assessment instruments to the of dysfunctional career thoughts and vo- sequencing of cognitive strategies career
fullest. With limited time and funding, cational identity (Strohm, 2009). In ad- decision making.
it is important to use all possible infor- dition, differentiation, consistency, and
mation from assessments to promote ef- coherence of an individual’s SDS profile Negative Career Thoughts
fective career exploration and decision are positively related to stability of ca- While progressing through the
making. Just using more tests or inven- reer choice (Holland, 1997), suggesting CASVE cycle, individuals may recog-
tories may not produce additional useful that the SDS results may not be as sta-
The Canadian Journal of Career Development/Revue canadienne de développement de carrière
Volume 12, Number 1, 2013
Relationships among Career Thoughts
40
nize specific thoughts related to their tigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, or lowest code scores, whereas an undiffer-
career planning. Career thoughts in- Conventional (RIASEC). Each type has entiated person earns similar scores
clude an individual’s feelings, thoughts, been described through preferences for across all six areas. Differentiation is
attitudes, beliefs, and expectations re- activities and occupations, values, view commonly calculated by subtracting the
lated to career decision-making and of self, self-perception of competence lowest score from the highest (Holland,
problem-solving effectiveness (e.g., “I and ability, perception by others, and 1997) or by using the Iachan index
can’t wait to begin work in my chosen what is avoided (Gottfredson & Holland, (Iachan, 1984). The Iachan index, used
field; I know I can succeed as a finan- 1996). Second, most environments (e.g., in this study, takes into account the first,
cial analyst”) (Sampson et al., 2004). jobs, leisure activities, and education or second, and fourth summary scores
Negative career thoughts are those dys- training programs) can also be catego- when calculating differentiation, and is
functional cognitions that have a nega- rized in the same way. It is assumed that considered to be more sensitive to the
tive impact on one’s career people with a particular personality type shape of the profile (Holland et al.,
decision-making and problem-solving tend to dominate the corresponding envi- 1994).
abilities (e.g., “I’ve messed up the best ronment. For example, an Artistic envi- An individual’s level of differentia-
opportunity of my life; I’m never going ronment is most likely to be comprised tion can affect any prediction a coun-
to get another job that good.”) (Samp- of Artistic personalities. Third, people selor might make from the person’s
son, et al., 2004; Sampson, et al., 1996a; search for environments that are compat- code (Zunker & Osborn, 2005). Well-
Saunders, Peterson, Sampson, & Rear- ible with their personality style, values, differentiated interests are unlikely to
don, 2000). and skills, and fourth, peoples’ behavior switch drastically, while those individu-
Dysfunctional cognitions mediate is determined by an interaction between als with lower differentiation might be
and change an individual’s career be- their personality style and environment. unclear as to what really interests them.
havior (Sampson, Peterson, Lenz, Rear- High differentiation is positively corre-
don, & Saunders, 1996b). These Primary and Secondary Constructs lated with more stability in work history
cognitions cause individuals to avoid or The RIASEC theory assumptions and the directions of career preferences
inappropriately engage in career deci- and the hexagon provide a foundation or work histories (Reardon & Lenz,
sion-making behaviors. This behavior for primary and secondary constructs 1998).
can result in a myriad of outcomes such that have informed research and practice
as procrastination, anxiety, dependency, (Holland, 1997). These constructs are Profile Elevation
and/or premature foreclosure, and may thought to be diagnostic of individuals’ Profile elevation is the sum of the
limit the effectiveness of career problem career situations and their potential for six section scores on the SDS, ranging
solving and decision making. There- successful career decision making. from 14 to 300 and indicates an overall
fore, it is important that negative career They are helpful in providing additional level of endorsement that is not specific
thoughts be identified, challenged, and information regarding a client’s deci- to any RIASEC domain (Fuller et al.,
altered to help individuals improve their sion-making process (Reardon & Lenz, 1999). Gottfredson and Jones (1993)
career decision making (Sampson, et al., 1998, 1999). The two primary con- indicated profile elevation (PE) has
1996b). A screening instrument such as structs include personality type (RI- been subsumed under the professional
the CTI may be used to evaluate the de- ASEC three-letter code) and congruence judgment of a counselor, but Fuller et al.
