Honors Theses
Date of Award
Spring 5-2-2021
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
John Youn
Second Advisor
Danielle Maack
Third Advisor
Marilyn Mendolia
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
Perfectionism has been found to be a significant predictor of career indecision in adults. Perfectionism has also been linked with internalizing disorders, such as depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder in children. The primary aim of this study is to determine if there is a relationship between those internalizing emotions experienced in childhood and career indecision as an adult. There have not been many studies for career indecision based on emotions directly from one’s childhood, so this study aims to provide some basic understanding on that relationship. This study investigated if perfectionism and internalizing disorders (measured retroactively) during childhood were correlated with career indecision as an adult. To test this hypothesis, 426 undergraduate students from the University of Mississippi completed an online Qualtrics survey, with measures for perfectionism, depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and career indecision. Correlational analysis revealed that there was only a significant association between perfectionism and both anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Career indecision was also significantly associated with depression and anxiety (but not perfectionism). In a multiple linear regression analysis, however, anxiety and OCD were the only significant predictors of career indecision. Contrary to expectations, however, OCD negatively predicted career indecision. Although many of the other expected associations were not shown to be significant in the current study the results nonetheless contribute to the available literature on these topics by providing a replication of the previously demonstrated association between anxiety, OCD symptoms, and career indecision. The overall implications of the findings are that more research is necessary to clarify the potentially complex relations among the variables studied. This would ideally include longitudinal research measuring childhood symptoms and later career indecision directly, although that method of study presents logistical challenges (the implications of which will be discussed).
Recommended Citation
Jones, Paige, "Perfectionism and Internalizing Disorders as Predictors of Career Indecision Among College Students" (2021). Honors Theses. 1658.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/1658
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