Character, in vocational psychology dictionary

home > library > dictionary > character
Dictionary of Vocational Psychology

Character

Character refers to that aspect of personality that presumably does not arise (at least in any direct fashion) from (primarily) biological bases, and to which we attribute a motive for behaviors, especially behaviors that receive approbation from others (i.e., good or wise action). Character also connotes that portion of the personality that is fairly constant over time, particularly constancy that (presumably) leads to or facilitates good or wise actions and the avoidance of bad or foolish actions. In short, character is a very slippery concept in modern psychology; it is difficult to pinpoint exactly what it is, how it develops, how to measure it, how exactly--assuming it exists--it exerts its guiding effects on good or bad choices, and so on. Despite its ephemeral character, character has become the darling of much of the educational reform movement, especially among conservatives, where character education has become an important aim of the modern academy. In character education, the development of character is largely the process through which the individual is induced to adopt a variety of values and beliefs that serve to guide behavior down accepted and prescribed paths.

There exists and extensive folk psychology that assumes that character is important in vocational success. In particular, the work ethic is assumed to support vocational success, and is assumed to be a learned part of one's character. However, the work ethic also has a strongly religious connotation (as Max Weber noted). In the Horatio Alger, Jr., stories, one can rise to success and riches by working hard and taking advantage of opportunities, which, combined with other values and habits, reflects a particular constellation of character traits associated with the self-made man.

Despite this popular treatment of the role of character in vocational success, the concept of character is nearly wholly absent from the scientific literature on vocational psychology and career development, and generally appears only under the guise of work values, organizational and career commitment, etc.

Despite the lack of attention to the concept of character in scientific vocational psychology, the concept is increasingly addressed in the context of K-12 school guidance programs, where one sees the terms "career education" and "character education" often used in the same sentence. In addition, the vocational education movement, especially the work of Ken Hoyt, probably comes closest to the inclusion of the concept of character.

The positive psychology movement has also embraced the concept of character.

An interesting and controversial approach to the concept of character and its transmission has been meme theory, which reframes character as a communicable complex of memes (see Carson & Lowman, 2002).

Websites of interest

History of Work Ethic, by Roger B.Hill.

Christian work ethic, from an Assemblies of God site.

Horatio Alger, Jr., resources.

The Character Education Partnership. http://www.character.org/

National Character Education Center. http://www.ethicsusa.com/

Character Education resources. http://www.goodcharacter.com/

Exploring Career and Character Education. Worksheet from the Grand Forks Public Schools. (HTML version, there is also a Word-based version available.)

Trends in Career Education, an ERIC Digest report by Michele Naylor.

The Concept of Career and Career Education, by Tuula Matikainen.

References