The Discrepancies Between Individual-Set and Parent-Set Career Goals Scale: Development and Initial Validation

Abstract

As there was no existing, psychometrically sound scale that directly assessed the discrepancies that young people experience between individual-set career goals and parent-set career goals, we developed and provided initial validation for a 15-item scale for use with young adults. In Study 1, items were developed, reviewed by experts, and administered to a sample of first year, undergraduate Indonesian students (N = 426, M_age = 18.42 years). We used exploratory factor analysis to reduce the number of items and assess the factor structure and used confirmatory factor analyses on a holdout sample to assess this underlying structure. We then provided evidence for construct validity. Recommendations for use in research and practice are discussed.

Keywords

career goals discrepancies parents scale development young people

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ajzen

(1988). Attitudes, personality, and behavior. Dorsey Press.

Anderson

K. L.

Mounts

N. S.

(2012). Searching for the self: An identity control theory approach to triggers of occupational exploration. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 173, 90–111. http://doi.org/10.1080/00221325.2011.573027

Arbuckle

J. L.

Wothke

(1995). Amos 4.0 user’s guide. Small Waters Corporation.

Armstrong

P. I.

Crombie

(2000). Compromises in adolescents’ occupational aspirations and expectations from grades 8 to 10. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 56, 82–98. http://doi.org/10.1006/jvbe.1999.1709

Bandura

(1989). Human agency in social cognitive theory. American Psychologist, 44, 1175–1184. http://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.44.9.1175

Brandtstädter

Rothermund

(2002). The life-course dynamics of goal pursuit and goal adjustment: A two-process framework. Developmental Review, 22, 117–150. http://doi.org/10.1006/drev.2001.0539

Byrne

(2010). Structural equation modelling with AMOS: Basic concepts, applications, and programming. Routledge.

Carver

C. S.

Scheier

M. F.

(1990). Origins and functions of positive and negative affect: A control-process view. Psychological Review, 97, 19–35. http://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.97.1.19

Chung

B. G.

Schneider

(2002). Serving multiple masters: Role conflict experienced by service employees. Journal of Service Marketing, 16, 70–87.

10.

Costello

A. B.

Osborne

J. W.

(2005). Best practices in exploratory factor analysis: Four recommendations for getting the most from your analysis. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 10, 1–9. http://pareonline.net/pdf/v10n7.pdf

11.

Creed

P. A.

Gagliardi

R.-E.

(2015). Career compromise, career distress, and perceptions of employability: The moderating roles of social capital and core self-evaluations. Journal of Career Assessment, 23, 20–34. http://doi.org/10.1177/1069072714523082

12.

Creed

P. A.

Hood

M. H.

(2015). The development and initial validation of a scale to assess career goal discrepancies. Journal of Career Assessment, 23, 308–317. http://doi.org/10.1177/1069072714535175

13.

Creed

P. A.

Hood

M. H.

Praskova

Makransky

(2016). The Career Distress Scale. Using Rasch measurement theory to evaluate a brief measure of career distress. Journal of Career Assessment, 24, 732–746. http://doi.org/10.1177/1069072715616126

14.

Cross

S. E.

Bacon

P. L.

Morris

M. L.

(2000). The relational-interdependent self-construal and relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 791–808. http://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.78.4.791

15.

DeVellis

R. F.

(2016). Scale development: Theory and applications (Vol. 26). Sage.

16.

Dueber

D. M.

(2017). Bifactor Indices Calculator: A Microsoft Excel-based tool to calculate various indices relevant to bifactor CFA models. http://doi.org/10.13023/edp.tool.01

17.

Edwards

J. R.

(1994). Regression analysis as an alternative to difference scores. Journal of Management, 20, 683–689.

18.

Edwards

J. R.

(2001). Ten difference score myths. Organizational Research Methods, 4, 265–287.

19.

Edwards

J. R.

Parry

M. E.

(1993). On the use of polynomial regression equations as an alternative to difference scores in organizational research. Academy of Management Journal, 36, 1577–1613.

20.

Erikson

E. H.

(1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. W. W. Norton.

21.

Fouad

N. A.

Guillen

Harris-Hodge

Henry

Novakovic

Terry

Kantamneni

(2006). Need, awareness, and use of career services for college students. Journal of Career Assessment, 14, 407–420. http://doi.org/10.1177/1069072706288928

22.

Gallagher

(2016). Adolescent-parent college aspiration discrepancies and changes in depressive symptoms. Sociological Perspective, 59, 296–316. http://doi.org/10.1177/0731121415589137

23.

Ghosh

Fouad

N. A.

(2016). Family influence on careers among Asian parent-child dyads. Journal of Career Assessment, 24, 318–332. http://doi.org/10.1177/1069072715580417

24.

Gollwitzer

Christ

Lemmer

(2014). Individual differences make a difference: On the use and the psychometric properties of difference scores in social psychology. European Journal of Social Psychology, 44, 673–682.

25.

Hair

J. F.

Black

W. C.

Babin

B. J.

Anderson

R. E.

(2010). Multivariate data analysis. A global perspective (7th ed.). Prentice Hall.

26.

Hinkin

T. R.

(1998). A brief tutorial on the development of measures for the use in survey questionnaires. Organizational Research Methods, 1, 104–121. http://doi.org/10.1177/109442819800100106

27.

Hou

Leung

S. A.

(2011). Vocational aspirations of Chinese high school students and their parents’ expectations. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 79, 349–360. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2011.05.008

28.

Jie

Chou

T. J.

Chou

(2012). Assessing the fit of two brand personality scales in a Chinese context and revisiting the predictive validity of two methods of measuring self-congruity. Journal of Brand Management, 19, 525–540.

29.

Jones

P. S.

Lee

J. W.

Phillips

L. R.

Zhang

X. E.

Jaceldo

K. B.

(2001). An adaptation of Brislin’s translation model for cross-cultural research. Nursing Research, 50, 300–304.

30.

Keller

B. K.

Whiston

S. C.

(2008). The role of parental influences on young adolescents’ career development. Journal of Career Assessment, 16, 198–217. http://doi.org/10.1177/1069072707313206

31.

Kim

Markus

H. R.

(1999). Deviance or uniqueness, harmony or conformity? A cultural analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 785–800. http://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.77.4.785

32.

Kitayama

Duffy

Uchida

(2007). Self as cultural mode of being. In Kitayama

Cohen

(Eds.), Handbook of cultural psychology (pp. 137–164). Guilford Press.

33.

Kitayama

Uchida

(2005). Interdependent agency: An alternative system for action. In Sorrentino

Cohen

Olson

J. M.

Zanna

M. P.

(Eds.), Culture and social behaviour: The Ontario symposium (Vol. 10, pp. 165–198). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

34.

Kline

(2000). The handbook of psychological testing (2nd ed.). Routledge.

35.

Laird

R. D.

De Los Reyes

(2013). Testing informant discrepancies as predictors of early adolescent psychopathology: Why difference scores cannot tell you what you want to know and how polynomial regression may. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychopathology, 41, 1–14. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-012-9659-y

36.

Latham

G. P.

Locke

E. A.

(1991). Self-regulation through goal setting. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 212–247. http://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90021-K

37.

Lent

R. W.

Brown

S. D.

Hackett

(1994). Toward a unifying social cognitive theory of career and academic interest, choice, and performance. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 45, 79–122. http://doi.org/10.1006/jvbe.1994.1027

38.

Lent

R. W.

Brown

S. D.

Hackett

(2000). Contextual supports and barriers to career choice: A social cognitive analysis. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 47, 36–49. http://doi.org/10.1037//0022-0167.47.1.36

39.

Lent

R. W.

Brown

S. D.

Schmidt

Brenner

Lyons

Treistman

(2003). Relation of contextual supports and barriers to choice behavior in engineering majors: Test of alternative social cognitive models. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 50, 458–465. http://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.50.4.458

40.

Leong

F. T. L.

Hardin

E. E.

Gupta

(2011). Self in vocational psychology: A cultural formulation approach. In Hartung

P. J.

Subich

L. M.

(Eds.), Developing self in work and career. Concepts, cases, and contexts (pp. 193–212). American Psychological Association.

41.

Leong

F. T. L.

Kao

E. M.-C.

Lee

S.-H.

(2004). The relationship between family dynamics and career interests among Chinese Americans and European Americans. Journal of Career Assessment, 12, 65–84. http://doi.org/10.1177/1069072703257734

42.

Leung

S. A.

Hou

Z.-J.

Gati

(2011). Effects of parental expectations and cultural-values orientation on career decision-making difficulties of Chinese university students. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 78, 11–20. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2010.08.004

43.

Locke

E. A.

Latham

G. P.

(1990). A theory of goal setting and task performance. Prentice Hall.

44.

P.-W. W.

Desai

George

L. S.

San Filippo

A. A.

Varon

(2014). Managing family conflict over career decisions: The experience of Asian Americans. Journal of Career Development, 41, 487–506. http://doi.org/10.1177/0894845313512898

45.

P.-W. W.

Yeh

C. J.

(2005). Factors influencing the career decision status of Chinese American youths. Career Development Quarterly, 53, 337–347. http://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-0045.2005.tb00664.x

46.

Nelemas

S. A.

Branje

S. J.

Hale

W. W. III

Goossens

Koot

H. M.

Oldehinkel

A. J.

Meeus

W. H.

(2016). Discrepancies between perceptions of the parent–adolescent relationship and early adolescent depressive symptoms: An illustration of polynomial regression analysis.Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 45, 2049–2063. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0503-5

47.

O’Connor

(2000). SPSS and SAS programs for determining the number of components using parallel analysis and Velicer’s MAP test. Behavior Research Methods, 32, 396–402. http://doi.org/10.3758/bf03200807

48.

Oettingen

Zosuls

K. M.

(2006). Culture and self-efficacy in adolescents. In Pajares

Urdan

(Eds.), Self-efficacy beliefs of adolescents. Volume V of adolescence and education (pp. 245–265). Information Age Publishing.

49.

Onifade

Lee

Mennicke

Holmes

J. L.

Harris

(2016). Predicting delinquent behaviors for Korean youth using the parent-child relationship and career goal tension. Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, 14, 137–155. http://doi.org/10.1080/15377938.2015.1126698

50.

Patil

V. H.

Singh

S. N.

Mishra

Donovan

D. T.

(2008). Efficient theory development and factor retention criteria: Abandon the ‘eigenvalue greater than one’ criterion. Journal of Business Research, 61, 162–170. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2007.05.008

51.

Pina-Watson

Jimenez

Ojeda

(2014). Self-construal, career decision self-efficacy, and perceived barriers predict Mexican American women’s life satisfaction. The Career Development Quarterly, 62, 210–233.

52.

Radhakrishnan

Chan

D. K.-S.

(1997). Cultural differences in the relation between self-discrepancy and life satisfaction. International Journal of Psychology, 32, 387–398.

53.

Reise

S. P.

Bonifay

W. E.

Haviland

M. G.

(2013). Scoring and modelling psychological measures in the presence of multidimensionality. Journal of Personality Assessment, 95, 129–140. http://doi.org/10180/00223891.2012.725437

54.

Rienties

Beausaert

Grohnert

Niemantsverdriet

Kommers

(2012). Understanding academic performance of international students: The role of ethnicity, academic and social integration. Higher Education, 63, 685–700. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-011-9468-1

55.

Rodriguez

Reise

S. P.

Haviland

M. G.

(2016a). Applying bifactor statistical indices in the evaluation of psychological measures. Journal of Personality Assessment, 98, 223–237. http://doi.org/10.1080/00223891.2015.1089249

56.

Rodriguez

Reise

S. P.

Haviland

M. G.

(2016b). Evaluating bifactor models: Calculating and interpreting statistical indices. Psychological Methods, 21, 137–150. http://doi.org/10.1037/met0000045

57.

Rogers

M. E.

Creed

P. A.

Praskova

(2018). Parent and adolescent perceptions of adolescent career development tasks and vocational identity. Journal of Career Development, 45, 34–49. http://doi.org/10.1177/0894845316667483

58.

Rojewski

J. W.

(2005). Career aspirations. In Brown

S. D.

Lent

R. W.

(Eds.), Career development and counseling. Putting theory and research to work (pp. 131–154). John Wiley.

59.

Rutherford

(2015). Emotional well-being and discrepancies between child and parent educational expectations and aspirations in middle and high school. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 20, 69–85. http://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2013.7677.42

60.

Salazar

(2015). The dilemma of combining positive and negative items in scales. Psicothema, 27, 192–199. http://doi.org/10.7334/psicothema2014.266

61.

Sawitri

D. R.

Creed

P. A.

(2015). Perceived career congruence between adolescents and their parents as a moderator between goal orientation and career aspirations. Personality and Individual Differences, 81, 29–34. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.12.061

62.

Sawitri

D. R.

Creed

P. A.

(2017). Collectivism and perceived congruence with parents as antecedents to career aspirations: A social cognitive perspective. Journal of Career Development, 44, 530–543. http://doi.org/10.1177/0894845316668576

63.

Sawitri

D. R.

Creed

P. A.

Zimmer-Gembeck

M. J.

(2013). The Adolescent–Parent Career Congruence Scale: Development and initial validation. Journal of Career Assessment, 21, 210–226. http://doi.org/10.1177/1069272712466723

64.

Schoon

Polek

(2011). Teenage career aspirations and adult career attainment: The role of gender, social background and general cognitive ability. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 35, 210–217. http://doi.org/10.1177/0165025411398183

65.

Tang

(2002). A comparison of Asian American, Caucasian American, and Chinese college students: An initial report. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 30, 124–134. http://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1912.2002.tb00484.x

66.

Tannenbaum

(2003). The multifaceted aspects of language maintenance: A new measure for its assessment in immigrant families. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 6, 374–393.

67.

Trafimow

(2015). A defense against the alleged unreliability of difference scores. Cogent Mathematics, 2, 1064626.

68.

Tynkkynen

Nurmi

J. E.

Salmela-Aro

(2010). Career goal-related social ties during two educational transitions: Antecedents and consequences. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 76, 448–457. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2009.12.001

69.

van Prooijen

J.-W.

van der Kloot

W. A.

(2001). Confirmatory analysis of exploratively obtained factor structures. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 61, 777–792. http://doi.org/10.1177/00131640121971518

70.

van Rooij

E. C.

Jansen

E. P.

van de Grift

W. J.

(2018). First-year university students’ academic success: The importance of academic adjustment. European Journal of Psychological Education, 33, 749–767. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-017-0347-8

71.

Vogt

D. S.

King

D. W.

King

L. A.

(2004). Focus groups in psychological assessment: Enhancing content validity by consulting members of the target population. Psychological Assessment, 16, 231–243. http://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.16.3.231

72.

Wang

L.-F.

Heppner

P. P.

(2002). Assessing the impact of parental expectations and psychological distress on Taiwanese college students. The Counseling Psychologist, 30, 582–608. http://doi.org/10.1177/00100002030004006

73.

Wang

Benner

A. D.

(2014). Parent-child discrepancies in educational expectations: Differential effects of actual versus perceived discrepancies. Child Development, 85, 891–900. http://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12171

74.

Yeh

K. H.

Bedford

(2004). Filial belief and parent-child conflict. International Journal of Psychology, 39, 132–144.