An Anti‐Introspectivist View of Career Decision Making

This article reviews 50 years of empirical literature on career decision making, summarizing 10 things the field knows “for sure.” An anti‐introspectivist view of career decision making is then presented, developed by applying findings from cognitive and experimental social psychology to career decision making. This view holds that most processing performed by the human mind for decision making and behavior initiation is not performed at a conscious level and that reflection on those processes may be futile, and detrimental to good decisions. Although the anti‐introspectivist perspective challenges many strongly held assumptions, it provides a plausible explanation of some of the difficulties encountered by decision makers and those who counsel them.