SOCIAL LEARNING THEORYOF CAREER DECISION MAKING

SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY

OF CAREER DECISION MAKING

John Krumboltz’s social learning theory of career decision making (SLTCDM) has its origins in Bandura’s social learning theory of behavior. Krumboltz contended that individuals are guided into careers based on their learning experiences and skill knowledge. He also proposed that reinforcement, whether positive or negative, plays an important role in shaping selfefficacy and motivations for behaviors. 

For example, if a student does poorly in math, SLTCDM predicts that the student’s interest and motivation in math courses will decline, and the student will not enter a career that requires math skills. On the other hand, if the same student is rewarded in music by winning a competition, SLTCDM predicts an increase in that student’s music self-efficacy, and he or she will be likely to pursue a career related to music. 

These are examples of instrumental learning experiences, in which preference is developed for activities in which one succeeds or is reinforced and interest is diminished if one fails, receives no rewards, or is punished for participating. 

The learning process can also occur through observation or associative learning experiences. Instead of participating in activities, individuals can learn about specific occupations and careers vicariously from the media, role models, or peers. Positive or negative associations about an occupation then influence an individual’s assessment of that occupation and affect whether he or she decides to pursue that occupation.

As individuals accumulate learning experiences, they begin to make judgments—called self-observation generalizations—about how well or how poorly they can perform specific tasks. These generalizations may be accurate or incorrect, but they influence how individuals try to translate their skills into possible occupations. These skills, which Krumboltz referred to as task approach skills, provide information about an individual’s problem-solving ability, work habits, performance, and work values.

Career development in SLTCDM, then, is a continual process of learning that shapes one’s self-observation generalizations and task approach skills. Like Super’s idea of enacting one’s self-concept, SLTCDM explains how accumulated learning experiences guide career decisions and how individuals identify occupations that match their interests and skills.