Identity management processes, contextual supports and barriers, and substance use among sexual minority workers: A social cognitive lens.

Sexual minority people report substance use at higher rates than their heterosexual peers. Workplace sexual identity management, defined as the process by which sexual minority persons disclose or conceal their identities at work, may exacerbate substance use under stressful conditions, such as when faced with incivility. However, there is a paucity of research on the relation of the work environment to sexual minority workers' substance use. The present study used the social cognitive career self-management model as a conceptual framework to examine two aspects of the work environment (positive climate and harassment) in relation to the sexual identity management process and substance use of sexual minority workers. Because plurisexual employees (e.g., bisexual or pansexual) often face additional workplace stressors relative to their monosexual sexual minority peers, we also examined the links between plurisexual identity and each component of the self-management model. Participants were 418 full-time sexual minority workers residing in the United States. Results were largely consistent with the self-management model derived in terms of the prediction of sexual identity disclosure in the workplace. Workplace harassment moderated the relationship between identity disclosure and substance use, such that disclosure was linked more strongly to substance use in the context of more frequent harassment experiences. Plurisexuality was negatively related to disclosure self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and level of outness at work. Plurisexual workers also perceived their work climates as less identity-affirming. We consider implications for research and practice, including organizational interventions to minimize sexual minority workers' experience of workplace harassment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Self-assertive efficacy and workplace advocacy behavior: A social cognitive analysis.

One important way in which people assert their agency in the workplace is by engaging in self-advocacy. We used the social cognitive model of career self-management (CSM; Lent & Brown, 2013) to examine hypothesized predictors and outcomes of workers' engagement in self-advocacy. Participants were 511 full-time employees who completed an online survey of self-assertive efficacy involving advocacy behavior, proactive personality, perceived organizational support, self-advocacy behaviors (voice, career initiative, job change negotiation), and three career success criteria (career satisfaction, organizational rewards growth, and hierarchical status at work). Splitting the sample into two parts, we first examined the psychometric properties of a new measure of self-assertive efficacy in relation to workplace advocacy behaviors (SAE-W; n = 200). In the second phase, we tested a set of measurement models to confirm the factor structure of the new measure (n = 311). Results suggested that the SAE-W measure can be viewed as largely unidimensional. Path analyses of the CSM model, including the new self-efficacy measure, offered good fit to the data across gender, racial/ethnic groups, and educational level. We discuss the implications of the findings for future research on self-advocacy behaviors in the workplace from a social cognitive perspective. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Career decision-making in unemployed Portuguese adults: Test of the social cognitive model of career self-management.

Most research applications of the social cognitive model of career self-management (CSM; Lent & Brown, 2013) to career exploration and decision-making have involved U.S. college students. To extend research on the model, we tested its fit to the data in a sample of 345 unemployed adult workers in Portugal. Participants completed measures of career decision self-efficacy, outcome expectations, social support, conscientiousness, neuroticism, exploration goals, decisional stress, and career choice certainty. The model test yielded good overall fit to the data and accounted for significant variance in goals, stress, and choice certainty. When compared with prior findings, the results suggest that the CSM model may offer explanatory utility relative to the making of initial as well as subsequent career decisions and across national boundaries. Implications of the findings for the social cognitive model as well as for future research and practice are considered. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Applying social cognitive career theory to the study abroad choice process.

Studying abroad during college is an educational choice that has significant implications for students' career, academic, and personal development. This study adapted the social cognitive models of career choice (Lent et al., 1994) and self-management (Lent & Brown, 2013) to examine predictors of study abroad interest and choice intentions. The psychometric properties of new and revised domain-specific measures of self-efficacy, outcome expectations, supports, and barriers were first assessed with an initial sample of 325 college students. The measures yielded an 8-factor structure and adequate reliability and validity estimates. The factor structure was cross-validated in an independent sample of students (N = 277). Support was also found for a higher order model of study abroad self-efficacy, with a single second order factor and three first order factors corresponding to cultural adjustment, decision-making, and administrative task self-efficacy. A structural path model offered good fit to the data and support for most of the paths predicting study abroad interests and intentions. We discuss directions for future research extending social cognitive career models to engagement in the study abroad experience and related academic/career behaviors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Retiring or rewiring? Test of a social cognitive model of retirement planning.

Using the social cognitive model of career self-management (CSM; Lent & Brown, 2013), we examined theory-based predictors of retirement planning goals, decisional anxiety, and level of decidedness. Participants were 525 older workers in the United States and Canada. We first examined the psychometric properties of new or revised social cognitive measures linked to retirement planning with part of the sample (n = 200) and then tested the stability of the factor structure with the remainder of the sample (n = 325). The measurement and structural models indicated good overall model-data fit in the larger sample and across most grouping variables (nationality, income level, and gender), and support was found for most of the paths predicting retirement planning, decisional anxiety, and level of decidedness. However, some gender differences were found in aspects of self-efficacy (confidence at time vs. financial management) that were predictive of decidedness. We consider the implications of the findings for future research and practice directions applying the social cognitive model to retirement planning. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Meta-analytic path analysis of the social cognitive well-being model: Applicability across life domain, gender, race/ethnicity, and nationality.

The social-cognitive well-being model (SCWB; Lent, 2004) was designed to explain subjective well-being and other aspects of positive functioning within particular life domains. It has received a substantial amount of inquiry, especially in the context of academic and work satisfaction, in student and adult samples in the United States and other countries (Lent & Brown, 2006a, 2008). We present a meta-analysis synthesizing the empirical findings of 100 studies (154 samples) on the SCWB model that appeared between 2004 and 2017. The original model provided good overall fit to the data across all samples, and most of the predictors produced paths that were consistent with hypotheses. A culture-modified version of the model, which includes indicators of independent/individualistic and interdependent/collectivistic cultural orientations, also fit the data well, offering initial evidence for the incremental validity of these cultural variables in predicting well-being. Multigroup analyses showed that the model yielded acceptable fit in both academic and work domains. Within the academic domain, we also found adequate fit for the culture-modified model across gender, racial/ethnic groups, and U.S. and non-U.S. samples. At the same time, some group differences in parameter estimates were statistically and practically significant. Implications for the theory, its research base, and practical applications are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Viewing the Career Indecision Profile within a theoretical context: Application of the social cognitive career self-management model.

The Career Indecision Profile (CIP; Brown et al., 2012) is an empirically derived measure tapping common sources of career indecision: interpersonal conflict, neuroticism/negative affect, lack of readiness, and choice/commitment anxiety. We adapted the social cognitive model of career self-management (Lent & Brown, 2013) to provide a theoretical structure for these sources of indecision, focusing on how they interrelate and jointly predict career decision progress. Supplementing the CIP's focus on negative decisional influences, the social cognitive model included positive sources of career decidedness, in particular, self-efficacy, mastery experiences, and positive emotions related to decision-making. Three hundred sixty-five college students completed the short form of the CIP (Xu & Tracey, 2017), along with measures of career decision self-efficacy, prior experiences with career decision-making, social barriers, trait conscientiousness and neuroticism, and career decidedness. Factor analytic findings indicated that the CIP's interpersonal conflict, negative affect, and lack of readiness items loaded together with conceptually similar social cognitive, barrier, and personality scales, with lack of readiness items divided between self-efficacy and conscientiousness factors. A path analysis, couching the CIP factors in terms of the career self-management model, provided good fit to the data and accounted for substantial portions of the variance in decisional discomfort (choice/commitment anxiety) and levels of career decidedness. We consider implications of the findings for the study of career decision-making and for practical ways to promote it. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Heterosexist harassment and social cognitive variables as predictors of sexual minority college students' academic satisfaction and persistence intentions.

