Gendered division of occupational choices still exists in contemporary Japanese society. Women are underrepresented in traditionally male-dominated fields, while few men occupy positions in traditionally female-dominated areas. The purpose of the present study was to examine occupational gender stereotypes and its relation to the female-to-male ratio of jobholders. Participants were 540 Japanese (262 women, 278 men) who participated in an Internet survey. The results showed that the female-to-male ratio of jobholders was a strong predictor of gender stereotyping. That is to say, contemporary Japanese recognized male-dominated occupations as typically masculine and female-dominated ones as typically feminine. Gender comparisons revealed that men rated female-dominated occupations as more feminine in nature than did women, while women rated male-dominated occupations as more masculine than did men. Future implications for career interventions focusing on occupational gender stereotypes were also discussed.

Interest in a science and technology career, and determinants of such interest, were investigated. In Study 1, self-efficacy for work activities and interest in a science and technology career were assessed. Participants were undergraduate students (n = 264; 132 men, 132 women) and graduates (n = 276; 146 men, 130 women). Graduates were more interested in a science and technology career than undergraduate students, and men were more interested in a technology career than women. Moreover, self-efficacy for realistic and investigative activities was positively related with interest in such a career. In Study 2, relationships between self-efficacy for realistic and investigative activities and childhood experiences were investigated using data from undergraduates (n = 262; 132 men, 130 women) and graduates (n = 274; 141 men, 133 women). Individuals who frequently experienced daily activities, activities in nature, and activities with animals and plants in their childhood had higher self-efficacy for realistic and investigative activities. Moreover, graduates had such past experiences more frequently than undergraduates and males more frequently than females.

A disorder of dietary condition in recent years is concerned with the dietary habit of engorgement.We thus believe that dietary education is necessary for university students. This study examines the consciousness and behavior in the dietary condition, sense of taste, and daily life of university students.The influence of a student's family on this dietary behavior and consciousness is also assessed. An analysis was conducted of the results of a questionnaire survey taken from 229 university students.Structural equation modeling was applied to study the consciousness which influences the dietary behavior, living activities and influence of the family. This analysis shows the influence of the family on the consciousness of dietary condition, sense of taste, and daily activities related to a healthy life style.The results suggest the importance of university students having experience of cooking, promoting consciousness of their dietary behavior, and that the family recognizes its influence.

We had an interview with career counselors at the institute of career services in order to study the process of career independence among young part-time jobbers who want to get full-time jobs. As the results of interview, it suggested that young part-time jobbers tend to have lack of self-understanding, difficulty of self-disclosure, and/or lower level of self-esteem reflecting the immaturity of internal career. Based on the results, we constructed the process model of career independence for young part-time jobbers. It suggested that the intervention of career counselor approached to whether behavior or consciousness, finally certain changes took place in internal career, and these changes caused the action to get full-time jobs.

The objective of this study was to identify the processes and conditions of the career independence of "freeters," which is a process they use for selecting career paths to become financially independent of their parents and to realize personal and societal values. This paper is divided into four sections: First, we briefly review the discussion on freeters in Japan and point out their psychological problems. Second, we examine the relationship between the freeters' career patterns and the normal ones, which are considered desirable in traditional career development theories, and indicate the shortcomings of these theories. Then, we introduce a new theoretical framework called the career construction theory (Savickas, 2002) for explaining the career paths of freeters. Third, in discussing the career independence of freeters, we describe the importance of the idea of time perspectives, and clarify how to support freeters in their independence by considering their time perspectives. Fourth, we suggest practical possibilities for providing support to freeters. Finally, based on the above discussions, we speculate the issues that are important for examining the career independence of freeters and list the prospects for the new stream of adolescent psychology.

近年，わが国における若者の間には，フリーターとしての生き方や働き方を肯定的に受けとめる傾向がみられるようになった。本研究は，こうしたフリーターに対する肯定的態度を測定し，その下位構造について明らかにすること，ならびに，結果期待（フリーターのメリット，デメリット）からフリーターに対する肯定的態度への規定力について検討することを目的とした。調査対象は，関東圏の大学，短期大学，専門学校へ通う学生とし，588名より得られた有効回答を分析したところ，以下の結果が得られた。はじめに，フリーターに対する肯定的態度の構造について検討するために探索的因子分析を行ったところ，「貢献承認」，「プロセスとしての受容」，「積極的受容」の3因子が抽出された。つづいて，結果期待からフリーターに対する肯定的態度への規定力を検討するために構造方程式モデリングによる因果分析を行ったところ，フリーターは社会経験になるというメリットの予測が，3つのフリーターに対する肯定的態度へ正の影響を及ぼしていた。一方，フリーターの経歴が将来のキャリア形成にとって支障になるであろうというデメリットの予測は，プロセスとしての受容にのみ負の影響を及ぼしていた。すなわち，若者のフリーターに対する態度を規定する要因として，結果期待による影響力が確認出来た。これらの結果から，フリーターという進路に付随するメリットやデメリットを正確なかたちで予測させるような働き掛けにより，若者層のフリーターに対する考え方が変容し得ることが示唆された。<br>

The Social Cognitive Career Model proposes that career interests arise from beliefs about capability to execute a course of activity (self-efficacy), and beliefs about the consequences of performing particular activities (outcome expectations). In our study, 301 Japanese university students were given questionnaires including the Vocational Preference Inventory and scales assessing Career Self-efficacy and Career-outcome Expectations. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated both self-efficacy and outcome expectations were significantly related to vocational interests. Outcome expectations accounted for significant incremental variance in explaining interests across six of Holland's vocational environments. Implications of social cognitive theory for career development and interventions among Japanese university students are discussed.

The current study investigated differences based on vocational motivation upon motive to enter university and adaptation after matriculation, and the effects of motive to enter a university on adaptation after matriculation. Subjects of 202 science department male freshmen were classified into three vocational motivation groups (self-improvement motivation, interpersonal motivation, and status motivation), and the scale scores of each group were compared. Results showed first that selfimprovement and interpersonally oriented students regarded university's attributions as important when they choose a university as compared to status oriented students, and self-improvement oriented students had made a significant progress in acquiring social skills. Second, hierarchical regression analysis using study and associate satisfaction as dependent variables, along with motives to enter university as first step and acquired ability as second step, were performed. The result showed that choosing a university according to the university's attributions and the acquisition of special expertise had a positive influence on study satisfaction, while attaching importance to academic ability and acquisition of technical ability had negative effects on associate satisfaction.

In the present study, the attitudes toward work of 1,833 female university graduates were examined on following three topics : 1) how preferences regarding patterns of work were changed after starting work : 2) whether preferences for patterns of work were related to aspects of work which were prioritized ; 3) which of the factors affected on feeling of satisfaction regarding one's working life. The main findings were as follows. 1) Comparing preferences for patterns of work immediately after graduation and at the time of survey, fewer subjects favored to continue working while performing domestic duties, but a much greater number of subjects hoped to restarting work after rearing children. 2) Subjects who thought it was ideal to continue working regardless of marriage or childbirth made much of self-development through work. On the other hand, subjects who hoped to leave the work force permanently or for an extended period after marriage or childbirth gave priority to work environment. 3) Having a rich university life, choosing a job by considering self-development through work, and obtaining supportive work environment for worker's self-development were related to a feeling of satisfaction in one's own working life.