The Effects of a Happiness Strengths Intervention on Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy among Career Starters

Career decision-making self-efficacy (CDMSE) is an important resource that can reduce the uncertainty that career starters face when transitioning from education to work. However, scant knowledge is available on how CDMSE can be enhanced through character strengths interventions. In this project, an online strengths intervention was developed to help career starters increase their CDMSE by identifying, exploring, appreciating, and using their happiness strengths (curiosity, gratitude, hope, love, and zest). A field experiment was conducted with 55 career starters in the Netherlands who were randomly assigned to an online three-week intervention (N = 23) or a wait-list control group (N = 32). Using a pretest-posttest design, it was found that the intervention positively influenced participants’ CDMSE, particularly their self-appraisal and problem-solving levels. Therefore, activating happiness strengths in an online strengths intervention might be used as a brief and effective tool to improve CDMSE (self-appraisal and problem-solving) among career starters.