Longitudinal Associations Between Vocational Identity Process and Career Goals

Abstract

Vocational identity develops through the interplay between process and content dimensions. A three-wave longitudinal study investigated how identity process dimensions (in-breadth exploration, in-depth exploration, commitment making, identification with commitment, self-doubt, flexibility) and content dimensions represented by career goals (intrinsic goals, extrinsic goals) are interconnected across time. Participants were 327 full-time college students in South Korea at Time 1, 253 at Time 2, and 227 at Time 3. They rated values associated with their current career goal and completed the Vocational Identity Status Assessment 3 times with a 6-month interval. The autoregressive cross-lagged path analysis found positive reciprocal associations between intrinsic career goals and identification with commitment. Furthermore, intrinsic career goals positively predicted in-depth exploration, and self-doubt negatively predicted intrinsic career goals. These findings support the reciprocal relationships between vocational identity process and career goals in general, and between intrinsic career goals and the commitment dimension of identity more specifically.

Keywords

vocational identity career goals emerging adulthood longitudinal study

Reciprocal Associations Between Vocational Identity Process and Career Goals: A Three-Wave Longitudinal Study

Vocational identity development plays a crucial role in the overall identity formation process (Porfeli et al., 2011). According to Super’s (1953) theory of vocational development, exploring and establishing a vocational self-concept is an important developmental task during the exploration stage. In this stage (ages 14–24), adolescents consider various career options that are suitable for their desires, interests, and values, receive necessary vocational education and training, and, in early adulthood, enter into an occupation of their choice. Thus, developing a well-defined vocational identity is essential to a successful transition from adolescence to adulthood, predicting future occupational achievement and satisfaction (Brown & Lent, 2016; Creed et al., 2018).

Forming a vocational identity is a particularly important task for emerging adults in South Korea. The tasks of career development during adolescence are often delayed until after entering universities owing to the Korean education system centering on the college entrance examination (W. Park, 2002). Unfortunately, many college students still remain ambiguous about their future (Hwang et al., 2010; K. Park & Lee, 2009; Seo & Lee, 2012). Understanding the vocational identity development of college students, thus, has been a central area of career research in South Korea (Seo & Lee, 2012).

Vocational identity is developed through the interaction of three distinctive but related dimensions: process, content, and structure (Porfeli et al., 2013). The “process” is characterized by cognitions and behaviors related to career exploration and occupational commitment. The “content” is the projected attributes of self onto a worker role, such as one’s interests, work values, and career goals. The “structure” refers to the clarity and accessibility of one’s vocational identity. These three dimensions develop independently, but progress in one dimension can be facilitative of favorable changes in other dimensions (Porfeli et al., 2013). Although the propositions regarding the interplay of identity dimensions provide a valuable framework to understand vocational identity development, little empirical studies have been conducted to test them in career literature.

However, the empirical examinations of the interrelatedness of ego identity dimensions have been initiated in the field of developmental psychology, with a particular emphasis on identity process and content among three dimensions. Historically, ego identity research has dealt more with the process of identity development (how people develop their identities) than with the content (what the identity is), and even less with their relationships (Galliher et al., 2017). Researchers have acknowledged such limitations in ego identity research and have begun to investigate the interplay between them (Galliher et al., 2017). The findings of these empirical studies have supported the interrelatedness of identity process and content dimensions, one serving as both a source and product of the other (Scottham et al., 2010; Yip et al., 2006).

In line with the aforementioned movement in ego identity literature, the present study focused on the interrelationship between identity process and content in the vocational domain. Specifically, the present study investigated the longitudinal association between multidimensional vocational identity process (i.e., exploration, commitment, and reconsideration) and content (i.e., intrinsic and extrinsic career goals), with an aim to explore which aspects of identity process and content would be more closely associated and whether their relationship is unidirectional or reciprocal.

The Process of Vocational Identity: Exploration, Commitment, and Reconsideration

Vocational identity is a consistent, continuous, and integrated perception about oneself in the context of work (Erikson, 1956), with a clear and stable picture of one’s career goals, interests, and abilities (J. J. Holland, Gottfredson, & Power, 1980). Vocational identity achievement can be obtained by the in-depth exploration of oneself and various career alternatives and the commitment to a chosen career (Marcia, 1993; Porfeli et al., 2013). Research has provided support for vocational identity as playing a pivotal role in career development, facilitating career decision making and career maturity (Graef et al., 1985; J. L. Holland & Holland, 1977; Long et al., 1995).

