Cross-Cultural Validity of Holland's Model in Hong Kong

While Holland's model has been widely tested and found broad support in the West, it has not been tested in Hong Kong. Using a sample of 1813 entering freshmen, we investigated the cross-cultural validity of Holland's models of six interest or personality types in Hong Kong. Results indicated: (a) Holland's model as operationalized by UNIACT has considerable external validity; (b) the internal structure of the UNIACT was generally consistent with the formulations by Holland; (c) the cultural value of traditionality affected the fit between Holland's model and the student data in that Hong Kong students who hold stronger traditional values tended to behave less consistently with Holland's model than those who hold weaker traditional Chinese values. These findings were discussed in terms of their implication for future cross-cultural vocational psychology research and practices.     

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HOLLAND'S TYPOLOGY AND COGNITIVE STYLES

This paper combines the results of two studies across different cultures which included an investigation into the relationship between field-dependence-independence and vocational orientations within the framework of Holland's theory of career choice and Witkin's theory of psychological differentiation. The samples included 179 Canadian senior high school students and 376 Pakistani college and university students. Both samples were administered Self-Directed Search and Group Embedded Figures Test. The results indicated a significant relationship between cognitive styles and vocational orientations. It was evident from the findings of these two studies that the theories of Holland and Witkin dove-tail nicely with each other.     

Vocational Personality Traits in Counselor Education and School Psychology Students

We assessed the vocational personality of 104 graduate students in school counseling, mental health counseling, and school psychology programs using Holland's ( 1997 ) theory of personality and career choice. The correlational findings confirmed the importance of vocational personality traits in relation to the academic performance of graduate students. Among the Self‐Directed Search–Revised vocational personality types, the Investigative type emerged as a consistent predictor of performance on all sections of the Graduate Record Examination. The participants from 3 graduate programs predominantly identified Social as their primary vocational personality type, with variability in the secondary and tertiary code positions. The student group with the highest degree of congruence, defined as the degree of fit between one's personality and the environment, had the highest graduate grade point average, indicating the relationship between the degree of congruence and achievement. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

Influence of adolescent social crowds on the development of vocational identity

A major gap in Holland's theory of vocational identity has been specification of the developmental antecedents of the six personality types. The present paper extends Geoffrey Kelso's work on the developmental antecedents of Holland's types by examining the relationship between membership in adolescent social crowds and vocational identity in early adulthood. In four samples (total N = 274), membership in five junior high school crowds—Motorheads, Brains, Freaks, Politicos, and Conformists—was found to be associated with higher scores on the Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Enterprising, and Conventional scales, respectively, of Holland's Self-Directed Search and Vocational Preference Inventory in early adulthood. The relative impact of temperament, family, and peer variables on the development of vocational identity is discussed.     

Holland's SDS: Is its effectiveness contingent upon selected variables?

This study was designed to investigate the differential effectiveness of Holland's Self Directed Search (SDS) as a vocational guidance tool for 166 junior-class students in a suburban regional high school. The SDS was administered to 90 girls and 76 boys who were subsequently interviewed and asked to state current first and second vocational choices. The relation between these choices and the students' three-letter SDS codes was translated into numerical Congruence Scores. Students were also grouped according to: (1) their SDS codes' level of consistency with Holland's hexagonal model; (2) differentiation of codes; (3) level of mental ability; and (4) level of achievement. Four two-way analyses of variance were used to assess the effect of these variables on Congruence Scores; in each analysis, sex was the second classification in order to measure interaction-effects. Results indicated no significant mean differences on Congruence Scores attributable to these variables. The effectiveness of the SDS as a career inventory does not appear to be contingent upon them.     

Holland's vocational models: A study of work groups and need satisfaction

This study was designed to investigate two topics: (1) the concurrent validity of Holland's theory for employed men, and (2) the pattern of needs associated with occupations exemplifying each of Holland's vocational models. Concurrent validity was investigated by administering the Vocational Preference Inventory to 230 male workers well established in occupational milieus that match Holland's six vocational environments. With the exception of the Realistic scale of the VPI, the five remaining vocational scales distributed eight work groups, identified as representative of each of Holland's six vocational models, in a comparable fashion according to their interests. Empirical results on two nonvocational scales (Masculinity and Status) support Holland's vocational models.     

