Career Indecision, Meaning in Life, and Anxiety

Abstract

The current study examines the role of meaning in life with respect to career indecision and state anxiety in a sample of 229 university students. This article seeks to build upon the career indecision literature by examining the role of meaning in life. An existential model of career indecision was applied in order to provide a theoretical framework for the relationship between career indecision and anxiety. Measures include the Career Decision Scale (Osipow, Carney, Winer, Yanico, & Koschier, 1976), the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (Steger, Frazier, Oishi, & Kaler, 2006), and the State-Trait Inventory for Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety (Ree, MacLeod, French, & Locke, 2000). Presence of meaning in life mediated the relationships between career indecision and anxiety. However, the results did not support the hypothesis that the search for meaning in life moderates the relationship between career indecision and anxiety. Future research and practical implications are also discussed.

A Phenomenological Study of Career Anxiety Among College Students

“…The present study examined career anxiety (i.e., anxiety embedded in individuals’ career concerns as they engage in the career development process) as expressed through the lived experiences of individuals. Although some of the themes that emerged in this study have been addressed to a varied extent within the career development literature (Miller & Rottinghaus, ; Saka et al, ; Weinstein et al, ), our use of the phenomenological approach allowed the emergence of deeper meanings and the structural contexts of anxiety in this context. These findings offer career practitioners a contextually rich and complex perspective of the relationships between what was experienced (i.e., textures) by the coresearchers and how and why it was experienced (i.e., structures).…”

“…Anxiety as it relates to college students’ career development has generally been examined from the focal point of career decision making and indecision (Brown & Rector, ; Daniels, Clifton, Perry, Mandzuk, & Hall, ). The research generally and consistently indicates that anxiety is positively related to college students’ career indecision (Chartrand, Robbins, Morrill, & Boggs, ; Fuqua, Blum, & Hartman, ; Fuqua, Newman, & Seaworth, ; Miller & Rottinghaus, ). More specifically, career‐related anxiety is negatively associated with self‐exploratory and career information‐seeking behavior (Germeijs, Verschueren, & Soenens, ), career choice certainty and vocational identity (Vidal‐Brown & Thompson, ), coping and perceived control (Weinstein, Healy, & Ender, ), and general career decision making (Saka, Gati, & Kelly, ).…”

“…This swath of research has many constructive implications for career counseling; however, it is limited in breadth. For example, it is common for researchers examining anxiety in the context of career choice and development (e.g., Campagna & Curtis, ; Fuqua et al, ; Miller & Rottinghaus, ; Weinstein et al, ) to use quantitative methods that utilize a modified version of the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; Spielberger, ). Consequently, the extant research reflects a clinically focused (i.e., symptomatology) concept of career‐related anxiety as conceptualized by the STAI and as a correlate of individuals’ initial career decision‐making status.…”

Common Issues in High School Student’s Career Decision – Making Choice and Supporting Measurement in Career Consulting

“…For male students, test results only have an indirect effect on selfconfidence in making decision for career [1]. Aaron D. Miller, Patrick J. Rottinghaus (2014) evaluated the relationship between emotional intelligence and conflict patterns in decision-making selection of high school students in Italy [2]. Tirza Willner, Itamar Gatia, Yanjun Guanb (2015) evaluated the issues of adolescents in career decision-making choice and profile for making career decision in order to help them decide on a better career.…”

Percepções De Adolescentes E Seus Cuidadores Quanto Ao Nível De Maturidade Para Escolha Profissional - Um Estudo De Caso

“…A ele é solicitado um conhecimento prévio do mundo do trabalho que o espera, além de estar envolto em expectativas pessoais, familiares e do grupo de amigos quanto à sua escolha (LEVENFUS, 2004;LIMA, 2007;RODRIGUES;PELISOLI, 2008;FAGUNDES;AQUINO;PAULA, 2010;AJIDAHUN, 2011;DOBROW;TOSTI-KHARAS, 2012;MILLER;ROTTINGHAUS, 2014;RUPPANNER;HUFFMAN, 2014).…”