TY - JOUR

T1 - Persistent career indecision over time: Links with personality, barriers, self-efficacy, and life satisfaction

AU - Jaensch, Vanessa Katharina

AU - Hirschi, Andreas

AU - Freund, Philipp Alexander

PY - 2015/12/1

Y1 - 2015/12/1

N2 - Taking control over one's career requires the ability to make career decisions; thus, remaining in a state of career indecision is problematic. However, the stability of career indecision has not yet been investigated using advanced statistical modeling approaches. We present two studies of German university students applying three-wave, longitudinal designs. Study 1 investigated the stability of career indecision by means of latent state-trait analysis within two samples with different time lags (Sample 1: N = 363, 7 weeks; Sample 2: N = 591, 6 months). The results indicated that career indecision was determined by a stable component (i.e., trait career indecisiveness) that was associated with lower core self-evaluations, lower occupational self-efficacy, and higher perceived career barriers. Study 2 (N = 469) examined career indecision over one year. We found that the stable career indecision component explained 5% of the variance in student life satisfaction beyond self-evaluated generalized indecisiveness.

AB - Taking control over one's career requires the ability to make career decisions; thus, remaining in a state of career indecision is problematic. However, the stability of career indecision has not yet been investigated using advanced statistical modeling approaches. We present two studies of German university students applying three-wave, longitudinal designs. Study 1 investigated the stability of career indecision by means of latent state-trait analysis within two samples with different time lags (Sample 1: N = 363, 7 weeks; Sample 2: N = 591, 6 months). The results indicated that career indecision was determined by a stable component (i.e., trait career indecisiveness) that was associated with lower core self-evaluations, lower occupational self-efficacy, and higher perceived career barriers. Study 2 (N = 469) examined career indecision over one year. We found that the stable career indecision component explained 5% of the variance in student life satisfaction beyond self-evaluated generalized indecisiveness.

KW - Management studies

KW - Career indecision

KW - Career indecisiveness

KW - Latent state-trait analysis

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84944078092&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.jvb.2015.09.010

DO - 10.1016/j.jvb.2015.09.010

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 91

SP - 122

EP - 133

JO - Journal of Vocational Behavior

JF - Journal of Vocational Behavior

SN - 0001-8791

ER -