Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up? Cognitive Flexibility Influences Career Decision Making And Related Anxiety, Emily Flandermeyer

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Career indecision is a stage most individuals pass through during their lifetime, but it is often accompanied by anxiety. While anxiety can have a positive influence on decision making by focusing attention and cognitive resources, excess anxiety can disrupt the career decision-making process. Existing literature links anxiety to cognitive flexibility, an individual’s ability to efficiently switch between thoughts and ideas and adapt to evolving situations, with young adults higher in cognitive flexibility typically experiencing less anxiety than their less flexible peers. However, no studies to date have examined cognitive flexibility as it relates to career indecision or career-indecision-related anxiety. This …