The role of peer relatedness in late adolescent career development

The role of close peer relationships in facilitating the resolution of the exploration and commitment tasks of career development in late adolescence was investigated. Measures of environmental and self-exploration, progress in committing to career choices, attachment to peers and parents, mutuality, and intimacy along with relevant demographic information were completed by 147 participants. Canonical correlation analysis indicated that the three peer relatedness variables (i.e., attachment to peers, intimacy, and mutuality) shared a significant and unique amount of variance with the exploration and commitment variables, above and beyond the contribution of parental attachment, age, and gender. Attachment to peers, intimacy, and, to a lesser extent, attachment to mother were positively associated with environmental exploration and progress in committing to career choices. The findings were discussed in light of current assumptions about career development and psychosocial theory. (C) 1999 Academic Press.