Career Choice and Development

implement their interests, they will choose less interesting occupa-
tional paths that are available to them, that provide adequate out-
comes, and in which they feel they can perform adequately.

Performance Model

SCCT’s model of performance is concerned with the level (or qual-
ity) of people’s accomplishments, as well as with the persistence of
their behavior in career-related pursuits. As shown in Figure 7.3,
our analysis emphasizes the interplay among ability, self-efficacy,
outcome expectations, and goals in determining performance out-
comes. Ability (as assessed by achievement, aptitude, or past per-
formance indicators) is seen as affecting performance, directly and
indirectly, through its impact on self-efficacy and outcome expec-
tations. Self-efficacy and outcome expectations, in turn, affect the
level of performance goals that people set for themselves. Stronger
self-efficacy beliefs and more favorable outcome expectations pro-
mote more ambitious goals, which help people mobilize and sustain
their performance behavior.
Consistent with SCCT’s triadic-reciprocal view of interaction,
Figure 7.3 depicts a feedback loop between performance attainments

SOCIAL COGNITIVE CAREER THEORY 277

Performance

attainment

level

Outcome

expectations

Self-efficacy

Ability or past

performance

Performance

goals and

subgoals

Source:Copyright © 1993 by R. W. Lent, S. D. Brown, and G. Hackett.
Reprinted by permission.

FIGURE7.3. Model of Task Performance