Listen to Your Heart? Calling and Receptivity to Career Advice

an article by Shoshana R. Dobrow (Fordham University, New York, USA) and Jennifer Tosti-Kharas (San Francisco State University, USA) published in Journal of Career Assessment Volume 20 Number 3 (August 2012)

Abstract

This study explores calling in the context of career decision making. Specifically, the authors examine receptivity to advice that discourages individuals from pursuing a professional path in their calling’s domain.

The authors hypothesize that people with a strong calling will be more likely to ignore negative career advice.

In Study 1, a four-wave, 7-year longitudinal study following 450 amateur musicians across career stages, the regression analyses showed that those with a stronger calling toward music reported being more willing to ignore the discouraging career-related advice of a trusted mentor. These results held over time, such that an early calling predicted the degree to which young people were willing to ignore career advice equally strongly 6 weeks, 3½ years, and 7 years later.

In Study 2, the authors replicated these findings in a cross-sectional study of 131 business students. The authors discuss the implications for research on calling, as well as for counseling strong-calling individuals.

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