other) of career indifference. The secure attachment style fosters a
future orientation and optimism, as well as daydreaming about possi-
ble selves and alternative futures. These childhood behaviors prefig-
ure an adolescent’s acquisition of foresightful attitudes toward
anticipated tasks of vocational development, as well as competence
at planning how to master them. If one is not (or does not feel) safe,
then surviving the present is more compelling than planning tomor-
row. Adolescents who are unable to plan their work and work their
plan are less likely to transform their occupational daydreams into
reality. The fundamental function of concern in constructing careers
is reflected by the prime place given to it by prominent theories of
vocational development, denoted by names such as Ginzberg’s time
perspective,Super’s planfulness,Tiedeman’s anticipation,Crites’s orien-
tation,and Harren’s awareness(Savickas, Silling, & Schwartz, 1984).
2.Career controlis the line of vocational developmental rooted in
independence from parents and plotted by the coordinates of inter-
personal autonomy and intrapersonal willpower (Erikson, 1963).
This developmental line has been, and remains, the subject of exten-
sive research in vocational behavior, including studies of locus of con-
trol, causal attributions, sense of agency, assertiveness, and decisional
styles, competencies, and strategies. Much of this extensive literature
on the initiation and regulation of intentional behavior is brought to
bear on vocational behavior in a model of self-determination devised
by Blustein and Flum (1999). Suffice it to say, for our purposes here,
career control is a major developmental construct—one particularly
important to viewing individuals as producers of their own develop-
ment. During childhood, proactive behaviors such as making deci-
sions, delaying gratification, negotiating, and asserting one’s rights
increase a sense of interpersonal autonomy and personal agency.
These behaviors prefigure an adolescent’s attitudes of decisiveness
and competence at making career choices. Individuals who do not
feel in control allow luck, fate, or powerful others to make their career
choices.
3.Career conceptionis the line of vocational development
rooted in interdependence with other people and plotted by the
A DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY OF VOCATIONAL BEHAVIOR 169