The Effects Of Persuasive Messages On College Students' Career Decision-Making Attitudes

Based on theories of Social Cognitive Career Theory, Planned Behavior Theory, Cognitive Social Learning Theory ,The Career Maturity Theory ,this paper researched the effects of verbally persuasive messages on collage students' career decision-making attitudes. First, emended three questionnaires of collage students' career decision-making attitudes, they were collage student's career decision-making self-efficacy, outcome expectations and intentions. At the same time, four verbally persuasive messages of different type and flaming were written due to 2×2 experimental designs. After decision-making attitude questionnaires and verbally persuasive messages were testified to accord with the frame of references, 344 underclassmen from Suchou university and Ningbo university were experimentalized.Using the statistical software of SPSS, Results of the present study indicated that,1. Verbally persuasive messages have a positive impact on college student career decision-making cognitions than do not receive any verbally persuasive message.2. Message type can have significant effects on career decision-making outcome expectations and intentions. Direct messages appear to improve students' career decision-making outcome expectations and intentions more than indirect messages. However, they may not differentially affect a collage student's career decision-making self-efficacy.3. Message flaming also can have significant effects on career decision-making outcome expectations and intentions. Loss framed messages appear to motivate students' career decision-making outcome expectations and intentions more than gain framed messages. However, they may not differentially affect a collage student's career decision-making self-efficacy either.4. Message type, Message flaming, collage students' career decision-making self-efficacy, outcome expectations can predict the career decision-making intentions.Therefore, verbally persuasive messages do make sense to change the attitudes of collage students' career decision-making. In order to improve furthest attitudes, it is better to persuade receivers by using direct message type. Choosing loss flamed messages to tell the lost if career decision-making is not done can also enhance the effect of persuasion.