Exploratory actions as mediators of the association between career exploration self-efficacy and decisional outcomes: Does exploration type matter?

Abstract

This study used a short-term longitudinal design to test the social-cognitive model of career self-management's (CSM) theorized pathway in which exploratory actions mediate the association between career exploration self-efficacy and decisional outcomes. The study clarifies the role of exploratory actions in the decision-making process by distinguishing between self-exploration and environmental exploration. College students ( N = 136; 77% female; mean age = 18.71 years [ SD = 1.19]; 47% with undeclared majors) completed an online survey assessing self-efficacy for self-appraisal and self-efficacy for obtaining occupational information. A month later, they reported the frequency of their engagement in self-exploratory and environment-exploratory actions over the past month and completed measures of two decisional outcomes reflecting readiness to make career decisions (vocational identity and need for additional occupational information). The CSM's mediational pathway was supported with respect to self-exploration but not environmental exploration. I discuss implications for the CSM model and for career-development interventions.