TPC-Journal-V2-Issue2

102 The Roles of Negative Career Thinking and Career Problem-Solving Self-Efficacy in Career Exploratory Behavior Emily Bullock-Yowell Sheba P. Katz Robert C. Reardon Gary W. Peterson The respective roles of social cognitive career theory and cognitive information processing in career exploratory behavior were analyzed. A verified path model shows cognitive information processing theory’s negative career thoughts inversely predict social cognitive career theory’s career problem-solving self-efficacy, which predicts career exploratory behavior. The model suggests an intervention sequence to facilitate college student career development and exploration. A hypothetical case is provided as well as a depiction of the cycle of information processing in career decision making. Keywords: career exploratory behavior, self-efficacy, negative career thoughts, college student career development, career problem-solving The Professional Counselor Volume 2, Issue 2 | Pages 102–114 © 2012 NBCC and Affiliates www.nbcc.org http://tpcjournal.nbcc.org doi:10.15241/eby.2.2.102 Case of Sue Sue, a young woman about to graduate from college with a degree in finance came to the university career center seeking career assistance in finding employment. Given some uncertainty about her interests and goals, she completed an interest inventory that produced a summary code (Holland, 1997) of IAS indicating interests in the investigative, artistic, and social areas. However, when occupational alternatives were identified for exploration following the assessment, she slumped in her chair and indicated that she was unable to concentrate on careers or the future and was unsure about the benefits of career counseling. At this point, the counselor invited her to complete the Career Thoughts Inventory (Sampson, Peterson, Lenz, Reardon, & Saunders, 1996) and the results revealed considerable negative career thinking across several domains. Further exploration in counseling revealed that a music teacher in high school had advised her to abandon her dreams of a music career because of a poor audition performance. She immediately decided to major in business finance without resolving the apparent loss of her future in music, or undertaking careful contemplation regarding viable career options. This hypothetical case (although not an uncommon one) suggests that Sue was not ready to engage in a job campaign because she was mired in an emotional state that precluded her focusing on herself (goals, interests) or potential career options. In terms of cognitive information processing theory (CIP; Sampson, Reardon, Peterson, & Lenz, 2004), she lacked readiness (Sampson, Peterson, Reardon, & Lenz, 2000) to engage in career decision-making. She was unable to pursue the process of analyzing alternatives related to self and option knowledge because of longstanding emotional aftereffects associated with grieving the loss of an anticipated career in music performance. In effect, she was not emotionally available to engage effectively in the career problem-solving and decision-making process. This study examines how a negative emotional state, coupled with a lack of career decision self-efficacy, interferes with environmental and self-exploration precursors to the formulation of viable career options. The CIP approach differentiates between career-related problem-solving and decision-making. Sampson, Reardon, Peterson, and Lenz (2004) defined problem-solving as “a series of thought processes in which information about a problem is used to arrive at a plan of action necessary to remove the gap between an existing and a desired state of affairs” Emily Bullock-Yowell, NCC, is an Assistant Professor at the University of Southern Mississippi. Sheba P. Katz is in private practice, Fort Myers, FL. Robert C. Reardon, NCC, is Professor Emeritus at Florida State University. Gary W. Peterson is Professor Emeritus at Florida State University. Correspondence can be addressed to Emily Bullock-Yowell, University of Southern Mississippi, Department of Psychology, 118 College Drive #5025, Hattiesburg, MS 39406-0001, emily.yowell@usm. edu.