JOURNAL OF VOCATIONAL BEHAVIOR 48, 257–274 (1996)

ARTICLE NO. 0024

The Influence of Psychological Separation and Parental

Attachment on the Career Development
of Adolescent Women

KAREN M. O’BRIEN

Department of Counseling Psychology, University of Kansas

This study explored the contribution of psychological separation and parental attach-
ment to constructs related to the career development of 282 adolescent women. Results
of a canonical correlation analysis suggested that high school women who experienced
similar attitudes to mother, reliance on mother for assistance in daily functioning,
conflictual feelings toward mother, and freedom from the need for approval, closeness,
and emotional support from father evidenced very strong career self-efficacy beliefs
and moderate levels of both career orientation and realism. Thus, this study indicated
that young women who experienced attachment to their mothers and were moving
toward independence were interested in pursuing a career, selected careers which were
mostly consistent with their ability, and felt highly efficacious with regard to choosing
a career. Continued attention to the career development of young women over time
is critical in order to further differentiate among the individual, relational, and societal
variables that promote healthy career development as well as occupational success
and satisfaction for women. q 1996 Academic Press, Inc.

Theoretically, the processes of identity development and career decision-

making occur simultaneously, and thus the movement toward individuation in
adolescence could influence the vocational choices of young adults (Blustein,
Devenis, & Kidney, 1989; Lopez & Andrews, 1987; Lopez, Watkins,
Manus, & Hunton-Shoup, 1992). The interconnectedness of these processes
may have a profound impact on the career development of young women,
given that individuation in adolescent females has been hypothesized to in-
volve a struggle between the movement toward separation that characterizes

This article originated from the author’s dissertation completed under the direction of Steven
D. Brown who provided many valued insights. Patricia Hunt and Akira Otani also assisted with
critical components of this study. Much gratitude is extended to David L. Blustein, Mary J.
Heppner, and Lisa Y. Flores for their extensive and helpful comments on earlier drafts of this
article, which was presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association, August,
1993, Toronto. Correspondence and reprint requests should be addressed to Karen M. O’Brien,
Ph.D., who is now at the Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
20742.

257
0001-8791/96 $18.00
Copyright q 1996 by Academic Press, Inc.
All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.

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258 KAREN O’BRIEN

adolescence and the desire for connection that describes many women (Stern,
1990). Despite the increasing interest in the relation among attachment, sepa-
ration, and career constructs as well as the process of women’s identity
development, there remains a paucity of literature which examines the influ-
ence of psychological separation and parental attachment on the vocational
development of young women.
Historically, identity development in adolescence was hypothesized to in-
volve a second individuation phase during which adolescents disengaged from
the objects they internalized during infancy and developed a stable sense of
self (Blos, 1979). However, researchers have noted that healthy movement
through the process of identity development involves both attachment to a
‘‘secure base’’ (Mahler, Pine, & Bergman, 1975; Rice, 1990) as well as
independent exploration and individuation (Lopez et al., 1992). Attachment
has been generally defined as ‘‘an enduring affectional bond of substantial
intensity’’ (Armsden & Greenberg, 1987, p. 428). Recently, Gilligan and her
colleagues (Gilligan, 1991; Gilligan, Lyons, & Hanmer, 1990) claimed that
the process of separation for young women entailed learning how to maintain
relationships while remaining true to one’s developing sense of identity. Fur-
thermore, Josselson (1987) studied the process of identity formation in women
with regard to their attachment to relationships. She found that individuals
who were most attached to others were found in the ‘‘foreclosure’’ group,
indicating that higher degrees of attachment were connected with premature
occupational and personal decisions, often influenced by perceptions of paren-
tal desires. Women endorsing the least attachment to relationships were found
in the ‘‘moratorium’’ and ‘‘diffusion’’ modes of development characterized
by struggles with identity issues and failure to endorse an occupational or
ideological direction. Finally, women who progressed through an exploratory
phase and were pursuing self-chosen occupations and ideologies (‘‘achieve-
ment’’ status) were those who exhibited moderate levels of both attachment
and separateness, suggesting that attachment to others remained a critical
factor in the identity formation process of young women. Other researchers
have noted that college women who were attached to their parents reported
low levels of psychological symptoms and high levels of social competence
(Kenny & Donaldson, 1991). Given that young women often remain con-
nected to significant others during their individuation process, the role that
parents play in this process, specifically with regard to career development
seemed timely to explore.
Although the importance of research investigating the role of parents on the
career decision-making process of adolescents has been established, diverse
constructs and inconsistent findings characterize this literature. Attachment
to parents remains an important variable for women with regard to psychologi-
cal well-being (American Association of University Women, 1991; Holm-
beck & Wandrei, 1993; Kenny & Donaldson, 1991), adjustment to college
(Lopez, Campbell, & Watkins, 1988), and self-esteem (Rice, 1990). In a

