Typologies and precursors of career adaptability patterns among emerging adults: A seven-year longitudinal study

Journal of Adolescence 37 (2014) 1505e1515

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Typologies and precursors of career adaptability patterns among emerging adults: A seven-year longitudinal study Shmuel Shulman a, *, Kati Vasalampi b, Tamuz Barr a, Yaara Livne a, Jari-Erik Nurmi b, Michael W. Pratt c a

Department of Psychology, Bar Ilan University, 52900 Ramat Gan, Israel Department of Psychology, University of Jyvaskyla, Jyvaskyla, Finland c Psychology Department, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada b

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history: Available online 27 June 2014

The present study examined career adaptability in 100 Israeli emerging adults who were followed from ages 22 to 29. Participants were given an in depth interview and were asked to talk about their current work, difficulties they might have had in the past and how they coped with them. In addition they were asked to elaborate on the extent to which their job fits their interests and is meaningful to them. Analyses of interviews yielded three distinctive career adaptability patterns that were associated with different levels of concurrent wellbeing: Integrated, Compromised, and Vague. A lower level of identified motivation measured seven years earlier predicted membership in the Compromised pattern. A higher level of extrinsic motivation combined with decreased parental support predicted membership in the Vague pattern. Findings are discussed within the framework of the occupational adaptations and compromises that young people must make when approaching the age of 30. © 2014 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Career adaptability Motivation Family support Emerging adults

Social and economic developments in the last decades have drastically changed the lives of young people. Job uncertainty has increased and young people find it increasingly difficult to achieve even modest goals of affluence and job security (Furlong & Cartmel, 2007). These difficulties have been manifested in postponement of developmental transitions and an increasing likelihood of oscillating between transitory and inconsistent states (EGRIS, 2001). For example, young people may find a job, decide on an occupation, renounce it later, return to some kind of training, and later on pursue a different occupation. Stabilization is likely to take place toward the end of the third decade (Cohen, Kasen, Chen, Hartmark, & Gordon, 2003) and holding a stable job has been considered as a key indicator of a successful transition to adulthood (Corcoran & Matsudaira, 2009). However, considering the uncertain and ever-changing career climate, young people may need to take any job that is available (Briscoe, Hall, & DeMuth, 2006). It is then questionable whether a person will be able to maintain direction and a sense of purpose while settling down to a particular job, or whether such a choice is tinged with regret or loss (Packard & Babineau, 2009). Given these social and economic changes, a more comprehensive understanding of career adaptability is needed. We suggest that career adaptability goes beyond simply mastering a job and also needs to refer to the extent to which a person is attuned to inner interests (Savickas, 2005; 2011) and finds meaning in what he or she does (Blustein, 2011).

* Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected] (S. Shulman). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2014.06.003 0140-1971/© 2014 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Employing a mixed-methods approach, the present study explores the diverse patterns of career development and adaptability among emerging adults toward the end of their third decade of life and the extent to which a pattern is adaptive or maladaptive. The study also examines individual and family precursors of different career development and adaptability patterns. The term career adaptability has been conceptualized and developed to assess a person's capacity to prepare and participate in work roles, and was rooted in the assumption of stability and security of the job market (Savickas et al., 2009). Within this framework, Savickas (1997) suggested that career adaptability could be understood as the readiness and capability for successful mastery of career tasks, namely the ability to regulate one's career-related behaviors. Self-regulatory mechanisms are of great relevance to career adaptability, as they are activated in times of stress, change, or when one is confronted with novel challenges (Creed, Fallon, & Hood, 2009; Super & Knasel, 1981). While these theoretical perspectives have articulated a vision of individuals who are autonomous and able to regulate their occupational behavior, it also is important to acknowledge the processes that are involved in the construction of such occupational efficacy. Duffy and Blustein (2005) suggested that aspects such as career planning, autonomously making career decisions, career choice commitment, and identification with a school or a working place also need to be considered to understand career adaptability. These understandings of career development and adaptability resemble the conceptualization of career pursuit within the framework of developmental psychology. Nurmi (2004) contended that in order to successfully and efficiently direct their future lives, individuals need to consider the various normative expectations, developmental tasks and institutional tracks typical of the society in which they live, and then set goals and develop plans for their realization. In reality, even appropriate age-related goals and aspirations are not always attained, and individuals periodically need to adjust their aspirations and €ki, 2001). behavior to changing realities (Salmela-Aro, Nurmi, Saisto & Halmesma Heckhausen's motivational theory of life span development sheds further light on the ways one faces and copes with difficulties or disappointments along the way (Heckhausen, 1999; Heckhausen, Wrosch, & Schultz, 2010). Heckhausen describes the different ways in which individuals cope with, or react to, facing failure or confronting unattainable goals. While active and purposeful pursuit of a desired goal is highly adaptive, continued pursuit or aspiration of an unattainable goal can become itself a source of stress. Under such circumstances, Heckhausen describes the mechanism of disengagement from an unattainable goal as the ability to realize that a desired goal is unattainable and a different goal needs to be formulated. While relinquishing one's aspired goal may seem a drawback, in reality this strategy reflects self-mastery, facilitates the identification of a new goal and is beneficial to wellbeing. In contrast, the continued pursuit of a goal that cannot be attained may lead to a sense of fruitless efforts (Wrosch, Scheier, Carver, & Schulz, 2003) and thus a decrease in wellbeing (Heckhausen, Wrosch, & Schulz, 2010). Thus, approaches both in vocational psychology and developmental psychology emphasize the centrality of selfregulatory processes in career adaptability (Dietrich, Parker, & Salmela-Aro, 2012). They stress the importance of planning, the ability to cope with difficulties when facing stress and challenges, to make compromises, and to be committed to one's current occupation. Recent years have witnessed a slower workforce growth (Karoly, 2009) and increasing levels of uncertainty and job insecurity (Mills & Blossfeld, 2009). Considering these fundamental economic and societal changes (Furlong & Cartmel, 2007), no matter how competent and resourceful a person might be, work places and roles may change rapidly. Individuals might be unemployed for extended periods of time and then have to take the only job that is available to them, regardless of their capacities. Under these circumstances the ability to be open and flexible, and to accept unexpected and less desired job opportunities has become even more crucial for young people nowadays (Fadjukoff, Kokko,& Pulkkinen, 2010). Interestingly, recent developments in the understanding of career adaptability have moved from the question “What and how do people do what they do?” to “Why do they do it?” (Blustein, 2011; Savickas, 2005). Progress in defining career adaptability called for further attention to the importance of one's inner interests, curiosity and values (Lent & Brown, 2006; Savickas, 2005). For example, curiosity enables a person to stay open to new experiences, and to increase the awareness of the fit between oneself and the work world. A lack of curiosity may lead to an inaccurate perception of oneself (Savickas, 2005). Through introspection, individuals become aware of their “personal story”. They learn to recognize their inner motivations and these serve as a guide to successful negotiations in considering their occupational realities (Del Corso & Rehfuss, 2011; Savickas, 1997). Based on these points, we believe that career adaptability needs a broader meaning than simply whether a person is working and mastering daily demands. It relates also to inner processes that are supposed to accompany having a steady work place and role. It relates to attunement to inner motivation, fit between one's self and the work world and the capacity to find in work a meaning and venue for self actualization. In particular, under the current realities, it is important that persons are open and flexible enough to find ways to make their work meaningful to them and of consequence to their communities (Blustein, 2011). The changing economic and societal realities and the increasing occupational uncertainty accompanying them are currently world wide (Furlong & Cartmel, 2007; Mills & Blossfeld, 2009). This is even more important in the Mediterranean countries e the focus of the current issue. Increasing numbers of young people from the northern Mediterranean are unemployed or involved in non steady jobs (Rosso, Bardak, & Zelloth, 2012). The situation is even more difficult for young people from the Arab Mediterranean countries, where prospects for employment are dimmer and many young people are found in informal jobs at subsistence wages (Martín, 2009). This study was conducted on an Israeli sample. Two aspects of the Israeli society e its current economic condition and its cultural norms - are relevant for examining our suggested comprehensive notions of career adaptability and development

