Sense of coherence and professional career development

The sense of coherence (SOC) is a global life orientation. During the past decades, it has been demonstrated as a dynamic general health resource. SOC has three components: comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness. Comprehensibility refers to the degree to which the individual perceives stimuli as predictable, structured, ordered and making cognitive sense. Manageability refers to the individual’s appraisal of internal and external resources to manage daily life stressors. Meaningfulness pertains to the individual’s appraisal that life makes sense and that demands are worthy of energy and commitment. In recent years, the impact of SOC on career and career development has been empirically researched and discussed, and today SOC has a central position in the domain of career development research. Studies show that SOC is related to career thoughts and career development, and impacts on other career-related issues, as emphasised in this chapter. This chapter introduces the theoretical approaches of salutogenesis and SOC in the context of selected career-related issues. It demonstrates the relationship between SOC and career psychology, and focuses particularly on the interrelationship of SOC with career thoughts and career development. It also provides insights into related areas of research, presenting practical insights regarding SOC in career counselling as well as a conclusion and future research perspectives.