gree to which the client is likely to ben- (the degree of match between a person noted that researchers have never com-
efit from the use of interest inventories and an environment). pletely understood its validity. In addi-
such as the Self-Directed Search (SDS). The secondary constructs of interest tion, Fuller et al. (1999) noted that
RIASECTheoryand the SDS to this study are (a) differentiation, “the profile elevation has not been accurately
level of definition or distinctiveness of a understood. Exploring profile elevation
John Holland’s RIASEC theory has personality or occupational profile” (Hol- could provide counselors with addi-
been touted as the most empirically land et al., 1994 p. 262), and (b) profile tional information about clients that
sound model (Rayman & Atanasoff, elevation, the sum of the six RIASEC would help them tailor interventions to
1999). The “hallmark” of Holland’s the- scores across all sections of the SDS clients’ needs. If high and low PE is de-
ory has been the application of voca- (Fuller, Holland, & Johnston, 1999). termined by calculating one standard
tional theory to practical client concerns deviation above and below the norma-
(Spokane & Cruza-Guet, 2005), and the Differentiation tive sample, high PE are: (men, 150 >;
SDS is a basic tool in this process. Hol- Differentiation is “the level of defi- women, 147 >), average range: (men,
land’s RIASEC theory posits that voca- nition or distinctiveness of a personality 129-149; women 128-146), and low:
tional interests are an expression of one’s or occupational profile” (Holland et al, (men, < 128; women, < 127) (Holland,
personality, and the main goal is a good 1994, p. 262). Differentiation can also Fritzsche, & Powell, 1994). Yet, it has
“fit” between individuals and their envi- be thought of as how well individuals been suggested that more clinically rele-
ronments. This theory is based on four know their likes and dislikes. A person vant ranges be developed (Bullock &
key assumptions (Holland, 1997). First, with a highly differentiated SDS sum- Reardon, 2008).
most people can be categorized as one of mary score will have a relatively large Differentiation and profile elevation
six personality types: Realistic, Inves- discrepancy between the highest and are related, but not equivalent con-
The Canadian Journal of Career Development/Revue canadienne de développement de carrière
Volume 12, Number 1, 2013
Relationships among Career Thoughts
41
structs. Individuals can have the same (p. 227). In addition, there is specula- student” (Fuqua & Hartman, 1983).
profile elevation (PE) whether they are tion, based or prior research, that per- They tend to exhibit a lack of sense of
highly differentiated or not. Research haps profile elevation is not just another identity and possess a maladaptive ap-
emphasizes the importance of not evalu- secondary construct, but a superordinate proach to problem solving, self-percep-
ating those with low PE and undifferen- construct that accounts for much of the tual problems, and externalized
tiated profiles and those with high PE variance in SDS profiles (Bullock & attribution, along with a high level of
and undifferentiated profiles in the same Reardon, 2008). anxiety (Fuqua & Hartman, 1983; Hol-
way (Swanson & Hansen, 1986). Un- The constructs of negative career land & Holland, 1977; Peterson et al.,
differentiated individuals with high PE thoughts and profile elevation may ac- 1991). Additionally, decided individu-
may be multipotential or indecisive, count for variation in career decidedness als reported less control and more au-
while undifferentiated individuals with and satisfaction, which are described in tonomy support from their peers and
low PE may need more help to identify the next two sections. less control from their parents than indi-
skills, interests, and possible negative viduals in a chronically undecided
self-talk. Career Decision State group (Guay, Ratelle, Senecal, Larose,
The contribution of profile eleva- The concept of decision state in this & Deschenes, 2006). Finally, in a study
tion has been an area of focus for re- study was based on level of career de- of college attrition, Lounsbury, Saudar-
searchers. There has been some cidedness and satisfaction with occupa- gas, and Gibson (2004) found a signifi-
speculation about the relationship be- tional choice. cant negative relationship between
tween low PE and depression for years career decidedness and intention to
(Spokane, Luchetta, & Richwine, 2002). Decidedness withdraw from college. Research
Counselors often notice when a client In order to provide effective career shows that a feeling of decidedness and
does not have many interests and draw counseling services, counselors must commitment to a career choice is an im-
conclusions about an individual’s per- examine an individual’s career decision portant facet of overall career-choice
sonality or attitude. Lehberger (1989) state, i.e., how decided and satisfied the readiness (Creed, Prideaux, & Patton,
concluded that those with lower SDS person is about the career choice. 2005; Powell & Luzzo, 1998).