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 ADOLESCENT WOMEN’S CAREER CHOICES 259

cogent review of the literature, Blustein, Schultheiss, and Prezioso (1993)

hypothesized that individuals who felt securely attached to others would
engage in career exploration and selection, would be satisfied and succeed in
their occupational endeavors, and would develop and maintain healthy work
relationships. With a sample of undergraduates, Lopez (1989) found that
conflictual independence (i.e., freedom from intense anger, guilt, anxiety, and
resentment) from the opposite-sex parent was the most important family-
related predictor of vocational identity for students who experienced concerns
on the vocational identity scale.
In a related study, Eigen, Hartman, and Hartman (1987) did not find support
for the hypothesis that family interaction patterns were related to career indeci-
sion. Furthermore, Kinnier, Brigman, and Noble (1990) found only weak
support for the contention that students who were enmeshed and had failed
to move toward individuation were more likely to be undecided than students
whose families were not characterized by enmeshment; specifically, individu-
ation accounted for only 3% of the variance in the prediction of career indeci-
sion when controlling for age and student status. In addition, Blustein, Wal-
bridge, Friedlander, and Palladino (1991) studied a sample of undergraduates
and found no support for the hypothesis that individuals who have difficulties
with psychological separation from their parents would experience career
indecision.
While separation and attachment may not be related to deciding on a career
choice, it is possible that individuals who were both connected to their parents
yet moving toward individuation would engage in many independent decision-
making activities and develop significant levels of confidence in making
career-related decisions. Researchers have begun to examine the relation be-
tween degree of attachment and separation from parents and adolescents’
career self-efficacy beliefs. Blustein et al. (1991) tested the hypothesis that
degree of separation would be related to career decision-making self-efficacy
beliefs. Results indicated no significant relations between career self-efficacy
and measures of psychological separation. One explanation for these findings
might be that those individuals who have difficulty separating from their
parents would develop robust efficacy beliefs in areas consistent with their
parents expectations, while those individuals who experience little difficulty
with separation may be efficacious in a wider range of occupational activities.
When investigating the career development of women, attention to career
orientation is of critical importance. Career orientation was defined as the
value or importance attributed to having a career and aspiring to leadership
positions within that career. With a sample of college women, Fassinger
(1990) found that high ability, liberal gender role attitudes, and instrumental
personality characteristics were predictive of high levels of career orientation.
Psychological attachment and separation may also be related to being career-
directed, this orientation being facilitated by a history of support coupled
with encouragement to explore one’s individual potential. While researchers

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260 KAREN O’BRIEN

have not yet investigated the relation between career orientation and psycho-
logical separation and attachment to parents, Blustein and his colleagues
(1991) investigated the relation between career commitment and psychologi-
cal attachment and separation. Blustein et al. found that certain levels of
parental attachment and psychological separation were predictive of career
commitment for women; individuals who were both attached to and experienc-
ing conflictual independence from their parents were able to progress in the
career commitment process. Specifically, women who experienced a moderate
degree of attachment to their parents along with conflictual independence
from their parents were more committed to their career choices and less likely
to prematurely select a career. Thus, they suggested that the most facilitative
relationship between parents and children with regard to the career develop-
ment process would be one in which the adolescents felt both connected to
yet separate from their parents. While they assessed the progress individuals
made in committing to a career, it is hypothesized that a moderate degree of
attachment coupled with movement toward individuation would also contrib-
ute to a healthy degree of career orientation (i.e., the degree to which individu-
als value their careers and aspire to leadership positions within their careers).
Finally, this study extends the measurement of career choice to include
congruence and realism of career choice. Historically, much of the research
in the career psychology of women has investigated the factors related to
traditional or nontraditional career choices for women. Perhaps more salient
than the level of traditionality remains the question of whether women chose
careers that were congruent with their interests and utilized their abilities as
opposed to the selection of occupations thought to be gender-appropriate.
Congruence of career choice (match between interests of the individual and
the environment) and realism of career choice (match between the ability of
the individual and aptitude requirements of the job) could be related to the
parental provision of support and encouragement, with the healthiest career
choices being characterized by both attachment to parents and support for
individuation.
In summary, researchers have begun to investigate the relation between
degree of parental attachment and psychological separation and important
career constructs with samples of college students. The examination of the
career development process and the movement toward separation and individ-
uation prior to departure for college may provide valuable information about
the early stages of these processes in young women. Thus, this study investi-
gated the influence of attachment and separation on the career development
of a sample of high school women. The investigator hypothesized that young
women who experienced attachment to their parents and were moving toward
separation and individuation would exhibit moderate to high levels of career
self-efficacy and career orientation. These women were also expected to select
careers that were congruent with their interests and realistic with regard to
their abilities.