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among emerging adults. Israel is located on the eastern Mediterranean shore, has a Western culture and a developed economy. As in other countries, the rate of youth unemployment is higher than that of adults. Yet, figures of youth unemployment are smaller compared to those in Southern European countries. This has been attributed to a currently stronger Israeli economy and to the fact that young Israelis are subjected to army service of two or three years and thus join the workforce later than their Mediterranean and European counterparts (Arlozorov, 2012). However, though the unemployment rate among young people is only 11.9%, the employment rate among young people has been increasing at the rate of 10% in recent years. Moreover, as a result of ongoing structural changes in the economy. Many young people are employed in areas that they have not been prepared for, but simply where a job could be found (Tzur, 2011). Another important characteristic of Israeli society, relevant for the current study, is its emphasis on communal values (Schwartz, 1994). Israeli society is conspicuous in placing a high value on the family and on belonging to a social group (Peres & Katz, 1981). There are strong expectations for young people to settle down in a job and start a family (Mayseless & Scharf, 2003) and they tend to attain this toward the end of the third decade of life (Shulman & Ben Artzi, 2003). In sum, it is likely that while aspired jobs are less available for young Israelis, economic realities and cultural expectations may pressure them to settle down and to work in a job to which they have not necessarily aspired. Precursors of career adaptability Research developed within the School-to-Work (STW) transition framework (Blustein, Juntunen, & Worthington, 2000) suggested that successful transitions are facilitated by two factors: the first, located within the individual, includes features such as self-initiative, purposefulness, flexibility, and agency. The second, related to the environment, includes a supportive family. The ability to pursue successfully a particular occupational track, and to commit to it, combined with a capacity to balance job market realities and inner aspirations, can be associated with the quality of negotiating the wishes of self and other as postulated by Blatt's theory of personality development (Blatt, 2008). According to Blatt, optimally developing individuals are able to become involved in the world without losing their sense-of-self, and to strive for achievement and self-definition. In addition, they have at the same time the capability of listening to advice and receiving help from others. Consistently, Blatt found that self-criticism, a maladaptive aspect of self-definition, predicted lack of autonomous regulation, which in turn predicted lack of positive life events. In contrast, efficacy, an adaptive aspect of self-definition, predicted elevated autonomous regulation, which in turn predicted encountering more positive events (Blatt, 2008). Self-Determination Theory (SDT) also addresses the antecedents of healthy self-regulation and psychological well-being and focuses on personal motivation (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Individuals experience intrinsic motivation when their actions are self-initiated or fully self-endorsed rather than controlled by forces experienced as alien to the self (Ryan, 1993). Related to this is identified motivation, namely recognizing and accepting the value and importance of a behavior and integrating it into the self (Sheldon & Elliot, 1999). Intrinsic motivation promotes a focus on the task itself and yields energizing emotions, such as interest and excitement. Identified motivation keeps one oriented toward long term pursuits and can foster persistence at uninteresting but important activities (Sheldon & Elliot, 1999). The combination of intrinsic and identified motivation enhances the flexibility to adapt to a wide array of situations (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Behaviors that are extrinsically motivated, such as being based on the instrumental value of acting, or being valued by others, can become a source of increased stress, in particular under conditions of an unpredictable environment. Indeed, inner individual attitudes and beliefs were found to be associated with the extentto which individuals believe they have control over their careers, and how confident they are in completing those tasks (Del Corso & Rehfuss, 2011). In contrast, being high on self criticism, or primarily directed by external values and neglecting personal inclinations, are likely to lead to career indecision, loss of interest and despair (BraunsteinBercovitz, 2013; Savickas, 2009). Notwithstanding individual competencies that are crucial for individual development, attainment of developmental tasks is also facilitated by close and supportive relationship with parents. When parents give their blessing and support their offspring, young people will be more successful in meeting developmental tasks of this transitional stage (Seiffge-Krenke, Overbeek, & Vermulst, 2010; Shulman, Shahar & Kalnitzky, 2009). The impact of close and supportive relationships has increasingly become an important focus also in career development research (Blustein, Schultheiss, & Flum, 2004). Dietrich and Kracke (2009) and Whiston and Keller (2004) described the importance of parents in the career development of adolescents and young people, indicating that parental emotional support should be associated with more adaptive career development. Slaten and Baskin (2014) found that a sense of parental support was associated with lower difficulties in career decision making among young people. Employing a qualitative study, Schultheiss, Kress, and Manzi (2001) were able to demonstrate how this worked. They showed that relying on parental support helped in reducing stress and alleviating pressure, so that an individual could make an informed decision concerning a future career. Aims The present study had three aims Although career adaptability has been researched in the past, Savickas (2011) argued that models of career adaptability capturing mainly aspects like planning and commitment need to be reconceptualized, given the changing and unstable

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nature of work. Aspects like the degree of attention given to personal interests and aspirations (Savickas, 2005), and the ability to attach and find meaning in one's work (Blustein, 2001) need also to be considered. A qualitative approach has the potential to obtain a detailed and nuanced understanding of how this comprehensive concept of career adaptability manifests in the lives of young people (McMahon, Watson & Bimrose, 2012). Thus, employing a qualitative research design, the study first aimed to identify different patterns of career adaptability among emerging adults. We expected these distinctive patterns to differ both on features such as stability of employment, commitment, and coping with challenges, as well as with regards to inner reflections about one's work and the extent to which it is connected to inner expectations and motivations. The different constellations will represent adaptive and less adaptive patterns. For example, the extent to which individuals perceive their career to address their inner dreams, or are able to find meaning in what they do, is likely to indicate whether a person has made progress in pursuing plans and also is likely to be associated with greater satisfaction. Thus, we hypothesized, second, that emerging adults who are committed to their careers and find meaning in what they do would exhibit higher levels of concurrent psychosocial functioning (i.e., goal progress, life satisfaction, and fewer psychological symptoms), compared to those who describe less adaptive patterns of career adaptability. Career adaptability is a dynamic process that evolves across time (McMahon et. al., 2012; Savickas, 2005), and therefore it is reasonable to assume that career adaptability is associated not only with concurrent psychosocial functioning but also with accompanying changes in psychosocial functioning. Given our longitudinal data set, we thus also hypothesized that the ability to achieve a pattern of adaptive career development would be associated with improvement of psychosocial functioning over time. Finally, after identifying different patterns of career adaptability, the present study also examined their precursors. We hypothesized that personal efficacy, intrinsic and identified motivation, as well as elevated parental support (assessed seven years earlier), would predict belonging to a more adaptive pattern, whereas earlier self criticism and extrinsic motivation would predict belonging to a less adaptive pattern. Method Participants and procedure Participants in the first assessment were 285 Israeli emerging adults (154 men and 131 women; Mean age ¼ 23.01, SD ¼ 1.71) enrolled in two preparatory academic programs in two different colleges, one in the center and one in the south of Israel. The preparatory academic programs are government sponsored and aim to promote academic studies among young people who aspire to higher education, but have not successfully completed their high school education, or have not attained a high school diploma. Mean level of parental education was 11.92 years of schooling (SD ¼ 2.55) for fathers and 11.52 years of schooling (SD ¼ 2.50) for mothers. Thus, the sample represents mainly a lower middle class background. The vast majority of the sample was unmarried (95.7%). After obtaining the approval of the academic programs, consent of the participants was requested. We were able to secure participation of ninety six percent of students at this stage. None of the participants were compensated at this stage. This sample was re-assessed at three later times. In the current study, we report on data collected at the first and fourth (seven years after the first assessment) waves. The fourth wave included a random sub-sample of 100 participants from the original group. At the 4th assessment, participants completed demographic data including gender, age, education, work and number of work hours per week, residence, and marital status. An in-depth interview was then conducted with participants in which they were asked to talk about their work and career history in recent years. Information about attainment of goals, life satisfaction and number of depressive and anxiety symptoms was also collected at the 4th wave. In the current study we refer to personality indices and parental support as assessed at T1. Conducting these in depth interviews demanded more personnel and higher financial resources. Unfortunately, our budget did not allow us to recruit a higher number of subjects for this procedure. Therefore we had to approach a random sample of 100 young people from the larger number of potential participants that took part in the previous waves of the longitudinal study. As a result, our mixed method approach analyzing quantitative and qualitative data together was conducted only on this subsample of 100 young people. This random sub-sample of 100 interviewees at T4 did not differ from the rest of the original sample on demographic indices, ratio of men and women, and personality attributes. (For example; Age, M ¼ 23.01, SD ¼ 1.71 for the whole sample and M ¼ 23.16, SD ¼ 1.89 for the random sample of 100; Years of father's schooling, M ¼ 11.52, SD ¼ 2.55 versus M ¼ 11.73, SD ¼ 2.64; Self criticism, M ¼ .27, SD ¼ 1.01 versus M ¼ .18, SD ¼ .95; Efficacy, M ¼ .14, SD ¼ 1.04 versus M ¼ .17, SD ¼ 1.12; ratio of men versus women was 54% men versus 46% women in the larger sample, and in the random subsample. Measurements In line with the study questions and considering the longitudinal data set available, data collected at the first assessment and the fourth assessment (seven years later) were considered. In general, information about the predictive variables was taken from the first assessment, while information about current psychosocial functioning was taken from the fourth assessment. In order to assess possible changes in mental health, data about symptoms were collected from the first and fourth assessments.

