Latent profiles of Korean adolescents’ motivation and competence predicting career exploration: A longitudinal study.

• In Event: Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Topic - Education, Schooling

Abstract

Career exploration in high school is associated with higher levels of career adaptability and positive career transitions later in life. Research using Self-Determination Theory has found that need satisfactions for autonomy and competence (but not relatedness) predict career exploration and decision making (Guay et al., 2003). While the trajectory of career exploration for adolescents has been examined (Negru-Subtirica et. al, 2015), we are not aware of autonomous motivation and competence as predictors of these trajectories. Furthermore, we examined, via latent profile analysis, whether there are discernable groups of people who have different patterns of competence, extrinsic motivation (less autonomous) and intrinsic motivation (more autonomous). We did so in a Korean sample as there is question as to whether intrinsic and extrinsic motivation function similarly for Koreans as they do for European Americans, though research has found similarities (e.g., Sheldon et al., 2004).
We analyzed 3,379 adolescents who participated in the Korean Youth Panel Study yearly from grades 8 to 12 (ages 13 to 17). At each time point, participants rated the importance of different reasons for pursuing their most desired career. Intrinsic motivation was assessed with 4 items (e.g., “Can do creative, non-repetitive work”), extrinsic motivation with 3 items (e.g., “Can make a lot of money”), and competence with 3 items (e.g., “I have confidence in my own decision”). Participants were also asked if they engaged in 7 activities related to career exploration (e.g., “Reading career-related books/magazines”).
We first conducted a latent profile analysis on adolescents in grade 8 according to levels of intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and competence. We estimated profile solutions ranging from one to seven profiles. Table 1 reports statistics regarding model fit. Two profiles had very few individuals (Ns = 28 and 42) and were dropped from subsequent analyses. The remaining profiles were 1) low in intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and competence (n = 232); 2) low in intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, but moderate in competence (n = 1470); 3) moderate in intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and competence (n = 1411); 4) high in intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and competence (n = 266; see Figure 1).
We then used the profiles to predict trajectories of career exploration from grades 8 to 12 using random coefficient growth curve modeling (Singer & Willett, 2003). We found that groups with moderate levels of competence had the highest levels of career exploration (Guam et al, 2003; Blustein & Flum, 1999); variations in intrinsic and extrinsic motivation were less important in predicting career exploration. Figure 2 depicts these trajectories.
We discuss these patterns in terms of how intrinsic and extrinsic motivation may operate differently as a function of culture, and in terms of specific educational practices in South Korea. In high school, most adolescents spend their time at school and in extra-curricular classes after school to prepare for a college scholastic ability test and students have little leeway over how they spend their time. This context may cause competence rather than autonomy to be more salient to students when exploring careers.

Authors

• Fatin Asnan, University of Missouri - Columbia
  Presenting Author

• Duane Rudy, University of Missouri - Columbia
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sarah Killoren, University of Missouri - Columbia
  Non-Presenting Author