Phenotypic and genetic relationships between vocational interests and personality

Relationships between personality and vocational interest factors were examined at the phenotypic and genetic levels. Twins and siblings (N = 516) completed self-report personality and vocational interest scales. Following factor analyses of each scale, five personality and six vocational interest factors were extracted. At the phenotypic level, correlations between personality and vocational interests ranged from zero to .33. Heritability estimates of the scales showed that genetic components accounted for 0–56% of the variance for the vocational interest factors and 44–65% for the personality factors. Genetic correlations between the two areas ranged from zero to .50. The results suggest that personality is related to some vocational interest dimensions and that some of these observed relationships have a common genetic basis.     

Structure of vocational interests in Serbia: Evaluation of the spherical model

To explore the structure of vocational interests in Serbia, 1063 participants of various age, education and gender completed the Serbian version of the Personal Globe Inventory [PGI, Tracey, T. (2002). Personal Globe Inventory: Measurement of the spherical model of interests and competence beliefs. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 6, 113-172]. The fit of Tracey’s octagonal and spherical models to the structure of correlations between Tracey’s eight and 18 type scales was evaluated, as was the fit of Holland’s hexagonal, Gati’s, Rounds-Tracey’s and Liu-Rounds’ models to the structure of correlations between RIASEC scales. Randomization test of hypothetical orders, multidimensional scaling with fixed coordinates and Myors’ test were used to assess the fit of models to the data. The results showed good fit of Tracey’s octagonal and spherical models to the data. Holland’s hexagonal model also fit the data very well, but the fit of Gati’s, Rounds-Tracey’s and Liu-Rounds’ models of relations between RIASEC types was either nonsignificant or very low.     

The structure of vocational interests in Filipino adolescents

The structure of vocational interests was investigated in Filipino high school students (N = 503), who rated their interest in 303 culture-relevant occupational titles and 93 major fields of study. Item-level principal components analyses identified general interest, prestige, and sex-type dimensions, rather than Prediger's (1982) People/Things and Data/Ideas dimensions. Additional factor analyses were conducted to derive scales that measure more specific interests, including Unskilled/Semiskilled Labor, Male-dominated, Engineering/Technology, Science, Medical, Arts, Commerce, Government/Law, and Education. The interest scales showed some resemblance or overlap with Holland's types, and gender differences on the scales conformed to expectations. However, the relationships among the scales and occupations were better accounted for by prestige and sex-type than by People/Things and Data/Ideas dimensions or by Holland's circular model. Developmental, cultural, educational, and economic factors that might account for Filipino students' focus on prestige and sex-type were discussed.     

Relating the Spherical representation of vocational interests to the HEXACO personality model

The present study extends previous research on interests–personality relations by comparing recent models of vocational interests (using the Personal Globe Inventory; PGI, Tracey, 2002) and personality (using the HEXACO-PI-R; Ashton, Lee, & de Vries, 2014) with each other. First, the structure of the Spherical representation was adequately replicated in a Dutch sample (N = 656). Second, in so far as comparisons were possible, the relations between interests and personality were found to be congruent with previous findings. Third, Prestige interests, the defining feature of the Spherical representation, were related, albeit weakly, to Openness to Experience and to Extraversion. Last of all, Honesty–Humility and Openness to Experience were related to profile elevation in interest scores. All results were obtained for normative and ipsatized scales, revealing several meaningful differences in interests–personality relations depending on the type of interest scoring procedure.     

Examination of the structure of Irish students’ vocational interests and competence perceptions

A sample of 307 Irish high school students completed a modified version of the Personal Globe Inventory (PGI, Tracey, 2002). Results of separate principal components analyses demonstrated the presence of three substantive factors: People/Things, Data/Ideas, and Prestige, similar to the structure of the PGI in US samples (Tracey, 2002). The fit of Holland’s six-type RIASEC, the PGI eight-type model, and the PGI spherical structure to the data were examined using the randomized test of hypothesized order relations. The results demonstrated that each model fit the Irish data well. No structural differences were found between gender groups. The results support the structural validity of the modified PGI in an Irish context.     

Vocational interest structures for Asian Americans,Middle-Eastern Americans and Native Americans on the 2005 Strong Interest Inventory

This study examined whether the vocational interests of Asian Americans, Middle-Eastern Americans, and Native Americans, as measured by the 2005 Strong Interest Inventory (SII), followed Holland's (1997) calculus hypotheses for a RIASEC ordering. The structures of interests of these three racial/ethnic groups were examined for fit with two structural models: (1) a less-stringent model requiring a circular RIASEC ordering and (2) a more stringent model requiring equal distances between adjacent interest types. Individuals who completed the 2005 Strong Interest Inventory were included in the sample (N = 22,394), and the overall sample was divided between racial/ethnic groups, gender, and professional status (i.e. student and employed adults). Results from randomization tests of hypothesized order and circular unidimensional scaling analyses found that a circular RIASEC order is applicable to Asian American, Middle-Eastern American and Native American students and employed adults, regardless of gender, when measured by the 2005 Strong Interest Inventory. Results from this study indicate that the current version of the Strong Interest Inventory measures vocational interests in a manner that strongly aligns with Holland's calculus hypothesis for both men and women.     

