Belonging, which may require a fair amount of conformity to satisfy,
and Independence are both considered important by the individual
(Brown, 1996a). These conflicts may be resolved by reprioritizing
values or by the adoption of life roles that allow the satisfaction of
both values.
Although values are primary factors in choosing, deriving satis-
faction from, and advancing in a career, a number of other variables
interact with values to influence occupational choice and the out-
comes of the choice. In some instances, these factors constrain both
the occupational choice-making process and the choices made. In
other instances, these factors have the opposite effect and make the
process easier and expand the number of occupational options avail-
able to the decision maker. For example, contextual variables such
as socioeconomic status (SES) (for example, Hotchkiss & Borow,
1996; Sinha, 1990), family or group influence (for example, Leong &
Serifica, 1995; Johnson, Swartz, & Martin, 1995), and history of dis-
crimination (for example, Leong & Serifica, 1995; Melamed, 1996;
Robinson & Ginter, 1999) influence both the decision-making pro-
cess and the career chosen. Gender (for example, M. Brown, 1995;
Gottfredson, 1996; Melamed, 1995) also plays a major role in the
occupations chosen, as do aptitudes (for example, Blau & Duncan,
1967; Jencks, Crouse, & Mueser, 1983; Phillips & Imhoff, 1997).
Other variables that may constrain the occupational choice-making
process, as well as the choice itself, include the mental health of the
decision makers (Casserly, 1982; Pietromonaco & Rock, 1987), the
information available to them, and self-efficacy as it relates to occu-
pational options chosen (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1996).
Propositions: Factors That
Influence the Choice-Making Process
In this section, eight propositions about the role of values and other
variables mentioned earlier are advanced. In some instances, sub-
propositions will be set forth as well. When empirical support is avail-
able to support propositions and subpropositions, it will be presented.
472 CAREER CHOICE AND DEVELOPMENT