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.     

Structure of vocational interests for diverse groups on the 2005 strong interest inventory

This study was designed to examine the structure of vocational interests in a diverse sample of individuals who completed the 2005 revision of the Strong Interest Inventory. We examined the fit of three racial/ethnic groups (African American, Caucasian, and Latino/a), both genders, and three levels of professional status (GRS participant, student, and working adult; N = 136, 219) with a less-stringent circular RIASEC ordering as well as a more stringent, equidistant RIASEC ordering. Results from circular unidimensional scaling analyses revealed a circular RIASEC order for all the samples with the exception of African American females in the General Representative Sample and Latinos in the adult sample. Additionally, results indicated gender differences in the adult and student samples suggesting a better fit with Holland's model for males than females.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

The role of personality and learning experiences in social cognitive career theory

We sought to extend the empirical literature on Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) by testing (a) the posited indirect effect of personality on interests through learning experiences and sociocognitive mechanisms, and (b) hypotheses that self-efficacy percepts and outcome expectations derive from corresponding career-relevant learning experiences. Participants (327 college students) completed a measure of the Big Five personality factors and measures of learning experiences, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and interests corresponding to each of Holland’s (1997) six RIASEC themes. Results of path analyses indicated that personality’s relation to interests was mediated via learning experiences and sociocognitive mechanisms; however, the extent of that mediation varied considerably across the different personality-interest relations. Findings also indicated strong support, across Holland themes, for SCCT’s hypothesized relations of learning experiences to self-efficacy and outcome expectations; however, for five of the six Holland themes, the relation between learning experiences and outcome expectations was at least partially mediated through self-efficacy.     

Authoritarianism as a personality trait: Evidence from a longitudinal behavior genetic study

Authoritarianism has long been conceived of as a highly stable personality trait ( and ), though recent accounts have argued that authoritarianism is too malleable to justify this conception. We provided a test of the trait conception of authoritarianism by measuring its stability in a community sample of twins over a 15 year period, and by identifying the source of any stability with biometric modeling. Our results showed that authoritarianism exhibited a high degree of rank-order stability (r = .74). Biometric analyses indicated that this stability derived primarily from genetic influences, with changes in authoritarianism due to the unique experiences of the individual. In both of these respects, our results were highly comparable to those reported for other personality traits in previous work, indicating support for the trait conception of authoritarianism. Other results of note included a higher degree of stability among the more educated portion of the sample, supporting a hypothesis by Krosnick and Alwin (1989).     

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.     

Integrating personality and career adaptability into vocational interest space

The relations between interests, personality and career adaptability were explored in two separate studies. In the first study, the RIASEC measure Occupational Preference Scale was applied along with personality inventories HEXACO-PI-(R)-100 and IPIP-50 on a sample of 602 university students and young adults. In the second study, PGI-Short, HEXACO-60 and Career Adapt-Abilities Scale were applied on a sample of 981 high-school graduates. Results from both studies were discussed together, and general conclusions about overlapping of interests, personality and career adaptability domains were drawn on the basis of correlational analyses and property vector fitting. Both studies have shown weak to moderate relations between interests and personality. In the HEXACO framework, it was found that Openness to Experience was positively related to creative interests, Emotionality was positively related to social interests and negatively related to technical interests, Extraversion was positively related to social and managing interests, and Honesty–Humility was negatively related to interests for business and finance. In the Big Five framework, Agreeableness was related to Social and Artistic interests, and Intellect to Artistic interests. The HEXACO personality domains showed predictive advantage for explaining interests in comparison to Big Five dimensions. The relation between career adaptability and interests was weak, and almost negligible when personality was included in hierarchical regression analysis. Career adaptability was weakly related to highly prestigious interests. Adaptability facets Concern, Control and Confidence were oriented toward data pole of interest space. The general factor of interests was weakly correlated with Openness Extraversion, Career Adaptability, and adaptability facets Confidence and Curiosity. Observed findings are as expected and in line with previous research.     

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.     

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.     

