How many career choices are made because of chance?

Traditionally, career counselors do not take chance into account when advising clients. The goal of this research is to find out how chance events play a role in everyone's career. Career counselors can learn their client how to act to generate more chances to capitalize. A lot of events happened, in which a client plays an important role, like the friends he/she made, the study he/she chose. 

How many career choices are made because of chance?

Traditionally, career counselors do not take chance into account when advising clients. The goal of this research is to find out how chance events play a role in everyone's career. Career counselors can learn their client how to act to generate more chances to capitalize. A lot of events happened, in which a client plays an important role, like the friends he/she made, the study he/she chose. 

What is the role of chance in career counseling? 

Chance plays an important role in everyone’s career, the future can not be predicted. Unpredictable events almost always have an influence in career directions. Yet career counselors rarely take unexpected events in account with their client. However, literature have recognized that chance does effect career exploration.   

Some people believe that it is complex and hard to create a model, where the chance events are incorporated. However, Cabral and Salomone (1990) said that a counselor should help the client to recognize the effects of unexpected events and to help them cope and anticipate to those events. Scott and Hatalla (1990) concluded that chance contributes to the choices people make, but that they do not have a predictable relation. The most important chance factor they found was the unexpected personal events. Miller (1983) stated that counselors would benefit when they would see chance as a normal aspect of career planning. Cabral and Salomone called for a model of career planning which combines planning and chance. Rational planning only works when the career would follow a simple, straight path, but with future technology it doesn't.  

Frank Parson is credited as the father of career counseling, he created a theory in a largely agricultural society. He tried to match a client to the appropriate job. Chance was not included in this theory, he used true reasoning as basis of matching. The traditional approach tries to minimise the role of chance by matching interests, skills and values to the matching career. Counselors need to admit that we are not only the result of rational planning. 

What is the Planned Happenstance Theory? 

The Planned Happenstance theory expanded the social learning theory of career decision making. The basics are the same. People are born with different characteristics at a certain time and place, not of their own decision. In their environment while growing up, they experience all kinds of unpredictable events from which they will learn, both positive and negative. People can maximize their learning process by profiting from these events. The planned happenstance theory is the conceptual framework which allows to incorporate the chance events into a career development. Clients should plan and create opportunities and be open to the changes. People have to learn to take action, to generate the changes to learn and they should not only be passively waiting for events to happen. 

How can you reframe indecision as open-mindedness?

In the Planned Happenstance Theory, the term indecision is replaced by open-minded. Blustein (1997) suggested counselors to help clients to explore and to accept ambiguity. Exploring is an open way of relating to the world. The chances make individuals grow and help them to self-define. Blustein makes a difference between passive people who rely on luck and people who actively search for new and unexpected opportunities. A counselor needs to help a client create positive events, which can help a client to end up where they want to be, even though it may not be what they requested. 

What are the advantages of open-mindedness? 

Counselors have not been trained to be comfortable with an indecisive client. They try to treat any form of uncertainty. Sometimes this may work, but sometimes they do not need a quick fix. Krumboltz (1992) argued that indecision is more sensible then making commitments when the future is uncertain. An open-minded person is in the middle of what was and what will be and is able to ask questions, without needing to know the answer. He can be curious.  

How can you generate, recognize and encourage beneficial chance events? 

Gelatt (1989) proposed that being uncertain about goals and wants, leads to new discoveries. Betsworth and Hansen (1996) found in a study that two thirds believed that their careers were significantly influenced by chance events. They identified 11 categories of serendipitous events that participants reported as significant to their career development. “Professional or personal connections,” “unexpected advancement,” and “right place/right time” were cited most frequently. Participants overlooked the steps they took to get to know important people and the actions they undertook to get a promotion at the right time.

The Planned Happenstance theory includes two concepts: Exploration generates chance opportunities for increasing quality of life and skills enable people to seize opportunities. Blustein (1997) concluded that people explore to express their natural curiosity and that the benefits of career exploration, can cross over into other life domains. Austin (1978) perceived that responses to chance opportunities depend on one’s preparedness and receptivity to possibilities. Salomone and Slaney (1981) added that for career possibilities to be realized, people must take action.

The Planned Happenstance theory proposes that career counselors assist clients to develop five skills

1. Curiosity: exploring new learning opportunities

2. Persistence: exerting effort despite setbacks

3. Flexibility: changing attitudes and circumstances

4. Optimism: viewing new opportunities as possible and attainable

5. Risk Taking: taking action in the face of uncertain outcomes

Bandura (1982) recommended teaching entry skills as a way of influencing or controlling chance to one’s advantage. Entry skills are interpersonal communications, networking, and social support building. Planned happenstance can also be facilitated by using assessment instruments to generate chance events. The Planned Happenstance Model has a interest test interpretation, which consists of questions that invite discussion between client and counselor. Engaging a client in discussing both prior and potential interests can reveal vital values and liberate client exploration.

How can we encourage a client? 

We learn the skill of self-encouragement from someone who has encouraged us to take action on our own behalf. Significant factors that enable people to integrate talents and traits in their life, are the role of witness (Young and Rodgers, 1997) and persistence and risk taking (Scott Adams, 1997). A witness is a person who observes a talent and encourages to develop that talent. Scott Adams is the creator of the popular cartoon Dilbert. Adams was persistent and optimistic even though he had been rejected. He took a risk and submitted his work again even though he had no guarantee that his cartoon strip would be accepted.

Learning as the Purpose of Career Counseling

Career counselors should be educators/—facilitators of the learning process (Krumboltz, 1996). Clients often expect counselors to match them up with ideal jobs, counselors fail to challenge the assumption that career counselors can meet that request. Instead of striving to help clients identify their one “ideal job,” career counselors may be of far more value to clients by teaching them how to enhance the quality of their lives. Counselors must equip clients with new attitudes and skills to embrace the twenty-first century. Savickas (1997) called that adaptability”; “the readiness to cope with the predictable tasks of preparing for and participating in the work role and with the unpredictable adjustments prompted by changes in work and working conditions.

How can we reconseptualise informational interviews? 

Informational interviews are traditionally to facilitate information gathering. The client has to ask prepared questions to someone involved in an area the client is interested in. Informational interviews can also be used to generate unexpected events. The planning part of the informational interview is identifying the field of interest, finding a person to interview, and preparing pertinent questions. The happenstance part of the informational interview can occur at any time before, during, or after the interview. The career counselor can prepare the client for unanticipated events. Cognitive restructuring is a counseling technique for helping clients interpret events in an alternative way, by practicing on past and current events and anticipating for possible future events.

How can we overcome obstacles?

Counseling by itself is of little value unless it leads to constructive action. A counselor needs to concentrate on enabling clients to take the necessary actions. The Career Beliefs Inventory (Krumboltz, 1991) provides one tool for assessing blocking beliefs and initiating discussions of ways to examine them. A counselor can help a client to reframe a goal in such way that the progress toward the goal becomes possible. An example: Stated Goal: I want to change jobs; I am going to start sending out résumés. Reframe: I am getting more and more dissatisfied with my job. What are the steps I can take to begin to look at other options?

What does the counselor need to do according to the Planned Happenstance Theory?  

A. Watts (1996) said that at each of these points where we make a decision, a counselor should be available, to prevent decisions from beïng reactive instead of proactive. People have to be encouraged to plan their careers and review and correct plans in the changing context. The core concept of the Planned Happenstance Counseling needs to be oxymorons. By discussing your curiosity, how you can profit from unexpected events and how you can create useful unplanned events, the goal is to make the learning process easier. A career path is a lifelong learning process. The learning process should consists of a number of steps: 

1. Normally planned coïncidence in the history of the client: asking questions about the background of the client and to create a working relationship. By asking about the history, client become aware that their own actions can contribute to opportunities. A counselor asks a client about happenstances in their life and what happened before the happenstances that made the event happen. 

