LPC Career Development Theories 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A client says she avoids math-related careers despite being good at math because she 'just doesn't see herself as a math person.' This best illustrates which concept from Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT)?
- Outcome expectations
- Self-efficacy beliefs (Correct answer)
- Career barriers
- Contextual supports
Correct answer: Self-efficacy beliefs
Self-efficacy beliefs—one's confidence in one's ability to perform specific tasks—can constrain career choices even when objective skills are present.
Question 2: Tiedeman and O'Hara's career decision-making model divides the process into two major phases. The second phase, 'Induction,' belongs to which broader stage?
- Anticipation
- Implementation and Adjustment (Correct answer)
- Exploration
- Crystallization
Correct answer: Implementation and Adjustment
The Implementation and Adjustment phase includes Induction, Reformation, and Integration as the individual adapts to an actual work setting.
Question 3: In Roe's Personality Theory of Career Choice, early parent-child interactions are thought to influence:
- The prestige level of careers chosen
- Whether a person is oriented toward or away from people in their career (Correct answer)
- The specific skills a person develops
- A person's risk tolerance in career decision-making
Correct answer: Whether a person is oriented toward or away from people in their career
Roe proposed that parenting styles (overprotective, rejecting, accepting) shape whether individuals pursue person-oriented or non-person-oriented occupations.
Question 4: The 'happenstance learning theory' proposed by Krumboltz suggests that counselors should help clients:
- Carefully plan every career step to minimize uncertainty
- Recognize and capitalize on unplanned events as career opportunities (Correct answer)
- Identify their Holland type before exploring any options
- Focus exclusively on interests rather than labor market conditions
Correct answer: Recognize and capitalize on unplanned events as career opportunities
Happenstance theory encourages clients to stay curious and flexible so they can take advantage of unexpected opportunities that arise.
Question 5: Which instrument is most closely associated with assessing Holland's personality types?
- Strong Interest Inventory (SII)
- Career Maturity Inventory (CMI)
- Minnesota Importance Questionnaire (MIQ)
- Self-Directed Search (SDS) (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Self-Directed Search (SDS)
The Self-Directed Search (SDS), developed by Holland himself, directly assesses the six RIASEC types.
Question 6: A career counselor using a constructivist approach would most likely ask a client to:
- Complete standardized interest inventories
- Narrate their career story and identify recurring themes (Correct answer)
- Identify their Holland code and matching occupations
- Calculate their skills-to-job-requirements fit ratio
Correct answer: Narrate their career story and identify recurring themes
Constructivist career counseling, exemplified by Savickas's Career Construction Theory, uses narrative and life-story approaches to identify career themes.
Question 7: According to Super, which of the following best describes 'career maturity' in adolescents?
- Having already selected a specific career path
- Readiness to cope with developmental career tasks appropriate to one's age (Correct answer)
- Achieving congruence between personality and work environment
- Demonstrating proficiency in occupational skills
Correct answer: Readiness to cope with developmental career tasks appropriate to one's age
Career maturity refers to the degree to which an individual is developmentally ready to make informed, age-appropriate career decisions.
LPC Career Development Theories 3
A client says she avoids math-related careers despite being good at math because she 'just doesn't see herself as a math person.' This best illustrates which concept from Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT)?