Theorizing parental intervention and young adults' career development: a social influence perspective
Career Development International
ISSN: 1362-0436
Article publication date: 20 June 2020
Issue publication date: 15 July 2020
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on the social influence literature and proposing parental intervention as a social influence process, this study seeks to theorize why parental intervention occurs and how it affects young adults' career development.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper adopts a conceptual design, offering a conceptual model based on social influence research and career development research.
Findings
It is proposed that parental intervention is a result of incongruence between parental expectations and young adults' interested occupations and between parents' assessments of young adults' qualities and job demands. Parents' traditionality moderates these relationships, while the success of parental intervention depends on young adults' traditionality and career maturity. Parents' position, referent and expert powers affect young adults' compliance, identification and internalization, respectively, which impact their occupational commitment and career satisfaction.
Research limitations/implications
Looking at parental intervention over time would help researchers understand this phenomenon more comprehensively than focusing only on its short-term effects as identified in the literature. The motivational processes of parental intervention triggered by power bases play a key role in determining young adults' long-term career consequences.
Practical implications
Career advisors should consider parents as a source of potential intervention in young adults' career choice. They may also provide parent-oriented services in addition to young adult-oriented services.
Originality/value
This framework contributes to the career development literature by adopting social influence approach to explain parental intervention in young adults' career choice and also providing implications for career counselors.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors thank China’s Ministry of Education Funds for Humanities and Social Science (Grant number: 17YJA630062), The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NNSFC; No. 71872083; 71832006; 71872135) for supporting this research. Yan Liu and Yina Mao contributed equally to this paper.
Citation
Liu, Y., Mao, Y. and Wong, C.-S. (2020), "Theorizing parental intervention and young adults' career development: a social influence perspective", Career Development International, Vol. 25 No. 4, pp. 415-428. https://doi.org/10.1108/CDI-01-2019-0028
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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