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 ADOLESCENT WOMEN’S CAREER CHOICES 261

METHOD
Participants
The participants in this sample were 282 females enrolled in their last year
of high school. The participants’ mean age was 17.28 (SD Å .49) and they
were predominantly Caucasian (81.2%), with the remaining women represent-
ing visible racial and ethnic groups (10.6% African American, 1.4% Asian
American, 4.6% Latina, 1.1% Native American, and .4% Other). Their mean
grade point average obtained upon their completion of high school was 2.97
(SD Å .72) on a 4-point scale (although some students exceeded the 4.00 due
to credit obtained through honors classes). They attended a relatively large
(2000 students) all-female private parochial high school in the urban midwest
which prepared young women to pursue higher education and to make a
contribution to society. Virtually all of these students indicated that they
would be attending college (99.7%) and 63.5% had chosen a major of study
in college. Half of the students had decided on the occupation they wanted
to pursue. Approximately 25% of the participants had chosen traditional ca-
reers for women (careers in which 60% or more of the workplace is female;
U.S. Department of Labor, 1991) and about 26% had chosen nontraditional
careers in which less than 25% of the workplace was female. Also, 85.1%
of these students’ parents currently were married.

Procedure
Voluntary participation was solicited from the senior class (a total of 472
students). Students who agreed to participate in the study were given time
during their Theology class to complete the measures and those who chose
not to participate used the time to study. The percentage of students who
were present in the classes, chose to participate, and correctly completed the
measures was 59.7%. Measures were counterbalanced to control for order
effects, fatigue and disinterest in completing the survey. The participants in
this study were part of a larger sample of 409 students surveyed for a test of
a causal model of career choice and orientation with adolescent women which
involved completing additional measures for use in that study (O’Brien &
Fassinger, 1993). One hundred twenty-seven students participated in the
O’Brien and Fassinger study but did not complete all of the measures needed
for this research, and were thus eliminated from this sample. While self-
selection based on ability or aptitude may initially appear to be a concern to
the validity of the study, the mean grade point average of the participants
was approximately a B average (2.97), indicating that they were not a select
group of exceptional students. This was further supported by high school
records which indicated that the approximate grade point average for high
school seniors at graduation is 2.92 (G. Burke, personal communication,
September 13, 1994).

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262 KAREN O’BRIEN

Instruments
Measurement of parental attachment. The mother and father attachment
subscales of the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA; Armsden &
Greenberg, 1987) were administered to assess level of attachment to parents.
The revised version of this instrument consists of three subscales that were
independently scored (mother, father and peer attachment) and was recom-
mended over the original version (M. T. Greenberg, personal communication,
April 8, 1991) which collectively assessed parental attachment and resulted
in two scores (a peer attachment and a parental attachment score). Only the
mother and father attachment subscales of the revised measure were used in
this study. Each scale consisted of 25 items assessing three broad dimensions
of attachment (degree of mutual trust, quality of communication, and extent
of anger and alienation) on a 5-point Likert-type scale. The items included
‘‘When we discuss things, my mother cares about my point of view’’ and
‘‘My father accepts me as I am.’’ Several items were reverse-scored and
items on each of the two subscale scores were summed independently with
higher scores indicating greater attachment to the parents. If the students’
parents were divorced or remarried, they were instructed to answer the items
for the individuals that they considered their ‘‘mom’’ or their ‘‘dad.’’ Three-
week test–retest reliability for parental attachment was .93 (Armsden &
Greenberg, 1989) and Cronbach as of .89 and .88 were reported for the
mother and father subscales (Papini, Roggman, & Anderson, 1991). In the
present sample, internal consistency coefficients of .96 and .95 were calculated
for the mother and father subscales. Validity evidence for this measure in-
cluded a significant positive correlation with college adjustment (Lapsley,
Rice, & Fitzgerald, 1990) and a significant negative correlation with depres-
sion (Armsden, McCauley, Greenberg, Burke, & Mitchell, 1990).
Measurement of psychological separation. An altered version of the Psy-
chological Separation Inventory (PSI; Hoffman, 1984) was used to assess the
degree of psychological separation from parents. Since this instrument was
lengthy and developed for college students, 70 (of the original 138) items
that were appropriate for high school students were selected using a two-step
procedure. First, items were eliminated that implied college living (e.g., ‘‘My
mother’s wishes have influenced my choice of major at school’’ and ‘‘I
sometimes call home just to hear my father’s voice’’). Then, items were
selected that were considered representative of the Functional Independence
(i.e., the ability to act independently without direction from parents; 5 items),
Conflictual Independence (i.e., freedom from intense anger, guilt, anxiety and
resentment toward parents; 10 items), Emotional Independence (i.e., freedom
from a pronounced need for closeness, approval and emotional support from
parents; 10 items) and Attitudinal Independence (i.e., maintaining separate
attitudes, values, and beliefs from parents; 10 items) scales.
Participants indicated how accurately the statements described them on a 5-

