When Parents Support Adolescents' Career Decisions

• In Event: Millennium Hotel Roundtable Session 17
  In Roundtable Session: Advances in Self-Determination Theory Research

Abstract

Using "Self-Determination-Theory" as the theoretical framework, the goal of this study is to examine how parents' involvement in the decision-making process of choosing a high school major, is associated with the type of motivation, well-being and success of adolescents in studying the major.
Two hundred and twenty-nine 10th-graders completed questionnaires at the beginning and at the end of the school year. Through path analysis with Bootstrapping, the findings indicated that adolescents who perceived their parents as supportive during the decision-making process, chose a subject for autonomous reasons, had autonomous motivation to learn the subject, and had higher well-being, higher perception of ability and higher grades. The results highlight the positive role that parents can play in adolescents' career decisions.

Authors

• Idit Katz, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

• Moran Green-Cohen, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

• Rinat Cohen, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

• Suzi Marziano-davidpur, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev