Impossible Selves

Abstract

Through study of 32 students’ narratives about coping with external threats to their career goals (e.g., denial of admission to the major of their choice), this study examines the following issues: (a) the coping mechanisms student use when faced with threats that loom large, (b) the relation between coping methods employed and whether the goal is retained, and (c) what seems to facilitate student use of coping strategies that support goal achievement. Findings suggest that threat attributions and coping strategies led to either exiting or recycling through the career development process. The ability to jointly consider career goals and goals unrelated to career, while allowing career goals to guide the coping process, was most strongly related to retention or revision (rather than abandonment) of the career-possible self. Implications for theory and practice are discussed