This study examined social-cognitive and cultural predictors of academic satisfaction in a sample of 731 sexual minority college students. In addition to predictors drawn from the social-cognitive model of domain satisfaction (Lent, 2004), we included heterosexist harassment (perceived animosity toward nonheterosexuality) as a culture-specific predictor, with the potential to predict sexual minority students' academic satisfaction and desire to remain at their current college campuses. The findings indicated that the model fit the data well and accounted for substantial amounts of the variance in academic satisfaction and persistence intentions. It was also found to be invariant across subsamples of students who identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual. The culture-specific predictor, heterosexist harassment, was linked to academic satisfaction indirectly, largely through perceptions of lower environmental supports. Heterosexist harassment also produced a small direct, negative path to persistence intentions, apart from the social-cognitive predictors. We consider the implications of the findings for future research and for practical efforts to promote the academic well-being of sexual minority students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Test of a social cognitive model of well-being among breast cancer survivors.

Given the potentially long-standing emotional impact of breast cancer, theoretical models are needed to identify critical resources and coping strategies that optimize survivors' long-term adjustment. This study tested a model of well-being recovery with breast cancer survivors at 4 years post-treatment. Structural equation modeling was used to examine relationships between affect, loneliness, self-compassion, self-efficacy for coping with cancer, well-being, and life satisfaction. Two model variations offered good fit to the data, accounting for large portions of the variance in well-being and life satisfaction. Coping efficacy mediated paths from affect and loneliness to emotional well-being and life satisfaction.

Social-cognitive predictors of career exploration and decision-making: Longitudinal test of the career self-management model.

We tested the social-cognitive model of career self-management (Lent & Brown, 2013) using a longitudinal design. Participants were 420 college students who completed measures of career exploration and decision-making self-efficacy, outcome expectations, social support, goals, and actions, along with trait conscientiousness, at 2 time points roughly 4 months apart, near the beginning and middle of an academic year. They also reported their level of career decidedness and decisional anxiety at both of these time points as well as near the end of the academic year (about 3 months after the 2nd assessment). The model provided good overall fit to the data and accounted for substantial portions of the variance in engagement in exploratory actions and in the 2 decisional outcomes (decidedness and decisional anxiety) over time. The findings also supported the hypothesized bidirectional paths of the decisional outcomes to self-efficacy and outcome expectations. We consider implications of the findings for the social-cognitive model as well as for future research and practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

The working alliance, beliefs about the supervisor, and counseling self-efficacy: Applying the relational efficacy model to counselor supervision.

There is need for closer examination of how counselors' efficacy beliefs develop and function within actual counseling or supervisory relationships. We adapted Lent and Lopez's (2002) model of relational efficacy beliefs to the context of counseling supervision, examining possible linkages of counselors' self-efficacy to beliefs about how their supervisor perceives their (counselors') efficacy (termed relation-inferred self-efficacy [RISE]), beliefs about the supervisor's efficacy (other-efficacy), and perceptions of the supervisory working alliance. Two hundred forty graduate student counselors completed the relational efficacy belief measures in relation to a particularly challenging client on their caseloads. Path analysis findings suggested that the hypothesized model provided good fit to the data. In particular, counselors' RISE beliefs regarding their supervisors were well-predicted by the supervisory working alliance, other-efficacy beliefs about the supervisor, amount of clinical experience, and perceived client distress level. RISE beliefs (along with amount of clinical experience), in turn, predicted counselors' self-efficacy. In addition, the strength of the relationship between RISE and counselor self-efficacy was moderated by other-efficacy, suggesting that supervisors' clinical credibility, from the perspective of their supervisees, plays an important role in their ability to promote the efficacy of their supervisees. (PsycINFO Database Record

Predictors of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics choice options: A meta-analytic path analysis of the social-cognitive choice model by gender and race/ethnicity.

We tested the interest and choice portion of social-cognitive career theory (SCCT; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) in the context of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) domains. Data from 143 studies (including 196 independent samples) conducted over a 30-year period (1983 through 2013) were subjected to meta-analytic path analyses. The interest/choice model was found to fit the data well over all samples as well as within samples composed primarily of women and men and racial/ethnic minority and majority persons. The model also accounted for large portions of the variance in interests and choice goals within each path analysis. Despite the general predictive utility of SCCT across gender and racial/ethnic groups, we did find that several parameter estimates differed by group. We present both the group similarities and differences and consider their implications for future research, intervention, and theory refinement. (PsycINFO Database Record

The roles of family, culture, and social cognitive variables in the career interests and goals of Asian American college students.