2. Help a client to transform their curiosity into opportunities. Clients need to learn to see unexpected events as opportunities they want to explore. In the Planned Happenstance Model career counselors do not identify one perfect career, but they help a client to identify opportunities to learn.

3. Learn clients to create desirable chance events. Stovall and Teddlie (1993) developed a student guide to analyse career opportunities. A section of this guide is about how people benefit from chance; students should never leave their future passively to chance. Students constantly need to learn new things an actively look foor chance opportunities. Unplanned events will occur and clients can initiatie constructive action to generate desirable events, for example by counduct in informational interviews, sending letters or taking classes. 

4. Learn a client how to overcome a block to action. Counselors need to help clients to actually engage in constructive actions. Clients may be resistant to constructing opportunities, because they lack curiosity, persistence, flexibility or the skill of risk taking or they can have beliefs that block their willingness. A problematic career belief is commonly related to seeing problems as being overwhelming, being scared of other peoples reactions. 

Suggestions for further research

In previous research, almost everyone focused solely on measurement, matching, prediction and reducing indecision. From one point of view, it could be said that unplanned events affect 100% of career choices, because no one chooses their parents, place of birth etc, but these events do affect the career path. But, at the other hand, people do plan and implement actions that affect their careers. Prior research indicates that the majority of those studied attribute major responsibility to unplanned events. A lot depends on the way the sample group is recruited and the exact way questions are asked. There are five skills hypothesized (and identified by Williams et al., 1997) as aiding people to benefit from chance events: curiosity, persistence, flexibility, optimism and risk taking. Williams also identified other characteristics, such as low tolerance for boredom and being unconventional, hard working, motivated, self-confident, alert, and stable. Not all chance events are positive, like accidents or illnesses. Some people react to negative events with discouragement and inaction, others show even greater effort. Williams identified outcomes not only in career direction but also in altered self-concept. 

What did they conclude? 

Career counseling worked with a theory that was too simple, which disrupted the way people actually made their career choices. The basis theory with three steps may have worked in 1895, but is insufficient nowadays. Career choices are influenced by unpredictable circumstances. Counselors have to take these circumstances in account, which chances the advice for counselors:

1. Acknowledge that it is normal, inevitable and desirable that unplanned events have an influence. 

2. Indecision is a state of planful open-mindedness, which helps clients to profit from unforeseen circumstances

3. Learn a client to profit from unforeseen events, to try something new and create new interests. 

4. Learn a client to maximize the chance at a usefull unforeseen event. 

5. Continue the support of a client during their entire career. 

Career counseling isn't an easy process that ends when a client finds a career. It is a complex, fascinating process, which is both personal and work related. 

What are the objectives of this study?

Career decisions are one of the most important and stressful decisions in life. The process can cause cognitive, emotional as well as personal-related difficulties. Coping is explained as behavioural or cognitive efforts to manage certain situations that are perceived stressful. Coping strategies can be (a) problem focused or approach coping (b) emotion focused coping, (c) avoidant coping or (d) support seeking. The objective of this study is to develop and test a theoretical model named strategies for coping with career indecision (SCCI). The model exists from 14 categories representing three main clusters for coping: productive coping, support-seeking and non-productive coping. The concepts are derived from other coping theories. They are adapted in the context of coping with decisions about career. 

What methods were used in the study?

To test the model, a SCCI questionnaire was used. It was based on a combination of Skinner's (2003) model about coping with stress. Forty specific categories were used, twelve of these categories were derived from Skinner's model. The model included three clusters:

1. Productive coping

2. Support-seeking

3. Non-productive coping

Support seeking was divided in instrumental help seeking, emotional help-seeking and delegation. Productive coping was split into instrumental information seeking, emotional information seeking, problem solving, flexibility, accommodation and self-regulation. Non-productive coping is divided into escape, helplessness, isolation, submission and opposition.

It was developed using data from 10 samples. The first study reported that the development of SCCI and the psychometric properties. An additional sample of young Israelis deciding about their career was used. In study 2a, a confirmatory factor analysis was done. In study 2b, concurrent validity was tested.

What were the results?

The researchers found that both samples confirmed hypothesized distinction between three coping clusters. They used Hebrew and English versions of the SCCI that both confirmed the proposed model. Delegation and emotional help-seeking were also associated with non-productive coping. Also, instrumental help-seeking was associated with productive coping support-seeking. Support-seeking was related to both productive and non-productive coping. 

They also found cultural differences. The Israeli sample showed higher scores on helplessness, delegation and submission. The English sample scored higher on emotional information seeking, accommodation, isolation and flexibility. These differences could be explained by social and cultural background. 

What are implications for further research?

The implications for future research and career counselling are discussed. Even though there seems to be consensus that coping refers to adaptively changing cognitive as well as behavioural actions to manage stress (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). However, these changes were not investigated in the current research. This is because the researchers think that cross-sectional methods can only provide a snapshot of the developmental process, which is dynamic. In future research a longitudinal design should be used to assess coping styles that are used for career decisions. 

What are implications for counselling? 

Counsellors should not only understand the nature of indecision, but also assess the coping strategies used by the individual. Is that person dealing effectively with its indecisiveness? The SCCI could help counsellors with getting an initial diagnosis of how people handle challenges of career decision making. This makes it easier for counsellors to give recommendations on how to handle their decision problems. Additionally, counsellors should provide techniques to reduce non-productive coping and promote productive coping. 

The literature on career resilience (CR) to develop a nomological network describing major components of the construct in relation to other constructs is reviewed and synthesized in this article. Antecedents and consequences are examined together with the theoretical basis of CR. The implications for the created model for managers, organizations and individuals is discussed. 

The literature on career resilience (CR) to develop a nomological network describing major components of the construct in relation to other constructs is reviewed and synthesized in this article. Antecedents and consequences are examined together with the theoretical basis of CR. The implications for the created model for managers, organizations and individuals is discussed. 

What are the objectives of this study?

Technology, globalization, changing workplace demographics -and the economy change how individuals approach and evaluate their careers. Employees should be resilient, meaning that they should be able to "bounce back". Other requirements caused by the changing workplace are adaptive, nimble, employable and protean. CR is defined as the resistance of a person to career disruption when the environment is less than optimal. It is contrasting to career vulnerability which is the psychological fragility in situations with a less than optimal career environment. There are three sub-domains:

1. Self-efficacy

2. Risk taking

3. Dependency

Researchers found that CR grows when people gain more experience and age. Carson & Bedeian (1994) found that CR is a dimension of career commitment. However, in the early studies CR was a dimension of other career constructs. After that several publications followed on creation of a career resilient workforce. People should exhibit career self-resilience which is the ability to manage one's own work-life in a changing environment. Also, people should learn how to be self-employed. 

Most research was focused on career adaptability, protean careers and employability instead of CR. Therefore, the importance of CR and how Human Resource Development (HRD) can assist in creation of novel knowledge to increase CR is researched.  

What methods were used?

Several reviews on integrated literature have already been performed. For example: family resilience, personal resilience, psychological resilience and resilience in childhood. In the process of researching career resilience, several databases were searched. A staged review was conducted, and sixty articles were selected. After that seventeen more articles were rejected, and forty-three remaining articles were examined. 

In the next phase, a nomological network was presented in which relationships with CR were discussed. A nomological network is defined as a theoretical framework to sum up the different dimensions of an existing construct in relation to other interrelated constructs. The nomological network can provide important considerations for future research. The first step is to define CR. 

What is CR?

