Dysfunctional Thinking and Difficulties in Career Decision Making

Abstract

The present study examined the relationships between two measures of career readiness and difficulties—the Career Thoughts Inventory (CTI) and the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ)—as well as the relations between these measures and the individual’s degree of decidedness regarding his or her career plans. A total of 192 university students enrolled in a career-planning class filled out both questionnaires. As hypothesized, the two measures overlapped significantly. There was a highly significant correlation (corrected for attenuation) between the total scores of the questionnaires ( r= .82), but the correlations between the questionnaires’ subscales varied between –.03 and .83. Both the CTI and the CDDQ distinguish among individuals at different stages of the career decision-making process. As hypothesized, participants with a higher degree of decidedness reported lower levels of difficulties. Implications of the unique features of each of the measures for career-related interventions and further research are discussed.

The psychometric relationship between career thinking and salutogenic functioning amongst unemployed adults

“…In the career development literature, career thoughts have significantly influenced the career choice process (Kleiman, Gati, Peterson, Sampson, Reardon & Lenz, 2004;Strauser, Lustig, Keim, Ketz & Malesky, 2002). In particular, negative career thoughts have yielded significant relationships with career-related anxiety (Dahl, Austin, Wagner & Lukas, 2008;, and this anxiety limits career development behaviour (Carr, 2004).…”

“…In the career development literature, negative career thoughts link empirically to greater levels of perfectionism and career indecision (Osborn, 1998), depression and career indecision (Saunders, Peterson, Sampson & Reardon, 2000), career indecision (Austin, Wagner & Dahl, 2003;Kleiman, Gati, Peterson, Sampson, Reardon & Lenz, 2004;Wright, 2001) and career indecisiveness (Austin, Wagner & Dahl, 2004;.…”

Career decision-making profiles and career decision-making difficulties: A cross-cultural comparison among US, Israeli, and Chinese samples

“…This includes locus of control (Lease, 2004), self-efficacy (Sidiropoulou-Dimakakou, Mylonas, Argyropoulou, & Tampouri, 2012), dysfunctional thinking (Kleiman et al, 2004;Sidiropoulou-Dimakakou et al, 2012), and personality traits as measured by the Big Five model of personality (Di Fabio & Palazzeschi, 2009). It has been found that a more external locus of control predicted more career decisionmaking difficulties (Lease, 2004), lower levels of self-efficacy were associated with both more dysfunctional thoughts and more career decision-making difficulties (Sidiropoulou-Dimakakou et al, 2012), and, finally, lower levels of extroversion and higher levels of neuroticism were associated with more career decision-making difficulties (Di Fabio & Palazzeschi, 2009).…”

Poziom lęku a trudności w podejmowaniu decyzji zawodowych u uczniów szkół średnich

“…Dla osób w sytuacji decyzji zawodowej opracowano model podejmowania decyzji dotyczących wyboru kariery (Gati, Saka, 2001a). Jego podstawowym celem jest ułatwienie procesu decyzyjnego (Kleiman i in., 2004). Autorzy wskazują, że dla danej osoby optymalny jest wybór, który maksymalizuje oczekiwaną (subiektywną) swoją użyteczność (Gati i in., 2010).…”

“…Szczególnie dysfunkcjonalne przekonania pogarszają jakość podejmowanej decyzji, co przekładać się może na trudności w rozpoczynaniu i realizacji kariery (Kleiman i in., 2004). W kontekście niniejszych badań można wskazać wysokie nasilenie lęku jako cechy i jego związek z wyższym nasileniem trudności.…”