Although family and cultural factors have been assumed to play important roles in the career development of Asian Americans, theory-driven research on this topic remains limited. We examined culturally relevant factors that may contribute to Asian Americans' consideration of fields in which they are overrepresented (e.g., science, technology, engineering) and underrepresented (e.g., education, social science). Drawing from social cognitive career theory, a culture-specific, social cognitive model of career interests and choice was tested in Holland's (1997) Investigative (I) and Social (S) themes. A sample of 802 Asian American undergraduates completed measures of family support, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, interest, and career choice consideration in relation to both Holland themes. Two indicators of acculturation/enculturation (adherence to Asian values and generation status in the United States) were also obtained. The model accounted for a substantial amount of variance in Asian American college students' career consideration in both themes. Family support and acculturation played varying roles, depending on the Holland theme. For example, family support was linked to career choice consideration both directly (in the S theme) and indirectly, via other predictors (in both themes). Contrary to expectations, the acculturation variables did not moderate the relation of family support or interest to career consideration in either theme. We discuss the implications of these findings for efforts to understand and facilitate the career development of Asian American college students. (PsycINFO Database Record

Prediction of job search intentions and behaviors: Testing the social cognitive model of career self-management.

We present 2 studies testing the recently developed social-cognitive model of career self-management (Lent & Brown, 2013) in the context of the job search process. In the first study, a sample of 243 unemployed job seekers completed measures of job search self-efficacy, outcome expectations, social support, search intentions, conscientiousness, and perceived control (or volition) over the outcomes of the job search. The latter variable was added to the social-cognitive model to examine the possibility, derived from the psychology of working perspective, that perceived volition might moderate the relation of self-efficacy to job search intentions. The second study included 240 graduating college seniors and focused on the utility of the social-cognitive, personality, and perceived outcome control variables in predicting active engagement in the job search process. Path analyses indicated that the model generally fit the data well in both studies. In Study 1, self-efficacy and outcome expectations mediated the relations of the other predictors to job search intentions. In Study 2, job search intentions produced the primary direct path to subsequent job search behaviors; conscientiousness, support, and outcome control related to job search behavior indirectly through self-efficacy and its linkage to intentions. Outcome control moderated self-efficacy/intention relations only in Study 2, and the pattern of moderation was contrary to expectations. Implications for further inquiry and practice with job seekers are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Vocational Psychology: Agency, Equity, and Well-Being.

The present review organizes the vocational psychology literature published between 2007 and 2014 into three overarching themes: Promoting (a) agency in career development, (b) equity in the work force, and (c) well-being in work and educational settings. Research on career adaptability, self-efficacy beliefs, and work volition is reviewed in the agency section, with the goal of delineating variables that promote or constrain the exercise of personal agency in academic and occupational pursuits. The equity theme covers research on social class and race/ethnicity in career development; entry and retention of women and people of color in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields; and the career service needs of survivors of domestic violence and of criminal offenders. The goal was to explore how greater equity in the work force could be promoted for these groups. In the well-being section, we review research on hedonic (work, educational, and life satisfaction) and eudaimonic (career calling, meaning, engagement, and commitment) variables, with the goal of understanding how well-being might be promoted at school and at work. Future research needs related to each theme are also discussed.

The advisory working alliance and research training: test of a relational efficacy model.

Relatively little research attention has been devoted to understanding the mechanisms through which the advising relationship functions as a medium for fostering doctoral students' development as researchers. Adapting Lent and Lopez's (2002) model of relational efficacy, we examined three types of efficacy beliefs (self-efficacy, other-efficacy, and relation-inferred self-efficacy) in relation to the advisory working alliance and the prediction of doctoral students' research interest and productivity. Gelso's (1993) concept of the research training environment was also included in model testing to capture a view of the advisory relationship as existing within a larger program training context. Participants were 274 doctoral students in a variety of academic fields. The results suggested that a slightly revised version of the hypothesized model produced good fit to the data. In particular, controlling for year in the graduate program, we found the advisory working alliance was linked to students' research self-efficacy indirectly via relation-inferred self-efficacy (i.e., students' beliefs about how their advisors viewed their research capabilities). Students' self-efficacy was, in turn, predictive of their interest in and productivity at research. We discuss the implications of these findings for future research and the practice of advising and research training.

