International Journal of
Information and Education Technology

Abstract

In this study, the effects of paternal support and maternal support on the Vocational Exploration and commitment to career choices of 368 Taiwanese college students were examined. Based on an integrative literature review, this study designed four constructs pertaining to paternal/maternal support: emotional support, information provision, esteem and autonomy support, and tangible assistance. The Commitment to Career Choices Scale (CCCS) was divided to two dimensions: a Vocational exploration and Commitment (VEC) dimension reflecting variations in one’s level of commitment to career choices, and a Tendency to Foreclose (TTF) dimension assessing individual differences in how one commits to career choices. According to the results of regression analysis, the esteem and autonomy support from mothers negatively predicted vocational exploration and commitment (VEC). Furthermore, the esteem and autonomy support from fathers was the only negative and significant predictor of the tendency to foreclose. The negative relationship represents openness to the exploratory experiences of the commitment process with paternal support. The other three significant predictors, esteem and autonomy support from mothers, information support from mothers, and emotional support from fathers, were positively correlated with the tendency to foreclose.