Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- PART I CURRENT APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF CAREERS
- Introduction to Part I
- 1 Generating new directions in career theory: the case for a transdisciplinary approach
- 2 Trait-factor theories: traditional cornerstone of career theory
- 3 Careers, identities, and institutions: the legacy of the Chicago School of Sociology
- 4 The utility of adult development theory in understanding career adjustment process
- 5 Developmental views of careers in organizations
- 6 Exploring women's development: implications for career theory, practice, and research
- 7 The influence of race on career dynamics: theory and research on minority career experiences
- 8 Asynchronism in dual-career and family linkages
- 9 Transitions, work histories, and careers
- 10 Career system profiles and strategic staffing
- PART II NEW IDEAS FOR THE STUDY OF CAREERS
- PART III FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF CAREER THEORY
- Name index
- Subject index
2 - Trait-factor theories: traditional cornerstone of career theory
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- PART I CURRENT APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF CAREERS
- Introduction to Part I
- 1 Generating new directions in career theory: the case for a transdisciplinary approach
- 2 Trait-factor theories: traditional cornerstone of career theory
- 3 Careers, identities, and institutions: the legacy of the Chicago School of Sociology
- 4 The utility of adult development theory in understanding career adjustment process
- 5 Developmental views of careers in organizations
- 6 Exploring women's development: implications for career theory, practice, and research
- 7 The influence of race on career dynamics: theory and research on minority career experiences
- 8 Asynchronism in dual-career and family linkages
- 9 Transitions, work histories, and careers
- 10 Career system profiles and strategic staffing
- PART II NEW IDEAS FOR THE STUDY OF CAREERS
- PART III FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF CAREER THEORY
- Name index
- Subject index
Summary
INTRODUCTION
Researchers interested in career development must begin by addressing the fact that occupational and organizational choice, adjustment, and success are products of two distinct but interactive forces: the individual and the environment in which that individual functions. That they are distinct is evident in the vast amount of research amassed relevant to the dimensions separately – individual characteristics on the one hand (the domain of traditional psychology) and the organization on the other hand [the domain of the organizational behaviorist, individual–organization (I/O) psychologist, and human resource specialist]. That they are interactive is the focus of this book.
This chapter will review theory and research based on the assumption that optimal career outcomes for both the individual and the organization can best be facilitated through a congruence between the individual's characteristics and the demands, requirements, and rewards of the organizational environment. This body of theory and research stems historically from two areas of psychology – first, the study and measurement of individual differences and, second, Parsons's (1909) “matching men and jobs” approach to career choice and guidance. The joining of the concepts and technology of individual differences with matching models of career choice led to “trait-factor” approaches to career development and adjustment. These approaches range from a general emphasis on the use of tests of individual differences variables in selection, placement, and counseling to theories that focus specifically on ways in which the correspondence between individuals and environments leads to outcomes such as successful job performance and job satisfaction.
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- Chapter
- Information
- Handbook of Career Theory , pp. 26 - 40Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1989
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