Effect of Husbands' Employment Status on Their Wives' Subjective Well‐being in Korea

This study used data from the Korea Labor and Income Panel Survey (2001, 2003–2007) to estimate the effect of a husband's unemployment on his wife's subjective well‐being (SWB). Ordinal and pooled binary logistic regression models were estimated using 20,099 observations from a sample of 4,569 married women; a fixed‐effects logistic regression model was also estimated using 5,514 observations from a restricted sample of 1,070 wives who experienced at least 1 change in SWB over the follow‐up period. The findings indicated that a husband's unemployment was detrimental to his wife's SWB. This spillover effect appeared to be mediated in part through nonpecuniary factors (i.e., dissatisfaction with family and social relations). These findings suggest that, beyond income loss and the well‐being of unemployed individuals, the social cost of unemployment should consider the negative effects of unemployment on the family, in particular the spouse.     

Predicting Career Adaptability From Positive Psychological Traits

This study investigated positive psychological traits as predictors of career adaptability in a group of emerging adults. A total of 415 undergraduate students (185 men, 230 women) from a large state‐funded university in Turkey responded to Turkish versions of the Career Adaptability subscale of the Career Futures Inventory (Rottinghaus et al., 2005 ), the Dispositional Hope Scale (Snyder et al., 1991 ), the Life Orientation Test (Scheier & Carver, 1985 ), and the Ego Resiliency Scale (Block & Kremen, 1996 ). Results indicated moderate to strong correlations among the variables and suggested that students who are more resilient, hopeful, and optimistic are more likely to perceive themselves as more adaptable in their careers. Simultaneous multiple regression analysis indicated that career adaptability was significantly predicted by hope, resilience, and optimism. In light of these results, when designing career interventions to enhance the career adaptability of emerging adults, counselors should integrate various strategies to foster hope, resilience, and optimism.     

Effects of Orientations to Happiness on Vocational Identity Achievement

There is an increased interest in vocational psychology and career counseling regarding the link between career development and well‐being, yet, little is known about how different ways to achieve well‐being or happiness relate to career development. This study explored the relationship between 3 orientations to happiness (meaning, pleasure, and engagement) and vocational identity achievement among 2 groups of Swiss adolescents (n = 268, 8th grade; n = 208, 11th grade). The results indicated that more orientation to meaning and engagement but not to pleasure positively related to vocational identity achievement.     

Career Maturity and Quality of Life in Korean Adolescents: A Cross‐Lagged Panel Design

This study investigated the effectiveness of a short‐term career exploration program for enhancing career maturity and quality of life in Korean adolescents. It further tested causality between career maturity and quality of life defined as school satisfaction and subjective well‐being. We used a cross‐lagged panel design to examine the links among career maturity, subjective well‐being, and school satisfaction, measured both before and 4 weeks after a career exploration program for 224 Korean middle school students. Study results indicated that 4 weeks after the program implementation, there were significant increases in career maturity, subjective well‐being, and school satisfaction. A significant causal relationship from the pretest score of career maturity to the posttest score of school satisfaction was found. Results suggest that the implementation of a short‐term career exploration program designed to increase career maturity also significantly promotes school satisfaction. Limitations of the study are discussed along with suggestions for future research.     

Psychological Well‐Being and Career Indecision in Emerging Adulthood: The Moderating Role of Hardiness

This study investigated the moderating role of hardiness in the relationship between psychological well‐being (PWB) and career indecision in 131 never‐employed Italian emerging adults. Cluster analytic methods produced high and low hardiness profiles. A structural equation modeling analysis underscored the importance of hardiness for moderating the negative association between PWB and career indecision. Specifically, findings revealed that being hardy is a crucial relevant personal resource in the presence of lower levels of PWB. The authors discuss the importance of analyzing simultaneously the role of PWB and hardiness in promoting engagement in the career decision‐making process and provide implications for setting up appropriate career counseling interventions with emerging adults. Suggestions for future research are presented, such as the use of longitudinal designs and qualitative methods.     

Rural Latino Youth Career Development: An Application of Social Cognitive Career Theory

This study used social cognitive career theory (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994 ) to investigate the career development of 9th‐grade students living in 2 rural communities with large numbers of Latino immigrants. Participants (55.3% Latino) responded to measures of vocational skills self‐efficacy, career decision outcome expectations, career aspirations, and barriers to postsecondary education. Contrary to previous findings, results indicated that Latino students in these communities reported higher self‐efficacy beliefs than did White students. Latino students also reported higher perceived barriers, but this did not seem to relate to their career aspirations. Results suggest that school and career counselors should focus on programming that attends to Latino students' self‐efficacy and outcome expectations, as well as efficacy for overcoming barriers. Doing so could prove useful for increasing career achievement among rural Latino youth.     