The initial conceptualization of vocational identity was unidimensional, with an emphasis on the commitment process. For example, My Vocational Situation (J. L. Holland, Daiger, & Power, 1980) measures vocational identity with the Vocational Identity Scale (VIS) on a unidimensional continuum. VIS measures the degree of occupational commitment (decidedness and clarity of occupational preferences), but cannot differentiate commitment without exploration from commitment based on exploration (Blustein et al., 1994), failing to assess the entire features of vocational identity process (Leung et al., 1992). Porfeli et al. (2011) addressed this limitation by proposing an alternative process model of vocational identity, which includes the three dimensions of exploration, commitment, and reconsideration, and each dimension has two subdimensions. The dimensions of exploration and commitment are based on Marcia’s (1966) ego identity development model. Exploration is the process of trying out and comparing various career alternatives. The subdimensions are in-breadth exploration (the broad exploration of various career alternatives) and in-depth exploration (the focused exploration on a specific career). Commitment refers to how invested one is to specific career goals. The subdimensions include commitment making (the degree of certainty about a chosen career) and identification with commitment (the degree of commitment to a chosen career). Porfeli et al. (2013) added the dimension of reconsideration to reflect the dynamic and cyclical changes in vocational identity development or the reexploration process followed by the commitment process. Reconsideration subdimensions include career self-doubt (fear and uncertainty about career plans) and career flexibility (openness and preparedness for career changes). This multidimensional conceptualization of vocational identity served as the theoretical foundation for the development of the Vocational Identity Status Assessment (VISA). The scale validation studies have supported the proposed factor structure (three dimensions with six subdimensions) using confirmatory factor analyses (B. Lee et al., 2014; Porfeli et al., 2011).

Each dimension of VISA may play a differential role in career development. For example, the studies examining the relationship between the VISA dimensions and career adaptability showed that identification with commitment and in-depth exploration among six subdimensions of the VISA were more strongly related with career adaptability (Negru-Subtirica et al., 2015; Porfeli & Savickas, 2012; Zhang et al., 2019). Career flexibility, a subdimension of the VISA reconsideration dimension showed no or positive relationship with career adaptability, while career self-doubt, another subdimension, was negatively associated with adaptability. These findings imply that vocational identity process dimensions have distinctive functions.

The Content of Vocational Identity: Career Goals

Setting a career goal is a critical developmental task in vocational identity development (Erikson, 1968). Career goals are closely related to psychological attributes such as interests and values (Lent et al., 1994). However, goals are distinctive, in that they are not only less stable but also more proximate to vocational behaviors (Porfeli et al., 2013; Schoon & Parsons, 2002; Silvia, 2001). Compared to interests or values, career goals are, thus, believed to be time- and context-dependent (Porfeli et al., 2013).

Much previous research on career goals as a content focused on the interest types represented by these goals (e.g., Hirschi, 2010b; Hirschi & Vondracek, 2009). Silvia (2001) has proposed that career goals represent expressed interests that are conceptually different from measured interests because they include motivational aspects. Social cognitive career theory (Lent et al., 1994) also suggests that career goals are largely influenced by interests. These theoretical foundations facilitated the research focusing on the interest types of career goals (Blanco, 2011; Lent et al., 2008.)

Work values also play a powerful role in developing career goals (Dawis & Lofquist, 1984; Jin & Rounds, 2012; Parry & Urwin, 2011). Empirical studies have supported that career goals are reflective of work values (Ben-Shem & Avi-Itzhak, 1991; Brown, 1996; Vigoda-Gadot & Grimland, 2008). Moreover, Porfeli et al. (2013) suggested that work values and goals were closely related, serving a regulatory role in one’s identity development process. Nonetheless, the value properties of career goals have not been studied to our knowledge. Thus, the current study focused on the value aspects of career goals in relation to vocational identity processes.

In line with the value research, the current study specified the value properties of career goals into intrinsic and extrinsic ones, the most common categorization of work values (Dawis & Lofquist, 1984). Intrinsic work values mainly concern immaterial values satisfied by work itself, such as achievement or autonomy, whereas extrinsic work values refer to the monetary rewards or conditions of work (George & Jones, 1997). Other studies have used a more specified categorization, such as the three-factor model of intrinsic, reward, and security values (Sortheix et al., 2015) and the four-factor model of extrinsic and intrinsic work values, and social and economic status values (Dolan et al., 2004). Yet these subdivided classifications at least consider intrinsic and extrinsic values, and the majority of studies use the bifactor classification (Degenais, 1998; Hirschi, 2010a; Jung, 2013; H. M. Kim & Lim, 2012; Ros et al., 1999). Hence, the present study also used a bifactor model to operationally define career goals or intrinsic and extrinsic career goals.

The Relationship Between Vocational Identity Process and Career Goals

The process (i.e., exploration, commitment, reconsideration) and content (i.e., career goals) dimensions of vocational identity are central components of career development. Despite the proposition that the process and content of vocational identity are interrelated (Porfeli et al., 2013), career goals as a content has not been studied in relation to the vocational identity process. Previous literature on vocational identity has been more concerned about the stability of career goals and the vocational identity process (J. L. Holland, 1997; Porfeli et al., 2013).

The lack of existing studies focusing on the relationship between vocational identity process and career goals makes it difficult to anticipate how they would be related. However, research on the relationships of vocational identity process with work values, though indirectly, may have implications for the current study because work values are one of guiding forces in developing career goals (Dawis & Lofquist, 1984; Jin & Rounds, 2012; Parry & Urwin, 2011). A few studies have indicated that vocational identity process was positively related to intrinsic values and negatively to extrinsic ones (Hirschi, 2010a; S. W. Park & Park, 2019), although their causal relationship was inconclusive. Hirschi (2010a) examined the predictive effects of work values on career decidedness, planning, and exploration of adolescents with a 1-year longitudinal design. He found that intrinsic values positively predicted an integrated score of career decidedness, planning, and exploration. However, a reverse causal relationship was implied in a study by S. W. Park and Park (2019) who using an experimental design found that a lower level of commitment led to greater endorsement of materialistic values. Although the study by Park and Park was not conducted in the context of career development, their findings may have implications for understanding the development of vocational identity.