scores may require more intensive coun- Decided individuals are those who
seling than those with higher scores and can “provide a choice of occupation or a Satisfaction with Choice
distinct profile shapes. first choice with secondary alternatives” An individual’s satisfaction with ca-
Higher PE has been found to posi- (Peterson et al., 1991, p. 174). Decided reer choice can also help to conceptual-
tively correlate with extraversion and adolescents are more likely to have ize career decidedness. An early study
openness to experience, extraversion, an higher levels of career planning/explo- by Zener and Schnuelle (1972) reported
expressive style, conscientiousness, and ration, career decision-making self-effi- the use of a single item in the form of a
lower depressive personality traits (Hol- cacy, less career indecision, and higher question, “How satisfied are you with
land, Johnston, & Asama, 1994; Got- levels of self-esteem and vigilance your first choice?” followed by six lev-
tfredson & Jones, 1993; Bullock & (Creed, Pridaeux, & Pattoon, 2005). els of positive to negative responses.
Reardon, 2008). Thus, individuals with Undecided individuals are those who Kleiman et al. (2004) found satisfaction
higher PE would likely be more open “…have not made a commitment to a with occupational choice was negatively
and receptive to career counseling. specific occupational choice due to gaps correlated with career decision-making
Hirschi and Lage (2007) found mean- in the knowledge necessary for choos- difficulties in college students.
ingful connections between profile ele- ing” (p. 82). An analysis by Lucas and
vation and career exploration and career Epperson (1988) found that undecided The Present Study
planning, which suggested that high students differed with respect to their Negative career thoughts, profile el-
profile elevation was positively related particular concerns and it would be ben- evation, differentiation, and career de-
to degree of overall career-choice readi- eficial to distinguish between types of cidedness have received attention by
ness attitudes. undecided individuals. researchers, but minimal research has
There has been some discussion In contrast, indecisive individuals directly explored how dysfunctional ca-
about a “general factor” impacted by PE cannot generate occupational alterna- reer thoughts are related to an individ-
that affects areas of interest and ability tives and lack sufficient self- and occu- ual’s SDS code and secondary
(Darcy & Tracey, 2003). They de- pational knowledge to carry out the constructs in RIASEC theory. One
scribed this factor as similar to Spear- decision-making process. Tyler (1969) study (Wright et al., 2000) examined
man’s “g” in intelligence. In the same was one of the early psychologists to these relationships and did not find sig-
way that intelligence is thought to be distinguish between career indecision nificant zero order correlates between
multifaceted, but still has an overarch- and indecisiveness. He regarded unde- differentiation and negative career
ing g, they proposed that profile eleva- cided individuals as having problems thoughts.
tion might serve as an overarching or coming up with a plan of action, where Holland’s theory has generated
general factor of vocational interest. indecisiveness stems from personal is- abundant research examining primary
Profile elevation may “bias the relations sues. The term indecisive can be used and secondary constructs within the the-
with other variables or be related to similarly to the “chronically undecided ory, but these constructs have not been
other variables in a substantive manner”
The Canadian Journal of Career Development/Revue canadienne de développement de carrière
Volume 12, Number 1, 2013
Relationships among Career Thoughts
42
examined in relationship to negative ca- and External Conflict (EC). The DMC assessed interests. The latter is obtained
reer thoughts, differentiation, career de- scale (14 items) measures “an inability when users respond to SDS items in
cidedness, and satisfaction with choice. to initiate or sustain the decision making four sections: Activities (11 questions
This study used a co-relational research process as a result of disabling emotions per RIASEC section that are endorsed
design to focus on four questions of in- and/or a lack of understanding about the like or dislike); Competencies (11 ques-
terest: the relationships between career decision making process itself” (Samp- tions per RIASEC section that are en-
thoughts and (a) profile elevation, (b) son et al., 1996a, p. 2). The CA scale dorsed yes or no to assess skills assess);
differentiation, (c) career decidedness, (10 items) measures “an inability to Occupations (14 occupations per RI-
and (d) satisfaction with career choice. make a commitment to a specific career ASEC section that are endorsed yes or
It was hypothesized that as career choice, accompanied by generalized no to assess occupations of interest or
thoughts decreased profile elevation, dif- anxiety about the outcome of the deci- dislike interests); and Self-Estimates (12
ferentiation, career decidedness, and sat- sion making process, with anxiety per- Likert-scale ratings (1 is low and 7 is
isfaction with career choice would petuating the indecision” (Sampson et high) to indicate self-estimates of skills
increase. al., 1996a, p. 2). The EC scale (5 items) and abilities as compared to those of
measures “an inability to balance the similar age across each RIASEC type).
