TPC-Journal-V2-Issue1

12 Social Support and Career Thoughts in College Athletes and Non-Athletes Stefanie Rodriguez The career decision-making process can be a daunting task during the college years for both athletes and non-athletes alike. Understanding factors that influence this process and ways to best support students as they are making career decisions is integral to counselors working with college students. Social support and career thoughts were examined in 118 college student-athletes and 154 non-athletes from a large public university in the southeastern United States. Social support was found to have a significant relationship with career thoughts. In addition, several significant differences were found between the study’s subpopulations. Implications for practice and future directions for research are further explored. Keywords: career decisions, college athletes, social support, career counseling, sociocultural context The Professional Counselor Volume 2, Issue 1 | Pages 12–21 © 2012 NBCC and Affiliates www.nbcc.org http://tpcjournal.nbcc.org doi:10.15241/srr.2.1.12 Career planning is a process in a college student’s life that can cause a considerable amount of stress, and social support can have a positive effect on this stress. In the sport psychology research, social support has been found to be an important factor in reducing the effects of stress in athletes’ lives (Bianco & Eklund, 2001; Taylor & Ogilvie, 2001). Athletes not only experience stress related to academics and athletics, but also related to what they will do after college. Some are talented enough to play professionally, but many must face the reality of having a career outside of the realm of sports. As a result, career planning is an important process for college athletes because it prepares them for life after sports. Social support can be an important factor during this process by alleviating the stress associated with career planning. In research examining the general college student population, career thoughts have been found to have an important effect on the career planning process (Peterson, Sampson, & Reardon, 1991; Peterson, Sampson, Reardon, & Lenz, 1996; Sampson, Peterson, Lenz, Reardon, & Saunders, 1996b; Sampson, Reardon, Peterson, & Lenz, 2009). If career thoughts are negative, the individual is unable to clearly evaluate self and occupational knowledge that is necessary to make a career decision. Decreasing negative thoughts is the first and most important step in the career decision-making process. In conclusion, it is important for those who are influential in college students’ lives to know what types of social support have the strongest relationship with the thoughts related to a career after college. Social Support Social support refers to the “social interaction aimed at inducing positive outcomes” (Bianco & Eklund, 2001, p.85). The terms “provider” and “recipient” are often used when discussing social support. A provider is an individual who gives the social support, and a recipient is an individual who receives the social support. A theory that targets social support and recipient satisfaction is the person-environment fit theory (Brown, 2002). This theory posits that the interaction between the person and environment is both active and reactive. The person-environment fit model of satisfaction is a part of person-environment theory. It defines satisfaction as “a pleasant affective state that is produced by the degree of fit between a person’s needs, personality characteristics, abilities, and the commensurate supplies provided by, and abilities requirements of, the environment” (Brown, Brady, Lent, Wolfert, & Hall, 1987, p. 338). Conversely, dissatisfaction is defined as “an unpleasant affective state resulting from a misfit between relevant person and environment characteristics” (Brown et al., 1987, p. 338). In many cases, person-environment fit is considered subjective because it focuses on the perceptions of the person. Within the context of subjective person-environment fit, satisfaction with social support is defined as “a positive affective state resulting from one’s appraisal or his or her social environment in terms of its success in meeting his or her interpersonal needs” (Brown et al., 1987, p. 338). Conversely, dissatisfaction with social support is defined as “an Stefanie Rodriguez is an Adjunct Professor at the University of South Florida. Correspondence can be addressed to Stefanie Rodriguez, University of South Florida, 4202 E Fowler Ave, Tampa, FL 33620, stefanie.rodriguez@live.com .