In sum, the process domains (i.e., exploration, commitment, and reconsideration) and the content domains (i.e., intrinsic and extrinsic career goals) are proposed to be distinctive yet interrelated in the development of vocational identity. However, their relationship has not been empirically investigated yet. Furthermore, the interconnected nature of their relationship proposed in the vocational identity development model (Porfeli et al., 2013) is difficult to observe in a cross-sectional design. Thus, a longitudinal study that can examine the temporal interrelationships between the process and content domains of vocational identity is needed.

The Current Study

The purpose of the current study was to find empirical support for the temporal interrelatedness between the process and the content dimensions of vocational identity. Prior to examining the interrelationships between them, we conducted preliminary analyses on the developmental trajectory of each research variable over time. The longitudinal interrelationships between the process and the content dimensions of identity were explored using a cross-lagged path model, exploring whether their relationship would be unidirectional or reciprocal and how each subdimension of vocational identity would be related to each other. Given the exploratory nature of the investigation due to the dearth of relevant previous findings, the longitudinal relationships of all six subdimensions of identity process (i.e., in-depth exploration, in-breath exploration, commitment making, identification with commitment, career self-doubt, and career flexibility) and the two dimensions of career goals (i.e., intrinsic and extrinsic) were investigated.

Method

Participants and Procedure

Data for this study were taken from a large longitudinal data set investigating career development of college students since May 2017. Data sets collected in May 2018, November 2018, and May 2019 were used in this study because they included the variables of interest in this study. Participants were recruited by posting an announcement about the study on online university communities in South Korea. The initial participants received a reminder for their subsequent participations by email and text messages every 6 months. They provided informed consent and completed questionnaires online created on Qualtrics in each wave. A total of 327 full-time students completed the survey in the first wave of this study. Of those, 253 completed the survey in the second wave. However, 14 of the 253 participants (4.3%) were excluded from the analyses because they were employed between the two waves (attrition rate of 26.9%). The third survey was completed by 229 participants. Of those, 33 were excluded (10.1%) owing to employment (attrition rate of 40.3).

The initial sample included 245 women (74.9%) and 82 men (25.1%), and the mean age was 23.7 (SD = 2.1; range = 20–31 years). There were 98 (30%) college juniors, 80 (24.4%) seniors, 70 (21.4%) sophomores, 55 (18.1%) job-seeking recent graduates, 11 (3.4%) freshmen, and nine (2.8%) graduate students. The participants majored in diverse academic fields including business and economics (107, 32.7%), liberal arts (56, 17.1%), engineering (57, 17.4%), education (32, 9.8%), science (31, 9.5%), arts (22, 6.7%), medicine and nursing (10, 3.1%), and others (12, 3.7%). Regarding the types of institutions, most of the participants indicated university (297, 90.8%), followed by college (24, 7.3%), and others (6, 1.8%). The majority of participants resided in Seoul (203, 62.1%). The rest were from various regions of South Korea, such as Gyeonggi (35, 10.7%), Chungcheong (43, 13.1%), Gyeongsang (30, 9.2%), Jeolla (10, 3.1%), and Gangwon (6, 1.8%).

Results from the attrition analyses indicated no significant differences in the demographic and study variables except for gender between the ones who participated in all three waves and those in only one or two waves. The proportion of men who participated in two or less waves was larger than that of men participated in all three waves (χ² = 7.37, df = 1, p < .01). The study was approved by the institutional review board of the university with which the authors of this article are affiliated.

Measures

Vocational identity

Vocational identity was assessed using the Korean version of the Vocational Identity Status Assessment (VISA-K; B. Lee et al., 2014), which is a translated and validated version of the original VISA (Porfeli et al., 2011) for use with Korean samples. The VISA-K eliminated three items from the original 30-item VISA owing to low factor loadings resulting in 27 items that are responded to on a 5-point scale (1= strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). The VISA-K includes three dimensions and six subdimensions that form six subscales. The career exploration dimension consists of the In-Breath Career Exploration (“Learning about various jobs that I might like”) and In-Depth Career Exploration (“Trying to find people that share my career interests”) subscales. The career commitment dimension consists of the Commitment Making (“I have invested a lot of energy into preparing for my chosen career”) and Identification With Commitment (“Becoming a worker in my chosen career will allow me to become the person I dream to be”) subscales. The career reconsideration dimension consists of the Career Self-Doubt (“I may not be able to get the job I really want”) and Career Flexibility (“What I look for in a job will change in the future”) subscales.

The original version of the VISA showed sound psychometric properties (Porfeli et al., 2011). Confirmatory factor analysis supported the six-factor model, with internal consistency reliability coefficients ranging from .76 to .84. The validation study of the Korean version (B. Lee et al., 2014) also provided support for the six-factor structure after excluding three items with low loadings. The internal consistency reliability coefficients ranged between .69 and .86.

