006 Super Developmental Theory

SUPER

Self-concept and life stages

SUPER - Developmental Theory

(life roles have an impact on career choice)

Super believed that there were five vocational developmental tasks. Like other developmental systems, the lower tasks must be resolved before the higher tasks can be accomplished.

Crystallization (14-18 years old)
Specification (18-21 years old)
Implementation (21-24 years old)
Stablization (24-35 years old)
Consolidation (35 years +)

The concept of vocational maturity is to the degree that a person has completed these vocational developmental tasks.

Super theories have been developed into a number of assessment tools:

1 CDI (Career Development Inventory) - by Super
2. CMI (Career Maturity Inventory) - by Crites


Vocational Developmental Stages:

growth (birth-age 14 or 15)
exploratory (ages 15-24)
establishment (ages $35.00-44)
maintenance (ages 45-64)
decline (ages 65+)


Super believed that people are both rational and emotional and that the best career counseling would ask the following kinds of questions:

1. What sort of person do I think I am?
2. How do I feel about myself as I think I am?
3. What sort of person would I like to be?
4. What are my values and needs?
5. What are my aptitudes and interests?
6. What can I do to reconcile my self-ideal with my real self?
7. What outlets are there for me with my needs, values, interests, and aptitudes?
8. How can I make use of these outlets?

Super’s cycle of interviewing:
1. Nondirective problem exploration and self-concept portrayal
2. Directive topic setting, for further exploration
3. Nondirective reflection and clarification of feeling for self-acceptance and insight
4. Directive exploration of factual data from tests, occupational pamphlets, extracurricular experiences, grades, etc., for reality testing
5. Nondirective exploration and working through of attitudes and feelings aroused by reality testing
6. Nondirective consideration of possible lines of action, for help in decision making

Super’s theory of career development, called (take a breath) differential-developmental-social-phenomenological psychology, is broader and more inclusive than Ginzburg’s (with a name like that, it had better be). Super said that Ginzburg did not have a meaningful definition of occupational choice and disagreed with the bright red line drawn between choice and adjustment. Instead, Super proposed intrinsic relationships between self-concept and career over time, using the following key concepts:

Life Stages -- Five developmentally different life stages, each with its own life-tasks, which are:

growth -- from birth to about age 14, this stage includes fantasy(ages 4 to 10), interest (ages 11 to 12), and capacity (ages 13 to 14). Primary tasks are creating self-concept and getting a fix on the world of work (harder if you’re dad is Ward Cleaver, since you’ll never know what exactly it is that he does for a living).

exploration -- from about ages 14 to 24, including the tentative phase (from approximately ages 15 to 17). The main concerns here are coming to, identifying, and working toward a vocational preference.

establishment -- from about ages 24 to 44, including stabilization (about ages 24 to 30) and advancement (about ages 30 to 44). The matters at hand here are firming up vocational preference and advancing in the work.

maintenance -- approximately ages 44 to 64. Now the trick is to hold on to gains and status without growing feet of clay.

decline -- from about age 64 on, including deceleration (about ages 64 to 70) and retirement (from about age 70 on). This is when the only thing left is to ease out work and into retirement. (Do you get another chance? No, sorry old sport, that was it).


Career development is viewed as an ongoing, continuous life long process with the career that an individual chooses an expression of their self-concept. As you grow and your self-concept becomes larger (better? closer to self-actualization?), you might find yourself changing jobs to better express your new and improved self-concept. Your McDonalds job might have been pretty cool at 16, but repeating “Would you like fries with that order” for the zillionth time at age 47 might indicate that Houston, we have a self-concept problem here....

Of course, cultural and economic factors are going to dictate job choices in relationship to individual needs, resources and life experience. Living in Utah on a sheep ranch your entire life might preclude your dream of being a world class surfer from coming true.

And of course your choice of a career, according to Super, is an expression of career maturity. If your desire to be one of the Spice Girls at age 8 is still a burning desire at age 44, you might want to talk to a career counselor to get a second opinion on what’s wrong with this picture. And if you’re a guy with this dream, well, gosh, there might be some issues you need to explore and resolve.

http://counselingexam.com