distinguish them from others and that help make them who they
are. We convey this sense of individuals having their own unique
core when we speak of “trying to find yourself” and or say “life is a
journey of self-discovery.”
But when and from what does that discoverable self germinate?
Are we but products of other people’s actions, from parents to
politicians, who would shape us this way or that? Or are we born
into the world already unique and with stubborn proclivities that
propel us toward some ends rather than others? Were vocational
psychologists to make their assumptions on the nature-nurture
question explicit, their views would probably range widely. But the
field of vocational psychology has been mostly silent on this funda-
mental issue. That silence is probably due, in part, to the fact that
until recently it has lacked the necessary information. However,
there is now much new evidence that is relevant to career develop-
ment professionals, and I will highlight it shortly.
Another reason the field has been silent is that it has lacked a
comfortable ethical perspective on the nature-nurture debate. Nei-
ther side has seemed consistent with the ethos of counseling psy-
chology. On the one hand, if we want only what others train us to
want (nurture), what does it mean for counselors to help us discover
and implement those externally manufactured selves? On the other
hand, what if counselors are merely the handmaidens of biological
fate? What if people are driven blindly by their genetic heritage
(nature) to be who they are?
Behavioral genetic research reveals this grim choice to be a false
one, as I will show. The new evidence is entirely consistent with
career psychology’s traditional view of individuals as active agents
in creating themselves and shaping their own destiny. I have there-
fore extended my theory to incorporate behavioral genetic evidence
on interests and other career-relevant human traits. I have also tried
to illustrate how career counseling might take advantage of result-
ing insights about the way we create our public selves from the raw
materials that both nature and nurture provide us.
GOTTFREDSON’S THEORY OF CIRCUMSCRIPTION, COMPROMISE, AND SELF-CREATION 87