This longitudinal research investigated the interactive effect of social attachment style and perceived-counselor behavior on exploratory behavior exhibited by clients during and after career counseling. Results from 96 clients in career counseling indicated that social confidence and comfort, and the perception that the counselor had created social comfort and personal security, enhanced the range and effectiveness of career exploration by the client. The counselor’s functioning as a “secure base” moderated the association between clients’ avoidance and anxiety attachment style and their career exploration. Specifically, when the clients who were high in social avoidance or in social anxiety perceived-counselors as providing an atmosphere in which they feel secure, they engaged in career exploration far more than similar clients who did not perceive their counselor as a secure base.
The concept of career exploration is central to many vocational theories. Developmental theories assume that the people engage in self and environmental exploration in order to progress in career development (Blustein, 1992). Holland (1997) proposed a person-environment fit model in which people search for congruence between their personal traits and available occupational demands and rewards to achieve personal satisfaction and occupational success. Such congruence is achieved when individuals correctly identify their own traits and the characteristics of career options they are considering (Holland, 1997). Super (1990) also claimed that exploration is necessary to avoid later problems such as indecision impulsive decisions. Research has shown that careful career exploration is associated with achieving congruence between one’s personality and the work environment (Grotvant, Cooper, & Kramer, 1986), realistic work expectations (Stumpf & Hartman, 1984), the number of interviews and job offers received (Stumpf, Austin, & Hartman, 1984), and recruiters’ perceptions of applicants’ interview effectiveness (Stumpf & Hartman, 1984). Creating a counseling environment that facilitates career exploration is a major objective, if not the major purpose of career interventions (Betz, 1999 and Blustein, 1992).
Individuals vary in the degree to which they engage in career exploration (Stumpf, Colarelli, & Hartman, 1983). People who do engage in career exploration have been found to be high in intrinsic motivational orientation (Blustein, 1988), planfulness (Kracke & Schmitt-Rodermund, 2001), openness and career self-efficacy (Nauta, 2007), and internal locus of control (Noe & Steffy, 1987). These intrapersonal variables account for why some clients in vocational counseling engage in more career exploration than others, but do not take into account the interplay between client resources and the counseling relationship that is presumably designed to facilitate career exploration.
