The Stability and Structure of Career Decision-Making Profiles

The Career Decision-Making Profile (CDMP) questionnaire is a multidimensional measure of the way individuals make career decisions, developed as an alternative to the single, most-dominant trait approach. Using a sample of freshmen students, the 2-week reliability ( N = 273) and 1-year stability ( N = 182) of the CDMP was tested for each of the 12 CDMP dimensions. The median Pearson correlation of the 12 dimensions was .81 for the 2-week test–retest and .62 for the 1-year test–retest. The structure of the 12 CDMP dimensions was compatible with the underlying model and stable across administrations. The median within-individual Pearson correlation across the 12 dimensions, reflecting the 2-week reliability and 1-year stability of the participants’ profiles, were .90 and .81, respectively. The career-decision adaptability (CDA) of individuals, referring to the quality of the way individuals approach and make career decisions, was derived from 6 of the 12 dimensions. The CDA was also found reliable ( r = .99) and stable ( r = .75). Implications for the assessment of the way individuals make career decisions are discussed.