Integrating vocational interests, competencies, and interpersonal dispositions in middle school children

Vocational interests and interpersonal dispositions have been well researched in adults from the perspectives of Holland's RIASEC (1997) model of interests and the Interpersonal Circumplex (IPC), respectively. Few studies have applied either model to children and no studies have examined their overlap in children. A vector fitting procedure was applied to data from adults to demonstrate the intersection of vocational interests and interpersonal dispositions from the perspective of the IPC. The same procedure was then applied to interests and competencies and interpersonal dispositions in a sample of sixth grade children. Plotting the vocational variables within interpersonal space defined by the IPC showed the specific interpersonal aspects of vocational interests in young adults and interests and competencies in late childhood. Half of the interests had associations with the IPC that were consistent across adults and children, while the remaining interests had associations that were unique to children.     

Success in the first phase of the vocational career: The role of cognitive and scholastic abilities,personality factors,and vocational interests

The present study examines the relationship of cognitive and scholastic abilities, vocational interests, and personality traits with vocational success in the first phase of the vocational career. Drawing on large samples of technicians and industrial clerks, the effects of the covariates on satisfaction and dropout intention in the first months of vocational education and training (VET) were examined. Results show that the sets of predictor variables, especially personality traits and vocational interests, had a large proportion of variance in common, but exhibited different patterns of effects. Whereas in the case of personality traits the predictor-outcome relationships were largely invariant across different fields of VET, vocational interests exhibited a non-invariant pattern of effects that was in line with the congruence hypothesis (Holland, 1997). Vocational interests in the dominant domain characterizing the field of VET were the strongest predictors, whereas interests in the non-dominant VET domains were less important for predicting success. Abilities did not turn out to be important predictors of the markers of success under study. The results underscore the crucial role of personality traits and vocational interests in securing success in the first phase of vocational career.     

Re-conceptualizing the past: Historical data in vocational interest research

Noteworthy progress has been made in the development of statistical models for evaluating the structure of vocational interests over the past three decades. It is proposed that historically significant interest datasets, when combined with modern structural methods of data analysis, provide an opportunity to re-examine the underlying assumptions of J.L. Holland’s [Holland, J. L. (1959). A theory of vocational choice. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 6, 35–45; Holland, J. L. (1997). Making vocational choices (3rd ed.). Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources] RIASEC model. To illustrate this potential, data obtained from J. P. Guilford’s study of interest structure were re-analyzed using modern circumplex and hierarchical clustering techniques to evaluate Holland’s and I. Gati’s [Gati, I. (1979). A hierarchical model for the structure of interests. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 15, 90–106; Gati, I. (1991). The structure of vocational interests. Psychological Bulletin, 109, 309–324] interest structures. Obtained results indicate that a circumplex model can be used to effectively represent the structure underlying Guilford’s interest measures. However, hierarchical clustering results suggest that Holland’s RIASEC types may not be the most effective categories for grouping specific interest measures into broader interest areas. The current findings provide support for the continued investigation of alternatives to Holland’s interest categories using modern measures of basic interests.     

Birth cohort change in the vocational interests of female and male college students

The purpose of this research was to investigate the extent to which vocational interests have changed across birth cohorts of college students to better understand how socio-cultural factors may have an impact on career development. Using meta-analytic data collection methods, dissertations and journal articles presenting interests scores representing Holland's RIASEC typology from the Strong Interest Inventory and Strong Campbell interest inventory were gathered. With samples spanning a time period from 1976 to 2004, relations between cohort year and interests were examined with weighted regressions. A salient aspect of our results was an increase in the Enterprising interests of females and decrease in the Realistic and Investigative interests of males. This finding, along with a reduction in differences between female and male Investigative, Enterprising, and Conventional interests from earlier to more recent cohorts parallels movement of American culture toward egalitarian views of gender and provides evidence for the effect of sociocultural factors on interests.     

The structure of vocational interests in Germany: Different methodologies, different conclusions

The cross-cultural generalizability of vocational interest structures has received significant attention in recent years. This article adds to this research in four respects. First, data from a context that has not previously been investigated (Germany) was analyzed. Second, students at different stages of their educational career were examined. Third, the interest structure in male and females was compared. Fourth, two methods—the randomization test of hypothesized order relations (RTOR) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)—were applied to three competing structural conceptions: Holland’s circular representation, Gati’s hierarchical model, and Rounds and Tracey’s alternative hierarchical model. RTOR supported all three representations, whereas CFA supported only Holland’s model. CFAs indicated that the interest structure is reasonably invariant between high school and university students, but that the configurations for high school females and males differ. Substantive and methodological implications are discussed.     