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 ADOLESCENT WOMEN’S CAREER CHOICES 263

point Likert-type scale for both mother and father. Again, participants were
instructed to answer the questions with the person they considered their ‘‘mom’’
or ‘‘dad’’ in mind. The scores for the items on each scale were summed and
then subtracted from the total number possible in order to obtain individual
scale scores. This procedure ensured that higher scores were reflective of greater
psychological separation (see Hoffman, 1984). Two- to 3-week test–retest
reliabilities ranged between .49 and .96 and internal consistency estimates
ranged between .88 and .92 for the unaltered version of this measure (Hoffman,
1984). Cronbach as ranged between .77 and .88 for these revised scales in the
present sample. The original scales were related to academic adjustment (Rice,
1992), and expected changes in the scale scores were observed in students over
4 years in college (Lapsley et al., 1990; Rice, 1992).
Measurement of career choice. Participants were asked if they had decided
on a career. If they indicated that they had made a career choice, they were
asked to list the occupation they had selected. If they indicated that they had
not yet decided on a career, they were asked to list the occupations they were
considering. Occupational choice was conceptualized as the career selected by
decided students and the first occupation listed for consideration by undecided
students.
Measurement of congruence of career choice. Congruence of career choice
was defined as the degree to which the participant’s Holland code (Holland,
1985) matched the Holland code of their occupational choice using the con-
gruence index developed by Brown and Gore (1994). The participant’s Hol-
land code was obtained from scores on the American College Testing Interest
Inventory (UNIACT; American College Testing, 1988). The UNIACT con-
sists of 90 items that measure the six Holland (1985) themes. Respondents
indicated their perceptions of like, indifferent, or dislike to each item and the
inventory was scored by adding the items for each scale. The raw scores on
the scales ranged from 15 to 45 and were then converted to standard scores
based on nationally representative norms for high school students. The three
highest standardized scores comprised the Holland code of the individual.
The Holland codes for the occupations selected by the participants were
obtained from the second edition of the Dictionary of Holland Occupational
Codes (Gottfredson & Holland, 1989).
Measurement of realism of career choice. Career choice realism was opera-
tionalized as the degree of correspondence between the participants’ ability
and the prestige of the occupation (Betz, Heesacker, & Shuttleworth, 1990;
Hollender, 1967), with the assumption that occupations higher in prestige
require greater ability than occupations ranked lower in prestige. The level
of ability for the participants was determined by the composite score of the
American College Test (ACT, American College Testing, 1988) obtained
from the high school records. Participants were assigned a level of ability
based on their ACT scores consistent with the Betz et al. study. For example,
ACT scores from 31 to 36 were placed in the highest level (6).

