an important, if generally implicit, role in virtually all theories of
career choice and decision making (Lent et al., 1994).
SCCT’s Models of Vocational Interests,
Choice, and Performance
The SCCT framework organizes career-related interest, choice, and
performance into three interlocking models. We present an over-
view of these models, focusing on the interplay among the central
social cognitive variables in guiding career development. We also
consider how these variables operate in concert with other impor-
tant aspects of persons (such as gender and ethnicity), their con-
texts, and learning experiences.
Before introducing our models, we should highlight a few points.
First, although we generally refer to “career development processes,”
we envision SCCT as subsuming conceptually and developmentally
related processes of academicinterests, choices, and performances.
Given the natural overlap between academic and career develop-
ment processes (Arbona, 2000), as well as concerns over the school-
to-work transition of students (Blustein, Juntunen, & Worthington,
2000), we believe it is useful to build stronger bridges between mod-
els of academic and career development. Second, in keeping with
SCCT’s triadic-reciprocal view of person-behavior-situation inter-
action, we should note that most of the major elements in SCCT
are seen as influencing one another bidirectionally over time. (For
instance, as we discuss next, self-efficacy promotes interest; in cycli-
cal fashion, interest promotes opportunities for self-efficacy devel-
opment.) However, our analysis emphasizes directional paths that
we posit as having a predominant influence on academic-career
interests, choices, and performances.
Interest Development Model
Vocational interests (people’s pattern of likes, dislikes, and indiffer-
ences regarding various occupations and career-relevant activities)
are a standard fixture in career psychology. In particular, interests are
264 CAREER CHOICE AND DEVELOPMENT