Social Cognitive Career Theory

Robert W. Lent & Gail Hackett & Steven D. Brown

Social cognitive career theory (SCCT) seeks to explain three interrelated aspects of career development: (1) how basic academic and career interests develop, (2) how educational and career choices are made, and (3) how academic and career success is obtained. Developed by Robert W. Lent, Steven D. Brown, and Gail Hackett in 1994, SCCT incorporates a variety of concepts (e.g., interests, abilities, values, environmental factors) from earlier career development theories, employing Albert Bandura's general social cognitive theory as a unifying framework. Three intricately linked variables—self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations, and goals—serve as the basic building blocks of SCCT. Self-efficacy refers to an individual's personal beliefs about his or her capabilities to perform particular behaviors or courses of action. Unlike global confidence or self-esteem, self-efficacy beliefs are relatively dynamic (i.e., changeable) and are specific to particular activity domains. For example, people vary in their self-efficacy regarding the behaviors required in different occupational Outcome ...

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