Currently, there are some major disambiguates in the definition of CR. Scholars have defined CR as the ability of people to recover from setbacks related to their career. However, this definition does not incorporate the environmental and contextual factors that contribute to the recovery. This is not a constant attribute. Others have defined CR as the process through human interactions, developed over time. The advantage of this view is that different mechanisms that contribute to CR are considered. 

The current literature study suggests that CR is a complex phenomenon. It comes from interaction between different characteristics combined with contextual factors. The authors define CR as the developmental process of adaptation, persistence and flourishing of an individual in his career despite changes, disruptions and challenges over time. Three important aspects are highlighted:

• CR is a process rather than a one-time event

• CR is a positive adaptation because it develops

• CR should recognize that challenges and disruptions can cause setbacks in both personal and professional life. 

How are personality traits related to CR?

A variety of factors contribute to the capacity to combat adversities of life. Personality is a great contributor, research was done using the big five personality traits. 

Consciousness is defined as the tendency for purposefulness, organized behaviour and ambition. It was the most frequently associated trait with CR. Proactiveness, like consciousness has a positive influence on CR. In a study to CR from Lastly, Bowles and Anrup (2016) they labelled the second most resilient group as adaptors. They exposed goal focused and systematic thinking behaviour, related to consciousness. The relationship between consciousness and CR is not completely clear. It might be that people with high consciousness engage in more proactive behaviour or they could have more effective coping strategies. 

1. Neuroticism is associated with the experience of anxiety, depression and other psychological distress. A negative relation was found between trait anxiety, comparable to neuroticism and CR. However, negative affectivity, which is also comparable was not related to CR. People with high neuroticism might exhibit disengagement coping focused on escaping feelings of distress. 

2. Openness is described as curiosity, imaginatively and flexibility. The relationship between openness and CR is positive. It was found that the innovators among teachers appear to be the most resilient. It is not clear how openness influences CR, it might be because they apply cognitive restructuring after a career setback. 

3. Extraversion can be explained as the dimension of sociability. A weak, but positive relationship was found between extraversion and CR. A highly positive connection was found between positive affectivity and CR. Thus, the experience of positive emotions could contribute to CR. 

4. Agreeableness means a caring, trusting and sympathetic tendency. A positive relation was found between agreeableness and CR. However, only one study found this result. The reason for the relationship might be that agreeable people have stronger social networks.

How are core self-evaluations related to CR?

Core self-evaluations are beliefs people hold about themselves and their functioning in social context. There are four traits that play a role: generalized self-efficacy, emotional stability, self-esteem and locus of control. 

• Locus of control is an individual’s perceived control over events in life. A positive correlation was found between internal locus of control and CR. Also, self-directedness and hardiness were positively associated with CR. 

• Self-efficacy is the perception of one's ability to perform across different situations. All studies found a positive correlation with CR. 

• Self-esteem is the value someone has about himself. Only one study examined the relation with CR, but they found a strong and positive relationship. It is possible that people with positive core self-evaluations handle coping more adaptively. 

How do skills influence CR?

Skills, developed over a period could also contribute to CR. For example, the skill to challenge counterproductive beliefs could be helpful during a career setback. There are skills that can be developed to enhance CR. These are technical -and time management, communication skills and support skills. Furthermore, Akkermans, Brenninkmeijer, Schaufeli and Blonk (2015) found six career competencies contributing to CR: self-profiling, work explanation, reflection on qualities, career control, networking and reflection on motivations. 

How do attitudes influence CR?

It was found that attitudes such as eagerness to learn, liking challenges, not taking things personally and optimism contribute to CR. 

• Career-related attitudes refer to career orientation. 

• Boundaryless means that someone has a career focus that is not limited by boundaries. This was negatively associated with CR. 

• Protean career focus is that someone is focused on the individual rather than the organization of being in control over one's career. This form of self-directed protean orientation was positively correlated with CR. 

How do behaviours influence CR?

Learning about organizational changes is positively related to CR. Other behaviours that positively influence CR are:

1. Health habits

2. Learning behaviours

3. Boundary-setting behaviour

4. Self-reflection

How does career history influence CR?

Some studies found an effect of career history on CR. It was a counter-intuitive relation in which training could increase CR, but at the same time decreases satisfaction. This could be because training can increase career expectations making them more disappointed when a setback is experienced. 

How do contextual factors influence CR? 

A supportive workplace can contribute to CR. For example, supervisor support and equitable treatment have a positive effect on CR. Furthermore, the absence of positive affective experiences is negatively correlated to CR. Organizational support also means development of employees' competencies and skills. Job characteristics can enhance the intrinsic motivation about work. Autonomy, feedback and skill variety have a positive influence on CR. Finally, having a supportive family is important for CR. 

What are the implications for further research and practice?

There should be consensus about the meaning of CR. It should be considered a process. The advantages are that it is less restrictive and can help provide better insights in how career resilience can be enhanced. It is important to emphasize individual career development rather than organizational benefit in HRD. 

Both training and development opportunities should be created to help increase CR. Additionally HRD should recognize that counselling is needed throughout one's career. Furthermore, contextual factors should be considered. These include providing someone with a leadership role, promotion of autonomy and skill variety and maintain supportive relationships throughout the workplace. 

Article summary with From theory to intervention: Mapping theoretically derived behavioural determinants to behaviour change techniques - Michie, Johnston, Francis, Hardeman & Eccles - 2009

Designing interventions to change behaviour often rely on theories that provide little guidance on how behaviour is changed. In the current article, the researchers try to explain methods for the development of behaviour changing techniques and for linking existing techniques to the underlying theoretical constructs.

What are the objectives of this study?

Interventions to change behaviour should be based on behavioural theories. Problems with interventions often arise in the evaluation part. This is because the intervention is not fully defined. When designing an intervention there are some steps that need to be taken.

1. Accumulation of evidence

2. Creating a theoretical basis

3. Modelling of the theoretical basis. This includes hypothesis testing of what to target and how to target.

4. Designing and implementing including evaluation.

The use of theory in interventions is important because interventions are often more effective when they target the behaviours that are responsible for behavioural change. Also, the only way to test a theory properly is when it relies on theoretically informed evaluations. Lastly interventions based on theory facilitate the understanding of the intervention across different populations, contexts and behaviours. A theory-based intervention is an intervention where implicit causal assumptions are avoided and that can be tested using a randomised controlled trial. Without a theoretical basis intervention prove to be less effective, but even with a theoretical framework the information about how to develop theory-based interventions is limited. Therefore, researchers that design intervention should have a small number of theoretical frameworks that are based on empirical evidence of the predictive value. Then, techniques should be identified to change these behavioural determinants. There is currently no accessible and comprehensive list of techniques. There should be a procedure for the selection of techniques to target behavioural determinants. The aim of this study is to contribute to the process of constructing a taxonomy about techniques used for behavioural change and the development of theory-based interventions.

What methods were used in this study?

They generated a list of techniques published in two systematic reviews. In stage 1 a list of techniques and definitions was created by consultation of textbooks and brainstorming. Also, the reliability of the extracted definitions was measured. Then thirty-five techniques were used for brainstorming by clinical psychologists. In addition, two of the authors expanded the created list by systematically extracting techniques from textbooks. These textbooks were identified by clinical course leaders. Then the reliability of extracting definitions was tested. A third, independent researcher assessed this reliability. During stage two techniques were mapped onto behavioural determinants. The applicability of each technique was rated and categorized upon agreement. The categories were the following:

1. Agreed use: researchers agreed upon the use of the technique

2. Agreed non-use: agreement that technique would not be used

3. Disagreement

What were the results of the study?

