Influence of Temporal Distance on the Perceived Importance of Career‐Related Self‐Efficacy and Outcome Expectations

Because all career choices are about future actions, time is an important contextual variable in social cognitive career choice (Hesketh, 2000). However, there is a dearth of research examining the effect of time. The authors examined how temporal distance to career entry influences the perceived importance of self-efficacy and outcome expectations concerning a career pursuit. They also examined the moderating effects of perceived support and barriers, as well as country. The participants were college students in the United States (n = 180) and in South Korea (n = 215). The results of hierarchical regression analyses did not show main effects of time, but a 3-way interaction indicated the complex interplay of time and other contextual variables. Implications for career counseling and future research are discussed. College students' career choice is a vital developmental task in their school-to- work transition (Super, Savickas, & Super, 1996), yet their choice is subject to change over time. For example, many college freshmen aspire to become physicians - a career that promises high social status and income (Dey, Astin, & Korn, 1991 ). However, the majority of students abandon this goal because they feel that they lack the necessary academic ability (Antony, 1998). A large number of freshmen choose engineering majors, which promise generous salaries after graduation. Nevertheless, many change their initial choice because they feel unable to meet the academic and professional demands (Hackett, Betz, Casas, & Rocha-Singh, 1992). From those examples, we can speculate that, although outcome expectations may initially be college students' main consideration, self-efficacy may become a more important consideration. This may make college students' career choices more realistic over time (Savickas, Silling, & Schwartz, 1984). Because all career choices are about future actions, time is an important contextual variable in social cognitive career choice (Hesketh, 2000). Social cognitive theory assumes that the relationship between self-efficacy and outcome expectations will change over time as the reciprocal influences play themselves out (Bandura, 1986). In addition, temporal distance to future events determines the importance of self-efficacy and outcome expectations. For example, temporally proximate information about selfefficacy is likely to exert greater power than temporally distal information (Maddux, 1995). These two dimensions - self-efficacy and outcome expectations - are important determinants of career choice (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994). Despite its potential importance, however, there is little research examining the effect of time on career behavior (Lent et al., 2008) or social cognitive behavior in general (Maddux, 1995). In the current study, we examined how time influences the perceived importance of self- efficacy and outcome expectations concerning a career pursuit. We expected that the perceived importance of self-efficacy and outcome expectations would vary at points in time. Self-efficacy would be more important for college students who are about to start their career, whereas outcome expectations would be more important for those who plan to start their career in the distant future. Other contextual variables (e.g., culture, perceived support, barriers) were expected to moderate this relationship. By understanding the effect of time, we aimed to provide practical implications for career development and counseling programs. Literature Review Social cognitive career theory (SCCT; Lent et al., 1994) proposes that an individual's academic and career development is a function of the interplay among personal, behavioral, and environmental variables. Among the personal determinants within this triadic causal system, self-efficacy and outcome expectations are particularly important variables. SCCT suggests that career behavior is largely influenced by self-efficacy and outcome expectations, which operate in concert with a variety of personal, contextual, and learning variables in developing an individual's academic and career trajectories (Lent et al. …