In the present study, internal consistency (Cronbach’s α) at the three waves, respectively, was as follows: .73, .69, and .66 for In-Breath Career Exploration; .77, .70, and .67 for In-Depth Career Exploration; .67, .65, and .69 for Commitment Making; .70, .62, and .72 for Identification With Commitment; .81, .83, and .84 for Career Self-Doubt; and .83, .82, and .77 for Career Flexibility. Although internal consistency coefficients of a few subscales were relatively low, they were within the range of coefficients reported by previous studies using VISA (Marinica & Negru-Subtirica, 2020; Negru-Subtirica & Pop, 2018). In addition, several researchers have argued that the internal consistency coefficients above .60 may be acceptable (Churchill, 1991; Peterson, 1994; Slater, 1995). Thus, this study retained all subscale scores.

Career goals

Career goals were measured by K. Park et al. (2018)’s scale that assesses the intrinsic and extrinsic value properties of one’s career goal. This scale consists of 10 items that ask the extent to which one’s career goal is expected to satisfy specific values on a 5-point scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). The items are categorized into intrinsic and extrinsic goals based on bifactor value models of Herzberg (1966) and Lawler III and Porter (1967). The intrinsic career goals are reflected by 5 items of achievement, challenge, responsibility, personal growth, and autonomy, while the extrinsic ones are assessed with the other 5 items of income, welfare, work environment, promotion opportunities, and job security.

K. Park et al.’s (2018) study supported a two-factor structure of intrinsic and extrinsic goals, with an internal consistency reliability coefficient of .76 for the measure of intrinsic goals and .78 for extrinsic goals. In this study, internal consistency at three waves were .80, .79, and .77 for the measure of intrinsic goals and .80, .78, .75 for the measure of extrinsic goals.

Data Analysis

Descriptive statistics and correlations were calculated to examine the overall patterns of the relationships among the variables using SPSS Version 24. As preliminary analyses, longitudinal changes of the identity process and career goal factors were examined using latent growth modeling (LGM). The longitudinal interrelations between vocational identity process and career goals, the main research questions of this study, were analyzed with an autoregressive cross-lagged path analysis because it allows to examine the cross-lagged effect of one variable on another one (and vice versa) while controlling for each variable’s autoregressive effects (Hong et al., 2008). We included gender and year in college at Wave 1 as control variables because they were reported to be related to vocational identity process and career goals (Chung, 2002; Koo & Kim, 2016; Hirschi, 2010a; Toporek & Pope-Divis, 2001). Specifically, academic year in school was positively related to identity commitment (Koo & Kim, 2016; Toporek & Pope-Divis, 2001). In addition, females, compared to males, reported a greater level of identity commitment (Chung, 2002) and more intrinsic values (Hirschi, 2010a). LGM and cross-lagged analysis were conducted with Mplus Version 8.0. Missing data were processed using full information maximum likelihood that has been efficient for incomplete data (Schafer & Olsen, 1998) because some subjects were unavailable during one or two data-collection periods.

Results

Preliminary Analyses

The data set was checked for univariate normality prior to statistical analyses. In accordance with the guidelines of severe nonnormality (i.e., skewness > 2 and kurtosis > 7) proposed by West et al. (1995), the absolute values of skewness and kurtosis of all variables did not indicate nonnormality. The results of correlation analyses indicated that the six subdimensions of the vocational identity process were more strongly correlated with intrinsic career goals than with extrinsic goals within each wave. Overall, within-wave correlations between identity process and career goals were stronger than between wave correlations. Descriptive statistics and correlation among the variables of interest are provided in Table 1

Table 1.
Descriptive Statistics and Correlations Among Career Goals and Vocational Identity.

InGoal1 ExGoal1 InbE1 IndE1 Com1 IdCom1 Sedo1 Flex1 InGoal2 ExGoal2 InbE2 IndE2 Com2 IdCom2 Sedo2 Flex2 InGoal3 ExGoal3 InbE3 IndE3 Com3 IdCom3 Sedo3 Flex3

InGoal1

ExGoal1 .18

InbE1 .23 .10

IndE1 .47 .17 .46

Com1 .36 .10 .19 .57

IdCom1 .49 .33 .26 .61 .56

Sedo1 −.31 −.19 .10 −.24 −.44 −.44

Flex1 −.02 −.10 .46 .15 −.13 * −.01 .42

InGoal2 .55 .12 .14 * .31 .24 .38 −.30 −.09

ExGoal2 .06 .58 .07 .12 .10 .30 −.23 ** −.06 .16 *

InbE2 .06 .03 .65 .24 −.05 .07 .13 * .37 .10 .04

IndE2 .30 .04 .31 .55 .36 .34 −.23 .03 .26 .10 .42

Com2 .25 .04 .05 .34 .64 .43 −.53 −.30 .28 .08 .05 .43

IdCom2 .32 .23 .17 .38 .36 .54 −.40 −.18 .49 .35 .22 .53 .47

Sedo2 −.20 ** −.14 * .05 −.31 −.44 −.39 .70 .38 −.30 −.21 ** .14 * −.27 −.50 −.42 **