Self-efficacy and interest: Experimental studies of optimal incompetence

How does self-efficacy affect interest? The interest-and-interests model assumes that factors that induce interest—novelty, complexity, conflict, and uncertainty—do so non-linearly. Self-efficacy should thus affect interest quadratically, because it reflects uncertainty about an activity’s outcome. When self-efficacy is low, interest is low because the activity’s outcome is certain. When self-efficacy is moderate, the person’s success on the task seems likely, but not inevitable. But as self-efficacy becomes very high, success seems completely certain, and the task is thus uninteresting. Two experiments tested these predictions. Experiment 1 asked people to rate the interestingness of differentially difficult activities; Experiment 2 manipulated self-efficacy regarding a fuzzy dart game. In both experiments, interest was a quadratic function of self-efficacy. Implications for theories of vocational interest development and change are considered.     

Structure of interest in a Caribbean sample: Application of the Personal Globe Inventory

The structural validity of the Personal Globe Inventory (PGI, Tracey, 2002) as applied to a Caribbean sample of university students in Jamaica (N = 103) and Trinidad (N = 118) was examined. The fit of the data to Holland's six-type RIASEC, the PGI eight-type model, and the PGI spherical structure was examined using the randomized test of hypothesized order relations. The results demonstrated that the circular structure (i.e. RIASEC and the eight-type model), unlike the spherical structure, fits the Caribbean data well. No structural differences were found between gender and nationality. Further examination of the cultural perception of prestige in a Caribbean sample is warranted. Overall, the results support the structural validity of the PGI in Caribbean applications.     

Content analysis of the strong vocational interest blank for women

The content of each of the Occupational and Nonoccupational scales on the Strong Vocational Interest Blank for Women (SVIB-W; Form TW398) was described in terms of the categories used for the Basic Interest scales. The number of common items scored on the Occupational or Nonoccupational scales and the Basic scales was cross-tabulated for each pair of scales. A variety of interest factors was represented on each of the Occupational and Nonoccupational scales. Several shortcomings of the SVIB-W (e.g., restricted range of interests represented in item pool, no Occupational scale for “outdoors” occupations, and questionable validity of Diversity scale) were noted.     

Cultural influences on responses to items on the strong interest inventory

This study examined racial/ethnic group differences on an interest inventory at the item level using differential bundle functioning (DBF) analyses. Specifically, responses of males and females from five different racial/ethnic groups (N=3750) on the General Occupational Themes of the Strong were examined. Items were grouped together based on substantive considerations to determine if they functioned differentially due to racial/ethnic group differences in role modeling, perceptions of opportunities/barriers, familiarity with activities, and cultural expectations, as opposed to true racial/ethnic group differences in interests. Very high levels of DBF were found for most of the item sets considered in this study, implying that diverse cultural groups have a different conditional probability of endorsing some sets of items due to the items measuring a secondary trait in addition to the main trait the scale was designed to measure.     

Assessing vocational interests in the Basque Country using paired comparison design

This article proposes the Thurstonian paired comparison model to assess vocational preferences and uses this approach to evaluate the Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprise, and Conventional (RIASEC) model in the Basque Country (Spain). First, one unrestricted model is estimated in the Structural Equation Modelling framework using one paired comparison design. Secondly, the RIASEC circumplex structure is evaluated upon the estimated latent preferences correlation matrix. The results show good fit between the Thurstonian model and the data, but do not confirm the RIASEC structure in the Basque population.     

Psychological components of responses to interest inventory items

This study tests the relevance of 10 psychological traits that are assumed to exemplify responses to the items of INFORIZON, an occupational interest inventory. To accomplish this goal, the author analyzed the responses to the interest items based on a sample of 824 participants (17–25 years old), with an assessment of the items based on psychological traits using another French sample (147 participants) in the same age category. The results of multiple linear regression analyses supported most of the hypotheses presented in this study.     

Hiring on vocational interests to simultaneously improve validity and organizational diversity

We discuss how using vocational interests in the selection process can help address the diversity-validity dilemma. First, we point out how incorporating vocational interests as predictors in selection could help to reduce adverse impact. We further suggest that by using optimal predictor weights, one could simultaneously improve validity while enhancing organisational diversity. Finally, the predictive validity of vocational interests arises from their ability to capture the congruence between individuals and occupations, which is a cross-level phenomenon. Thus, when gathering validity evidence for vocational interests, multi-occupation samples should be incorporated into validation efforts.     

Making use of professional development: Employee interests and motivational goal orientations

Vocational interests and goal orientation (GO) are examined for their potential influences on employees' decisions to engage in professional development and to apply the knowledge and skills gained from development activities in their jobs. Specifically, professional development, in the form of continuing professional education (CE), was examined for a variety of practicing healthcare professionals (N = 183), including physicians, nurses, and allied health professionals in the Midwest United States. Aspects of vocational interest theory (interests and congruence) and GO theory predicted CE outcomes (voluntary participation in CE beyond professional requirements and the application of CE learning at work). Further, employee GO mediated between interests and the application of CE learning at work, providing evidence of a work-specific motivational process linking interests with performance-related behavioral outcomes.