Diapositiva 1

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UNIVERSITY OF FLORENCE DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY
Career decision-making difficulties behind
personality, self-efficacy and perceived social
support, the role of emotional intelligence
Annamaria Di Fabio Letizia Palazzeschi
IAEVG-PACE International Career Development
Conference Career Guidance and Development
Practices around the World Cape Town, South
Africa, October 19-21, 2011
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INTRODUCTION

• From an analysis of the literature, studies on
  career decision-making processes reveal an
  interest for the investigation of the individual
  variables tied to indecision relative to career
  choice (Borges Savickas, 2002 Laethem,
  Mestgagh, Vanderheyden, 2003 Nilsson et al.,
  2007 Tokar, Fischer, Subich, 1998).

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INTRODUCTION

• Two traits of the Big Five personality model
  (Costa McCrae, 1992) that appear to be greatly
  tied to career indecision are Extraversion and
  Neuroticism (Feldman, 2003).

• Inverse relationships of Extraversion and
  positive relationships of Neuroticism with the
  three dimensions of Career Decision Difficulties
  Questionnaire (CDDQ, Gati et al., 1996)
  extrovert and emotionally stable subjects seem to
  perceive less decision-making difficulties both
  before and during the decision-making process
  itself (Di Fabio Palazzeschi, 2009).

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INTRODUCTION

• Career indecision is tied to career
  decision-making self-efficacy (Lent, Brown,
  Hackett, 1996 Taylor Betz, 1983).

• In the literature self-efficacy is a crucial
  determinant of human agency and a promoter of
  activation in the search for information
  (Bandura, 1989).
• Some studies support a positive relationship
  between decision-making self-efficacy, the amount
  of initiative and energy invested in the choice
  (Luzzo, 1993) and a stable model of choice
  (Gianakos,1999).

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INTRODUCTION

• The role of perceived social support in relation
  to career indecision was investigated in the
  literature (Blustein, Prezioso, Schultheiss,
  1995 Blustein, Walbridge, Friedlander,
  Palladino, 1991 Kenny Bledsoe, 2005).

• Perceived social support seem facilitate
  self-exploration and the exploration of the
  environment, commitment in career
  decision-making (Blustein et al., 1995), career
  adaptability (Kenny Bledsoe, 2005), career
  exploration (Rogers, Creed, Glendon, 2008),
  career aspirations and career development of the
  students (Wall, Covell, MacIntryre, 1999).

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INTRODUCTION

• A topic of recent interest regarding the career
  choice process is research on the construct of
  emotional intelligence (Di Fabio Blustein,
  2010 Di Fabio Kenny, 2011 Di Fabio
  Palazzeschi, 2008, 2009).

Individuals who possess greater emotional
intelligence are better able to integrate
emotional experiences with thoughts and actions
(Emmerling Cherniss, 2003).

• Emotional intelligence may then play a role in
  the processes of career exploration and career
  decision-making (Emmerling Cherniss, 2003),
  with an increase of individuals faith in their
  own ability to deal with tasks related to
  academic/career decision-making (Brown,
  George-Curran, Smith, 2003) and an increase of
  their ability to predict emotional consequences
  of a potential career choice (Emmerling
  Cherniss, 2003).

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Career Decision-making Difficulties (Gati,
Krausz, Osipow, 1996)
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INTRODUCTION

• In the literature relationships between career
  decision-making difficulties
• and emotional intelligence emerge (Di Fabio
  Palazzeschi, 2008).

An inverse relationship between emotional
intelligence and the three dimensions of Career
Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ,
Gati et al., 1996) emerges (Di Fabio
Palazzeschi, 2008). The emotional intelligence
dimensions add a percentage of incremental
variance with respect to personality traits in
explaining career decision-making difficulties
(Di Fabio Palazzeschi, 2009).
Importance of emotional self-awareness for
career construction (Di Fabio Palazzeschi,
2008).
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AIM

• Take an in-depth look at the role of personality
  traits, career decision-making self-efficacy,
  perceived social support, and emotional
  intelligence in relation to career
  decision-making difficulties.