Academic achievement: An examination of Holland's congruency,consistency, and differentiation predictions

This investigation tested three predictions derived from Holland's (1973) theory of vocational development regarding academic achievement. Groups of 392 male and 424 female entering college freshmen were typed using the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory and were categorized in terms of congruency, consistency, and differentiation. Freshmen with congruent college major choices or with definite majors but indefinite Holland orientations enjoyed greater academic success than students who specified incongruent choices or no definite major choice. Students with personality codes of high or low consistency outperformed students with moderately consistent codes. Freshmen males with differentiated personal orientations achieved higher grade point averages than males having nondifferentiated personality profiles. For females, differentiation was not significant. In all sex comparisons female trends paralleled male trends and females generally outperformed males. Implications for vocational development and counseling were discussed in the context of Holland's theory.     

Holland's personality constructs as predictors of stability of choice

It was the purpose of this study to test Holland's assertion that stability of vocational choice can be predicted from: (a) congruence of personality with chosen career, (b) differentiation of personality, and (c) internal consistency of personality characteristics. The relationship of each of the three constructs to stability of choice of college major was studied among 167 university students. It was hypothesized that prediction could be improved by combining congruence, differentiation, and consistency in a multiple relationship. The relative importance of the three constructs was examined. Findings supported Holland's contention that congruence and consistency are positively related to stability. No significant relationship was found between differentiation and stability. When combined, all three constructs predict stability, but the efficiency of prediction is not improved by adding differentiation and/or consistency to congruence. As hypothesized, congruence was found to be the most important predictor, followed in importance by differentiation and consistency, respectively.     

Personality Consistency and Perceived Problem-Solving Behavior and Attitudes: An Extension of Holland's Typology

Holland's construct of consistency was used to predict self-perceived behavior and attitudes typically associated with “successful” problem solving. The results tend to support Holland's premise that the higher the degree of personality consistency, the more students perceive their problem-solving behavior and attitudes as successful.     

Career-Related Interests and Values,Perceived Control,and Acculturation of Asian-American and Caucasian-American College Students1

The present study compares the career-related interests and values of Asian-American and Caucasian-American college students and explores the relationships among career interests, perceived control, and acculturation. Career-related interests were defined by Holland's (1959, 1985a) model of vocational personality types and work environments, and career-related values were defined by Schein's (1987) career anchors. The Career Anchor Inventory (Nordvik, 1991), the Self-Directed Search (Holland, 1991), and the Spheres of Control Scale (Paulhus & Van Selst, 1990), were completed by 184 Asian-American and 130 Caucasian-American undergraduate students. The Asian-Americans also completed the Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale (Suinn, Rickard-Figueroa, Lew & Vigil, 1987). In comparison to Caucasian-American students, Asian-American students showed higher interest in the Investigative and Conventional vocational categories, but lower interest in the Social category. Asian-American subjects were lower in perceived control in the Personal and Interpersonal spheres. Among the Asian-Americans, acculturation was positively correlated with perceived control in the Personal and Interpersonal spheres and with the Enterprising vocational category. Acculturation was negatively correlated with Investigative and Conventional interests.     

a test of holland's theory of vocational personalities and work environments

This study investigated the validity of J. L. Holland's (1997) theory of vocational personalities and work environments. The sample consisted of 241 randomly selected members of the National Association of School Psychologists, each of whom completed a demographic data form, the Self‐Directed Search‐Revised (SDS‐R; J. L. Holland, 1994) and a modified short form of the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (D. J. Weiss, R. V. Dawis, G. W. England, & L. H. Lofquist, 1967). Only limited support was found for major constructs associated with Holland's theory, although the study found several significant relationships between 3‐letter SDS‐R codes and desired role function as would be predicted by Holland's theory.     

The predictive power of Holland's investigative personality type and consistency levels using the self directed search

Using the Self Directed Search (SDS), the predictability of Holland's Investigative personality type and the three levels of consistency were assessed. A sample of male Investigative subjects (N = 171) who completed the SDS as freshmen in 1970 was sent a questionnaire 4 years later. The questionnaire asked subjects to state their academic major, occupational plan upon graduation, and occupational plan 5 years hence. Hypotheses concerned the predictability over a 4-year college period of (1) one-, two-, and three-letter SDS and most recent daydream codes and (2) Holland's three levels of consistency. Results indicated that, for Investigative-type freshman males, the SDS has moderately high efficiency in predicting, 4 years later, their ultimate major and their immediate and future vocational plans. The differential predictability of Holland's three consistency levels was supported in 20 of the 27 tests applied.     

the role of personality in stress perception across different vocational types

In this study, the authors investigated the relationship between personality (measured by the subscales of the NEO Five‐Factor Inventory [NEO‐FFI]; Costa & McCrae, 1992) and stress (measured by the Overall Job Satisfaction scale [Warr, Cook, & Wall, 1979], and Cooper's Job Stress Scale [Cooper, 1981]) across different vocational types as described in Holland's (1966, 1997) theory. A sample of 729 employees participated in the survey. Individuals with high NEO‐FFI scores on neuroticism more often perceived distress across several vocational types. Individuals with high NEO‐FFI scores on conscientiousness more often perceived eustress across several vocational types. Extraversion was related to more eustress in Social and Conventional vocational types, openness to experience to more distress in Realistic and Social vocational types and to less eustress in Conventional vocational types; agreeableness was related to more eustress in Investigative and Conventional vocational types. A relation conclusively exists between personality and perception of distress and eustress for different vocational types.     

