patterns of development. Strong disharmony produces deviant pat-
terns of development. Accordingly, the four developmental lines
sketch a framework that can be used to assess career adaptability
and diagnose vocational decision-making difficulties.
The assessment framework arranges variables from the four
developmental lines into a structural model that can be used to rec-
ognize individual differences in the readiness and resources for the
task of crystallizing preferences. The variables in the structural
model of career adaptability are dichotomized into dispositions and
competencies. Dispositions refer to attitudes and beliefs that orient
an individual’s frame of mind, response tendencies, and inclinations
toward constructing career choices. The dispositions include career
concern, control, conception, and confidence as they emerge from
the growth stage and develop during the exploration stage.
The cognitive competencies, that is, comprehension and prob-
lem-solving abilities, denote the resources brought to bear on mak-
ing career choices. In the structural model, the competencies are
knowledge about self and occupations, as well as skill at relating the
two through matching, planning, and problem solving.
The development and use of competencies is shaped by the
dispositions, with each disposition facilitating development of a
particular competency. Concern generates planning competence;
control enhances decisional competence; conception engenders
knowledge of self and occupations; and confidence breeds problem-
solving competence. The cognitive competencies modulate career
choice behavior, whereas the dispositions, lying between compe-
tence and action, mediate the use of competencies (Savickas,
2000a). These cognitive competencies are measured by the Career
Maturity Inventory(Crites & Savickas, 1996), whereas confidence
about executing the corresponding behaviors is measured by the
Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale(Betz & Taylor, 1994).
Specification. As tentative preferences are formed and readiness
for making choices increases, the individual encounters the second
developmental task of the career exploration stage. Specifying an
174 CAREER CHOICE AND DEVELOPMENT