The researchers found eleven constructs associated with behaviour change. Thirty-five techniques were identified and expanded to fifty-three by brainstorming techniques and enlarged to one hundred thirty-seven by using textbooks. The fifty-three definitions that were agreed upon by the four experts were assessed together with the additional eighty-three definitions derived from textbooks. Then the definitions were mapped onto behavioural determinants. The agreement for fifty-three of the definitions came to 74.7%. Furthermore, agreements about the link between the thirty-five techniques and theoretical constructs was calculated to be 71%.

What can be concluded by the research?

The work illustrates that developing a comprehensive and reliable taxonomies related to theory can be developed. A reasonable agreement can be accomplished about the identification of separate techniques, definitions and mapping them onto behavioural determinants. It is clear that this is a cumulative process and the created list will get more and more additions to it. A technique should have a clear definition and should not duplicate techniques that are already in the list. The generation of the list used for theory-based interventions has a wider applicability. It can also be used to describe interventions without a theoretical basis, but only when the behavioural determinants fit the 11 described domains. Furthermore, it could be used to describe interventions that have already been published in meta-analysis. However, further refinement is needed to diminish redundancies, complete definitions and to resolve uncertainties.

What were the strengths and limitations of the current study?

Despite the subjective difficulty of the task, the results of the mapping techniques showed a reasonable level of agreement. A lack of familiarity with the techniques would result in disagreement or uncertainty. This finding alone can be applied in avoid wasting human resources on interventions likely to be unsuccessful. There is also a substantial agreement about changes to some of the determinants and techniques on changing each of the eleven theoretical domains.

However, the classification across causal determinants was not evenly distributed. This indicates that fewer options for the selection of change techniques that we are not aware of. Some techniques appear to be relevant to changing more constructs than others. The selection of techniques should be guided, and it may be more feasible to operationalize certain techniques instead of others. In future research, more techniques for a single determinant might be identified.

Another possibility is that with a larger body of experts it is likely that more techniques could be found using a larger body of experts. This will increase the number of techniques substantially.

The book of Thaler and Sunstein (2008) suggests that policy-makers of public policies should arrange decision making in a way that behaviour change is promoted. Both society and individual interests should be considered.  Yes, discussions concerning the acceptability of nudge-based policy to change behaviour have emerged.

The book of Thaler and Sunstein (2008) suggests that policy-makers of public policies should arrange decision making in a way that behaviour change is promoted. Both society and individual interests should be considered.  Yes, discussions concerning the acceptability of nudge-based policy to change behaviour have emerged.

What are the objectives of this study?

According to Thaler and Sunstein (2008) people are always influenced by the context of decision making and nudging is just taking the liberty of using this for influencing these decisions. On the other hand, criticism of nudging techniques arises with the argument that nudging works by manipulation of citizens’ choices. The aim of the current article is to illustrate that arguments on both sides are flawed. The dual-process theory is used to show the epistemic transparency criterion described by Thaler and Sunstein (2008) to show that nudging is not about manipulation nor influencing choice. They create a framework in which four types of nudges are identified. They can provide a central component for nuanced, normative considerations in creating social policies.

How should nudging be approached in behavioural change policy?

Nudge means that human decision making is not rational but influenced by several social and environmental factors. Decision making is often influenced by subtle, insignificant-seeming contextual cues. Thaler and Sunstein (2008) suggest creating policy based on ways to influence people’s behaviour taking these contextual cues into consideration while avoiding the pitfalls and problems of traditional approaches. The definition by Thalor and Sunstein (2008) of nudge is that if subtle changes in the context of decision making can lead us astray from our best interest, the insights of how that happens can ‘nudge’ people in the right direction for health, happiness and wealth. This low-cost technique of changing political measures therefore is highly attractive.

What are the responsibilities of designing interventions based on nudge?

According to Thaler and Sunstein (2008) an architect of choice should take responsibility for the organization of context in which people make decisions. They suggest that these people should view themselves as choice architects. In this context, many people are considered choice architects. A policy-maker who adjusts the range of choice options is just as much a choice architect as someone who adjusts the choice structure. A choice architect should choose a way to design the context in which people make decisions and that he is responsible for. They also note there is nu such thing as a neutral design. It is impossible to be an agent in people’s decision making without influencing people’s behaviour and choices. The responsible thing to do is to incorporate and recognize the knowledge on nudge when designing the choice architecture, he is responsible for. According to the pro-nudge position it seems that nudging for his own benefit is always permitted. No one is forcing citizens or limiting their options to choose otherwise.

What are criticisms on the nudge approach?

Criticism of the nudge approach are that people are manipulating choices. It is said that nudging impairs people’s autonomy and ability to make our own moral choices. However, the characterization of nudging as such relies on the theory of agency that people assign to themselves. Policy recommendations that rely on this agency theory and the characterization as manipulation of choice is discussed in this article.

Why is the anti-nudge position not a literal non-starter?

Thaler and Sunstein (2008) describe nudging as the choice architecture that changes people’s behaviour in a way that no other options are forbidden or significantly changing their economic inventive. They argue the anti-nudge position is a literal non-starter because choice architecture may exist without the existence of a “nudger”. They argue that a neutral design of choice architecture does not exist even when the observed effects happened by accident. Even though architects do not intend to nudge towards particular ends, we are nudged to consequential and predictable behaviour even if a choice architect did not mean to. This is according to the position that nudging is a literal non-starter. However, according to the authors it is not. Nudging cannot be justified just because there is no neutral design for it. It is not a literal non-starter for the following reasons:

• The argument that neutral designs do not exist gives the pro-nudge approach an attractive defence. The argument says that we are always being nudged, regardless of anyone’s attempts. It’s argued that nudges are an inescapable effect of any type of decision making. It is supported by the observation that nudging does not promote behaviour that alters freedom of choice. Also, someone is always able to reject the behavioural change.

• The condition that is constructed for the literal non-starter is if a neutral design does not exist, this means we are always being nudged. Yet something important is being overlooked here. Someone can both unintentionally or intentionally influence behaviour. The distinction between these is important because of the notion of responsibility. Therefore, a nudge should be described as by Hausman and Welch, that it is the intentional attempt to influence one’s choices.

• The ends and means of libertarian paternalism means that certain ends and values should be promoted in influencing choices. Policy makers should nudge to promote things in interest of citizens. It seems preferable to any other alternative and serves in the interest of citizens.

• Finally, the principled freedom to choose differently is an important consideration in the debate. The fact that we have insights in the human fail ability in relation to decision making does not justify any choice intervention. The realistic definition of human agency should be taken into consideration, meaning that people do not always decide according to their reflected preferences. When people are nudged into a certain direction, they might lose the ability to choose otherwise.

Does nudging manipulate freedom of choice?

Nudging is described as the manipulation of choice, not behaviour. Because these concepts are not interchangeable, a further classification of the concept is needed. Therefore, the dual-process theory, actions and causes and types of nudges are discussed.

• The dual process theory states that the human brain distinct between two ways of human processing. One is intuitive, automatic thinking (fast thinking) and the other is rational, deliberate thinking -or reasoning (slow thinking). Kahneman refers to these two ways of thinking as system I and system II thinking. Automatic thinking is often uncontrolled, effortless, fast, associative, skilled and unconscious. Reflective -and rational thinking has the characteristics of effortful, slow, controlled, rule following and self-aware. The point of the theory is to describe that behaviour can result from either modes of thinking.

• Actions and causes are often described in terms of state of the world meaning that an agent intentionally wants to bring about. There is an active deliberation that is determined by the available course of action depending on the situation. According to actions and causes a choice comes from the process of reflective thinking. A non-voluntary action is not described as a real action, but only a event that happens to you which was not, but could have been controlled.