Vocational Skills and Outcomes Among Native American Adolescents: A Test of the Integrative Contextual Model of Career Development

This study tested hypotheses of the Integrative Contextual Model of Career Development (R. T. Lapan, 2004a) by investigating the multivariate effects of 6 interrelated career development skills (career exploration, person‐ environment fit, goal setting, social/prosocial/work readiness, self‐regulated learning, and the utilization of social support) on 6 intermediate vocational outcomes (academic achievement, self‐efficacy expectations, positive self‐attributions, vocational interests, vocational identity, and proactivity) among Native American adolescents. Results showed that individual and shared variance among the skills positively predicted 79% of variance in 5 of the 6 outcomes. Results suggest that each of the skills contributes substantially and in combination to Native American adolescents' career development.     

Self‐Construal,Career Decision Self‐Efficacy,and Perceived Barriers Predict Mexican American Women's Life Satisfaction

This study used the social cognitive theory of well‐being (SCTW; Lent, 2004 ) to examine the role of career decision self‐efficacy (CDSE), perceived educational barriers, and independent self‐construal on the life satisfaction of 176 Mexican American college women. A 3‐step hierarchical regression analysis indicated that independent self‐construal, CDSE, and fewer perceived educational barriers significantly predicted greater life satisfaction among Mexican American college women above and beyond the influence of socioeconomic status and generational status. These findings are consistent with SCTW and highlight the need for counselors and researchers to be aware of the role that self‐construal, CDSE, and perceived educational barriers can have on Mexican American women's life satisfaction. Implications for practice at the secondary‐school and university levels are discussed.     

Personal Characteristics, Unemployment, and Anxiety among Highly Educated Immigrants

This exploratory study examines the relationship between personal resources (sense of potency, marital quality, social support from family and friends), the duration of unemployment, and the level of state anxiety experienced by highly educated, unemployed, middle‐aged immigrants. Studying the anxiety levels among populations at‐risk such as unemployed immigrants is particularly important in the context of situations of military conflict. In such situations, when formal support systems are in the process of erosion, the unemployed must increasingly rely on social and familial support. The following measures were examined in an anonymous, self‐report questionnaire: potency (defined as a person's enduring confidence in his/her own capacities and confidence in, and commitment to, his/her social environment which is perceived as being characterized by a basically meaningful order and just distribution of rewards), social support from friends and family, marital quality, and state anxiety. Results indicate that personal resources – particularly potency and social support from family – predicted the level of state anxiety among immigrants. Duration of unemployment was also positively correlated with state anxiety. A major recommendation that emerges is the need to foster the development of social support groups consisting of both veterans and new immigrants in order to broaden the social ties of the immigrants. This may assist newcomers not only in finding jobs, but also in coping with political and economic uncertainties in a new cultural context.     

Leisure Behavior and Occupational Identity in University Students

This study examines relationships between leisure behavior and occupational identity in a group of 109 undergraduate students at a Midwestern state university. Significant relationships (p < .01) were found among thinking and contemplating, ethical leisure behavior, and occupational identity. University students who participated more in intellectual and creative leisure activities were more advanced in occupational identity achievement. Implications for life span career development interventions are discussed.     

Computer Science Majors: Sex Role Orientation,Academic Achievement,and Social Cognitive Factors

This study examined the sex role orientations endorsed by 188 male and female students majoring in computer science, a male‐dominated college degree program. The relations among sex role orientation and academic achievement and social cognitive factors influential in career decision‐making self‐efficacy were explored. Findings revealed that androgynous‐ and feminine‐oriented students scored significantly higher on career decision‐making self‐efficacy as compared with undifferentiated students. No significant sex role orientation differences were found for academic achievement and general and career locus of control.     

The Long‐Term Consequences of Relationship Formation for Subjective Well‐Being

This study examines how relationship transitions affect subjective well‐being (SWB) and how this effect changes over time. We used prospective data containing information about 18 years of young adults' lives (PSIN, N = 5, 514). SWB was measured with the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Within‐person multilevel regression analyses showed that dating, unmarried cohabitation, and marriage had additional well‐being enhancing effects. After entry into a union, well‐being slowly decreased. A large SWB decrease was found after union dissolution, but through adaptation or repartnering well‐being increased again. Well‐being of never‐married and never‐cohabiting young adults decreased slowly over time. These effects were independent of parenthood and employment. Our results confirm expectations from the resources theory but contradict some assumptions of the set‐point theory.     

Testing an Integrative Contextual Career Development Model With Adolescents From High‐Poverty Urban Areas

Variations in the economic recovery rate across the United States have led to even greater chasms that separate the employed, unemployed, and underemployed (DeSilver, 2017 ). Therefore, understanding and supporting the career development of future generations is critical—especially for those who live outside the context of social privilege. The authors examined the applicability of the integrative contextual model of career development (ICM; Lapan, 2004 ) to a sample of 220 adolescents (129 boys, 91 girls) from a high‐poverty urban area. Results indicated that a canonical variate comprising foundational ICM skills (e.g., career exploration, goal setting) predicted a variate composed of ICM outcomes (e.g., self‐efficacy, vocational identity), thus supporting the usefulness of the ICM framework for this population. The skill of setting viable career goals was an especially strong predictor of outcomes. Implications for career counseling with adolescents living in high‐poverty urban areas and directions for future research are discussed.     