Social cognitive model of career self-management: toward a unifying view of adaptive career behavior across the life span.

Social cognitive career theory (SCCT) currently consists of 4 overlapping, segmental models aimed at understanding educational and occupational interest development, choice-making, performance and persistence, and satisfaction/well-being. To this point, the theory has emphasized content aspects of career behavior, for instance, prediction of the types of activities, school subjects, or career fields that form the basis for people's educational/vocational interests and choice paths. However, SCCT may also lend itself to study of many process aspects of career behavior, including such issues as how people manage normative tasks and cope with the myriad challenges involved in career preparation, entry, adjustment, and change, regardless of the specific educational and occupational fields they inhabit. Such a process focus can augment and considerably expand the range of the dependent variables for which SCCT was initially designed. Building on SCCT's existing models, we present a social cognitive model of career self-management and offer examples of the adaptive, process behaviors to which it can be applied (e.g., career decision making/exploration, job searching, career advancement, negotiation of work transitions and multiple roles).

Multicultural counseling self-efficacy scale-racial diversity form: factor structure and test of a social cognitive model.

This study was conducted to gather evidence on the factor structure and concurrent criterion validity of the multicultural counseling self-efficacy scale-racial diversity form (MCSE-RD; Sheu & Lent, 2007). The MCSE-RD was designed to assess therapists' perceived capabilities in performing culturally relevant in-session behaviors in cross-racial counseling. Participants were 209 students in counseling-related graduate programs in the USA. Confirmatory factor analyses identified a bifactor structure in which responses to MCSE-RD items could be explained by one generic and three multicultural-specific counseling self-efficacy factors. Support was also found for a social cognitive model in which self-efficacy and interests in multicultural counseling mediated the effects of prior cross-racial client contacts and perceptions of multicultural training environments on intent to perform multicultural counseling in the future. Additionally, outcome expectations were predictive of multicultural counseling interests and choice goals. Implications for multicultural training and directions for future research are highlighted.

The self-efficacy-interest relationship and RIASEC type: Which is figure and which is ground? Comment on Armstrong and Vogel (2009).

Armstrong and Vogel (2009) proposed that the differences between self-efficacy and interests are a matter of measurement artifact rather than substance. In tests of this hypothesis, they conceived of self-efficacy and interest as observed indicators of larger RIASEC (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional) types and as response method factors. We revisit the authors' theoretical assumptions, measurement procedures, analyses, and interpretation of findings. When viewing this study in the context of the larger literature, we find ample support for the construal of self-efficacy and interests as distinct but related constructs. In addition, we examine the authors' reanalysis of earlier longitudinal findings, reaching different conclusions than they did about the nature of the temporal relations among the social cognitive variables. Ultimately, whether one wishes to highlight or minimize the differences between interest and self-efficacy may largely depend on whether one's purpose is explanation (e.g., how do people make career-relevant choices?) or classification (e.g., which RIASEC type does a person most resemble?).

Perceived sources of change in trainees' self-efficacy beliefs.

Thought-listing procedures were used to examine the perceived incidence, size, direction, and bases of change in the session-level self-efficacy of therapists in training. Ninety-eight Master's-level trainees completed a cognitive assessment task immediately after each session with a client in their first practicum. Participants typically reported modest-sized, positive changes in their therapeutic self-efficacy at each session. Seven perceived sources of change in self-efficacy were identified. Some of these sources (e.g., trainees' performance evaluations, affective reactions) were consistent with general self-efficacy theory; others reflected the interpersonal performance context of therapy (e.g., perceptions of the therapeutic relationship and client behavior). Implications of the findings for training and future research on therapist development are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).