Students' Self-identity And Self-differentiation Of Career Exploratory Behavior

Career exploration is defined as encompassing those activities ,which directed toward enhancing knowledge of the self and the external environment, that an individual engages in to foster progress in career development. Super divided the whole career development process which individuals go through in their careers into 5 stage: Growth Stage, Exploration Stage, Establishment Stage, Maintain Stage, Disengagement Stage. College Students are just going through exploration stage. career exploration plays a central role in Super's (1957) theory, and is thought to contribute significantly to one's personal and vocational development.Career Psychologist Super suggests that both individual (personal attributes, personality characteristics, inherent interests, etc.) and environmental (the influence of parents, peers, significant others, etc.) factors influence career development as a whole, and exploration in particular. Erikson indicate Ego Identity means the individuals' subjective feeling and experience about himself or herself's intrapsychic coherence and continuity in past ,now and future. It belong to category of individual factors. Bowen(1966) indicate differentiation of self is the ability to balance achieving an autonomous sense of self and maintaining close connections with important others. It belong to category of environmental factors. There are two embranchments in the literature about career exploration, one line of research has focused on how individual differences variables such as motivational processes(Blustein, 1988) and decision-making style(Blustein & Phillips, 1988) affect one's exploratory behavior. For example the research of Blustein (1988) show individual motivational processes can affect the validity of career. The research of Chinese Li Wendao etc(2007) ,the relationships between Identity, Career Exploration and Career Decision-MakingDifficulties, indicated ego identity is one of predictors of career exploration, another line of research has focused on how environmental variables such as family functioning (Ryan, Solberg, & Brown, 1996) and peer relationships (Felsman & Blustein, 1999) influence career exploration. Kracke (1997) sought to examine the role of the family in promoting career exploration within the framework of attachment and individuation theory. Results indicated that each parent behavior variable correlated positively with adolescent career exploration. Felsman & Blustein (1999) examined the role of close peer relationships in career exploration and career commitment in late adolescence. Results indicated that peer relationship can affect the amount of career exploration activities. But two embranchments are absolute to each other. Interaction between individual and environmental factors was ignored. In this research ego identity statuses and differentiation of self were used to serve as the individual and environmental variables respectively, to predict amount of career exploration with the questionnaire survey and the statistic technique of Structural Equation Model.In study 1, differentiation of self Inventory which was widely used in foreign study was translated and revised.7 items which were designed for married individuals were deleted because they didn't fit to Chinese students Then the reliability and validity of the scale was examined according to the psychometrics. The results revealed that item 3 and 32 which was eliminated due to low differential validity, so they were deleted. Item 2,5,25,30,31,33,34,35,39和40 were deleted because loading lower than 0.3 or there are almost same loading in two factors. The revised differentiation of self Inventory consisting of the rest 27 items had good reliability and validity. So it can be used to measure and study differentiation of self of college students in the Chinese society and culture.In study 2, revised differentiation of self Inventory , The Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status II and Career Exploration Scale were used to test the relationship among 3 variables and establish the empirical structural educational model. The results revealed that there were significant differences on differentiation of self, ego identity status and career exploration between male and female. Males have higher level than female. There were significant differences on career between academic standing. The higher the grade the more career exploration activities. Both differentiation of self and ego identity can predict career exploration. The higher level of differentiation of self and ego identity, the more career exploration.According to the findings of the 3 studies, following conclusions were drawn:(1)The revised differentiation of self Inventory consisting of the rest 27 items had good reliability and validity. So it can be used to measure and study procrastination behavior of college students in the Chinese society and culture.(2)There were significant differences on differentiation of self, ego identity status and career exploration between male and female. Males have higher level than female. There were significant differences on career between academic standing. The higher the grade the more career exploration activities.(3) Both differentiation of self and ego identity can predict career exploration.(4) The higher level of differentiation of self, the more career exploration.(5) The higher level of ego identity, the more career exploration.