Brown S.D., Lent R. (Editors). Career development and counseling: putting theory and research to work

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REFACE

However, the knowledge that these theories provide to practitioners is incomplete.

Fully informed career counseling also requires that counselors know and use

findings from relevant fields such as personality and industrial-organizational

psychology. Research from these fields suggests, for example, that basic personal-

ity constellations influence peoples’ career satisfaction and other workplace diffi-

culties and point to characteristics of the work environment (e.g., supervisor

support, work overload, role ambiguity, goal facilitation) that affect adjustment

difficulties at work.

In trying to select textbooks for our courses, we found that available texts tend

to be somewhat parochial in that they tend to give little, if any, attention to impor-

tant work from other disciplines that is relevant to career practice. Thus, we think

that readers will find this text unique not only for its more focused coverage of

theories in Section I but also in its coverage in Section II of relevant research across

disciplinary boundaries that has much to say about career development, choice,

and adjustment. To facilitate this cross-disciplinary agenda, we invited some su-

perb researchers from both within and outside the career counseling/vocational

psychology field (e.g., experts in organizational psychology) to contribute chap-

ters to the book.

The third and fourth sections of the book—Assessment and Occupational Infor-

mation (Section III) and Career Interventions Across the Life Span (Section IV)—

represent mainstays of most career development texts. However, in both sections

we asked authors to be selective and scientific in their coverage—to highlight and

discuss only those assessment and informational tools and interventions that have

garnered some scientific support and have the clearest implications for promoting

career development and remediating problems that persons may encounter in de-

veloping optimum aspirations, making career choices, adjusting to their work-

places and careers, and achieving a satisfying and successful post-work life.

The final section (Section V, Special Needs and Applications) expands on cov-

erage provided in the preceding sections. The first four sections of the book are

based on an assumption that we have as researchers and practitioners—that there

are common ingredients, derived from extant theories and supported by interdis-

ciplinary research, that influence the career development, choice, and adjustment

of all individuals, regardless of their backgrounds (e.g., gender, race, ethnicity,

socioeconomic status, intelligence) or specific presenting concerns. Thus, we

think that the material covered in the first four sections provides important in-

sights for working with all persons to promote their career development, help

them make work-related choices, and assist them in achieving adjustment (i.e.,

satisfaction and success) in their work and after-work lives.

However, it is also clear from the extant theoretical and empirical literatures that

persons’ background characteristics and circumstances have some unique influ-

ences that need to be considered to do maximally effective development and coun-

seling work with them. For example, although career interventions with all children

and youth have the general goal of helping them eventually to make satisfying and

satisfactory work and lifestyle choices, the unique characteristics, experiences, and

needs of intellectually precocious children, children from economically disadvan-

taged backgrounds, and youth with disabilities may require a different, or at least

modified, focus of intervention efforts.

Similarly, adults who seek choice-making or job-finding help because they have

lost a job, are seeking a new work direction, or are returning to the workforce bring

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Preface xi

with them some unique needs that first-time choosers or implementers may not

have that require attention from counselors. Thus, the chapters in Section V involve

special applications of career development services to youth and adult clients—

they do not supplant the knowledge that readers gain in the first four sections of

the book, but provide information that counselors need to know to fine-tune and

improve the services that they offer to the widest array of clients.

We have many people to thank for their contributions to this book. First and

foremost, we thank the hundreds of students whose formal and informal input

over the past two and a half decades did much to shape our thinking about how to

teach career development and counseling. Second, we are grateful for the partici-

pation of an extremely gifted and distinguished group of contributing authors.

Third, we thank our editor at Wiley, Tracey Belmont, for convincing us to do this

book and for keeping us motivated and on-task. Fourth, as always, we thank our

family members (Linda, Zack, Kate, Ellen, and Jeremy) for the support and encour-

agement they gave us throughout this project, for their patience and forbearance,

and for their many kindnesses. Finally, we thank in advance those instructors and

other professionals who agree that career clients deserve nothing less than services

that are based on sound, interdisciplinary science and who decided, therefore, to

adopt this text for their courses or to read the book for their own professional de-

velopment. We hope that the book lives up to your expectations, and we look for-

ward to receiving your feedback.

