If I Think I Can: Do Short Term Career Search Self-Efficacy Interventions Work?

• Main Author: Gohn, Kelsey
• Format: Others
• Published: Scholarship @ Claremont 2016
• Subjects: self-efficacy; college student job search; anxiety; Applied Behavior Analysis; Other Psychology
• Online Access: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/1435; http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2360&context=cmc_theses

This study examines the effect of a short term (30 min) self-efficacy intervention on job search behavior and job search related state-anxiety then proposes a sequential mediation model. Using a sample (N = 272) college students recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (N = 160) and a small liberal arts college in California (N = 112), participants completed a job search skills quiz and were randomly assigned to a positive feedback condition. They then immediately filled out self-report measures for self-efficacy (Career Decision Making Self-Efficacy), state anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Form Y), and job search behavior (Proactive Career Behavior Measure). The results suggest that a positive effect of the intervention on job search behaviors is mediated by a reduction in anxiety and increase in career decision making self-efficacy. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for college career counselors will be discussed.