The role of personality in the selection of a major: With and without vocational self-efficacy and interests

The purpose of this study is to examine the role of personality traits measured by the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ; [Tellegen, 2000] and [Tellegen and Waller, 2008]) in selecting educational majors. Personality traits were examined alone, and with the combination of Holland’s hexagonal confidence domains, as measured by the general confidence themes (GCT) of the Skills Confidence Inventory (SCI; Betz, Borgen, & Harmon, 2005), and Holland’s interest domains, as measured by the general occupational themes (GOTs) of the 2005 Strong Interest Inventory (SII; Donnay, Morris, Schaubhut, & Thompson, 2005). Personality traits significantly contributed to the discrimination of nine educational major families in a sample of 368 undergraduate decided students. When the set of confidence and interest scales was added to the personality traits, the conservative jack knife hit rate was almost doubled.     

The common space of personality traits and vocational interests

Investigated relationships between personality traits and vocational interests. Cattell's (Research and Consultations Center of Educational Personnel, 1976) CAQ Part I and the Ramak interest inventory (Meir, 1975) based upon Roe's (1956) occupational classification system were administered to a sample of 397 university applicants. Canonical Correlation Analysis and Smallest Space Analysis were used to test two hypotheses (a) relationships exist between personality traits and vocational interests; and (b) personality traits which characterize occupational profiles are arranged in circular order corresponding to the configuration Of the vocational fields which represent those occupations. Both hypotheses were supported by the data.     

Personality and creativity in realistic,investigative, artistic,social, and enterprising college majors

Despite much research on how interests are related to personality and creativity, comparatively little work has focused on how different college majors as categorized by the RIASEC model compare on these constructs. In this study, 3295 college students (207 Realistic, 1945 Investigative, 447 Artistic, 480 Social, and 216 Enterprising) completed a five-factor personality measure, a brief self-report of creativity, and the Compound Remote Associates Task (CRAT). Investigative and Artistic majors scored higher on openness and self-assessed creativity than Realistic and Social majors, and Investigative majors were much more agreeable than other majors.     

How our work influences who we are: Testing a theory of vocational and personality development over fifty years

This study examines the developmental influences of occupational environments on personality traits from childhood to adulthood. We test aspects of a theory of vocational and personality development, proposing that traits develop in response to work experience following corresponsive and noncorresponsive mechanisms. We describe these pathways in the context of situations of vocational gravitation and inhabitation. In a sample from the Hawaii personality and health cohort (N = 596), we examined associations of childhood and adulthood personality traits, with occupational environments profiled on the RIASEC model. Mediations tests confirmed that work influenced personality development from childhood to adulthood for Openness/Intellect. We observed multiple reactivity effects of occupation environments on adulthood traits that were not associated with corresponding selection effects.     

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.     

Correspondence of children's anticipated vocations, perceived competencies, and interests: Results from an Italian sample

Relations among anticipated vocations, self-assessments of competence, and interests in sample of 190 Italian children were examined. Children were asked what activities they liked, those they thought they were good at, and what job they expected when they grew up. The responses were coded into RIASEC Holland codes and agreement across the three questions was examined using kappa statistics. Results indicated that there was no relation between anticipated occupations and either interest or perceived competence. Thus, these anticipated occupations appear to be based on unrealistic criteria and the validity of studying such early expressions of interest is questionable. Conversely, results demonstrated a correspondence between interest and competence and this correspondence was similar for boys and girls and increased with age.     

The relation of self-efficacy and interests: a meta-analysis of 60 samples

This study empirically synthesizes and evaluates studies that have examined the relation between vocationally relevant domains of self-efficacy and interests. We conducted a meta-analytic review of 60 empirical independent samples (N=39,154) in which relations between self-efficacy and interests had been examined. Fifty-three of these samples (N=37,829) included parallel measures of the constructs. Relations between parallel measures of Holland’s RIASEC themes, the specific dimensions of art, math, science and math/science combined, and traditionally female and male occupations are also presented. Results demonstrated that self-efficacy and interests are independent constructs that correlate moderately. Differences by sex, measure, and age group are noted. Future directions for research regarding links between self-efficacy and interests are discussed.