Strategies for Coping with Career Indecision

Abstract

The goal of this study was to develop and test a theoretical model of Strategies for Coping with Career Indecision ( SCCI). The proposed model consists of 14 categories that represent three major coping clusters—Productive coping, Support-seeking, and Nonproductive coping. The major concepts of the model were adopted from coping theories (Frydenberg & Lewis, 1993; Skinner, Edge, Altman, & Sherwood, 2003) and adapted to the context of career decision making. To test the proposed model, the SCCI questionnaire was developed and refined using data from 10 samples ( N = 3,081). Study 1 reports the development of the SCCI and its psychometric properties using an additional sample of Israelis young adults deliberating about their career decisions ( N = 460). Study 2a presents the results of a confirmatory factor analysis, based on American ( N = 386) and Israeli ( N = 819) samples of young adults. Study 2b tests the concurrent validity of the SCCI. The results from both the American and the Israeli samples supported the hypothesized distinction among the three major coping clusters; however, Support-seeking was associated partially with Productive coping and partially with Nonproductive coping. The implications for future research and career counseling are discussed.