Važnost stilova odlučivanja za planiranje karijere učenika srednjih škola

Abstract

Leaving secondary school in order to enter university education or labour market represents an important educational and professional transition in the life of every individual. At that, the decisions that secondary school students make in this period are influenced by numerous personal characteristics which, among other things, include decision-making styles and convictions about their own capabilities and opportunities. The research included 361 student of the fourth class of secondary schools and analysed the importance of these characteristics for making decisions about future study or employment. The aim of the research was to determine the contribution of decision-making styles, i.e. tendency towards maximisation and orientation towards the future, as well as two forms of conviction about one’s capabilities which include perceived academic control and self-efficiency in career planning, to optimism related to future professional lives of adolescents. The results have shown that decision-making styles and analysed forms of self-efficiency represent statistically significant predictors of career optimism. Additionally, self-efficiency in career decision-making was singled out as a mediator of the connection of maximisation, orientation towards the future and perceived academic control with career optimism. These results complement previous insights into the influence of decision-making styles on professional behaviours and can therefore prove to be significant for the development of future professional counselling programs.