Ideational Behavior and Occupational Identity Achievement: A Study of Emerging Adult College Students Preceding Entry into the Fouth Industrial Revolution Workforce

Authors

• Carrington M. Faulk, Old Dominion UniversityFollow
• Michael F. Kosloski, Old Dominion UniversityFollow
• Philip Reed, Old Dominion UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2026

DOI

10.5328/cter51.2.34

Publication Title

Career and Technical Education Research

Volume

51

Issue

2

Pages

34-53

Abstract

As emerging adults transition into the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) workforce, it is essential to understand the factors that predict successful occupational identity achievement, as automation will impact human occupational identity crises. This descriptive cross-sectional study employed a correlational design to determine the degree to which ideational behavior predicts occupational identity achievement prior to entry into the 4IR workforce. Using a sample of 166 emerging adult college students from a Mid-Atlantic, diverse, four-year university, data were collected using Runco's Ideational Behavior Scale (RIBS) and Melgosa's Occupational Identity Achievement subscale (OIA). Results showed that ideational behavior significantly predicted occupational identity achievement (p = .016). Emerging adults' degree of ideational behavior explained 3.5% of the variance in occupational identity achievement (R² = .035), with higher levels of ideational behavior associated with higher levels of occupational identity achievement. The overall multiple regression model, which included demographic covariates, was not statistically significant (p = .246), whereas total ideational behavior scores remained statistically significant (p = .015). These findings suggest that ideational behavior is a statistically significant predictor of emerging adults' occupational identity achievement preceding entry into the 4IR workforce.

Rights

© 2026 The Authors.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License.

ORCID

0000-0002-4718-2177 (Faulk), 0000-0003-0784-7178 (Kosloski), 0000-0002-9323-5217 (Reed)

Original Publication Citation

Faulk, C., Kosloski, M., & Reed, P. (2026). Ideational behavior and occupational identity achievement: A study of emerging adult college students preceding entry into the fourth industrial revolution workforce. Career and Technical Education Research, 51(2), 34-53. https://doi.org/10.5328/cter51.2.34

Repository Citation

Faulk, Carrington M.; Kosloski, Michael F.; and Reed, Philip, "Ideational Behavior and Occupational Identity Achievement: A Study of Emerging Adult College Students Preceding Entry into the Fouth Industrial Revolution Workforce" (2026). Marketing Faculty Publications. 40.
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/marketing_pubs/40