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264 KAREN O’BRIEN

Career choice prestige was operationalized as the socioeconomic status of

the career choice as classified by the 1980 revision (Stevens & Featherman,
1981) of the Duncan (1961) socioeconomic index. Prestige ratings ranged
from 13.09 to 88.49 with higher scores indicating the most prestigious careers.
Prestige scores were then broken down in six categories consistent with the
Betz et al. (1990) study (e.g., those ranging from 83.3 to 100 were in level
6). The data were distributed in categories in a manner consistent with Betz
et al. who extrapolated from Hollender’s (1967) data to derive the six prestige
and ACT score categories. (The exact breakdown of the scores within each
category can be obtained from the author.)
The realism score was calculated by subtracting the assigned level of ability
from the level of prestige of the student’s career choice. Hollender (1967)
originally devised this method of operationalizing realism to correspond to
the six levels of Roe’s two-dimensional system. While Betz and her colleagues
acknowledged that this operationalization of realism was rudimentary and
might be conceptualized as utilization of ability, they argued that interpreta-
tion of these scores as a measure of realism was appropriate in a relative
sense given the lack of measures currently available for this construct.
The measure of realism used in this study provided an index of whether
or not the stated career goal of the participant matched her measured abilities,
with higher scores indicating unrealistic plans (‘‘overshooters’’ as described
by Hanson and Sander, 1973), moderate scores representing a match between
academic ability and occupational prestige, and low scores suggesting unful-
filled plans (‘‘undershooters’’ as described by Hanson and Sandor, 1973).
The distribution of scores was as follows: 3.00 (.4%), 2.00 (6.4%), 1.00
(26.2%), 0 (24.1%), 01.00 (29.1%), 02.00 (11%), and 03.00 (2.8%).
Measurement of career orientation. The author developed a 10-item Career
Aspiration Scale (CAS) to assess the degree to which individuals not only
valued their careers, but also aspired to leadership positions within their
careers. Researchers in the area of women’s career development consistently
have measured the degree of commitment to one’s career, but failed to assess
the level to which individuals aspire within a given occupation. For example,
many teachers value their careers and would rate their work as important to
them, but measures have failed to differentiate between teachers who aspired
to be principals and those who are not interested in advancing in their field.
Participants responded to the CAS by indicating how accurately each item
applied to them using a 5-point Likert scale. Sample items included, ‘‘I plan
on developing as an expert in my career field’’ and ‘‘I would be satisfied just
doing my job in a career I am interested in’’. Higher scores indicated greater
commitment to achievement within one’s career. An internal consistency
coefficient of .74 was calculated for this measure with this sample. Evidence
for the validity of this measure for this sample was indicated by the significant
(p õ .01) positive correlations between scores on this scale and measures of
career salience (r Å .47), academic achievement (r Å .16), semesters of math

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 ADOLESCENT WOMEN’S CAREER CHOICES 265

courses completed (r Å .16), and career self-efficacy (r Å .53). Significant

negative correlations were obtained between scores on the CAS and both
measures of negative affectivity (r Å 0.26) and occupational traditionality
(r Å 0.15, p õ .05). Dukstein and O’Brien (1994) obtained an internal
consistency coefficient of .77 with a sample of 230 upper-level college
women. They also found significant positive relations between the CAS and
self-efficacy expectations for multiple role management (r Å .23) and gender
role attitudes (r Å .37).
Measurement of career self-efficacy beliefs. The measure of career self-
efficacy beliefs was the Career Confidence Scale (CCS), Fassinger’s (1990)
revision of the Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale (Taylor & Betz,
1983). Fassinger altered this scale by selecting five representative items across
the five domains of self-appraisal, occupational information, goal selection,
future planning and problem solving. This instrument assessed the extent to
which the participants felt confident in their ability to perform tasks related
to career decision-making. Participants were asked to respond to the items
using a 5-point Likert scale and the responses were summed to provide a
total score. Higher scores indicated greater confidence in their ability to com-
plete the tasks necessary for selection of an occupation. The internal consis-
tency coefficient for this sample was .93. Validity evidence for this scale
included positive correlations with measures of math self-efficacy and instru-
mentality (Fassinger, 1990).
Calculation of congruence. Congruence was operationalized as the congru-
ence index (C) described by Brown and Gore (1994). Each letter of the
individual’s Holland code was compared sequentially to each letter of the
occupational Holland code. When the letters were the same, a score of 3 was
assigned and when the letters were adjacent on the Holland hexagon, a score
of 2 was given. Alternate hexagonal positions received one point and opposite
hexagonal positions obtained a score of 0. The scores were then entered in
the following equation to compute the congruence index: C Å 3(Xi) / 2(Xi)
/ (Xi). Scores ranged from 0 to 18, with higher scores associated with greater
levels of congruence.
Statistical Analysis
A canonical correlation analysis was performed to investigate the hypothe-
sis that women who were attached to their parents and were moving toward
separation and individuation would be likely to choose careers that were
congruent with their interests, be realistic with regard to their abilities and
evidence moderate to high levels of career self-efficacy and career orientation.
Canonical analysis generated canonical variates which were pairs of linear
combinations of variables that maximized the correlation between the psycho-
logical attachment and separation scales and the congruence, realism of career
choice, career self-efficacy and career orientation scales. Multivariate semi-
partial analyses were run to determine the unique variance that the attachment

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266 KAREN O’BRIEN

TABLE 1
Means, Standard Deviations, Ranges, and Coefficient Alpha Reliability Coefficients for
Measured Variables and Structure Coefficients for the Full and Semipartial Models