Flex2 −.08 −.13 * .36 .00 −.30 −.14 * .41 .58 −.14 * −.16 * .52 .07 −.32 −.21 .47

InGoal3 .48 .10 .01 .40 .32 .37 −.34 −.12 .62 .10 .05 .34 .36 .47 −.36 −.19 *

ExGoal3 .09 .53 .04 .20 .07 .22 ** −.16 * −.08 .04 .68 −.08 .08 .08 .23 −.20 ** −.16 * .01

InbE3 .19 .03 .63 .27 .06 .12 .06 .36 .16 * .03 .66 .29 .10 .15 .06 .34 .11 −.05

IndE3 .40 .14 .29 .52 .30 .34 −.30 −.04 .41 .05 .23 .56 .23 .39 −.31 −.04 .33 .16 * .41

Com3 .30 .18 * .06 .47 .58 .45 −.50 −.21 .27 .11 −.01 .35 .62 .39 −.47 −.27 .34 .16 * .13 .46

IdCom3 .40 .15 * .08 .41 .39 .59 −.42 −.11 .46 .22 .07 .43 .43 .65 −.46 −.17 * .45 .26 .20 .53 .55

Sedo3 −.30 −.23 .01 −.34 −.40 −.45 .72 .30 −.29 −.23 .09 −.31 −.43 −.48 .75 .36 −.34 −.27 .02 −.38 −.49 −.48

Flex3 −.10 −.12 .36 −.06 −.25 −.15 * .34 .54 −.02 −.09 .42 .04 −.29 −.22 .36 .63 −.10 −.25 .46 .08 −.23 −.14 45 **

M 3.93 3.39 3.49 3.72 3.35 3.67 3.05 3.73 3.94 3.39 3.52 3.74 3.35 3.72 3.02 3.73 3.93 3.31 3.54 3.78 3.43 3.73 2.98 3.68

SD .64 .73 .69 .61 .70 .60 .87 .72 .62 .72 .68 .55 .72 .57 .90 .70 .63 .70 .67 .53 .70 .60 .92 .70

Skewness −.389 .037 −.331 −.169 .109 .031 −.316 −.605 −.588 −.324 −.484 −.470 −.161 −.074 −.241 −.740 −.283 −.348 −.372 .065 −.182 −.116 −.226 −.720

Kurtosis .269 −.268 .319 .206 −.200 .194 −.332 .594 .854 .205 .480 .521 −.139 −.063 −.339 .870 −.374 .135 .196 −.053 −.172 −.324 −.530 .708

Note. InGoal = intrinsic career goals; ExGoal = extrinsic career goals; InbE = in-breadth exploration; IndE = in-depth exploration; Com = commitment making; IdCom = identification with commitment; Sedo = career self-doubt; Flexi = career flexibility; M = mean; SD = standard deviation.

p < .05. p < .01. p < .001.

Prior to testing the cross-lagged relationships between vocational identity process and career goals, preliminary analyses were conducted to examine the temporal trajectories of vocational identity process and career goals using LGM. Specifically, we analyzed mean-level changes in the six subdimensions of identity process and two types of career goals. We evaluated the fit of linear models through multiple indices (Byrne, 2012): CFI values higher than .95, and RMSEA and SRMR values less than .05 suggested a good fit. The model fit indices indicated excellent data fit for all linear growth models (Table 2). However, the slopes were significant only for three subdimensions of identity process. Commitment making and identification with commitment significantly increased over time, while career self-doubt decreased over time.

Table 2.
Latent Growth Model Analysis: Growth Factors and Model Fit for Linear Models.

Variable Growth Factors Model Fit Indices

Intercept (I) Slope (S)

M (δ²) M (δ²) r (I, S) χ²/df CFI RMSEA SRMR

Intrinsic career goals 3.95* (.20) −0.00 (.02) .00 0.367/1 1 <.001 .009

Extrinsic career goals 3.40 (.32) −0.01 (.05) −.04 0.264/1 1 <.001 .008

In-breadth exploration 3.54 (.32) 0.02 (.01) −.03 0.324/1 1 <.001 .008

In-depth exploration 3.72* (.20) 0.03 (−.01) .00 0.099/1 1 <.001 .005

Commitment making 3.32* (.33) 0.06(−.00) −.00 0.293/1 1 <.001 .007

Identification with commitment 3.67* (.15) 0.05(−.00) .03 0.007/1 1 <.001 .001

Career self-doubt 3.06 (.54) −0.06(.01) .02 0.001/1 1 <.001 .000

Career flexibility 3.76* (.29) −0.04 (.03) −.03 3.338/1 1 <.001 .030

N = 327.

p < .05. p < .01. p < .001.

