The Impact of Psychological Distress Due to COVID-19 on College Student Career Development

The COVID-19 pandemic has been an ongoing public health crisis and continues to create a variety of challenges (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). Since the challenges of COVID-19 seem to be particularly salient for traditional college-age students (Kujawa et al., 2020) and career development is a corner stone of development at this stage, the current study investigated what impact the COVID-19 pandemic-related stress has on the psychological distress, career-development self-efficacy, and career decidedness of a sample of college students. Three hundred one students from a southeastern United States university participated in the study. We hypothesize 1) Impacts from pandemic stress will negatively impact the career development (i.e., self-efficacy and decidedness) of college students and 2) psychological distress will mediate the relationship between pandemic stress and the career development of college students

Attitudes Toward Anger Management Scale: Development and Initial Validation

This article describes the development and preliminary validation of the Attitudes Toward Anger Management Scale (ATAMS), a self-report measure of attitudes toward anger management services. Undergraduate volunteers (N = 415) completed an initial version of the instrument. Principal components analysis yielded a two-factor solution. Convergent and incremental validities were supported

Using the Self-Directed Search In the Career Construction Interview

Issues related to modern and post-modern approaches to career assessment and counseling are evident in the literature, as are ideas on how to build on and combine techniques. Although Holland’s theoretical interventions can appear to conflict with career construction counseling due to their bases in modern and post-modern philosophy, respectively, we examine how aspects of the Self-Directed Search (SDS), based on Holland’s RIASEC theory, can be operationalized in relation to the principal ideas and practices in the career construction interview. We discuss how SDS items can enable clients to tell their career story and practical applications to the life-design paradigm

Interest Profile Elevation, Big Five Personality Traits, and Secondary Constructs on the Self-Directed Search - A Replication and Extension

The study used the Self-Directed Search (SDS) and the NEO-FFI to explore profile elevation, four secondary constructs, and the Big Five personality factors in a sample of college students in a career course. Regression model results showed that openness, conscientiousness, differentiation high-low, differentiation Iachan, and consistency accounted for significant variance in profile elevation. A significant correlation was found between profile elevation and extroversion. A unique relationship between the two measures of differentiation and profile elevation was found. A multivariate analysis of variance and orthogonal contrasts, using the five personality factors as dependent variables and profile elevation as the independent variable, was conducted as a partial replication of an earlier study. The findings provide potential interpretive ideas for a therapist using the SDS and suggest that profile elevation explains some aspects of a client\u27s results not accounted for by the other secondary constructs

Career Concerns of Unemployed U.S. War Veterans: Suggestions from a Cognitive Information Processing Approach

The authors examined U.S. war veterans\u27 career concerns (e.g., interests, personality, barriers, career thoughts) to provide possible avenues for research-based and theory-driven intervention. The veterans who participated in the study were receiving mental health, substance abuse, and vocational services at a residential facility. Participants were found to have interests in all RIASEC (J. L. Holland, B. A. Fritzsche, & A. B. Powell, 1994; J. L. Holland & G. D. Gottfredson, 1994) interest areas, and negative career thinking was found to be related to a variety of negative indicators. Suggestions are provided for working with veterans using the Cognitive Information Processing approach to career decision making

Explaining Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy: Personality, Cognitions, and Cultural Mistrust

The authors explore the hypothesis that career decision-making self-efficacy could be affected by negative career thoughts, Big Five personality factors, and cultural mistrust in a sample of African American and Caucasian college students. Findings demonstrated that negative career thinking, openness, and conscientiousness explained a significant amount of variance in career decision-making self-efficacy in a general sample of college students, but no unique variance was explained by cultural mistrust in a sample of African American college students

Unemployed Adults\u27 Career Thoughts, Career Self-Efficacy, and Interest: Any Similarity to College Students?

Little empirical knowledge about unemployed adults exists during a time when this group needs substantial career assistance. Because there is greater empirical understanding of college student career development compared with what is known about unemployed adults, a chi square and analyses of covariance were used to compare the career thinking, self-efficacy, and interests of 169 unemployed adults seeking public job center assistance with that of 200 college students. Additionally, a diverse sample of 2,444 unemployed adults is demographically reviewed. Unemployed adults reported a higher level of Realistic interests and similar levels of negative career thinking and career decision-making self-efficacy compared with college students

Examining Holland\u27s Person-Environment Fit, Workplace Aggression, Interpersonal Conflict, and Job Satisfaction

The researchers examined the impact of person-environment (P-E) fit, as defined by Holland\u27s (1997) theory, on interpersonal conflict at work (ICAW) and workplace aggression. In addition, previous relationships found in the job satisfaction literature were examined in the present sample of 244 United States employees. Internet-based surveys were completed by 244 participants in the current research. Results of hierarchical multiple regression and correlational analyses demonstrated a negative relationship between P-E fit and ICAW. Replication of previous relationships was found between job satisfaction, P-E fit, and workplace aggression. Implications for P-E fit and workplace aggression research are discussed

Nonreligious Employees’ Perceptions of Microaggressions and Their Relationship With Job Satisfaction as Moderated by Calling

Workplace microaggressions are related to person–organization fit (P-O fit) and job satisfaction. Additionally, P-O fit and calling predict job satisfaction. Given the religious connotations of calling, research has excluded study of these relationships in nonreligious samples, a growing segment of the U.S. population. To address this, it was predicted that P-O fit would mediate the relationship between microaggressions and job satisfaction, and calling would moderate the relationship between microaggressions and P-O fit. In a sample of 296 nonreligious employed adults, microaggressions predicted job satisfaction, while calling predicted P-O fit and job satisfaction; however, P-O fit did not mediate these relationships, and calling did not moderate microaggressions and P-O fit. Post hoc analyses revealed that calling moderated microaggressions and job satisfaction. Implications for research and vocational guidance with nonreligious individuals are discussed