Journal of Career Assessment

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Free Access - Register Here

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Meara, N. M.
Right arrow Articles by Phelps, R. E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
Journal of Career Assessment, Vol. 3, No. 3, 259-277 (1995)
DOI: 10.1177/106907279500300302

Possible Selves: Applications for Career Counseling

Naomi M. Meara

University of Notre Dame

Jeanne D. Day

University of Notre Dame

Linda M. Chalk

University of Notre Dame

Rosemary E. Phelps

University of Georgia

Possible selves is a future-oriented, personalized, affect-laden, motivating form of self-knowledge, which provides a link between one's self-concept and incentives for future behavior, an interpretive framework for an individual's current views of self, and a way to link present behaviors with future outcomes. This article explores the usefulness of thinking about one's occupational future in the context of possible selves. Beneficial aspects of doing so include a personalization of career-related choices including their affective components, incentives to be planful, and an explicit focus on the future. Ideas are presented for applying possible selves to a career-counseling focus for racial/ethnic minorities and women. Cautions related to the construct and directions for research are explored.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?