Date of Award

1-2007

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

College/School

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Department/Program

Psychology

Thesis Sponsor/Dissertation Chair/Project Chair

Valerie Sessa

Committee Member

Robert Mintz

Committee Member

Jennifer Bragger

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship of factors affecting a professional’s decision to change the direction of their career in during mid career and develop a comprehensive model incorporating each of these factors. There are four hypotheses in this study: la) higher scores in the personality attributes of openness to experience and extraversión will be correlated with a larger change in career redirection than those professionals with lower scores; lb) a higher score in the career attitude of risk-taking style and a lower score in the career attitude of career worries will be correlated with a larger change in career redirection; 2) career redirection contemplation mediates the relationship between the personality variables and career attitudes and the degree of career redirection or change a person makes; 3) a person’s financial, support and personal context moderates the relationship between career redirection contemplation and the degree of career redirection; and 4) a life changing event moderates the relationship between career redirection contemplation and the degree of career redirection. To test the hypotheses, 22 professionals between the ages of 40-60 participated in the study. The NEO-FFI was used to test personality variables, the Career Attitudes and Strategies Inventory was used to test career attitudes, all other variables were coded from interview materials. It was found that career redirection contemplation was related to actual change in career redirection. All other relationships were not significant. Research limitations and future directions for research are discussed in detail.

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