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T1 assessment Personality. Participants' personality was assessed by the 66-item Depressive Experience Questionnaire (DEQ; Blatt, D'Afflitti, & Quinlan., 1976) rated on a 7-point scale (1 ¼ absolutely does not agree and 7 ¼ absolutely agrees). Two scales from the DEQ were used in the current study: Self-Criticism, (18 items) taps preoccupation with achievement, inferiority and guilt in the face of perceived failure to meet standards (e.g., “It is not who you are but what you have accomplished that counts”), and Efficacy (8 items) that represents personal resilience and inner strength (e.g., “I have many inner resources”). In line with the Blatt, D'Afflitti, and Quinlan (1976) guidelines, scores were converted into Z scores. A higher score conveys a higher level of SelfCriticism or of Efficacy. Cronbach alphas for self criticism and efficacy were .82 and .79. Motivation. Intrinsic, Extrintic, and Identified motivations were assessed using a modified version of the Client Motivation for Therapy Scale (Pelletier, Tuson, & Haddad, 1985) that is based on the Self Determination Theory eSTD (Deci & Ryan, 1985). Items, rated on a 5-point scale (1 ¼ does not agree and 5 ¼ strongly agrees), were adapted in order to represent motivational issues relevant in the life and aspirations of young people. Intrinsic motivation (10 items) was tapped by items such as “because I enjoy pursuing my goals.” Extrinsic motivation (8 items) was tapped by items such as “Because it is important to me that my friends will treat me as a serious person”. Finally, Identified motivation (5 items) was assessed by items such as “Because this is the best way to achieve in life what I want.” Internal consistency estimates for the three motivation orientations indicated adequate internal consistencies (a's ¼ .72, .87, .83; respectively). Parental support. The Network of Relationship Inventory, (NRI; Furman & Buhrmester, 1985) assessed perceived general parental support like parental warmth. For the each parent participants rated (from 1-low to 5-high) the quality of support across 8 items (i.e. “I can rely on … ”). Cronbach alphas for perceived support from mother and father were .91 and .89 respectively. Due to the high correlation between maternal and paternal support, r ¼ .67, the two were combined into one index of parental support. Mental health. Using the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI; Derogatis & Melisaratos, 1983), participants rated the frequency of their symptoms on a five-point scale, ranging from 0 to 4 (0 ¼ not at all and 4 ¼ very often). In the current study, the subscales of depression, anxiety, and hostility symptoms (4 items each) were used. Cronbach alphas for the three subscales were .92, .89 and .88, respectively. T4 e 4th wave assessment after seven years. Career adaptability interview. The interview was designed to gather descriptive current and retrospective accounts of the participants' careers, including both their objective and subjective experiences. It followed Rosenthal's (1993) reconstruction of the life-stories method, where first a spontaneous story is told, after which the questions are presented. In the current study, participants were encouraged first to tell the “story” of their experience of work. Following this, they were asked to talk in detail about their current work status, work/study experiences, difficulties they might have had in the past and how they coped with them, feelings and expectations about work/study and its meaning for them. In particular they were asked to elaborate on their personal, social, and professional dreams. In addition, they were asked to reflect on changes and turning points in their work and career recent histories and on adaptations they have or have not made. To capture and address inner processes, participants were further encouraged to talk and elaborate on the extent that they felt that they had proceeded on their aspired track, or were still not sure what they really wanted to do in life, and the extent to which their job fits their interests and is meaningful to them. Finally, participants were asked to talk about how they saw their occupational lives five years from now (the interview can be obtained from the first author). Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed, as will be explained in the following sections. Mental health. The Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI; Derogatis & Melisaratos, 1983) administered at the 1st assessment was administered again at the 4th assessment. Goal importance and progress. A modified version of B. Little's Personal Project Analysis (PPA; Little, 1983) was used. Participants were asked to write down three of their personal projects. Respondents were then asked to appraise each project with regard to goal importance (2 items) and goal progress (4 items each), using a 7-point Likert scale (1 ¼ not important to 7 ¼ very important; 1 ¼ have not made any progress to 7 ¼ have made great progress). Examples of items are; “to what extent is this goal important for you” and “to what extent have you made progress realizing this project”. Cronbach alphas for the two dimensions were as follows: Goal importance and goal progress, .91 and .88, respectively. Life Satisfaction Scale. An adapted version of the Life Satisfaction Scale- College version (Zullig, Huebner, Patton, & Murray, 2009) was used, consisting of 13 items more typical for young people in their late 20s, and including different domains such as family, friends, work, mood, and financial status. Participants were asked to rate the items on a scale from 1 to 5 (1 ¼ not satisfied to 5 ¼ very satisfied). Internal consistency of the scale was .86. Qualitative analysis of the occupational decision making interview We employed a mixture of exploratory and confirmatory techniques (Lieblich, Tuval-Mashiach & Zilber, 1998) to identify patterns of career adaptability. We looked at various components like describing decisions, events, difficulties, and coping as highlighted by the different theoretical approaches cited above. In addition we looked at the extent to which their

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occupational whereabouts and outcomes were associated with inner personal preferences and inclinations. Subsequently, themes that emerged from reading the interviews refined our further readings of the material. As a result, analysis was conducted in the following manner. First, a general pattern of career adaptability was identified. Then the existence of the pattern in each interview was assessed. Refuting or negative evidence led to the re-discussion of a pattern and its refinement. By this evolving process, proposed patterns of career adaptability were adapted and reformulated so as to ensure that all personal stories were well represented. Taken together, the data of the current study consisted of both quantitative data collected over a span of seven years and qualitative data collected at the fourth wave. The employment of this mixed-method approach was done in order to describe and explore a new understanding of the construct of career adaptability.

Results Identification of patterns of career adaptability Employing a mixture of exploratory and confirmatory techniques (Lieblich et al., 1998) three patterns were identified. Two raters coded transcripts independently across the entire sample. Inter rater reliability was at the level of kappa ¼ .89. The three patterns of career adaptability as well as cases that represent them are as follows. Pattern 1 e integrated pattern of career adaptability e 43 cases Individuals in the Integrated group described being currently employed and enjoying their current occupational status. Their career is associated with an articulated life plan that is complex, diversified and connected to inner aspirations. While talking about their work and study for both past and current status, these individuals described that they were open and flexible enough to take into account circumstances and to make adaptations required from time to time; some had made major changes in their area of interest and work along the way. For example, they had found a totally different career but now feel that their new career fits them better and is meaningful for them. Overall, individuals belonging to the Integrated pattern know what they want, are committed to their career, talk warmly about it, and see their work or study accomplishments as epitomizing their interests and their future. #073 e Ron (male 29 years old). Ron describes starting to study history and then switching to mathematics. “I have always liked mathematics, was curious about it, so I tried it, but then realized that this is not for me.” When looking for a job to support himself he found work at the airport. After short training he joined the security personnel. “It started as a temporary job, a students' job. And so I found myself at this job. However I feel it is interesting and I can see a future in this work (managerial level) and it is a secure job. I can find something in high tech but that would not be as interesting.” Ron's ability to reflect on the process included acknowledging failures and difficulties that he had experienced along the way. Impressive also was his ability to accept the need to change plans and pursue a new and different goal. : “When I left mathematics I felt bad, but I realized that it was not for me and looking back in retrospect, I did it wholeheartedly.” It is not that Ron ignores the difficulties and price he had to pay. Yet, Ron learned to find satisfaction within the limits of reality. “Sometimes I ask myself how at the age of 29 I have not yet completed my degree (currently pursuing a degree in business administration), but on the other hand you have to be realistic and I have found my place, my interests.” Pattern 2 e compromised pattern of career adaptability e 38 cases Individuals belonging to the Compromised group were permanently employed and their lives looked settled. However, when asked to reflect on their feelings about their career, their affect conveyed some sense of dissatisfaction and could even be negative. They reported that they were not really connected to their occupation. They had a sense that they would have preferred to do something else. However, their aspirations were quite amorphous and not focused. Moreover, in the background they had some sort of dream to do something else, but the dream looked and sensed quite remote. #282 Dina (female 27 years old). Dina is employed as a saleswoman in a big company and has a good salary. She considers herself to be a student and is registered in a number of courses in the Open University that do not require attendance and can be spread over longer periods of time. The courses are general courses and will not lead to any articulated profession. Despite their vague nature, Dina is much attracted to her studies: “I realized that studying is most important for fulfilling something for the soul, something emotional, I have never felt this so strongly in any of the jobs I was working. It is fun and not obligatory.” Her attitude toward work and even her job where she earns a nice salary is colored by a negative approach. When asked: What is work for you? Dina answered: “Work is something manual, unfortunately I see it as compulsory. I wish I didn't have to work as I do today in order to survive.” Despite her daily good functioning, Dina is unable to become attached to her occupation and find meaning in it. When she was asked to elaborate on her future plans, she responded: “At this stage I am supposed to decide which track to take at the university. There are practical and non practical tracks. … There are tracks that are very relevant, occupationally, to my current work. But I have to decide between these and between my dreams, something related to movies. In the end, I always go after

