The presence of and search for a calling: Connections to career development

The current study explored the relationship of the presence of, and search for, a calling to the career development of 3091 first year college students. The presence of a calling correlated positively with decidedness, comfort, self clarity and choice-work salience and correlated negatively with indecisiveness and lack of educational information. The search for a calling correlated negatively with decidedness, comfort, self clarity, and choice-work salience and correlated positively with indecisiveness and lack of educational information. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that for both career decidedness and choice comfort, the calling variables taken together added 8% and 5% variance, respectively, above and beyond that accounted for by self clarity, choice-work salience, indecisiveness, and lack of educational information. It is suggested that future research investigate the potential sources of a career calling and counselors be open to exploring this construct with individual clients.