Methods importance of one’s own self-percep- An individual’s three-letter summary or
Participants tions with the importance of input from Holland code is calculated by summing
The sample consisted of 226 under- significant others, resulting in a reluc- the positive or score responses from
graduate students enrolled in a college- tance to assume responsibility for deci- each of the four sections included in the
level career course. Common reasons sion making” (Sampson et al., 1996a, p. Assessment booklet (Holland, 1994).
for enrolling in this course are to ex- 2). The three subscales scores, and not Profile elevation and differentiation
plore career options and learn more the CTI total score, were used in the scores will be derived for each partici-
about career decision making. Partici- present study’s analyses. pant’s SDS responses. Profile elevation
pant ages ranged from 18 to 38 years, M Internal consistency for the CTI has is calculated by summing the six RI-
= 20.9 years, SD = 2.2 years, with been shown to range from .96 for col- ASEC summary scores. Differentiation
49.6% female and 50.4% male. Accord- lege students (Sampson et al., 1996b) was calculated using the previously de-
ing to the student data sheets, the demo- with the three subscale alpha coeffi- scribed Iachan Index (Iachan, 1984).
graphic breakdown of the sample was cients ranging from .94 to .77. Test- Intercorrelations among the SDS:
65.9% Caucasian, 20.4% African-Amer- retest reliability at four weeks for a Form R results (Holland, 1994) and
ican, 6.6% Hispanic/Latino, 2.7% other, college sample was as follows: Total measures of vocational aspiration and
and 1.8% Asian. As for academic class, Score = .86, DMC = .82, CA= .79, EC college major indicate concurrent valid-
the sample was dominated by seniors = .74 (Sampson et al., 1996b). The con- ity for male and female college students
53%, followed by juniors, 15%; sopho- vergent validity of the CTI has been ranging from .32 to .39 (Holland,
mores, 23%; and freshman, 9%. supported with correlations from Indeci- Fritzsche, & Powell, 1994). Substantial
While no participants asked to withdraw sion Scale of the Career Decision Scale reliability for the summary scales on the
from the study, 30% of the initial sam- at .70 (Sampson et al., 1996a), the Ca- SDS are indicated by the internal con-
ple did not complete the full protocol. reer Decision Profile (Jones, 1989), the sistency coefficients (KR-20) ranging
Data collection was conducted during Neuroticism domain on the NEO PI-R from .90 to .94, and test-retest reliability
the first week of class, and some stu- (Costa & McCrae, 1992), and the Ca- coefficients ranged from .76 to .89 (Hol-
dents dropped the class before the uni- reer Decision Making Difficulties Ques- land et al., 1994). Overall, support ex-
versity drop-add process for registration tionnaire (Gati, Krausz, & Osipow, ists for documenting both the reliability
process was complete. Additional stu- 1996) total and subscale scores and validity of the SDS.
dents took the course for partial credit (Kleiman et al., 2004). In another sam-
(one or two credit hours) which pre- ple, the CTI was administered to 199 Occupational alternatives ques-
vented their completion of all research clients and 149 non-clients at two uni- tion (OAQ; Zener & Schnuelle, 1972;
instruments. Inspection of demographic versities and the client population had modified by Slaney, 1980). The OAQ is
characteristics of completers and non- significantly higher scores on the total a measure of occupational decidedness
completers revealed no pattern of differ- scales and three construct scales than which asks respondents the number of
ences. the non-client group (Sampson et al., occupations they are considering and
1996b). the level of decidedness pertaining to
Instruments these occupations. The OAQ includes
Self-directed search (SDS; Hol- two parts: (a) “List all of the occupa-
Career thoughts inventory. The land, Fritzsche, & Powell, 1994). The tions you are considering right now”
CTI is a 48 item self-report inventory SDS is based on Holland’s RIASEC the- and (b) “Which occupation is your first
designed to measure negative career ory and is self-administered in 35-45 choice? If undecided, write undecided.”
thoughts that impede career decision minutes. The SDS Assessment booklet The OAQ is scored on a scale from one
making. The CTI yields three subscale includes a measure of expressed inter- to four and is rated as follows: 1 = a
scores, Decision-Making Confusion ests or vocational aspirations (the Day- first choice is given with no alterna-
(DMC), Commitment Anxiety (CA), dreams Section) and a measure of tives; 2 = a first choice is given with al-
The Canadian Journal of Career Development/Revue canadienne de développement de carrière
Volume 12, Number 1, 2013
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