Predicting career indecision in college students: The roles of identity formation and parental relationship factors

Students' identity formation and perceptions of parental acceptance and enc ouragement of independence were investigated as predictors of career indeci sion. The Mother-Father-Peer Scale (Epstein, 1983), Extended Objective Meas ure of Ego Identity Status (Bennion & Adams, 1986), and Career Decision Sca le (Osipow, Carney, Winer, Yanico, & Koschier, 1976) were administered to 1 69 undergraduate students with a mean age of 19.68. Analysis using multiple regression indicated that career indecision was predicted by a greater deg ree of identity moratorium and diffusion, less maternal acceptance and fewe r years in college. Suggestions for future research and counseling applicat ions are provided.