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my dreams, and I understand I cannot fight against myself. But I know how to support myself on a daily basis.” It would be correct to claim that Dina navigates well through her daily life; she is even valued at her work place, but simultaneously she feels being employed at her current job is a necessity that allows her to explore her alternative dreams. Pattern 3 e vague pattern of career adaptability e 19 cases Individuals belonging to the Vague pattern were unable throughout the interview to provide a clear and coherent idea of what they would like to do with their lives. They were unable to stay for a prolonged period at one job and seemed to be continuously moving between periods of employment and unemployment. They had difficult feelings about work in general“it would be better, if I did not need to work”. They lacked any articulate plans to which they could stay committed. Their life was characterized by constant daily struggles that hardly left any room for self expression or reflection. #570 David e male age 29. David does not have a permanent job, nor does he work continuously. Whenever he feels that he needs money, he works for a couple of days. He lives with his parents, so expenses are not too high and are manageable. In the past he tried to start a number of careers but quit quite quickly. First he started nursing but then decided that he felt that it does not fit him to live with people's sufferings. Then he moved to training in a hotel. At first he liked it and even got a level of appreciation, but then asked himself e “what am I doing here?”. He added that he was also afraid he would be promoted and have to manage other workers, which he thinks does not fit his personality. Later on he started to train as a reflexologist; “I felt this is the direction I'll take in my life. But as high as expectations were, so was the disappointment. It became too difficult and I felt it is not me.” Since then he only works from time to time. Unexpectedly, patterns of career adaptability across gender showed that young men compared to young women were significantly more likely to belong to the Integrated pattern (31 out of 43). In contrast young women were more likely than young men to belong to the Vague pattern (13 out of 19); c2 (df ¼ 2) ¼ 10.82, p < .01 The proportions of males and females in the Compromised pattern were quite similar overall (17 males and 21 females).

Patterns of career adaptability and individual well-being A MANOVA was conducted to compare indices of psychosocial functioning across the three patterns of career adaptability. This revealed a significant difference across the three groups with a moderate effect size (F (df ¼ 172, 12) ¼ 4.32, p < .0001, Eta ¼ .23; for means, standard deviations and univariate F levels and effect sizes, see Table 1). A closer inspection of the univariate comparisons showed that the members of the Compromised pattern were similar to those of the Integrated pattern in describing themselves to be satisfied with their life, that goals were important for them and that they had progressed in the attainment of their aspired goals. However, comparison on the number of reported psychological symptoms showed that members of this Compromised group were more similar to members of the Vague pattern. They reported an elevated number of depressive, anxiety and hostility symptoms. Considering the longitudinal nature of our data, additional ANOVAs with repeated measures were conducted to compare trajectories of the three patterns on the different indices of psychosocial functioning. Only one significant interaction between pattern of career adaptability and change over time on number of depressive symptoms was found, F ¼ 5.89, p < .001. Among members of the Integrated pattern, the number of depressive symptoms decreased over the seven year span, M ¼ .88 (SD ¼ . 90) versus M ¼ .44 (SD ¼ . 48), while among the members of the Vague pattern it increased significantly, M ¼ 1.36 (SD ¼ 1.05) versus M ¼ 1.70 (SD ¼ 1.03). Number of depressive symptoms among the Compromised pattern stayed stable between the two assessments, M ¼ 1.11 (SD ¼ . 74) versus M ¼ 1.01(SD ¼ . 94). Of note, differences between the three patterns of career adaptability on the number of depressive symptoms at the first assessment were not significant.

Table 1 Levels of well-being across the three career adaptability patterns: Means, SDs, F values and effect sizes.

Life satisfaction Goal importance Goal attainment Depressive symptoms Anxiety symptoms Hostility symptoms

Integrated

Compromised

Vague

3.81a (.79) 5.44a (.89) 6.28a (.84) .44a (.48) .71a (.85) .49a (.59)

3.70a (.68) 5.20a (.89) 6.19a (.99) 1.01b (.94) 1.23b (.65) .96b (.96)

3.03b (.72) 4.18b (1.53) 5.53b (1.67) 1.70c (1.03) 1.41b (.80) 1.04b (.77)

*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001. Different subscripts indicate statistically significant differences between types at the p < .05 level.

F

Eta squared 7.47**

.14

9.46***

.17

3.15*

.06

15.83***

.26

6.51**

.12

4.66*

.09

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Precursors of the three patterns of career adaptability A Multinomial regression analysis was conducted to predict membership in these patterns of career adaptability. Indices of self criticism, efficacy, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, identified motivation, and parental support were entered as predictors. In the analysis presented here, the Vague and the Compromised patterns were contrasted to the Integrated pattern. Results showed that pattern membership was significantly predicted by motivation and parental support,c2 (12) ¼ 34.53, p < .001. The Cox value was .30. As can be seen from Table 2, members of the Vague pattern were more than three fold higher on extrinsic motivation at the first measurement, as compared to members of the Integrated pattern, and reported a lower level of parental support. The level of identified motivation among members of the Compromised pattern was about one sixth of that of members of the Integrated pattern. Discussion By analyzing in-depth interview data, and guided by the recent formulations of career adaptability and goal engagement (Blustein, 2011; Heckhausen et al., 2010; Savickas, 2005, 2011) we found young people's career adaptability could be characterized by three different constellations. More than forty percent of our participants described their career to be associated with an articulated life plan that was complex, diversified and connected to inner aspirations and was meaningful for them. Almost twenty percent were not able to provide a clear and coherent idea of their occupational lives and they tended to be unemployed for extended periods of time. In addition to the adaptive and non adaptive patterns, we also identified an additional pattern that represented almost 40 percent of our sample, i.e., the Compromised pattern. This group of young people looked like they had settled down, managed their daily lives and made the transition quite successfully. However, despite their daily functioning, they reported on an inner feeling that their current occupation was not exactly what they would have wished to do and they did not feel fully emotionally connected to their job. It looked as if these young people had compromised on a job that did not truly fit their inclinations and interests (Lent & Brown, 2006; Savickas, 2005) and still did not find meaning in it (Blustein, 2011). However, as came up in the interviews of members of the Compromised pattern, the act of settling down was to some extent the result of examining the circumstances and weighing honestly one's capabilities. Under certain circumstances some young people probably decided to settle down and assume an adult role, though some dreams or hopes to do something else might still exist. In her model of developmental regulation, Heckhausen (1999) described the mechanism of goal adjustment, namely, disengagement from an unattainable goal and the pursuit of an alternative goal. The ability to realize that a wished for goal is unattainable, and that a different goal needs to be formulated, enhances one's self mastery and is beneficial to well being. We would like to extend Heckhausen's model and suggest that being capable to go on with one's life despite the existence of a dormant dream might also be considered as a form of adaptation. The Compromised pattern of career adaptability may also recall an identity status that is short of identity achievement but more advanced than foreclosure, as described by the Luyckx, Goossens, Soenens, and Beyers' (2006) integrative model of identity formation. Our three patterns of career adaptability recall some previous studies on transitions somewhat younger than ours. Following young people from their high school years across the early twenties, Schneider (2009) also found the adaptive and non adaptive patterns of transition. Adaptive young people planned well and worked hard to attain their goals. Non-adaptive people found themselves going on with their adolescent lives and not being able to visualize and pursue any clear future. In addition, Schneider identified a group of young people who held to their goals though they were not likely to succeed. Instead, they organized their lives to achieve whatever was possible e often accepting the circumstances of their lives as a matter of fate (p. 277). Malanchuk, Messersmith, and Eccles (2010) also found an “Unresolved” group that was thinking about their future in practical terms and were actively doing things that could help them, though they remained unclear about their career preferences. Together, we may suggest that considering the current conditions of increasing unemployment and economic uncertainty (Furlong & Cartmel, 2007) some young people have to make compromises so they can go on with the lives and hold a job, though this job is not what they had dreamed to do.

Table 2 Results of the multinomial regression analysis predicting membership in career adaptability patterns (comparisons of the two alternative patterns to the integrated pattern). Vague

T1 T1 T1 T1 T1 T1

SC Efficacy Intrinsic Extrinsic Identified Parental support

*p < .05; **p < .01.

