Finally, Lent and colleagues (1994) explored findings on the
hypothesized experiential sources of the social cognitive variables.
Personal performance accomplishments, vicarious learning, social
persuasion, and physiological arousal were all found to relate signif-
icantly to self-efficacy, with the largest relations occurring between
performance experience and self-efficacy. Findings have also sup-
ported the hypothesized relations between self-efficacy and out-
come expectations.
Taken together, the meta-analyses suggest support for SCCT’s
assumptions that
- Interests are strongly related to one’s self-efficacy and outcome
expectations. - Performance accomplishments in a specific endeavor lead
to interests in that endeavor to the extent that they foster a
growing sense of self-efficacy. - Self-efficacy and outcome expectations affect career-related
choices largely (though not completely) through their influ-
ence on interest. - Past performance affects future performance partly through
people’s abilities and partly through the self-efficacy percepts
they develop, which presumably help them organize their
skills and persist despite setbacks.
Generalizability of SCCT
SCCT was designed to aid understanding of the career development
of a wide range of students and workers, including persons who are
diverse with respect to race-ethnicity, culture, gender, socioeconomic
status, age, and disability status. Many of the research and practical
applications of the theory have thus far reflected this focus on diver-
sity and individual difference. In this section, we review some of these
applications and consider the theory’s potential to aid understanding
of career development within a changing societal context.
282 CAREER CHOICE AND DEVELOPMENT