• Two types of nudges, and only one aimed at reflective reasoning or choice. Even though both types of reasoning reflect automatic thinking processes, only one reflects on behaviour changing reflective reasoning. Type I nudges influence how behaviour is maintained by automatic processing without thinking reflectively about the consequences. Type II nudging is nudging to influence actions, behaviours. This is done deliberately by limiting the set of choices for example.

Based on these notions, a new definition of nudging is described: the behavioural influence in a predictable way, without prohibiting courses of action that were previously available, making alternatives costlier in terms of social sanctions and time.

What is the view of Thaler and Sunstein on transparency in nudging theory?

In democratic policy making, the transparency of measures is an important issue. The concepts deliberation, consent, respect and accountability should be considered. It should be clarified to what extend nudging works by manipulating choice or behaviour. Transparency is a measure of guiding principle according to Thaler and Sunstein. They derived it from the publicity principle, which means that the government should be able to protect its citizens. They adopt the principle for two reasons:

1. The government could be embarrassed if the policy and its grounds are disclosed.

2. The government should have respect for the people it governs.

The conclusion of Thaler and Sunstein is that this publicity principle is a good guideline. Even though Thaler and Sunstein advocate strong transparency, which means that the government should never be secretive about what they are doing in terms of nudging. Also, they ban subliminal priming as an alternative. Nudging should be manageable and disclosed to the people that are subject to it. However, the principles of subliminal priming are in accord with people’s moral intuitions. This means that it becomes restrictive and may even lead to an ethical paradox when applied to the nudging approach. Thaler and Sunstein also suggest an epistemic dimension of transparency, they argue that nudging is not necessarily about manipulation choices and behaviours but should be divided into transparent and non-transparent. Some choices might be objectionable, they are not visible and impossible to monitor.

• Transparent nudges are provided in a way that the intentionality and the pursued behavioural change is visible.

• Non-transparent nudges are nudges where the person is unable to reconstruct the intention of means by which the change in behaviour is constructed.

This notion of epistemic transparency can be used as a criterium for the evaluation whether nudging is a form of manipulation. The psychological sense of manipulation is the intention to change perception, behaviour or choices through deceptive or abusive tactics. The transparency of the nudge can determine its effectiveness. Nudges in the dark tend to be more effective than obvious ones.

What is the effect of nudging on the manipulation of choice?

Given the two types of nudging, transparent vs non-transparent, four different nudges can be distinguished. Some nudges will fall into a grey zone or will be difficult to qualify. However, the matrix is a valuable guide and basis for the typology for different types of nudges. It can also help with policy recommendations.

1. Transparent type 2 nudges are in the top left corner of the matrix. This intervention type is easy to reconstruct for the citizen. The intentions for the behavioural change are very clear, just as the way the reflective system is engaged. A popular example is the seat-belt alarm in a car.

2. Transparent type 1 nudges are situated in the bottom-left corner. Reflective thinking does not cause the behavioural change but happens as a side product. This makes it easier to reconstruct the way in which the nudge is used to influence behaviour. An example is playing relaxing music while people are boarding an airplane.  

3. Non-transparent type 2 nudges are in the matrix at the top-right corner. The success of the nudge depends on the unconscious activation of reflective thinking. People should be unable to reconstruct the incentive of the nudge. Subtle cues are used to activate reflective thinking for making specific choices. One example is the lottery where people start to overestimate the chance of winning.

4. Non-transparent type 1 nudges in the bottom-right corner resemble nudges that cause changes in behaviour without engaging the reflective thinking system. It is not likely the person will be aware of it and will neither be able to explain or reconstruct the nudge afterwards. One example is an experiment done by Wansink described in “mindless eating”. By reducing the size of plates in a cafeteria to a 10-inch dinner plate instead of a 12-inch one, people ate 22% less calories.

Thus, the facilitation of a consistent choice in a transparent manner is an example of system II thinking. Also, the non-transparent manipulation of choice. System I thinking is the transparent influence of behaviour and the non-transparent equivalent of behaviour.

What is the proposed framework for the responsible use of nudging?

Given the typology for nudging in the previous section, the authors developed a guideline for applying nudging in the creation of policy. It provides a framework based upon which you can decide whether a nudge is manipulative (non-transparent) or based on choice (reflective thinking).

1. Transparent type 2 nudges are not meant to influence people by psychological manipulation. They are used to promote decision making that can be seen by the citizen. They are in line with the preferences of people and provide feedback. They are facilitating the freedom of choice. The autonomy of people is protected. It can be explained as prompting of reflected choice.

2. Transparent type 1 nudges do not try to influence people’s choices, they influence automatic behaviour transparently. These nudges do work within the sense of manipulation and influence behaviour. Citizens are not free to ignore the response that the nudge causes. The principle of freedom is there, but most people are not able to ignore the consequences. This is because it works on automated behaviour.

3. Non-transparent type 1 nudges use psychological and mechanical manipulation. They cannot be regarded transparent or one of choice. They influence automatic behaviour without someone being aware of it. They operate outside of the radar. People can only avoid them by meaning of principle. Therefore, they are paternalistic and described as manipulating behaviour.

4. Non-transparent type 2 nudges are manipulating choice because it works with psychological manipulation to get people to unconsciously think or act a certain way. It does not influence autonomous decision making and are cases of straightforward paternalism. It is difficult to ascribe the responsibility to decision-makers because their actions are the result of manipulation by the architect of the choice.

What does the code of ethics consist of?

We will discuss the code of ethics for psychologists, written by the Dutch Institute for Psychologists (NIP). All psychologists who are registered at the NIP need to conform to this code of ethics. The code of ethics is a framework, based on national an international legislation, like the European convention on Human Rights. There are four principles of the code of ethics: responsibility, integrity, expertise and respect. The principle responsibility forms the basis, but none of the four principles are more important than the others. A psychologist is responsible for it's own actions and should therefore be able to justify his/her actions. Being a psychologist is a professional profession and consists of four elements: expertise, the social role, the professional standard and ethics. Expertise consists of the knowledge and ability of the psychologist. The social role is the acknowlegdement of this expertise, in such way that this expertise can be applied in practice. The professional standard consists of acting in a professional way, as other colleagues would do in the same situation. Ethics consist of the norms and values which are used in this professional standard. The NIP tries to professionalize psychology through these aspects.

What does the code of ethics consist of?

We will discuss the code of ethics for psychologists, written by the Dutch Institute for Psychologists (NIP). All psychologists who are registered at the NIP need to conform to this code of ethics. The code of ethics is a framework, based on national an international legislation, like the European convention on Human Rights. There are four principles of the code of ethics: responsibility, integrity, expertise and respect. The principle responsibility forms the basis, but none of the four principles are more important than the others. A psychologist is responsible for it's own actions and should therefore be able to justify his/her actions. Being a psychologist is a professional profession and consists of four elements: expertise, the social role, the professional standard and ethics. Expertise consists of the knowledge and ability of the psychologist. The social role is the acknowlegdement of this expertise, in such way that this expertise can be applied in practice. The professional standard consists of acting in a professional way, as other colleagues would do in the same situation. Ethics consist of the norms and values which are used in this professional standard. The NIP tries to professionalize psychology through these aspects.

