CHAPTER 12
RELATIONAL APPROACHES TO CAREER DEVELOPMENT
ROE’S PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT THEORY
Roe’s Occupational Classification System
The theory predicts occupational selection based on individual differences, which are biological,
sociological, and psychological. It focuses on psychological needs that develop between
The Three Types of Parental Attitudes
• Concentration on the child: being overprotective or overdemanding
• Avoidance of the child: rejection and neglect
• Acceptance of the child: causal acceptance and loving acceptance
Orientation Toward or Away from People
• The variety of parental attitudes bring about certain types of personalities in the
child
ATTACHMENT THEORY
Attachment theory studies the role that attachments (primarily parental) play in shaping the
life of an individual.
The relationship that a baby has with others, especially the mother is crucial.
Bowlby – most well-known attachment theorist; studied the importance of attachment,
• Anxious-Ambivalent Pattern – Child becomes anxious because parent is inconsistent;
child’s view of self is full of uncertainty; decreased exploratory behavior.
• Avoidant Pattern – Infant ignores or rejects care; developed a sense of being alone in
the world and unable to trust others.
Some Research Observations
• Children with a secure pattern of attachment in their first six years of life are more
PARENT-CHILD CAREER INTERACTIONS
• Joint Action – conversations between parents and child
• Focus on how parents and children perceive career decision making and their areas of
agreement and disagreement.
• As families talk, they may establish closeness or a sense of separateness depending on the
FAMILY SYSTEMS THERAPY
• Enmeshed family – responsibilities in the family are unclear.
• Disengaged family– responsibilities in the family are dictated by a parent.
• Family relationships (such as enmeshment and disengagement) were stronger predictors
of career development than gender, socioeconomic status, or educational achievement in
one study.
PHILLIPS’S DEVELOPMENTAL RELATIONSHIP MODEL
Unlike other relationship models discussed so far, Phillips and her colleagues look at
relationships that include friends, siblings, teachers, peers, and others.
Actions of Others – seven actions going from low involvement of others to high involvement of
others.
1. Nonactive Support – not involved with decision-maker in making choice process.
2. Unconditional Support – person thinks decision-maker is making a good decision.
3. Information Provided – person provides information to the decision-maker.
Self-Directedness – an increasing effectiveness of making good use of other people in career
decision-making (eight categories).
1. Confident Independence (false confidence) – individuals appear to be confident but have
not planned for the future.
2. Unsuccessful Recruitment – individuals know they need help, but haven’t been able to get
good assistance.
Individuals can be in one stage in Actions of Others and a very different step in Self-
Directedness. Moving from one stage to another, especially in Actions of Others is often not
sequential. Also, individuals’ Actions of Others stage depends on the relationship with a specific
individual.
BLUSTEIN’S RELATIONAL THEORY OF WORKING
A way for people to view the importance of the relationship at work as providing
satisfaction and a sense of importance.
BLUSTEIN’S 7 PROPOSITIONS
1. Thoughts and feelings about relationships influence thoughts and feelings about work.
These can be destructive or constructive
2. The way individuals think and feel about relationships influence how they deal with
issues at work and when planning for work.
5. The content of the decisions that individuals make at work are helped or hindered by
their relationships with others. These along with individual and cultural experiences affect
the development of individuals’ occupational interests and values.
APPLYING THE THEORIES TO WOMEN AND CULTURALLY DIVERSE POPULATIONS
Roe considered cultural and gender factors carefully in her theory.