Gottfredson, Roe, Ginzberg and Tiedeman
Last reviewed September 2026 by Dr. Andrew Wichterman · Aligned to the current NCE blueprint. Valid for exams through June 30, 2027.
AI-narrated overview made with Google NotebookLM. The written lesson below is by Dr. Andrew Wichterman.
Four theories with one signature idea each. The exam asks you to attach the idea to the name and occasionally to order a set of stages.
Try to answer each from memory first, even if you have to guess. Guessing before reading makes the answer stick; reveal only after you have tried.
Gottfredson: circumscription and compromise
Linda Gottfredson described how children progressively eliminate occupations. Circumscription runs in four stages: orientation to size and power, ages 3 to 5; orientation to sex roles, 6 to 8, when occupations seen as wrong for one's gender are ruled out; orientation to social valuation, 9 to 13, when prestige too low or too high is ruled out; and orientation to the internal, unique self, 14 and up, when interests and values narrow the remaining zone of acceptable alternatives. Compromise is what happens when reality intrudes and the person gives up first interests, then prestige, and last sex-type. Occupational sex-typing is the theory's most tested concept.
Roe: needs and early experience
Anne Roe, drawing on Maslow, argued that the early family climate shapes needs, which orient people toward or away from other people in their work. Warm, accepting or overprotective homes tend toward person-oriented occupations such as service, business contact, arts and entertainment. Cold, rejecting or avoidant homes tend toward non-person-oriented occupations such as technology, outdoor work and science. Roe also produced a classification of occupations by field and level. Research support for the parenting link was weak, which the exam may note.
Ginzberg: the first developmental theory
Ginzberg, Ginsburg, Axelrad and Herma, in 1951, described occupational choice as a developmental process in three periods. Fantasy, to about 11: choices reflect wishes, not abilities. Tentative, 11 to 17: choices based in turn on interests, capacities, values and then a transition. Realistic, 17 and up: exploration, crystallization and specification. They originally held that choice was largely irreversible and involved compromise; Ginzberg later revised this to say choice is lifelong and involves optimization.
Tiedeman and O'Hara: decision as ego development
Tiedeman and O'Hara framed career decision making as part of Erikson's ego identity development. Two phases. Anticipation, or preoccupation: exploration, crystallization, choice and clarification. Implementation, or adjustment: induction into the new setting, reformation as the person influences the setting, and integration as a balance is reached. Later work with Miller-Tiedeman emphasized personal reality over common reality.
Other names to recognize
Schlossberg's transition theory: coping with anticipated, unanticipated and nonevent transitions depends on the four S's, situation, self, support and strategies. Savickas's career construction theory: people build careers through life themes and narrative, with career adaptability's four Cs, concern, control, curiosity and confidence. Brown's values-based theory: work values drive choice and satisfaction. Dawis and Lofquist's theory of work adjustment: satisfaction and satisfactoriness predict tenure. Hansen's integrative life planning: six critical tasks weaving work into a whole life. Bordin: work as sublimation, from psychodynamic theory.
Without scrolling up, write everything you remember from this lesson. Then check yourself against the key terms. Recalling the whole lesson once, right after reading it, does more than reading it twice.
Ten questions from this domain, with an explanation after each answer.
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