The ideas about what is ethical and what is not keep changing, that is why the code of ethics is often adjusted. It has been agreed that these adjustments will not take place more than once every five years, though an explanation may be added to the code, which may contain some minor changes. The four principles of the NIP are first elaborated in a general way in the code of ethics, and then they are elaborated in a more specific way. The general rules are guidelines, in such a way that psychologists know how to act professionaly. To check whether someone conforms to the code of ethics, the specific rules are written: to test someone in a more concrete way. Namely, one of the functions of the code of ethics is to be a criterion to test the professional behaviour of psychologists. A second function is to offer guidelines for ethical decisions psychologists need to make during their work. Lastly, the code of ethics serves as a guide, in which clients can look up all their questions concerning the work of psychologists. In the latest version of the code of ethics, extra attention has therefore been given to clearly writing out the articles, which makes them more readable and easier to understand for everyone. We will now discuss the four principles of the code of ethics.

What does the principle responsibility consist of?

The first principle, responsibility, consists of six aspects:

1. The first aspect is the quality of acting professionaly. This means that the psychologist should act thoughtful and should not perform behaviour that may damage his/her reliance. Also, his/her professional conduct must be of good quality, whereby he adheres to ethical norms and is careful with trying out new methods.

2. The second aspect is the continuity of acting professionaly. This means the psychologist is during the whole treatment responsible for the client and also responsible for the potential transfer of the client. This also means that the psychologist is responsible for the client's dossier. All these responsibilities don't immediately when the professional relationship between psychologist and client ends.

3. The third aspect is the prevention and limitation of harm, by exposing the client as little as possible to bad experiences. When a psychologist says something about a person on television or through social media, it is expected that he/she takes the possible harm for this person into account and tries to limit this harm as much as possible. However, the psychologist does not need to ask permission from the person before making statements in the media. In addition, a psychologist is directly responsible when he/she is testing people without their permission. Also, the psychologist should realise that his/her treatment may have bad indirect consequences. This third aspect also included minimising the use of animal testing, when conducting experiments.

4. The fourth aspect is to prevent misuse. The main thing in this aspect is that the psychologist does everything he can to ensure that dossiers and reports prepared by him/her, are not being misused.

5. The fifth aspect, the work environment of the psychologist, prescribes the guidelines for a collegiate environment. The psychologist himself is responsible for his own work and qualities. However, the psychologist also bears joint responsibility for his team and the qualities of his team. Within a team, psychologists should help eachother, but must also be open for discussion about their own acting. In addition, a psychologist is responsible for the ethical and technical qualities of the people working under his leadership.

6. The sixth and last aspect, accountability, says that a psychologist should be able to account for his own handling through dossiers and files. When a complaint is made against him, he is expected to cooperate as well as possible. The psychologist may use the dossier when defending this complaint.

What does the principle integrity consist of?

The second principle, integrity, consists of three aspects:

1. The first aspect is reliability, which means that the psychologist only has a professional relationship with the client, when this is ethically and professionaly justified. In addition, does this mean that it is being discussed when this relationship with the client will be ended. Lastly, this means that the psychologist acts in an objective and independent way and will not help others, who do things that go against the code of ethics.

2. The second aspect is honesy, which means that the psychologist does not mislead people and does not create unrealistic expectancies about his/her treatments. Moreover, he must be honest about the financial costs. This also means that he/she should nog misuse his/her knowledge and should always carefully (statistically) process and analyze it. The psychologist should always be honest about his education and experience, and inform it's clients about alternative treatments. This second aspect also includes the obligation to report sources in articles or presentations.

3. The third aspect is role integrity, which means that the psychologist does not let his/her personal interests in matters of affairs, religion and politics play a role in his/her work. The psychologist must try to prevent him/her to play multiple roles for clients, for example when he sees a client outside of his/her job. Role integrity also includes that a psychologist does not enters a personal (sexual) relationship with a client and does not exhibit sexual behaviour towards the client. Also, a psychologist must acknowledge that the interests of the client and other involved parties might sometimes be incompatible, and that it is sometimes for the best to not accept assignments that are incompatible.

What does the principle respect consist of?

The third principle, respect, consists of five aspects:

1. The first aspect is general respect, which means that the psychologist respects the knowledge, experience and insight of the person concerned. Also, a psychologist may not interfere with someone's private life more than necessary and must ensure that the dignity of people is not affected. The psychologist must focus on the individual client and his characteristics. This also includes that the psychologist may not discriminate anyone.

2. The second aspect is autonomy and self-determination. This means that the client is always able to end the relationship with the psychologist. When the self-determination of a client is limited, should the psychologist give him/her as much autonomy as possible. Also, the psychologist need to have permission from the client to work together and the client must be well informed about the treatment. The client can also indicate what he would like and he/she may also view his/her own dossier. The client is also able to comment on the dossier, insist to remove aspects in the dossier and is even able to submit a request to remove the entire file. This rule does not apply when the client has submitted a complaint, because then the psychologist is entitled to use the dossier in his defence. When third parties wish to few the file, permission from the client is required, unless these third parties have the right by law to view the dossier.

3. The third aspect is confidentiality, which means that the psychologist is required to maintain confidentiality. The psychologist needs to handle his own knowledge with care and, without permission, not pass it on to third parties. This confidentiality may only be broken when otherwise there might be direct danger for other people. When the psychologist already expects this situation to arise, he must tell the client that he will break the confidentiality obligation when the situation actually arises. If a psychologist in court has to answer questions that are in contradition with confidentiality, he may invoke the right to exuse him and therefore does not need to give an answer.

4. The fourth aspect is data provision, which includes the distribution of information from the dossier and giving a professional opinion by the psychologist. In the first instance, this is only allowed when the psychologist has received permission from the client. When a psychologist is legally obliged to provide data, the client does not have to give permission for this. The psychologist may provide information to researchers, but only in a way that the identity of the client can not be traced. This also applies to providing information for publications and education.

5. The fifth aspect is reporting. The (written) report is dicussed with the client and when the client finds errors, the psychologist must adjust this or remove this from the report. When the psychologist wants to share the report with a third party, the client is given an opportunity to view the report in advance. Moreover, the client has the blocking right, which means that he has the right to withhold reporting to an external client. This right does not apply if the blocking right is not permitted by law.

What does the principle expertise consist of?

The fourth ans last principle, expertise, consists of three aspects:

1. The first aspect of expertise is ethical reflection, which means that the psychologist must be aware of the ethical aspects and legal provisions. Also, the psychologist must critically think about his actions and his own norms and values.

2. The second aspect is professional competence, which means that the psychologist is professional competence and continues to develop his expertise through literature and further training. Professional competence also includes that the psychologist uses effective methods.

3. The last aspect of expertise is the limit of professional conduct. This means that the psychologist knows what he is capable of and does not accept assignments that could be outside his own capability. When he does have an hard assignment, he must call in help himself. Also, the psychologist only uses methods that he may use due to his education. In addition, the psychologist must always be able to justify his actions, through his reports. The psychologist should prevent himself from getting psychical or physical complaints, which may result in him acting less well. Nevertheless, if he does receive these complaints, he must temporarily put down his work.

What are possible special circumstances?

The code of ethics is not a manual that can determine what is best to do in every situation. The best thing to do is to look at each situation specific, especially when two guidelines contradict eachother and cause an ethical dilemma. If two rules cannot be followed at the same time, the pscyhologist should weigh up the consequences of the choices between the two. In some cases, the psychologist needs to deviate from the code of ethics, even though there are no conflicting rules, and then he has to consult the professional association or an outsider (a collegue). A decision that deviates from the code of ethics must be grounded. Sometimes the law may require a psychologist to deviate from the code of ethics, in that case he must adhere to the other rules of the code of ethics as much as possible.

How does the code of ethics apply to under-aged children?

When a client hasn't reached the age of 16 years yet, or is older than 16 years old but is not capable of self-determination, his/her legal representatives have the rights described in the professional code. When a client is 12 years or older, he/she must be involved in these rights as much as possible.

What does the complaints procedure consist of?