Compromised

Bb

Wald

OR

CI 95%

Bb

Wald

OR

CI 95%

.32 .50 .03 1.08 1.32 .92

.51 2.12 .00 4.15* 1.92 5.88*

1.38 .61 .97 2.94 .27 .40

.57e3.31 .31e1.19 .17e5.59 1.04e8.31 .04e1.73 .19e.84

.28 .15 1.02 .42 2.12 .20

.96 .26 2.14 1.67 8.69** .37

1.32 .86 2.77 1.52 .12 .82

.75e2.32 .49e1.51 .71e10.86 .80e2.91 .03e.49 .43e1.56

S. Shulman et al. / Journal of Adolescence 37 (2014) 1505e1515

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Comparison of the three patterns on well being as outlined by our second hypothesis sheds further light on the complexity of settling down and making the transition in the occupational domain. On the one hand, members of the Compromised pattern, like those belonging to the Vague pattern, reported on a higher level of psychological symptoms compared to the Integrated identity pattern. However, members of the Compromised pattern reported on higher levels of satisfaction with their life, of goal importance, and goal attainment, similar to those of the Integrated group and higher than those of the Vague group. It is possible that though their work did not epitomize their Dream, members of the Compromised pattern hoped that their way would be rewarding and would become meaningful for them over time and this probably protected their sense of well being (Blustein, 2008). The distinction between the three patterns was further demonstrated by comparing the changes in depressive symptoms across time. As could be expected, among members of the Integrated pattern, the number of depressive symptoms decreased over the seven year span, while among the members of the Vague pattern it increased significantly. Yet the number of depressive symptoms among the Compromised pattern stayed stable over the period of seven years. Achieving one's goal is likely to make a person feel good (Nurmi, Salmela-Aro, & Koivisto, 2002). It is the attainment of self-concordant goals, in particular, that makes a person feel good (Sheldon & Elliot, 1999). Members of the Compromised pattern were working steadily; however, they did not achieve their dreams. They were probably neither too desperate nor too happy. This can explain why their level of depressive symptoms did not change across the years (See Fig. 1). In line with the third hypothesis, our findings showed that both an elevated level of extrinsic motivation and low parental support predicted membership in the least adaptive Vague identity pattern. The development of an Integrated career adaptability pattern requires wide exploration and ability to cope with failures or disappointments along the way. Unlike intrinsic motivation that propels a search for novelty and challenges and prompts exercising one's capabilities, extrinsic motivation is more directed toward immediate outcomes (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Indeed, members of the Vague pattern were likely to be employed in non- steady jobs, where immediate need for money could be satisfied, without taking on any long terms costs or efforts at planning. Moreover, many of them feared the job market and did not feel confident to pursue an organized plan (Del Corso & Rehfuss, 2011). A supportive and encouraging family and environment could have helped these young people (Shulman et. al., 2009; Whiston & Keller, 2004). Yet, a context of both elevated extrinsic motivation and low parental support perhaps led these young people to end up with a Vague occupational identity. As compared to members of the Integrated identity pattern, members of the Compromised identity pattern were found to report on a significantly lower level of identified motivation at the first assessment. Identified motivation is the ability to fully assimilate for the self a value or a goal that is valued by others or by society, and this will lead in turn to greater autonomy in action (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Higher identified motivation can be helpful in finding meaning and connection to a career that was not aspired to in the first place. Members of the Compromised pattern probably lacked this ability. While members of the Integrated pattern were capable of reformulating their plans and becoming attached to a new goal (Heckhausen, 1999), members of the Compromised pattern generally stuck to their “Dream”. Due to their lower capability to identify with a value from the “outside”, the compromises they made were rather practical (Schneider, 2009). It helped them to function on a daily basis but did not free them from an unattainable and sometimes unrealistic dream to which they were still aspiring. Unexpectedly, our findings also pointed to some gender differences. Young men were over-represented in the Integrated identity pattern, while young women were more likely to be found among the Vague pattern. It is possible that young men are still socialized more toward active pursuit in their vocational careers. In contrast, young women, despite acclaimed increases in gender equality, still might be less able to respond to their inner dreams and integrate them into their selves (Buchmann & Kriesi, 2009). From an evolutionary perspective, ending up on a less professionalized track, more characteristic of the Vague pattern, may allow some of these young women to bear children earlier and probably come to feel accomplishment as a mother (Ellis, 2004) but this possible account needs to be examined in a future study. A number of caveats regarding the current sample must be noted. First, our sample consisted mainly of young people belonging to lower middle class families. Young people belonging to more privileged backgrounds have more resources

Number of depressive symptoms at T1 and T2 in the three occupational identity patterns

Integrated Compromised Vague

depressive symptoms

1.6

1.3

1

0.7

0.4 T1

T2

Fig. 1. Number of depressive symptoms at T1 and T2 in the three occupational identity patterns.

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available and their pathways might differ from those who are less privileged (Schoon, Ross, & Martin, 2009). Second, this study was conducted on Israeli young adults. As outlined above, though the economy is undergoing major changes, youth unemployment in Israel is low compared to other Mediterranean countries (Arlozorov, 2012). We do not know whether the Compromised pattern found in the current study would be found in countries where the work market is scarcer and young people have fewer options even for making compromises. Finally, we found that motivational factors impacted the type of career adaptability that young people have achieved. Yet, it seems questionable whether motivational aspects might have a different effect in a different culture. Future studies could indicate whether the pattern of our findings would be replicated in different national contexts and among those belonging upper middle class families. Despite these limitations, reading the in depth interviews and subjecting them to a qualitative analysis yielded three different career adaptability patterns that characterized these young people when approaching the age of 30. A substantial number of young people were successful in attaining an Integrated career adaptability, while a small number were found to be vague or confused about their occupational plans and were not satisfied with their lives. A third group, making up almost 40 percent of our sample, functioned well on a daily basis but continued talking about an unfulfilled Dream. It looked likely that approaching the age of 30 had led these young people to compromise under difficult life circumstances, but also that they could not give up on a Dream that was in many cases unattainable and unrealistic. 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