Verify the existence of incremental validity of
emotional intelligence with respect to
personality, career decision-making self-efficacy
and perceived social support.
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HYPOTHESES

• H1. Individuals who report higher career
  decision-making difficulties will be lower on
  extraversion (Albion Fogarty 2002 Caldwell
  Burger, 1998 Feldman, 2003 Kanfer et al., 2001)
  and lower on emotional stability (Albion
  Fogarty 2002 Boudreau et al., 2001 Feldman,
  2003 Tokar et al., 1998)
• H2. Individuals who report higher career
  decision-making difficulties will show lower
  career decision-making self-efficacy (Creed et
  al., 2004 Gianakos, 1999)
• H3. Individuals who report higher career
  decision-making difficulties will perceive lower
  social support (Blustein et al., 1995 Blustein
  et al., 1991 Young et al., 2001).

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HYPOTHESES

• H4. Individuals who report higher career
  decision-making difficulties will show lower
  levels of emotional intelligence (Di Fabio
  Kenny, in press Di Fabio Palazzeschi, 2008,
  2009 Emmerling Cherniss, 2003).
• H5. Emotional intelligence adds a percentage of
  incremental variance with respect to both
  personality, career decision-making self-efficacy
  and perceived social support in relation to
  career decision-making difficulties (Di Fabio
  Palazzeschi, 2009).

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METHOD

• PARTICIPANTS
• 227 Italian university students of the twelve
  Faculties of the University of Florence. 138
  males (60.8) and 89 females (39.2) median age
  22.01, SD 1.99.

• MEASURES
• Career Decision Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ,
  Gati, Krausz, Osipow, 1996), in the Italian
  version by Di Fabio and Palazzeschi (in press).
• Big Five Questionnaire (Caprara, Barbaranelli,
  Borgogni, 1993).
• Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale - Short Form
  (CDSES-SF, Betz, Taylor, 2000) in the Italian
  version by Nota, Pace and Ferrari (2008).
• Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social
  Support (MSPSS, Zimet et al., 1988) in the
  Italian version by Di Fabio and Busoni (2008).
• Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (Bar-On EQ-i
  Bar-On, 2002), in the Italian version by Franco
  and Tappatà (2009).

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PROCEDURESTest administration was conducted in
a collective manner by specialized personnel, in
accordance with the laws on privacy. The order of
administration was counterbalancedto control the
effects of the order of presentation.

• DATA ANALYSIS
• Correlations (Pearsons r )
• Hierarchical regressions

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RESULTS HIERARCHICAL REGRESSION
Dependent variable Lack of Readiness
Personality traits account for the 19 of the
variance of Lack of Readiness dimension. When
career decision-making self-efficacy and the
three factors of perceived social support are
added, the model accounts for the 16 greater of
variance. When Intrapersonal, Adaptability and
Stress Management dimensions of emotional
intelligence are added, the model accounts for
the 11 greater of variance.
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RESULTS HIERARCHICAL REGRESSION
Dependent variable Lack of Information
Personality traits account for the 13 of the
variance of Lack of Information dimension. When
career decision-making self-efficacy and the
three factors of perceived social support are
added, the model accounts for the 17 greater of
variance. When Intrapersonal, Interpersonal,
Adaptability and Stress Management dimensions of
emotional intelligence are added, the model
accounts for the 16 greater of variance.
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RESULTS HIERARCHICAL REGRESSION
Dependent variable Inconsistent Information
Personality traits account for the 18 of the
variance of Inconsistent Information dimension.
When career decision-making self-efficacy and
the three factors of perceived social support are
added, the model accounts for the 22 greater of
variance. When Intrapersonal, Interpersonal,
Adaptability and Stress Management dimensions of
emotional intelligence are added, the model
accounts for the 10 greater of variance.
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DISCUSSION

• The first hypothesis (H1) was confirmed.