If a NIP-registered psychologist does not comply with the professional code, someone is able to submit a complaint agains him/her. The complaints procedure is recorded in the Regulations for Supervision of the NIP. The complaint will at first be handled by the Board of Supervision and appeals will be made to the Board of Appeal. When a complaint is justified, the psychologist can be punishes in four different ways. The first is a warning and the second is a reprimand, a somewhat stricter warning. The third way is to temporarily suspend the psychologist, for a maximum of two years. In this case the psychologist will not longer be a member of the NIP. The fourth and highest punishment is to end the membership of the NIP. The psychologist therefore may never again become a member of the NIP. The Board of Supervision and the Board of Appeal both have the same possibilites regarding punishments, but both do not have the power to fire the psychologist.

What do volunteer services, social support, pet care, and religious attendance have in common?

Recent studies indicate that people participating in these activities live longer than those who do not. Purpose may link these behaviors. In this article, they hypothesize that purpose leads to longer life span, fewer health care problems, and greater life satisfaction. It is an important predictive variable of physical health and mental health. 

What Is Purpose?

Purpose directs life goals and daily decisions by guiding the use of finite personal resources. Purpose offers direction. Living in accord with one’s purpose offers that person a self-sustaining source of meaning through goal pursuit and goal attainment. It is woven in a person's identity and behavior. It helps organize several areas of research of many disciplins. 

What is the difference between purpose and relgion and meaning? 

All three concepts are about personal agency, a view of behavioral action and attribution. The difference is that purpose is not essential to well-being. A person can be healty for genetic reasons, without purpose having anything to do with that. Besides, religious faith is not necessary purpose. Purpose can serve as an outcome of faith, so you will act in accord with the religious teachings, but purpose can also come from nonfaith bases, such as goodwill. Also, purpose gives a sense of meaning that may not always be recognizable nor easily articulated. Finally, purpose is not a mere product of faith, meaning, or personal agency. Meaning probably drives the development of purpose, but once a purpose is developed, it drives the meaning. 

What is the difference between purpose and goals? 

Goals ar more precise in their influence of priximal behaviors. Purpose provides a broader motivational component that stimulates goals and influences behavior. It motivates people to be goal orented. Another difference is that goasl have terminal outcomes, purposes don't have to have these. Purpose mostly seems to be the supraordinate goal manager. Goals, therefore, are central to and are produced by purpose.

What are the three dimensions of purpose? 

Purpose lies along a three-dimensional continuum, consisting of: 

• Scope, which refers to how central the purpose is in a person’s life, how much it influences the actions, thoughts and emotions. A purpose with a broad scope will be less organized but also influence a greater range of behaviors across a wider context.
• Strength may be described best as the tendency for the purpose to influence. A strong purpose influences the relevant behaviors a lot. The more central a purpose is in a person’s life and the more that purpose influences the actions, thoughts, and emotions of that person, the more likely that person will benefit from having that purpose. 
• Awareness is the extent to which a person is aware and can articulate her purpose.

Scope and strength relate to awareness by influencing the cognitive load. Awareness decreases cognitive load by integrating motivation and behavior into a person’s cognitive architectural framework. When a person is not aware of a purpose but still influenced by that purpose, there exists greater cognitive load and less efficient resource allocation.

What if you pursue multiple purposes? 

To a point, having multiple purposes can be benificial. Shifting between purposes facilitates the ongoing pursuit of purposeful living. Too many purposes lead to constant switching, which can not lead to any progress.  

A purpose that is consistent with wellestablished social values tends to produce intermediate goals that become easier to accomplish over time. Even though there may be intermittent conflict with external forces, goal-related progress and achievement is generally facilitated and rewarded by society. Social acceptance of purposes likely affects the person who lives for the purpose by imposing or reducing barriers. When barriers are increased, we expect people to experience far greater stress when pursuing a purpose. Those without a purpose might find other activities or pursuits to satisfy them if the resistance gets too great.

What is the social psychological view on purpose? 

The self-determination theory suggests that satisfying feelings of autonomy, competence, and relatedness are essential to facilitate personal development and psychological well-being. It helps explain why personal strivings may have differential influences on well-being. The benefits of striving are compromised when a person feels controlled by external or internal pressures (e.g., caregiver wishes, guilt), ill-equipped to be successful, or unsupported by others. Many SDT researchers refer to self-concordant strivings as the optimal framework for pursuing desired life aims. Self-concordant strivings are defined as the “extent to which people pursue their set of personal goals with intrinsic interest and identity congruence rather than with feelings of introjected guilt and external compulsion”

Terror management theory provides a different motivational framework that focuses on the inevitability of death. Attempts to cope with this existential dread leads to an indulgence in dominant cultural ideas, symbols, and behaviors to ward off anxiety. People develop and pursue goals, meaning, and growth opportunities to avoid death-related anxiety.

Purpose does not seem to be reducible to either SDT or TMT. The development and pursuit of purpose can certainly be influenced by the ingredients inherent to SDT or TMT but until evidence suggests otherwise, we are proponents of equifinality— purpose can be the end state of numerous motivations and developmental pathways. As discussed previously, we also do not believe purpose is reducible to other singular motives such as needs. The inclusion of purposeful living as an explanatory variable in facilitating particular actions is best viewed as a complement in the hierarchical structure of self-regulation and personality (for a similar viewpoint, see Little, Salemla-Aro, & Phillips, 2007). Lastly, we emphasize that purpose offers an incremental contribution to both SDT and TMT. Both SDT and TMT probably offer better short-term, proximal predictions, as compared with our theory of purpose. 

What is the evolution scientific view on purpose? 

Resource allocation involves the distribution of scarce resources (e.g., energy) to important processes. Organisms thrive when they adapt to changing environmental conditions and perish when they fail to adapt. Purpose may provide the causal force for efficient resource allocation.

What is the behavioral economics view on purpose? 

Efficient resource allocation from an economist’s standpoint is parallel to the theory of comparative advantage with nations, which stipulates that optimal resource allocation comes from a country producing goods that are most efficiently produced by that country and importing goods that are most efficiently produced elsewhere. Purpose may be a manager’s most powerful tool to get workers to operate at peak efficiency. 

What is the psychoneuroimmunology view on purpose? 

Purpose ought to serve as a buffer in stressful times. The psychoneuroimmunology literature suggests that chronic stress reduces immune response. Unpredictable and uncontrollable events ought to be maximally stressful for those behaving without the luxury of a central, motivating life aim. Purpose leads to a surplus of resources to protect against threats to immune response. 

What is the role of purpose in emotion? 

A person pursuing a purpose may often find obstacles to purpose-consistent behaviors. Emotional instability interferes with goal pursuit.

Can purpose buffer the impact of extreme stress in terms of resilience or speedier recovery?

A person’s framework for understanding the world, other people, and the self are disrupted after traumatic experiences. People try to reconstruct their knowledge structures. Resilience tends to be the most common trajectory in the aftermath of traumatic events. That is minor stress reactions followed by a quick return to normal functioning. Purpose is one, but not the only, potential explanation for how people can become resilient.  Flexible use of various coping strategies to meet particular situational demands predicts resilience. Purpose mandates flexibility and offers an overarching framework by which to predict and understand stress responses. 

What are the consequences of purposeful living?

Physical and mental health seems to be an outcome influenced by purpose, but there is no direct empirical evidence for this. Physical health benefits come from more active, healthier lifestyles. Mental health benefits come from a “buffer” against life circumstances that often lead to mental health problems. When a person is dedicated to a purpose, he ought to be more prone to show behavior that is consistent. If you have a purpose, this makes the chance at a disorder smaller, because a disorder would derive from the wanted outcome. Purposeful activities often require exercising character strengths such as courage and justice that result in challenges against other people or established norms. These stressful activities serve as substantial contributors to an engaging and meaningful life.When people engage in self-determined, satisfying experiences, they increase their endurance during challenging activities. 

