The relationship between individualistic and collectivistic value orientations and early career indecision

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between early career indecision and individualistic and collectivistic cultural value orientations amongst new entrants to the workplace. The INDCOL (Triandis, 1995) was used to gather information on the vertical and horizontal scales of the individualism and collectivism of respondents, while the Career Decision Scale (CDS) (Osipow, 1987) was used to gather information on the levels of career certainty and career indecision. A sample of convenience of N=115 new entrants to the workplace in a typical South African governmental organisation was used. The results indicated that there is no relationship between individualistic and collectivistic cultural value orientations and career indecision and that biographical variables have no relationship with early career indecision. However, it was found that the biographical variables of race and gender may have a significant impact on the cultural value orientations of individuals in the South African work context.