Structure coefficients

Full Semipartial
Variable M SD Range Alpha model model

Relationship to mother
Attachment 90.33 20.76 27–125 .96 0.51
Functional Independence 11.50 4.64 0–20 .77 00.58 00.38
Attitudinal Independence 18.24 7.83 0–40 .84 00.63 00.47
Emotional Independence 22.03 8.39 2–40 .84 00.41 00.19
Conflictual Independence 23.01 8.70 0–40 .86 0.17 00.16
Relationship to father
Attachment 83.45 21.38 27–124 .95 0.18
Functional Independence 11.10 3.82 1–16 .81 00.18 00.13
Attitudinal Independence 20.90 8.54 0–40 .86 00.32 00.27
Emotional Independence 23.33 9.07 2–40 .88 0.18 0.39
Conflictual Independence 24.58 8.60 0–40 .85 0.20 0.16
Career choice
Congruence of career choice 10.40 3.58 0–18 0.05 0.16
Realism of career choice 0.20 1.23 03– /3 0.48 0.48
Career Aspiration Scale 39.61 5.97 17–50 .74 0.65 0.72
Career Confidence Scale 75.39 13.83 32–100 .93 0.89 0.86

and subsequently the separation variables shared with the criterion variables.
Cohen and Cohen (1983) argued that this technique allowed the investigator
‘‘by means of partialling, [to] ‘‘carve out’’ of the overall association the
relevant functional components and assess their relationship’’ (p. 490).
RESULTS
The means, standard deviations, reliability estimates and ranges of the
measures are shown in Table 1. Bivariate correlations among the variables
are presented in Table 2.
In this sample, the mean score on the congruence index indicated that
participants chose careers that were moderately congruent with their interests.
The mean score was comparable to the population mean reported by Brown
and Gore (1994) for the C index (X Å 9.00; SD Å 3.69). Furthermore, 24.1%
of these students chose careers in which their aptitude matched their ability,
and 55.3% of these students selected occupations that were partially realistic
with regard to their aptitude. However, 20.6% of these women chose careers
that did not match their indicated ability.
The hypothesis stated that women who exhibited a moderate degree of
attachment to and separation from parents would evidence moderate to high
levels of career self-efficacy and career orientation and would make congruent

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m3669f1491
TABLE 2
Bivariate Correlations among Variables

Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Relationship to mother
1. Attachment 1.00
2. Functional Independence 0.67 1.00
3. Attitudinal Independence 0.57 .62 1.00

05-03-96 17:19:06
4. Emotional Independence 0.51 .69 .59 1.00
5. Conflictual Independence .75 0.37 0.41 0.23 1.00
Relationship to father
6. Attachment .32 0.24 0.29 0.16 .24 1.00

jvba
7. Functional Independence 0.18 .40 .33 .33 0.04 0.65 1.00
8. Attitudinal Independence 0.29 .34 .51 .28 0.17 0.66 .61 1.00
9. Emotional Independence 0.16 .32 .27 .43 0.00 0.63 .75 .62 1.00
10. Conflictual Independence .20 0.03 0.07 .06 .37 .65 0.25 0.31 0.20 1.00

AP: JVB
Career choice
11. Congruence 0.03 0.02 .05 .03 0.03 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.01 .05 1.00
12. Realism .09 0.14 0.13 0.17 .01 .05 0.14 0.04 0.05 0.04 .11 1.00
ADOLESCENT WOMEN’S CAREER CHOICES

13. Career Confidence Scale .19 0.18 0.20 .10 .08 .04 0.01 0.12 .10 .06 .04 .11 1.00
14. Career Aspiration Scale .09 0.11 0.15 0.05 .00 .05 0.02 0.08 .06 .07 0.01 .00 .53 1.00

Note. Coefficients ú {.12 are significant at the .05 level of confidence.

