Calling, in vocational psychology dictionary

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Dictionary of Vocational Psychology

Calling

The calling is the occupation that one feels "called" to enter. The basis of the sense of calling is not a reasoned choice of occupation or career. Instead, it is a "gut" feeling, intuition, or sense of extra-rational certainty that a particular type of work is what one is meant to do. The term "vocation" etymologically is closer to the idea of calling than is the term "career." Many who are religious feel that one receives one's calling from God (or, depending on the religion, a particular deity). In some churches, for example, one must formally determine that one has received a calling before one enters professional status as a worker in the church.

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