TEVEN

D. B

ROWN

OBERT

W. L

ENT

February 3, 2004

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xiii

John A. Achter, PhD

University of Wisconsin–Stout

Menomonie, Wisconsin

Consuelo Arbona, PhD

University of Houston

Houston, Texas

Patrick Ian Armstrong, MA

University of Illinois at

Urbana–Champaign

Champaign, Illinois

Nancy E. Betz, PhD

The Ohio State University

Columbus, Ohio

Becky L. Bobek, PhD

ACT, Inc.

Iowa City, Iowa

Steven D. Brown, PhD

Loyola University Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

Maria Cristina Cruza-Guet, MA

Lehigh University

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Catalina D’Achiardi, MA

Southern Illinois

University–Carbondale

Carbondale, Illinois

René V. Dawis, PhD

University of Minnesota

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Ellen S. Fabian, PhD

University of Maryland

College Park, Maryland

Lisa Y. Flores, PhD

University of Missouri–Columbia

Columbia, Missouri

Barbara A. Fritzsche, PhD

University of Central Florida

Orlando, Florida

Paul A. Gore Jr., PhD

ACT, Inc.

Iowa City, Iowa

Linda S. Gottfredson, PhD

University of Delaware

Newark, Delaware

Barbara Griffin, PhD

University of Sydney

Sydney, Australia

Jo-Ida C. Hansen, PhD

University of Minnesota

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Beryl Hesketh, PhD

University of Sydney

Sydney, Australia

Jorie L. Hitch, MA

Southern Illinois

University–Carbondale

Carbondale, Illinois

LaRae M. Jome, PhD

University of Albany, State University

of New York

Albany, New York

Cindy L. Juntunen, PhD

University of North Dakota

Grand Forks, North Dakota

Contributors

flast.qxd 8/5/04 9:33 AM Page xiii

xiv C

ONTRIBUTORS

Nancy E. Ryan Krane, PhD

The Ball Foundation

Glen Ellyn, Illinois

Richard T. Lapan, PhD

University of Missouri–Columbia

Columbia, Missouri

Robert W. Lent, PhD

University of Maryland

College Park, Maryland

James J. Liesener, PhD

Norfolk State University

Norfolk, Virginia

David Lubinski, PhD

Va nde r bi lt University

Nashville, Tennessee

Matthew J. Miller, MA

Loyola University Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

Rachel L. Navarro, MA

University of Missouri–Columbia

Columbia, Missouri

Tiffany J. Parrish, PhD

University of Central Florida

Orlando, Florida

Susan D. Phillips, PhD

University of Albany, State University

of New York

Albany, New York

Steven B. Robbins, PhD

ACT, Inc.

Iowa City, Iowa

Jay W. Rojewski, PhD

University of Georgia

Athens, Georgia

James B. Rounds, PhD

University of Illinois at

Urbana–Champaign

Champaign, Illinois

Joyce E. A. Russell, PhD

University of Maryland

College Park, Maryland

Alan M. Saks, PhD

University of Toronto

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Mark L. Savickas, PhD

Northeastern Ohio Universities

College of Medicine

Rootstown, Ohio

Arnold R. Spokane, PhD

Lehigh University

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Harvey L. Sterns, PhD

The University of Akron

Akron, Ohio

Linda Mezydlo Subich, PhD

The University of Akron

Akron, Ohio

Jane L. Swanson, PhD

Southern Illinois

University–Carbondale

Carbondale, Illinois

William C. Tirre, PhD

The Ball Foundation

Glen Ellyn, Illinois

Sherri L. Turner, PhD

University of Minnesota

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Kara Brita Wettersten, PhD

University of North Dakota

Grand Forks, North Dakota

Roger L. Worthington, PhD

University of Missouri–Columbia

Columbia, Missouri

flast.qxd 8/5/04 9:33 AM Page xiv

SECTION ONE

MAJOR THEORIES OF

CAREER DEVELOPMENT,

CHOICE, AND ADJUSTMENT

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CHAPTER 1

The Minnesota Theory of

Work Adjustment

René V. Dawis

HEORY OF

Work Adjustment (TWA; Dawis & Lofquist, 1984) grew out of

the University of Minnesota’s Work Adjustment Project, a 20-year federally

funded research program to study how vocational rehabilitation clients ad-

justed to work. This research, conducted in the 1960s and 1970s, is reported in 30

