mise allows one to implement a desired social self, either through the
work itself or the lifestyle it allows self and family.
It should be stressed that these principles of compromise apply
to people just launching their adult lives. After adults have estab-
lished a life trajectory, solidified a public self, and discharged most of
their family responsibilities, they may reflect on the compromises
they have made. Freed from early life concerns, older adults who feel
they have sacrificed their private selves to fulfill their duties as pub-
lic selves may now alter course to pursue their “true calling” in life.
Extensions of the Theory
The principles of circumscription and compromise just described
represent the development of the average person. However, there is
much variability among individuals. Indeed, that is the message of
counseling psychology—that we are all unique individuals, regard-
less of the circumstances of our birth and upbringing and, moreover,
that satisfaction and achievement flow from finding life roles and
activities that accord with our uniqueness.
Career theorists, myself included, have often focused on group
differences in career development, particularly gender differences,
but seemed to lose sight of the far greater variation among individ-
ualswithingroups. Our theories have tended to take key individual
differences for granted rather than try to explain them. However,
not knowing how nature and nurture work together to govern the
direction of personal growth hinders our ability to help counselees
thrive. Why do some young people circumscribe their choices
more narrowly or compromise them less wisely? Why do children
from similar environments, even the same households, often have
different interests and abilities and follow quite different career
trajectories? To what extent did they encounter—or create—dif-
ferent opportunities? To what extent did they always march to differ-
ent drummers, and why?
GOTTFREDSON’S THEORY OF CIRCUMSCRIPTION, COMPROMISE, AND SELF-CREATION 107