CSP Career Counseling Theories & Techniques 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In John Krumboltz's Happenstance Learning Theory, which of the following best describes the counselor's role?
- Help clients plan rigid career paths to minimize uncertainty
- Encourage clients to capitalize on unplanned events as learning opportunities (Correct answer)
- Focus exclusively on personality assessments to guide career choices
- Teach clients to avoid serendipitous events that disrupt career plans
Correct answer: Encourage clients to capitalize on unplanned events as learning opportunities
Happenstance Learning Theory holds that unplanned events are normal and counselors should help clients recognize and exploit chance occurrences.
Question 2: Which concept in Donald Super's Life-Span, Life-Space Theory refers to the importance an individual assigns to a particular role?
- Career maturity
- Role salience (Correct answer)
- Crystallization
- Life rainbow
Correct answer: Role salience
Role salience describes the degree of importance or significance a person attaches to a given life role such as worker, parent, or student.
Question 3: A client says, 'I've always been told I'm good with numbers, so I should be an accountant.' Which cognitive distortion in cognitive career counseling does this BEST illustrate?
- Overgeneralization (Correct answer)
- Tunneling
- External attribution
- Catastrophizing
Correct answer: Overgeneralization
Overgeneralization involves drawing sweeping conclusions from limited evidence, such as equating 'good with numbers' with a single career path.
Question 4: The Minnesota Theory of Work Adjustment (TWA) posits that job satisfaction results from which condition?
- The worker's skills exceeding the job's requirements
- Correspondence between the worker's needs and the reinforcer system of the environment (Correct answer)
- The employer's values aligning with national labor standards
- A worker completing at least two years in the same role
Correct answer: Correspondence between the worker's needs and the reinforcer system of the environment
TWA asserts that satisfaction occurs when the work environment fulfills the individual's vocational needs and values.
Question 5: In Savickas's Career Construction Theory, 'career adaptability' is measured along four dimensions. Which set correctly identifies all four?
- Concern, Control, Curiosity, Confidence (Correct answer)
- Commitment, Clarity, Creativity, Competence
- Awareness, Exploration, Preparation, Implementation
- Planfulness, Realism, Flexibility, Decisiveness
Correct answer: Concern, Control, Curiosity, Confidence
Career Construction Theory defines adaptability through Concern, Control, Curiosity, and Confidence — the 4 Cs of career adaptability.
Question 6: When using a narrative career counseling approach, which activity would be MOST appropriate?
- Administering the Strong Interest Inventory and reviewing Holland codes
- Asking the client to tell the story of their favorite childhood hero (Correct answer)
- Conducting a structured behavioral interview focusing on past job performance
- Having the client rank occupations from the Occupational Outlook Handbook
Correct answer: Asking the client to tell the story of their favorite childhood hero
Narrative approaches elicit personal stories and metaphors — asking about a childhood hero reveals the client's values, ideals, and life themes.
Question 7: Roe's Theory of Career Choice emphasizes which factor as central to occupational selection?
- Genetic predispositions toward specific aptitudes
- Early parent-child interactions and resulting psychological needs (Correct answer)
- The socioeconomic status of the individual's family of origin
- Cultural and ethnic identity development stages
Correct answer: Early parent-child interactions and resulting psychological needs
Anne Roe proposed that early childhood parent-child relationships shape basic needs that later drive occupational choice.
CSP Career Counseling Theories & Techniques 2
In John Krumboltz's Happenstance Learning Theory, which of the following best describes the counselor's role?