bulletins of the Minnesota Studies in Vocational Rehabilitation series (Industrial Re-

lations Center, University of Minnesota—Minneapolis) and in several journal

articles, book chapters, and books. Since the mid-1970s, the Work Adjustment

Project has continued as the Vocational Psychology Research Program of the De-

partment of Psychology, University of Minnesota.

When it started, the Work Adjustment Project attempted a wide-ranging, broad-

gauged approach to its research problem (Scott, Dawis, England, & Lofquist, 1960).

It collected data on a large number of individuals and on a large number of

variables, such as job satisfaction, work attitudes, job performance ratings, work

histories, education and training experiences, aptitudes, needs, interests, and per-

sonality traits. It quickly became apparent that such a large mass of data could be

analyzed in endless ways and that a theoretical framework was needed to narrow

down and provide focus for data analysis. TWA was developed for this purpose

(Dawis, England, & Lofquist, 1964). Furthermore, TWA was found useful in pro-

viding direction for subsequent research. In turn, the ensuing research led to revi-

sions and additions to TWA (Dawis & Lofquist, 1984; Dawis, Lofquist, & Weiss,

1968; Lofquist & Dawis, 1969). For more on the history of TWA, see Dawis (1996,

pp.75–80). As this history shows, many individuals, including some whose names

are not mentioned here, contributed to the development of TWA.

THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS

The Theory of Work Adjustment belongs to a class of theories known as P-E theo-

ries (Dawis, 2000), which are about the person (P) in an environment (E) and the

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AJOR

HEORIES OF

AREER

EVELOPMENT

, C

HOICE

AND

DJUSTMENT

fit between, and the interaction of, P and E. There are a variety of Es (physical,

school, work, family, home, social, or even one other person); hence, it behooves

P-

E theorists at the outset to identify and define the E to which they refer. As its

name indicates, TWA is about the work environment.

There are P variables and E variables, and these are often used to account for

behavior or behavioral outcomes. However, the basic proposition of P-E theories is

that the explanation for behavior or behavioral outcomes lies not so much with the

P or the E variables, but rather, with the P-E combination. Even if P and E variables

contribute to the explanation, it is a particular P-E combination that will best ex-

plain the particular behavior or behavioral outcome.

P-E theories use two constructions to denote the P-E combination: fit and in-

teraction. Fit refers to the degree to which P characteristics correspond to E

characteristics assessed across commensurate (parallel or matching) dimen-

sions. For example, different workers (P) have different sets of skills, and differ-

ent jobs (E) require different sets of skills. Fit means that some workers have the

set of skills that a job requires but other workers do not, or some jobs require

the

set of skills that a worker has but other jobs do not.

Interaction refers to P’s and E’s action on and reaction to each other in a mutual

give and take. Workers and work environments are not static, unchanging entities,

but rather, they can and do change. For example, dissatisfied workers will “do

something” to change dissatisfying work situations, such as complain to manage-

ment or work even harder to “prove” to management that they deserve better treat-

ment. Management might respond to complaints negatively by laying off workers

or respond positively by increasing worker pay. TWA is both a P-E fit theory and a

P-E interaction theory.

The

Theory of Work Adjustment

grew out of the individual differences tradition

in psychology (Dawis, 1992). The psychology of individual differences is about

human variability, how people differ from one another, as contrasted with general

psychology, which is about how people behave on average. Human variability af-

fords a way to describe human individuality. Such individuality may result in dif-

ferent consequences for different people in the same situation. In studying this

phenomenon, the psychology of individual differences focuses on variables that are

stable over time, the class of variables known as traits (as contrasted with states, the

class of variables that fluctuate over time). TWA adopted the trait concept in its de-

scription of P. Furthermore, research on TWA has used the methods of the psychol-

ogy of individual differences that emphasize quantification (especially the

psychometric measurement of stable individual differences) and statistical analy-

sis to account for variance (individual differences), especially through the use of

correlational methods (Tinsley & Brown, 2000).

