Peeling Back the Onion: Personality, Problem Solving, and Career Decision-Making Style Correlates of Career Indecision

Abstract

A model to predict affective and informational antecedents of career indecision was proposed. The model attempted to explicate paths between personality dispositions, appraisal of problem-solving skills, career decision-making styles, and antecedents of career indecision. Both personality and coping constructs were posited to examine the relative contribution of dispositional and perceived skill variables. Using a college student sample, results from a path analysis indicated that the disposition of neuroticism was a powerful predictor of perceived problem-solving skills, a dependent decision- making style, and both affective and informational antecedents of career indecision. The predicted effects of the coping constructs were of a much smaller magnitude. Directions for future research are discussed and several suggestions for career counseling assessment and intervention selection are made.

How Visualization Layout Relates to Locus of Control and Other Personality Factors

“…As recent study by Uziel [16] has investigated the correlation of neuroticism and extraversion and suggest a negative correlation between them when affective states are considered. An individual's neuroticism disposition can also be a predictor of their problem-solving approach [17]. Persons with high measures of neuroticism are more like to have lower perceived problem-solving skills and are less likely to make decisions when risks are involved.…”

Cultural Differences in Career Decision-Making Styles and Self-Efficacy

“…In contrast, a nonrational decision-making style tends to be inversely related to progress in resolving various career tasks (Blustein & Phillips, 1990;Mau & Jepsen, 1992;Osipow & Reed, 1985). Although a rational decisionmaking style is generally postulated as an ideal style, some (Chartrand, Rose, Elliott, Marmarosh, & Caldwell, 1993;Mau, 1995;Phillips, Pazienza, & Walsh, 1984b;Phillips & Strohmer, 1982;Rubinton, 1980) have indicated that a rational style is either negligibly or not necessarily associated with progress in careerrelated tasks. These inconsistent findings indicate that the effectiveness of a rational decision-making style may be situational, depending on the personal/ cultural factors as well as on the decisional tasks under study (Mau, 1995).…”

The Profession of College Career Services Delivery: What College Counselors Should Know About Career Centers

“…In fact, research has demonstrated relationships between career decision making and depression (Rottinghaus, Jenkins, & Jantzer, 2009); dysfunctional career thoughts, career indecision and depression (Saunders, Peterson, Sampson, & Reardon, 2000); negative career thinking and increased career/life stress (Bullock-Yowell, Peterson, Reardon, Leierer, & Reed, 2011); career indecision and anxiety (Newman, Fuqua, & Seaworth, 1989); and career decision-making style and neuroticism (Chartrand, Rose, Elliott, Marmarosh, & Caldwell, 1993). College students seeking internships and jobs may also experience stress and anxiety due to external economic and market conditions that make it difficult to find employment.…”