NEW MEASURES OF THE COSTS OF UNEMPLOYMENT: EVIDENCE FROM THE SUBJECTIVE WELL‐BEING OF 3.3 MILLION AMERICANS

Using two large U.S. surveys, we estimate the effects of unemployment on the subjective well‐being (SWB) of the unemployed and the rest of the population. For the unemployed, the nonpecuniary costs of unemployment are several times as large as those resulting from lower incomes, while the indirect effect at the population level is 15 times as large. For those who are still employed, a one percentage point increase in local unemployment has an impact on well‐being roughly equivalent to a 4% decline in household income. We also find evidence indicating that job security is an important channel for the indirect effects of unemployment. (JEL E24, H23, J64, J68)     

Family Factors Associated With Sixth‐Grade Adolescents' Math and Science Career Interests

This study tested a causal model, based on social cognitive career theory (SCCT; R. W. Lent, S. D. Brown, & G. Hackett, 1994, 2000), of math and science career interests among 6th‐grade adolescents (N = 318). Consistent with SCCT, it was found that career gender‐typing, mother's and father's support for pursuing math and science careers, as well as the structure of the family itself (2‐parent intact vs. single parent) predicted young adolescents' math self‐efficacy; career gender‐typing and mother's support predicted math outcome expectations; and math self‐efficacy and outcome expectations predicted math and science career interests. Counselor recommendations based on these findings are included.     

Hopes and Fears for the Future Among Chinese Adolescents

This study examined the contents of adolescents' hopes and fears for the future in a sample of 1,975 urban and rural 8th, 10th, and 12th graders in China. Chinese adolescents' hopes and fears were most often related to future education, occupation, parental well‐being, marriage and family, academics, leisure activities, wealth, interpersonal relationships, collective issues, and self‐related issues. Urban adolescents compared to rural ones reported more hopes for education and leisure activities and held fewer hopes and fears for parental well‐being and interpersonal relationships. Males reported more hopes and fears for marriage, whereas females reported more hopes and fears for parental well‐being. These results suggest the important role of the social and cultural context in adolescents' future thinking.     

Guest Editorial―An Update to the Role and Status of Women in Social Work Education: Past and Future Considerations

ABSTRACT

Spirituality and religion predicted the development of social justice orientation (SJO) among young adults in a previous study (Chenot &; Kim, 2013). The current study explores the manner in which the effects of spirituality and religion on social justice orientation vary depending on the career aspirations of young adults. The longitudinal data (two waves) used for this study was gathered from 14,527 students at 136 universities in the USA. Results of structural equation modeling analyses revealed that spirituality significantly predicted projected SJO behaviors among those who aspire to join the helping professions and the SJO attitudes of those who sought to join other professions. The implications of the findings for social work and social work education are discussed.     

Academic Engagement and Achievement Predict Career Adaptability

Abundant evidence indicates that personality, social, cultural, and contextual factors predict career adaptability. However, little research attends to the roles of academic engagement and achievement in career adaptability, especially in non‐Western cultural contexts. We examined the associations of perceived academic engagement dimensions (i.e., behavioral and emotional engagement) and academic achievement with facets of career adaptability among 324 Filipino high school students. Results of hierarchical regression analyses demonstrate that, after controlling for age and gender, behavioral engagement served as the strongest predictor of concern, curiosity, confidence, and control. In addition, perceived academic achievement was the weakest predictor of career adaptability dimensions. Our findings underscore the benefits of integrating active involvement in school‐related tasks to foster career adaptability in high school student populations.     

The Relation of Negative Career Thoughts to Depression and Hopelessness

Although some research literature focuses on the integration of mental health and career counseling, there has been little that examines both areas in relation to depression and hopelessness. This study investigated the relationship among dysfunctional career thinking, depression, and hopelessness in a sample of 139 undergraduate and graduate students seeking drop‐in or individual career counseling services at a university career center. The authors found that two aspects of dysfunctional career thinking, decision‐making confusion and commitment anxiety, accounted for a significant amount of variance in depression. Decision‐making confusion also accounted for a significant amount of variance in hopelessness. Implications for counseling practice include the need for more careful screening of career clients who present with high levels of anxiety and negative thinking. Future research could involve more diverse client populations, such as unemployed adults, and explore the use of additional screening measures to assess the intersection of career and mental health issues.     

Dimensions of subjective well-being and effects of physical activity in Chinese older adults

Subjective well-being (SWB) and its relationship with physical activity have not been systematically investigated in older Chinese people. This study explored these issues using qualitative interviews with a purposive sample of 23 community-dwelling Chinese older adults (age 55-78 y, 12 women); 16 were physically active and 7 physically inactive. Using cross-case analyses, 7 dimensions of SWB emerged: physical, psychological, developmental, material, spiritual, sociopolitical, and social. Although elements of SWB may be shared across cultures, specific distinctions were identified. Active respondents reported the unique contributions of physical activity to the physical, psychological, developmental, and social elements of SWB. The findings suggest that physical activity could enhance the quality of life in Chinese older adults.