Two studies were designed to explore whether a meta-analytically derived four-factor model of career indecision (Brown & Rector, 2008) could be replicated at the primary and secondary data levels. In the first study, an initial pool of 167 items was written based on 35 different instruments whose scores had loaded saliently on at least one factor in the Brown and Rector meta-analysis. These items were then administered to a sample of undergraduate college students and the resultant inter-item correlation matrix was subjected to principal axis factoring with oblique rotations. A four-factor solution was uncovered that resembled the four-factor meta-analytically derived solution but with a few theoretically and practically interesting exceptions. A second study used two existing correlation matrices derived from Gati and colleagues’ cognitive and personality/emotional models of career indecision. Exploratory factor analyses of these matrices revealed that the current four-factor model could, in part, be uncovered from these matrices as well. The theoretical and counseling implications of the results are discussed and future research directions are articulated.

This study explored the measurement equivalence of a recently developed multiscale measure of career indecision (Career Indecision Profile-65; CIP-65). Previous research had supported a four-factor structure of the CIP-65 in U.S. college students with factors appearing to measure (a) neuroticism/negative affectivity, (b) choice/commitment anxiety, (c) lack of readiness, and (d) interpersonal conflicts. The current study employed multiple groups confirmatory factor analyses to test whether the four CIP-65 factors are measured equivalently in the United States and Iceland. Results revealed that the four-factor structure fit both U.S. and Icelandic samples, but that two of the factors (choice/commitment anxiety and Interpersonal Conflicts might hold different psychological meanings in the two countries (i.e., factor loadings were not invariant). Some explanations for the lack of invariance in factor loadings are offered along with suggestions for future research and implications for practice.

Prior research using a 167-item measure of career indecision (Career Indecision Profile-167 [CIP-167]) has suggested that career choice difficulties may be associated with four major sources of career indecision: neuroticism/negative affectivity, choice/commitment anxiety, lack of readiness, and interpersonal conflicts. The purpose of this study was to develop a shorter and more efficient measure of these four major sources of indecision for future use in research and counseling. The development of the measure (CIP-65) is described and the results of a confirmatory factor analytic study of its structure are presented along with initial reliability and validity data. We conclude by discussing implications for future research on the CIP-65 and its potential use in counseling individuals with choice-making difficulties.

This study tested for the measurement equivalence of a four-factor measure of career indecision (Career Indecision Profile-65; CIP-65) in U.S. and South Korean samples. The study was conducted in three phases. In the first phase, we tested the measurement equivalence of the CIP-65 with samples of participants from the United States (n ¼ 488) and South Korea (n ¼ 574). Finding a lack of evidence for configural invariance, we randomly split the South Korean sample to establish a version of the CIP-65 that would better fit the South Korean data. First, we conducted an exploratory factor analysis on data collected from 200 participants. A five-factor model of career indecision emerged that contrasted with our four-factor model. Second, we tested the five-factor structure by conducting a confirmatory factor analysis on data collected from 374 participants. The results revealed that the five-factor model fit the data well. Implications from these findings for counseling and future research are discussed.

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