Interrelatedness Between Vocational Identity Process and Work Values

Cross-lagged path analysis was used to explore the interrelationship between vocational identity process and work values across time. We examined the cross-lagged associations between six identity process dimensions and two types of career goals (e.g., identity process at Time 1 predicting work values at Time 2) after controlling for gender and year in college. Additionally, we controlled for (a) first-order autoregressive paths (e.g., intrinsic career goals at Time 1 predicting intrinsic work values at Time 2), (b) second-order autoregressive paths (e.g., intrinsic career goals at Time 1 predicting intrinsic career goals at Time 3), and (c) within-time correlations among all variables. To enhance parsimony of the model, we tested whether cross-lagged paths were time-invariant by comparing the baseline unconstrained model (Model 1) in which the cross-lagged paths were free to vary with the time invariance model in which they were fixed across time. The significant differences between the two models were determined by matching at least two of these three criteria: Δχ² significant at p < .05, ΔCFI ≥ −.010, and ΔRMSEA ≥ .015 (Chen, 2007; Cheung & Rensvold, 2002). The results showed that the difference between the baseline model and the time-invariant model was not significant, Δχ²(24) = 38.704, p < .001, ΔCFI = −.006, ΔRMSEA = .001. We retained the more parsimonious model with time-invariant cross-lagged paths as a final model.

The final model fit the data well, χ²(176) = 271.607, CFI = .958, RMSEA = .041, 90% confidence interval [.031, .050], SRMR = .068. Findings of the cross-lagged path analyses showed bidirectional relations between identification with commitment and intrinsic career goals. Career self-doubt negatively predicted intrinsic career goals as well. Additionally, intrinsic work values positively predicted in-depth exploration. Significant cross-lagged paths are shown in Figure 1.

Figure. 1.
The cross-lagged relationships between vocational identity process and career goals. Note. Only significant paths are presented. For the sake of clarity, within-time correlation coefficients, auto-regressive path coefficients, and control variables’ path coefficients are not reported for the same of clarity. Cross-lagged path coefficients are reported only once because the assumption of stationarity (i.e., cross-lagged paths are time-invariant) is satisfied.p < .05. ***p < .001.

Discussion

The present three-wave longitudinal study investigated the temporal interrelationships between vocational identity process dimensions and career goals during the developmental stage of emerging adulthood. After controlling for autoregressive effects, this study found reciprocal relationships between identification with commitment and intrinsic career goals. Additionally, career self-doubt negatively predicted intrinsic career goals, and a predictive effect of intrinsic career goals on in-depth exploration was found.

Prior to examining the temporal interrelatedness between research variables, we conducted preliminary analyses on the developmental trajectory of the research variables. Linear increases over time were found in the two subdimensions of the commitment dimension, and a linear decrease in career self-doubt of the reconsideration dimension. These results appear to reflect the temporal changes in identity development in emerging adulthood. Emerging adults are facing the developmental task of deciding on an occupation and getting a job within their chosen field, which requires them to be more focused and committed on a specific career goal (Stringer et al., 2011). For this reason, the development of vocational identity may center on the commitment dimension during this particular period.

The examination of the associations between vocational identity process and career goals over time indicated that they have reciprocal effects. The bivariate correlations across time showed that in-depth exploration, commitment making, identification with commitment, and career self-doubt within the process domain were more strongly related to intrinsic career goals. The cross-lagged path analysis further showed the significant bidirectional associations between identification with commitment and intrinsic career goals, supporting the interrelatedness of the process and the content domains of vocational identity development (Porfeli et al., 2013). These findings are not only consistent with previous studies on vocational identity process and values but also supplement their findings of unidirectional effects (Hirschi, 2010; S. W. Park & Park, 2019).

The reciprocal relationship between identification with commitment and intrinsic career goals shows how the process and content domains may work interactively in career development. First, identification with commitment predicted the endorsement of greater intrinsic career goals. Although the correlation analysis showed a relationship between commitment making and intrinsic career goals, it was no longer significant after controlling for the autoregressive effects. This may suggest that not just making a career decision but identifying with and having confidence in the decision facilitates a “true reasoning” process (Parsons, 1909), helping to discover additional intrinsic career goals. Festinger’s (1957) cognitive dissonance theory may offer another explanation. Those who feel a strong connection to their career goals may focus more on the appealing aspects of these goals, consequently developing more positive attitudes toward them (Lieberman et al., 2001). Reversely, intrinsic career goals positively predicted identification with commitment. Consistent with previous findings on intrinsic values (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002; Hirschi, 2010), we found intrinsic career goals were a better predictor of identification with commitment than were extrinsic goals. Such results imply that attachment to one’s career decision is preceded by the value of work itself, rather than external rewards or promotion.

Two unidirectional effects were also found. First, career self-doubt negatively predicted intrinsic career goals. While career flexibility and self-doubt are two subdimensions of reconsideration, they are oppositional aspects of it, in that career flexibility is facilitative of adaptation, whereas career self-doubt is detrimental (Porfeli et al., 2011). Our finding supports this distinction, suggesting that feeling confused and doubtful about a career leads to devaluation of career goals. Career self-doubt has been found to be associated with depression and anxiety (Y.-R. Kim & Lee, 2016; Lannegrand-Willems et al., 2016). Thus, negative affect associated with career self-doubt may color the evaluation of one’s career goal.