267
268 KAREN O’BRIEN

and realistic career choices. The canonical correlation analysis indicated the
presence of one or more significant canonical correlations (Pillai’s V Å .24,
F(40, 1084) Å 1.72, p Å .00). A dimension reduction analysis was performed
which indicated the presence of one canonical root (L Å .78, F(40, 1018) Å
1.74, p Å .00) that accounted for 14.2% of the variance (Rc Å .38). Redun-
dancy analysis indicated that the psychological separation and attachment
variables explained 14.33% of the variance in the career constructs. The career
constructs explained 5.15% of the variance in psychological separation and
attachment.
The structure coefficients for the significant canonical variate are reported
in Table 1. Structure coefficients (i.e., the correlations between the variables
and the canonical variate) greater than .30 were interpreted in this analysis.
The structure coefficients indicated that this root was characterized by a
moderate positive loading on psychological attachment to mother. Moderate
negative loadings were found on functional, emotional, and attitudinal inde-
pendence from mother and attitudinal independence from father. With regard
to the career constructs, the root was characterized by moderate positive
loadings on both career orientation and realism and a strong positive loading
on career self-efficacy.
Similar to Blustein et al. (1991), multivariate semipartial analyses were
conducted to ascertain the unique contribution of the attachment and separa-
tion variables to the linear composite of dependent variables. When the contri-
bution of the separation variables was partialled out of the analysis, the
canonical correlation analysis assessing the unique contribution of the attach-
ment variables to the career variables resulted in a non-significant model.
However, when controlling for attachment, the unique contribution of the
separation variables resulted in a significant model (Pillai’s V Å .19, F(32,
1092) Å 1.72, p Å .01). A dimension reduction analysis of the separation
variables indicated the presence of one significant canonical root (L Å .82,
F(32, 997) Å 1.74, p Å .01) that accounted for 10.7% of the variance
(Rc Å .33).
This root was characterized by a moderate positive loading on emotional
independence from father, and moderate negative loadings on attitudinal,
conflictual, and functional independence from mother (see Table 1). Similar
to the full model, the root was characterized by positive loadings on career
orientation, realism, and career self-efficacy. The pattern of correlations in
the full model was largely replicated among the variables in the semipartial
analysis.
DISCUSSION
The purpose of this study was to investigate the unique and conjoint influ-
ence of parental attachment and separation on career constructs with a sample
of high school women. A pattern emerged when examining the relations
among parental attachment, psychological separation and career constructs.

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 ADOLESCENT WOMEN’S CAREER CHOICES 269

Specifically, high school women who experienced a moderate degree of at-

tachment to their mothers, relied on their mothers to assist in managing their
personal affairs, felt emotionally close to their mothers, and shared similar
beliefs and attitudes with their mothers and fathers evidenced very strong
career self-efficacy beliefs and moderately strong levels of both career orienta-
tion and realism. However, further examination of the relative contribution of
attachment and separation variables indicated that although the individuation
variables accounted for variance in the career constructs when controlling for
attachment, the attachment variables failed to correlate significantly with the
career constructs when controlling for separation.
Interestingly, the pattern of results from the semipartial analysis suggests
that both movement toward independence (indicated by the presence of feel-
ings of anger, guilt, anxiety or resentment toward mother and freedom from
the need for approval, closeness and emotional support from father) and lack
of independence from mother (evidenced by needing assistance in managing
personal affairs and by shared beliefs and values) were related to moderate
career choice realism and strong levels of career self-efficacy beliefs and
career orientation. While the attachment variables did not account for variance
in the career variables when controlling for the separation variables, the
negative scores on several separation variables suggested that a lack of inde-
pendence (or the presence of a connection with mother) was predictive of
positive scores on critical career variables. Thus, the findings from this study
appear consistent with previous work that linked attachment to others with
engagement in career exploration and selection (Blustein et al., 1993).
Furthermore, prior to negating the influence of attachment on the career
development of adolescent women, it is important to consider that attachment
to others may predicate and/or coexist with the movement toward healthy
individuation. In fact, the attachment and separation variables were moder-
ately to strongly correlated. Attachment to mother was correlated in a strong
positive direction with conflictual independence from mother and in a moder-
ate to strong negative direction to functional, emotional, and attitudinal inde-
pendence from mother. Similar patterns were noted with the father variables.
It is possible that methodological limitations could account for the results of
the semipartial analyses.
Also, the measurement of separation and attachment should be improved to
more clearly differentiate between the two constructs. Significant correlations
between scales on these measures implied that these instruments did not
measure two distinct constructs. Perhaps the attachment measures in this study
provided an index of the quantity of general attachment, but an instrument
that differentiates among types or quality of attachment could provide more
information about the relations between attachment and career constructs and
better differentiate between attachment and a lack of independence. Research-
ers have recently cautioned that the measures of psychological separation fail
to clearly delineate whether they assess emotional autonomy or emotional

