Individual and contextual factors in career exploration

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Abstract

Drawing from theoretical propositions about the nature of career exploration and career decision making, this study sought to identify individual and contextual factors that might contribute to exploratory activity in late adolescence. Specifically, differences in vocational decision-making style and contextual anxiety were proposed to account for variability in exploration of the self and the environment. Measures of vocational decision-making style, contextual anxiety, and exploratory activity were administered to 148 undergraduates (mean age = 18.52), and a canonical analysis was employed to examine the relationships between the individual and contextual factors, and exploratory activity. One significant canonical root was extracted, which accounted for 27% of the variance between canonical composites. This root suggested that individuals who rely upon thinking-oriented approaches to decisions and who experience stress with regard to the specific tasks of exploration are likely to engage in exploration of the environment, and to a somewhat lesser extent, the self. The results were related to theory, research, and practice on the role of individual and contextual factors in career exploration.

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      As previous research has showed that career exploration correlates positively with future-oriented mental process, such as goal-directedness (Blustein, 1989), personal growth initiative (Robitschek & Cook, 1999) and the formation of ego identity (Blustein, Devenis, & Kidney, 1989), we thus propose that by collecting and processing relevant information, career exploration also motivates individuals to seriously consider their future career possibilities and prepare for these possibilities (career concern). In addition, previous research also suggest that the activities involved in career exploration also promote students' abilities of making deliberate decisions and taking conscientious actions (Blustein & Phillips, 1988), therefore career exploration is very likely to strengthen the abilities of career control. The engagement of these exploration activities can also promote the self-efficacious beliefs in their problem-solving skills during their career development (Blustein, 1989; Lent & Hackett, 1987), therefore we propose that career exploration will also promote students' career confidence.

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      Both processes can also be viewed as lifelong adaptation processes (Flum & Blustein, 2000), especially in a society where future employment is unstable and uncertain (Krumboltz, 1992; Savickas et al., 2009). As earlier studies have shown (e.g. Blustein & Philipps, 1988), career decision-making processes induce stress that entails exploratory activities. In line with these studies, we can hypothesize that career decision-making processes -- and by extension difficulties in making decisions about one’s career for example -- and career exploration processes interact with each other, with career indecision being either the precursor or the consequence of career exploration.

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