Second, intrinsic career goals increased the level of subsequent in-depth exploration. Of the exploration subdimensions of identity process, in-depth exploration, involving a more focused search, was associated with career planning and confidence, while in-breath exploration was associated with a lack of planning (Porfeli & Skorikov, 2010). The finding that intrinsic career goals predicted both in-depth exploration and identification with commitment implies that intrinsic career goals are more closely related to intensifying the search of narrowed down career options.

Extrinsic career goals were not related to vocational identity process, which is consistent with Hirschi’s (2010) study but differs from the S. W. Park and Park (2019) study that found endorsement of extrinsic values related to lower commitment. The disparity may be a result of the differences in the research context. We focused on their relationship in the context of career development, while Park et al. investigated the relationship between ego identity and general values. Moreover, it may be because we used the intrinsic and extrinsic goals as two related but independent dimensions, while Park et al. employed unidimensional extrinsic values that represented relative importance (i.e., the proportion of materialistic values endorsed to general values endorsed).

In conclusion, our results support the interrelationships of the process and the content domains of vocational identity, or more specifically, the three process dimensions and two types of career goals. Specifically, the reciprocal associations of the two domains were stronger between commitment with identification and intrinsic goals. Furthermore, the process dimensions of exploration, commitment, and reconsideration seem to have distinctive relationships with intrinsic career goals. While extrinsic career goals were not facilitative or detrimental in the identity development process, intrinsic career goals played a positive role.

This study expands on our understanding of vocational identity by providing empirical support for the interactive dynamics of the process and content domains of vocational identity development. Using longitudinal data, the bidirectional effects were identified, integrating the existing unidirectional findings. In addition, the role of each identity process dimension as well as each career goal type was specified and differentiated.

Implications for Practice

There are practical implications from this study. The findings of this study may benefit career counselors working with emerging adults. First, it would be important to help young adults identify or clarify the intrinsic career goals when they do not have a clear purpose for exploring or a sense of confidence in their career goals. In order to discover and solidify intrinsic values of their goals, career counselors may encourage college students to explore career goals that are compatible with their intrinsic values and to develop coping strategies interfering with achieving these goals. At the same time, working on their difficulties in developing personal attachment to a career goal can initiate a virtuous circle by improving intrinsic values of their career goals. For example, career construction counseling (Savickas, 2013) can be beneficial in developing better integrated and balanced vocational identity. Finally, intervening with career self-doubt may be equally important when evaluating career goals related to a career.

Limitations and Future Directions

The limitations of this study are as follows. First, the longitudinal data were collected within a relatively short period of time. Future research is needed to investigate changes over a more extended period of time. Another limitation concerns the small sample size. With a larger sample, the differences in gender or year in college could be examined instead of controlling for their effects. In addition, only college students were included in this study, limiting the generalizability of the findings. Future studies are needed with diverse groups in different developmental stages. The attrition of participants also raises a concern in the interpretation of the findings, although the attrition analyses yielded nonsignificant differences for most of the variables. Fifth, this study focused only on the dimensions of process and content of vocational identity, not the structure dimension, providing only partial support for the propositions made by vocational identity model (Porfeli et al., 2013). The interactive relationships among three dimensions may need to be investigated. Finally, future studies should consider including ultimate career outcomes. We only focused on identity process and work values during the college years. It would be important to extend the findings of this study by investigating how they would be related to career adaptation in the school-to-work transition, such as employment and job satisfaction.

Variable	Growth Factors	Model Fit Indices
Intrinsic career goals	3.95* (.20*)	−0.00 (.02)	.00	0.367/1	1	<.001	.009
Extrinsic career goals	3.40* (.32*)	−0.01 (.05)	−.04	0.264/1	1	<.001	.008
In-breadth exploration	3.54* (.32*)	0.02 (.01***)	−.03	0.324/1	1	<.001	.008
In-depth exploration	3.72*** (.20)	0.03 (−.01)	.00	0.099/1	1	<.001	.005
Commitment making	3.32* (.33*)	0.06*(−.00)	−.00	0.293/1	1	<.001	.007
Identification with commitment	3.67* (.15)	0.05*(−.00)	.03	0.007/1	1	<.001	.001
Career self-doubt	3.06* (.54*)	−0.06*(.01)	.02	0.001/1	1	<.001	.000
Career flexibility	3.76* (.29*)	−0.04 (.03)	−.03	3.338/1	1	<.001	.030

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2017S1A5A2A03068974).