• Each of the three dimensions of CDDQ are
  inversely tied to Extraversion and Emotional
  Stability.
• These results are in line with the findings
  present in the literature in relation to career
  indecision (Boudreau et al., 2001 Caldwell
  Burger, 1998 Feldman, 2003 Kanfer et al., 2001
  Tokar et al., 1998) and particularly in relation
  to career decision making-difficulties (Albion
  Fogarty, 2002).

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DISCUSSION
The second hypothesis (H2) was confirmed.

• Each of the three dimensions of CDDQ are
  inversely tied to career decision-making
  self-efficacy.
• Self-efficacy plays a role in the understanding
  of the career indecision (Creed et al., 2004
  Gianakos, 1999), particularly in the specific
  difficulties that individuals may encounter
  before and during the career decision-making
  process.

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DISCUSSION
The third hypothesis (H3) was confirmed.

• Each of the three dimensions of CDDQ are
  inversely tied to perceived social support.
• These results are in line with the findings
  present in the literature (Blustein et al., 1995
  Blustein et al., 1991 Kenny Bledsoe, 2005
  Young et al., 2001). The relevance of perceived
  social support for career decision-making
  difficulties is outlined, particularly in career
  choices.

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DISCUSSION
The fourth hypothesis (H4) was confirmed.
Each of the three dimensions of CDDQ are
inversely tied to the dimensions of emotional
intelligence. These results are in line with
previous studies (Di Fabio Palazzeschi, 2008,
2009).
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DISCUSSION

• The fifth hypothesis (H5) was confirmed.

• The dimensions of emotional intelligence adds a
  percentage of incremental variance with respect
  to personality, career decision-making
  self-efficacy and perceived social support in
  relation to career decision-making difficulties.
• These results are in line with the findings in
  the literature (Di Fabio Palazzeschi, 2009).

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DISCUSSION

• Lack of Readiness dimension is mainly explained
  by the Intrapersonal dimension of emotional
  intelligence as a previous study suggested
• (Di Fabio Palazzeschi, 2008).

Role of emotional self-awareness in the
difficulties that prevent individuals from
starting the decision-making process.
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DISCUSSION
Lack of Information dimension is mainly
explained by the Adaptability dimension of
emotional intelligence, differently than the
findings in the literature (Di Fabio
Palazzeschi, 2008).

• Importance of using emotions to enact effective
  problem solving strategies in the search for
  information concerning the career decision-making
  process.

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DISCUSSION
Inconsistent Information dimension is mainly
explained not only by Intrapersonal dimension of
emotional intelligence, as suggested in a
previous research (Di Fabio Palazzeschi, 2008)
but also by the Interpersonal dimension of
emotional intelligence.

• Role played by emotional self-awareness and the
  ability to build satisfying relationships with
  others and to understand their sentiments in the
  perception of information that may be reliable
  and consistent.

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LIMITS AND FUTURE RESEARCH
Results obtained from a specific sample of
students of University of Florence.
Use more representative sample of the current
Italian situation and verify the results in other
international contexts.
Use of the self-report type of measurement.
To measure emotional intelligence would be useful
to join self-assessment questionnaires and tool
that are able to detect emotional intelligence
skills.
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CONCLUSIONS

• The results of this study allow to investigate
  the relation of the decision-making difficulties
  in career choice with personality traits, career
  decision-making self-efficacy, perceived social
  support and in particular emotional intelligence.
• In literature emotional intelligence is an
  increasable variable
• (Bar-On, 1997, 2000 Cooper, 1997 Di Fabio
  Kenny, in press).

Also in guidance and career counseling it is
possible to hypothesize the usefulness of
specific training aimed at enhancing emotional
intelligence to reduce career decision-making
difficulties and facilitate the process of choice.
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