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270 KAREN O’BRIEN

detachment from parents (Lopez & Gover, 1993). Additional research is

needed to develop and refine measures of psychological attachment and sepa-
ration.
Further analysis of the results indicated that while Blustein et al. (1991)
found no relation between separation and self-efficacy, young women in this
study who experienced both connection to and conflictual feelings toward
their mothers along with emotional independence from their fathers perceived
themselves as highly efficacious with regard to investigating and selecting an
appropriate career. Similar to the findings of Blustein et al. (1991) with regard
to career commitment, women who both experienced attachment and were
moving toward separation exhibited interest in achieving and attaining leader-
ship status in their future careers. Furthermore, moderate levels of realism of
career choice (indicating neither unrealistic or unfulfilled career choices) were
associated with a lack of functional and attitudinal independence from mother,
the presence of conflictual feelings toward the mother and independence from
father. Given that women have consistently underestimated their ability with
regard to vocational choices (Fitzgerald & Crites, 1980), further exploration
of the manner in which psychological separation and attachment influence
the formation of realistic career choices is needed. Furthermore, while this
measure of realism has been used in previous research (Betz et al., 1990),
continued attention to the measurement and operationalization of this con-
struct is needed, especially as it relates to the study of women’s vocational
development.
The findings also revealed that attachment and separation variables were
not related to congruence of career choice. This finding is inconsistent with
Josselson’s (1987) work which found that psychological attachment and sepa-
ration were predictive of the process of women’s career development. It is
possible that while hypothetical career choices result in moderate congruence
and have no relation to these psychological variables, congruence of actual
career choice (often made in conjunction with decisions about children and
significant others) may be related to these constructs. Since the analyses
performed in this study are exploratory, and given that canonical correlation
analyses must be cross-validated (Pedhazur, 1982), additional research is
needed to clarify the relations between parental attachment, psychological
separation and congruent career choice (particularly with attention to how
balancing multiple roles may influence congruence of career choice).
Also of interest was the finding that conflictual feelings toward mother
and emotional distance from father were correlated with important career
constructs. One explanation for this finding might be that emotional distance
from parents may be indicative of healthy movements toward separation and
individuation. Lopez (1989) found that conflictual independence from the
opposite sex parent was correlated with positive vocational identity. If true,
young women moving toward healthy career development may begin to emo-
tionally distance themselves from their fathers and develop conflictual feelings

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 ADOLESCENT WOMEN’S CAREER CHOICES 271

toward the mother prior to separation from their parents. A longitudinal analy-
sis which investigates the relation between career development and individua-
tion over time would be critical to further delineate the role of separation and
attachment in the actual career behaviors of women.
The findings of this study should be considered descriptive and preliminary
given the nature of the analyses and the magnitude of the findings (only
14.2% of the variance in the full model was explained). While studying
the vocational development process in high school women is critical, robust
relations among career-related variables may develop over time as career
choices and behaviors become increasingly salient. Also, further validation
of the instruments is imperative given that several of the instruments were
relatively new or had been altered for use with high school students. In
addition, the generalizability of these data is limited. The participants were
predominantly white and they attended a somewhat prestigious private institu-
tion that has as its mission to educate young women to make a difference in
their world. While this environment clearly is not accessible to many young
women, results gained from this study and from a longitudinal analysis of
the development of these women might provide critical insights into the career
decision-making process of women who have access to a wide range of
opportunities in our society.
The results, although preliminary and with limitations, have theoretical
implications for educational and counseling interventions with high school
women and their parents. Specifically, young women and their parents should
be educated about the importance of both connection with supportive others
and movement toward independence while navigating the career decision-
making process. For young women, the movement toward individuation ap-
pears to be correlated with characteristics that account for healthy career
development. For example, if a young woman is confident in her ability and
knowledgeable about her self, she would, in all likelihood, manage both the
movement toward independence and the process of career decision-making
in a proactive manner. Thus, career counseling could assist high school
women in addressing the issues that limit their development as independent,
autonomous women who maintain connections with significant others. Parents
could be encouraged to examine their influence on the career decision-making
process of their daughters and their feelings about their daughters movement
toward independence. Perhaps the most effective intervention would occur
with parents and children long before high school. Programs developed for
families might encourage parents to provide their daughters with educational
and life experiences in both traditional and nontraditional areas for women
with the hope of influencing their efficacy, broadening their range of career
options, and enabling them to select congruent and realistic careers.
In conclusion, the development of career confidence, commitment to
achieving in a career, and moderately realistic career choices appear to be
correlated with similar attitudes to mother, reliance on mother for assistance

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272 KAREN O’BRIEN

in daily functioning, conflictual feelings toward mother and emotional inde-

pendence from father. Continued attention to the career development of young
women over time is critical to further differentiate among the individual,
relational and societal variables that promote healthy career development and
occupational success and satisfaction for women.

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Received: February 22, 1994

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