ORCID iD

Eunjoo Yang

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	InGoal1	ExGoal1	InbE1	IndE1	Com1	IdCom1	Sedo1	Flex1	InGoal2	ExGoal2	InbE2	IndE2	Com2	IdCom2	Sedo2	Flex2	InGoal3	ExGoal3	InbE3	IndE3	Com3	IdCom3	Sedo3	Flex3
InGoal1
ExGoal1	.18 **
InbE1	.23 **	.10
IndE1	.47 **	.17 **	.46 **
Com1	.36 **	.10	.19 **	.57 **
IdCom1	.49 **	.33 **	.26 **	.61 **	.56 **
Sedo1	−.31 **	−.19 **	.10	−.24 **	−.44 **	−.44 **
Flex1	−.02	−.10	.46 **	.15 **	−.13 *	−.01	.42 **
InGoal2	.55 **	.12	.14 *	.31 **	.24 **	.38 **	−.30 **	−.09
ExGoal2	.06	.58 **	.07	.12	.10	.30 **	−.23 **	−.06	.16 *
InbE2	.06	.03	.65 **	.24 **	−.05	.07	.13 *	.37 **	.10	.04
IndE2	.30 **	.04	.31 **	.55 **	.36 **	.34 **	−.23 **	.03	.26 **	.10	.42 **
Com2	.25 **	.04	.05	.34 **	.64 **	.43 **	−.53 **	−.30 **	.28 **	.08	.05	.43 **
IdCom2	.32 **	.23 **	.17 **	.38 **	.36 **	.54 **	−.40 **	−.18 **	.49 **	.35 **	.22 **	.53 **	.47 **
Sedo2	−.20 **	−.14 *	.05	−.31 **	−.44 **	−.39 **	.70 **	.38 **	−.30 **	−.21 **	.14 *	−.27 **	−.50 **	−.42 **
Flex2	−.08	−.13 *	.36 **	.00	−.30 **	−.14 *	.41 **	.58 **	−.14 *	−.16 *	.52 **	.07	−.32 **	−.21 **	.47 **
InGoal3	.48 **	.10	.01	.40 **	.32 **	.37 **	−.34 **	−.12	.62 **	.10	.05	.34 **	.36 **	.47 **	−.36 **	−.19 *
ExGoal3	.09	.53 **	.04	.20 **	.07	.22 **	−.16 *	−.08	.04	.68 **	−.08	.08	.08	.23 **	−.20 **	−.16 *	.01
InbE3	.19 **	.03	.63 **	.27 **	.06	.12	.06	.36 **	.16 *	.03	.66 **	.29 **	.10	.15	.06	.34 **	.11	−.05
IndE3	.40 **	.14	.29 **	.52 **	.30 **	.34 **	−.30 **	−.04	.41 **	.05	.23 **	.56 **	.23 **	.39 **	−.31 **	−.04	.33 **	.16 *	.41 **
Com3	.30 **	.18 *	.06	.47 **	.58 **	.45 **	−.50 **	−.21 **	.27 **	.11	−.01	.35 **	.62 **	.39 **	−.47 **	−.27 **	.34 **	.16 *	.13	.46 **
IdCom3	.40 **	.15 *	.08	.41 **	.39 **	.59 **	−.42 **	−.11	.46 **	.22 **	.07	.43 **	.43 **	.65 **	−.46 **	−.17 *	.45 **	.26 **	.20 **	.53 **	.55 **
Sedo3	−.30 **	−.23 **	.01	−.34 **	−.40 **	−.45 **	.72 **	.30 **	−.29 **	−.23 **	.09	−.31 **	−.43 **	−.48 **	.75 **	.36 **	−.34 **	−.27 **	.02	−.38 **	−.49 **	−.48 **
Flex3	−.10	−.12	.36 **	−.06	−.25 **	−.15 *	.34 **	.54 **	−.02	−.09	.42 **	.04	−.29 **	−.22 **	.36 **	.63 **	−.10	−.25 **	.46 **	.08	−.23 **	−.14	45 **
M	3.93	3.39	3.49	3.72	3.35	3.67	3.05	3.73	3.94	3.39	3.52	3.74	3.35	3.72	3.02	3.73	3.93	3.31	3.54	3.78	3.43	3.73	2.98	3.68
SD	.64	.73	.69	.61	.70	.60	.87	.72	.62	.72	.68	.55	.72	.57	.90	.70	.63	.70	.67	.53	.70	.60	.92	.70
Skewness	−.389	.037	−.331	−.169	.109	.031	−.316	−.605	−.588	−.324	−.484	−.470	−.161	−.074	−.241	−.740	−.283	−.348	−.372	.065	−.182	−.116	−.226	−.720
Kurtosis	.269	−.268	.319	.206	−.200	.194	−.332	.594	.854	.205	.480	.521	−.139	−.063	−.339	.870	−.374	.135	.196	−.053	−.172	−.324	−.530	.708

Variable	Growth Factors			Model Fit Indices
	Intercept (I)	Slope (S)
	M (δ²)	M (δ²)	r (I, S)	χ²/df	CFI	RMSEA	SRMR
Intrinsic career goals	3.95* (.20*)	−0.00 (.02)	.00	0.367/1	1	<.001	.009
Extrinsic career goals	3.40* (.32*)	−0.01 (.05)	−.04	0.264/1	1	<.001	.008
In-breadth exploration	3.54* (.32*)	0.02 (.01***)	−.03	0.324/1	1	<.001	.008
In-depth exploration	3.72*** (.20)	0.03 (−.01)	.00	0.099/1	1	<.001	.005
Commitment making	3.32* (.33*)	0.06*(−.00)	−.00	0.293/1	1	<.001	.007
Identification with commitment	3.67* (.15)	0.05*(−.00)	.03	0.007/1	1	<.001	.001
Career self-doubt	3.06* (.54*)	−0.06*(.01)	.02	0.001/1	1	<.001	.000
Career flexibility	3.76* (.29*)	−0.04 (.03)	−.03	3.338/1	1	<.001	.030