Lori D. Lindley

Perceived Barriers to Career Development in the Context of Social Cognitive Career Theory

Social cognitive career theory (SCCT) is a complex and extensively researched theory of career choice and performance. Relationships among several key variables of SCCT, including self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and perceived barriers, and their relationships to career choice were investigated. Contrary to prediction, outcome expectations for careers in several Holland themes were positively related to perceived career and educational barriers for women. Self-efficacy for careers in various Holland themes was more strongly associated with beliefs about coping with barriers for men than for women. In support of one of the major predictions of SCCT, high rates of correspondence were found between participants’ career choices and their highest self-efficacy and outcome expectation scores. Explanations for unexpected findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The Paradox of Self-Efficacy: Research With Diverse Populations:

Since its earliest applications to vocational psychology, self-efficacy has been recognized for its utility with diverse populations, attributable to its attention to environmental influences. Somewhat paradoxically, then, it has also been criticized as being limited in its applicability with people from other cultures, because of its focus on individual human agency. The current body of research on self-efficacy with diverse populations provides some insight into this paradox, although many questions remain unanswered. Self-efficacy literature with diverse populations is reviewed, theoretical questions are raised, and recommendations for future research are given.

Generalized Self-Efficacy, Holland Theme Self-Efficacy, and Academic Performance

The relations between generalized self-efficacy, confidence for the six Holland themes, and academic performance as measured by ACT scores and GPA were examined separately for female and male college students. It was predicted that for both women and men, generalized self-efficacy would be more strongly related to the average of confidence scores for the six Holland themes than to confidence for any single Holland theme. In addition, it was predicted that all forms of self-efficacy would be related to academic performance. Findings revealed a particularly strong relation between generalized self-efficacy and Investigative and Enterprising confidence for both women and men; in addition, for men, generalized self-efficacy was strongly related to Conventional confidence as well. ACT score was related to Investigative confidence for both men and women but not to generalized self-efficacy or confidence for the other Holland themes. However, GPA showed no substantial relations with either form of self-efficacy.

Impacting sexism through social justice prevention: implications at the person and environmental levels.

Sexism in our society leads to multiple negative outcomes for women. Although traditional therapeutic approaches as well as preventive interventions address the specific negative outcomes of sexism, they rarely utilize a social justice approach. The deleterious effects of sexism occur complexly; sexist interpersonal events often occur within family systems that may endorse traditional gender roles, which exist within a societal and cultural context that contains sexist norms and formalized sexist policies. These multifaceted, ingrained circumstances delineate the need for preventive social justice to address sexism on multiple levels. A prevention/social justice model will be used to critique existing interventions and identify avenues for change in research and practice.

Research Productivity in Counseling Psychology An Update

This article is an update and review of institutional research productivity in counseling psychology. Institutional research productivity is assessed by totaling credits for articles published from 1993 to 2002 in the following journals: Journal of Counseling Psychology, The Counseling Psychologist, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Journal of Vocational Behavior, Journal of Counseling and Development, Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, and Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology. Results show that the rankings of many programs have remained fairly stable over the years, while others have substantially changed. Additionally, two factors were found to represent the research productivity of institutions in the field. These results are discussed in terms of the identity of counseling psychology and research productivity.

Adult attachment orientations: Relation to affiliation motivation

This study examines the multifaceted relationship between attachment and affiliation motivation. In a sample of 322 participants differences were found between attachment styles or dimensions and affiliation motivation. Anxious attachment was positively related to seeking attention from others, social comparison, and positive stimulation as motivations for affiliation. Avoidant attachment was negatively related to emotional support and positive stimulation as motivations for affiliation. Also, results indicated that individuals with a dismissing attachment style scored lower on several dimensions of affiliation motivation than individuals characterized by secure, fearful, or preoccupied attachment styles. Implications for the impact of attachment on motivation to seek social support and counseling are discussed.