Whether Perceived Social support is correlated with the career decision making process among adolescents?: An investigation among Pre-university Students in Kerala

Abstract

The current study investigates the relationship between Career Indecision and Social Support among adolescent students. It was hypothesized that Career indecision would be inversely correlated to all the three dimensions of perceived social support, i.e., (i) Significant others’ support, (ii) Family support and (iii) Friends’ support. The sample consisted of 424 adolescents studying in eleventh and twelfth standard in Kerala. Career Indecision Scale (Osipow, Carney, Winer, Yanico, &Koschier, 1976) and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet & Farley, 1988) were used for the study. The data obtained from the sample were statistically analysed using Pearson product moment correlation. The findings reveal that there is a significant inverse relationship between Career indecision and all the three dimensions of perceived social support such as perceived support from friends, family and significant others. The finding lends insight to career counsellors to consider the importance of peer interaction, family support and significant others’ support in making career decisions among adolescents and to introduce interventions for strengthening such support systems along with the career counselling process.