Factors related to indecisiveness and career indecision in undecided college students

The sensing and intuition preferences have to do with how people gather information and what attracts their attention. A sensing person will want information that is practical, has useful applications (Hirsh & Kummerow, 1989), and makes common sense (Provost & Anchors, 1987). Sensing individuals will be more likely to pay attention to facts, details, and reality. They also tend to base their decisions on what has worked in the past gathering information directly, via the five senses (Hunt, 1992).

An intuitive person will emphasize paying attention to insights and looking for underlying meanings or relationships. This individual is more future oriented and focused on making changes, paying more attention to the meaningfulness of the facts and the relationships among the facts (Hunt, 1992). Indirect information gathering through inspiration and interpretations is the model for the intuitive person (Hirsh & Kummerow, 1989).

TF Personality Dimension

Thinking and feeling preferences have to do with how people approach decision making and how they reach conclusions. The thinking preference is a logical and objective approach to decision making. This person does well evaluating and deciding on impersonal issues where conclusions are reached based on pros and cons or on truth versus falsehood (Hirsh & Kummerow, 1989). The thinking preference person will want solutions that make sense in terms of facts, models, or principles under consideration (Hunt, 1992). Students seeking to decide on a major with a thinking preference will be motivated by being shown the logic of gathering more information, which will make the process of selecting a major more complete (Provost & Anchors, 1987).

Students with a feeling preference find comfort in considering values and feelings in their decision-making process. They will tend to be subjective and consider how their decisions could affect other people (Huitt, 1992). Hirsh and Kummerow (1989) have posited that "the feeling person works well for evaluating and deciding on personal issues based on liking and disliking or agreeableness and disagreeableness" (p. 38).

JP Personality Dimension

Individuals who have a preference for judging will prefer structure, organization, and the inclination to reach conclusions in their decision making. The perception preference relates to a more spontaneous and flexible approach to decision making. Judgers set a course of action and run their lives accordingly. They want to have matters settled and will make decisions based on goals and final objectives (Hirsh & Kummerow, 1989).

Perceivers are more tentative in their approach to making a decision. They benefit more from examining what happens when they have difficulties with decision making, asking themselves what facilitates decisions for them or what blocks decision (Myers & McCaulley, 1985).

Career Readiness and Indecisiveness

A variety of career development interventions are practiced in public schools, colleges, universities, and other agencies that have planned integration of career development concepts (Gordon, 1995). These curricula lead the majority of students through the concepts that will prepare them for the future. Some students, however, fail to respond to the various interventions and are not ready to work through the process. Three major factors appear important in preventing students from being ready: (a) lack of motivation, (b) dysfunctional myths, and (c) lack of knowledge about the process.