the proposition that we take part in processes relevant in the par-
ticipants’ everyday lives.
The results illustrate how a number of the constructs used in
this chapter are created: career, goal (Young et al., 1997), task
structure, functions, roles and responsibilities (Young et al., 1999),
group action, emotion (Young, Paseluikho, & Valach, 1997), infor-
mation processing, project, and its embeddedness in other family
projects (Young, Lynam, Valach et al., 2001, Young, Valach, Ball
et al., 2001). Shotter (1993) suggests that research such as we have
described, which focuses on language and conversation, has the ef-
fect of pointing our attention to “crucial features of the context, fea-
tures that ‘show’ connections between things that would otherwise
go unnoticed” (p. 34). This approach has greater potential to iden-
tify the phases or sequences involved in action and thus address
people’s everyday career experience than many methods based on a
priori constructs.
Action theory is used explicitly in research in social, personal-
ity, and developmental psychology that has relevance for career. It
is impossible to review this literature extensively here, but pertinent
sources are Brandtstädter and Lerner (1999) and Gollwitzer and
Bargh (1996). Although not unequivocal on all aspects of action
theory, the researchers contributing to these volumes conceptual-
ize and use constructs, such as life tasks, project, life planning,and
identity goals,that have relevance for career. For example, Wiese,
Freund, and Baltes (2000) take an action-theoretical view in pos-
tulating processes that contribute to successful life management,
based on contextual conditions. They found that action-related
strategies are efficient means for planning and managing occupa-
tional and partnership challenges of adult life. Little’s work on per-
sonal projects (Little, 1999) lends support to the hypotheses that
they provide meaning, community, and structure. He and his col-
leagues (Phillips, Little, & Goodine, 1996, 1997) found important
relationships between the projects of senior-level managers, gender,
and organizational life, as well as implications for the relevance of
community-oriented projects during retirement.
A CONTEXTUALIST EXPLANATION OF CAREER 229