What are essential elements of purpose? 

• Purpose stimulates beharioral consistency, it is a motivation to overcome obstacles and to seek alternative means. 
• Purpose generates appetitively motivated behaviors. The bigger the appetitive motivation, the stronger the purpose
• Purpose stimulates psycholigical flexibility. People find ways to avoid problems by being flexible to manage their environment. 
• Purpose fosters efficient resource allocation and it leads to more productive cognitive, behavioral and physiological activity. 
• Purpose involves a higher level cognitive process, driven by the cerebral cortex. It is different from primal motivations. 

Traditional careers are associated with rapid, upward mobility in a single hierarchy. This has been replaced by a boundaryless career, which is unpredictable and disorderly, associated with frequent horizontal mobility. In these careers, only individuals themselves can meaningfully define their own career, based on their own standards, needs, values and career stages. Study's suggest that boundaryless careers can both be positive and negative to one's attainment of subjective career succes. Career succes is the individuals feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction with their career. Boundaryless careers can give people extensive autonomy, but on the other hand, boundaryless careers can also pursuit a relatively discontinuous, idiosyncratic boundaryless career, with few external guides. That can be very stressful. Literature lacks empirical assessments of the consequences of having boundaryless careers. 

What are the effects of career boundarylessness? 

According to the enactment perspective, individuals are considered to be main agents in managing and shaping their own careers. Career boundarylessness should depict the extensive interorganizational mobility and non-linearity positively influences career autonomy. Career autonomy is the extent to which individuals perceive the freedom and discretion to determine and influence the pacing, shape, and direction of their careers. Career boundarylessness can also be an important stressor, because it can lead to career insecurity. 

What is the relation between career boundarylessness and career competences? 

Boundaryless careers are characterized by mobility not only across organizations but also across occupations. These careers are expected to enhance the development of the employee. “Soul searching” through career self exploration triggered by constant mobility would help individuals to better understand what is important for them in terms of career aspirations, needs, and preferences. Pursuing a boundaryless career contributes positively to the development of knowing-why, knowing-how, and knowing-whom competencies by providing opportunities for individuals to develop and accumulate these competencies. 

What is the role of career competencies in the development of career autonomy? 

Individuals with extensive knowing-how competencies have a set of career-relevant skills and knowledge. Extensive knowing-how competencies can provide a substantial amount of negotiation power to influence the time, speed, and terms of individuals' employment. Individuals equipped with knowing-why competencies are considered to have an extensive understanding of their selfconcept and the ability to use this understanding to make career decisions that are compatible with their self-concept. Self-awareness provides guidance and direction needed in effective career management. Individuals with knowing-whom competencies have the ability to develop and utilize a wide network of relationships that can provide information, influence, guidance, and support for them. Individualswith extensive knowing-whomcompetencies can influence their careers more than people with less extensive knowing-whom competencies because with the help of their network connections they can pursue self-directed career paths. 

What is the relationshop between career competencies and career insecurity? 

Insecurity is when you feel powerless to maintain continuous employment in your career. When you develop career competencies, career insecurity should decline. Individuals with extensive knowing-how competencies have a broad, flexible, and transferable knowledge and skill base that reduces career insecurity. People with knowing-why competencies have an extensive understanding of their self-concept and they know the motivational force behind their actions. These individuals can manage their careers more effectively because they are able to set realistic career goals and develop strategies to achieve these goals. Extensive knowing-whom competencies create a similar impact on career insecurity, because they have large networks with disconnectec contacts, which provides access to opportunities. Studies suggest that having knowing-why, knowing-how, and knowing-whom competencies reduces career insecurity by enabling individuals to maintain continuous employment with desirable characteristics when pursuing a boundaryless career. 

What is the effect of career autonomy on subjective career succes?

Person-career fit is the extent to which your career experiences are compatible with your values, interests and talents. When you have career autonomy, you can influence your career by making choices compatible with your values. The person-career fit can promote subjective career succes, because when you pursue careers that are compatible with your self-concept, you will be more satisfied. That in turn makes it more easy to achieve personally meaningful career outcomes. 

What is the effect of career insecurity on subjective career sucess? 

Career insecurity might make it difficult to make meaningful career choices. When you have a positive self-concept and positive career experiences, that increases the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction with your career. might impair individuals' ability to make personally meaningful career choices. To gain understanding of your possibilities, you need to understand your values, needs, interests, abilities, and motives. Excessive worrying about your career security creates stress and anxiety, which makes it harder to focus on self-exploration. 

Career insecurity can also negatively influence individuals' ability to successfully attain personally meaningful career outcomes. Even if you have an accurate understanding of your self-concept, career insecurity can prevent actual attainment in your career. Certain outcomes require the development of appropriate strategies, such as persistence. When you feel powerless, you are impaired and you don't have the ability to develop effective strategies to attain the outcomes you want. 

How did they collect their data? 

The study was designed to examine the relationship between career boundarylessness and subjective career success. The study used a sample that respresented various industries, organizational ranks and occupations. The data was collected by a self-administered electronic survey. Potential respondents were contacted either by email which described the purpose of the study and contained the URL to the survey and they got reminders after. 201 usable surveys had been obtained from the respondents yielding a response rate of 5%. The study's career satisfaction scale consisted of 5 items with a 5- point scale. In testing the hypothesized structural model, the fully mediated hypothesized model was compared with partially mediated and non-mediated models in order to assess whether the effects of career boundarylessness on career autonomy and career insecurity were direct or indirect through the three career competencies. 

What are the results of this analysis? 

•  The hypothesized knowing-why and knowing-how competencies models were compared with a number of nested models. The hypothesized knowing-why competencies model was kept as the best fitting model for the study.  
• Hypothesis 1 predicted a positive relation between career boundarylessness and the three career competencies. The study indicaated partial support for that, because the relationship between career boundarylessness and the external knowing-whom competencies was not statistically significant
• Respondents who developed the three career competencies reported higher career autonomy.
• Respondents who developed the three career competencies reported lower career insecurity.
• Career autonomy positively impacts subjective career success
• Career insecurity negatively impacts subjective career success

What do these results say? 

This study provides support for the positive relationshop between career boundarylessness and the knowing why and knowing how. It indiccates that experiencing a boundaryless career, it enhances career actors' opportunities to develop a deeper understanding of their own identity, skills and knowledge. There is no significant relationshop between career boundarylessness and external knowing whom comptetence, even though it was hypothesized to be, because of the notion that career mobility across differend organizations becomes instrumental for career actors. It is possible that for individuals to form an extensive network of relationships outside of their current organization they need to exceed a certain level of boundarylessness in their careers.

As expected, the three career competencies—knowing-why, knowing-whom, and external knowing-whom—were positively related to career autonomy and negatively related to career insecurity. Furthermore, career autonomy was found to be instrumental in attaining subjective career success. The results also supported the negative relationship between career insecurity and career satisfaction. Finally, the present study developed its own measure of career boundarylessness construct that included three separate structural indicators of career boundarylessness—frequency, type, and direction. Two careers with exactly the same mobility patterns could be perceived to be less or more boundaryless by two different career actors. 

What are the limitations of this study? 

The research was cross-sectional and only a correlational research, so there is no certainty about the causal relationships. Besides,  the study used self-report scales, which creates a possibility of common method variance. Also, the study's relatively low response rate can be an indication for non-response bias. Finally, the sample mostly consists of white, male  American MBA and Executive MBA alumni and students who were attending a private university in the United States, so the results may not be generalizable.