Personality and interests as predictors of educational streaming and achievement

In this study Holland's RIASEC Model of vocational personalities and the Five-Factor Model of personality are used (i) to assess individual differences among study majors and (ii) to predict educational achievement. A sample of 934 last-year students who enrolled in different academic majors filled out Dutch/Flemish adaptations of the NEO-PI-R (Costa and McCrae, 1992) and the Self-Directed Search (Holland, 1977; 1979). The results show that both models are useful to describe differences among different majors. Conscientiousness proves to be a general predictor of grades and study career. For the other Big Five dimensions, except for Agreeableness, major and/or gender specific relationships with educational outcomes are observed. Holland's interest dimensions are not related to educational achievement, except for some moderate gender or major specific correlations with the Investigative and the Artistic scales. Suggestions for future research regarding educational streaming and counselling are discussed.     

Interest factors derived from job analytically based activity preference scales

In previous research, work dimensions were derived through factor analyses applied to job ratings on the Occupation Analysis Inventory (OAI). Activity preference scales were subsequently constructed corresponding to 21 of the resultant OAI dimensions. The research reported here involved factor and cluster analyses of the 21 activity preference scales, based on response data from 494 high school students. These analyses produced six replicable scale factors and related clusters. Five of the six factors corresponded with Holland's 1973 work-related personality types, and all of them were matchable with factors derived from more conventionally developed interest scales. To our knowledge, this is the first effort to derive interest factors from job analytically induced scales. These factors' compatibility with existing vocational interest constructs suggests a rapprochement between frameworks based on job analytic and interest research.     

The congruence problem in John Holland's theory of vocational decisions

John Holland's theory of vocational choice has been a dominant one in careers psychology for many years, especially in North America. A key construct in the theory is congruence between person and environment. Yet research has failed to find as strong a link as might be expected between congruence and outcomes such as satisfaction and performance. This could present a major challenge to the theory. Fourteen possible reasons for the weak associations between congruence and outcome measures are identified and discussed under three broad headings: the theory, the research and the world. It is concluded that the most important reasons are (1) that Holland's measures of people and environments partially neglect some important constructs; (2) that environments have not been conceptualized or measured entirely appropriately; and (3) the data that are used in the calculation of congruence indices are insufficiently precise or comprehensive. It is suggested that Holland's theory and associated measures should be developed further, and that the processual elements of it need more attention.     

Relationship of self-concept and vocational maturity to vocational preferences of adolescents

This study investigated the differences in vocational attitude maturity and self-concept among Holland's six vocational categories. Data regarding self-concept, vocational attitude maturity, and vocational preference were gathered from 846 students randomly selected from grades 8–12 in an urban school system. An analysis of variance supported the research hypotheses: (1) There were significant differences in vocational attitude maturity among students in the six vocational categories; (2) there were significant differences in self-concept among students in the six vocational categories; (3) there was a significant relationship between vocational attitude maturity and self-concept among students in specific vocational categories.     

Theoretical application of holland's theory to individual decision‐making styles: implications for career counselors

Career decision making is an important aspect of career choice and career development. This theoretical article explores the relationship between J. L. Holland's (1997) 6 dimensions of personality and individual decision‐making styles. Implications for career counselors are also provided.     

Vocational Personality Types in College Engineering Students in Relation to Academic Achievement

This study explored whether and to what extent vocational personality types based on Holland (1994) correlate with and explain unique variance of academic success among 117 undergraduate civil engineering students by using the Self-Directed Search–Form R, 4th Edition. Findings indicated that the majority of participants’ 1st-letter code was Realistic (39.3%), 2nd-letter code was Investigative (24.8%), and 3rd-letter code was Social (21.4%), compared with Holland's 3-letter codes for civil engineering (Investigative, Realistic, Enterprising). The study also calculated the degree of congruence between personality type and occupational environment. For career counselors, the findings underscore the importance of using congruence scores to predict engineering students’ academic performance.     

A longitudinal examination of a three‐letter holland code

The author investigated the degree of change in a single client's 3‐letter Holland code (J. L. Holland, 1985) over a 10‐year period. Results seem to support Holland's theory that personality traits remain relatively stable over time.