Chapter 18: Career Counseling Laboratories: Integrating Values Into Career Counseling With Gifted and Talented Students

Philosophers, psychologists, anthropologists, sociologists, and economists have all been intrigued by the study of human values. From the earliest conceptualizations of this construct, social scientists have observed that values are a powerful motivator of human behavior. Differences in values have driven controversies, cultural conflicts, and war. In individual human lives, values conflicts are a source of anxiety and dissatisfaction with relationships and careers. Understanding the origins and the nature of values is critical to psychology.

Vocational psychologists and career counselors are moving toward more holistic theories and techniques that take values into account (Brown & Lent, 2004; Zunker, 2011). A new interest in the concept of “calling” is also taking root, affirming the importance of discovering the values underlying the sense of calling. Elangovan, Pinder, and McLean (2010) say that calling includes an emphasis on clarity of purpose and personal mission, and wanting to better the world. Steger, Pickering, Shin, and Dik (2010) found that calling, or judgment that one’s life has meaning and purpose, was related to meaning in life, positive work attitudes, and psychological adjustment. Those working toward advanced professional degrees tended to endorse the notion that career was a calling, with career calling moderately related to life meaning (Duffy & Sedlacek, 2006).