When TWA was first published in 1964, it was presented as a series of nine formal

propositions that captured the substance of the research conducted to that date, but

it also provided direction for future research. Subsequent research suggested new

propositions for TWA. Eight were added in 1984. The list of 17 TWA propositions is

shown in Table 1.1, which is presented on pages 20–21 of this chapter.

The

Theory of Work Adjustment

started out as a P-E fit theory. As TWA was re-

vised and expanded, it developed into an interaction theory—a process model that

included the fit (or predictive) model. Before the two models are described, the

basic concepts on which TWA is premised are first presented and discussed.

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The Minnesota Theory of Work Adjustment 5

ASIC

ONCEPTS

As a psychological theory, TWA’s focus is on P and P’s behavior. However, P does not

exist or behave in a vacuum; rather, P always exists and behaves in an E. Any the-

ory about P has to be a theory about P-in-an-E.

The theory of work adjustment begins with the assumptions that (1) as a liv-

ing organism, P has requirements that have to be met, many or even most of

them through E; (2) P has capabilities that enable it to meet these requirements;

and (3) much of P’s behavior in interacting with E is about meeting these re-

quirements.

Among the most important of P’s requirements are needs: biological needs that

have to do with P’s survival and psychological needs that have to do with P’s

well-being. Needs are presumed to develop from the genetic material inherited

by P, conditioned by the many Es to which P is exposed, until some state of rela-

tive stability is reached, typically in adulthood.

Many of P’s needs in adulthood can be met at work. In TWA, the E of concern is

the work environment, which in our contemporary world is effectively the work

organization. TWA, then, is about P as worker and employee, and E as work envi-

ronment and work organization.

As an operating principle, TWA conceptualizes P and E as parallel and comple-

mentary. Thus, TWA assumes that E (in parallel with P) also has requirements

that have to be met and capabilities that enable it to meet its requirements. Com-

plementarily, some of E’s requirements can be met by P in the same way that some

of P’s requirements can be met by E. Thus, in work, P and E come together be-

cause each has some requirements that the other can meet.

Fulfillment of their requirements results in satisfaction for P and E. To differenti-

ate E’s satisfaction from P’s satisfaction, TWA terms E’s satisfaction with P as the

satisfactoriness of P, reserving the term satisfaction to denote P’s satisfaction with E.

The two constructs, satisfaction and satisfactoriness, imply and extend to their

negatives, dissatisfaction and unsatisfactoriness. Thus, at the dichotomous level, there

are four possible states in which P can be: satisfied and satisfactory, satisfied but

unsatisfactory, dissatisfied but satisfactory, or dissatisfied and unsatisfactory.

TWA expects the first state to be conducive to behavior that maintains the P-E in-

teraction (maintenance behavior) and the other three states to result eventually in be-

havior to change the situation (adjustment behavior). At the extreme, the P-E

interaction may be terminated (P either quits or is fired). But as long as P is tolera-

bly satisfied and satisfactory, P remains in, and is retained by, E. The length of time

P stays in E is termed tenure in TWA. These three outcomes—the satisfaction, satis-

factoriness, and tenure of P in a given work E—are the basic indicators of work ad-

justment, according to TWA.

As mentioned, P has capabilities, some of which can be used to satisfy E’s re-

quirements (or some of them). P’s capabilities that matter most to E are P’s skills.

Work skills are drawn from basic human skills: cognitive, affective, motor, physical,

and sensory-perceptual. Like needs, basic skills are presumed to originate from P’s

inherited genetic material and are shaped through learning (experience and train-

ing) via exposure to a variety of Es. Though basic skills may reach relative stability

(typically in adulthood), P continues to acquire new skills (such as work skills) de-

veloped from basic skills all through life.

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