Occupational classification in terms of interest patterns

This study was designed to identify the important clusters of occupational groups identifiable from an analysis of the dimensions accounting for similarity in profile shapes among a set of 28 new vocational interest measures. A total of over 47,000 individuals belonging to 189 particular occupational groups have completed the Strong Vocational Interest Blank and had their data summarized in the form of group profiles. The matrix of 189 occupational group profiles of the 22 SVIB Basic Scales was analyzed by a series of multivariate procedures designed to predict group profiles on the Jackson Vocational Interest Survey (JVIS). Predicted JVIS profiles were obtained using an intercorrelation matrix of 548 males who had completed both the SVIB and the JVIS. Predicted JVIS profiles were subjected to a form of transpose factor analysis to obtain clusters of similar occupations. A total of 23 distinct occupational clusters were obtained, ranging from military officers to salesmen, and were interpreted as representing the major groupings of occupations defined by similar patterns of vocational interest.     

The Vocational Exploration Group and minority youth: An experimental outcome study

This study was designed to investigate experimentally the effectiveness of the Vocational Exploration Group in assisting students to become more aware of the world of work and its relevance for them. Sixty male, Mexican-American, junior high students were randomly assigned to one of three groups: (1) Vocational Exploration Group, (2) VEG without interaction, or (3) Control. Upon completion of treatments subjects were post-tested with an instrument designed to assess knowledge of factors such as differing functions of jobs, interests and skills needed in different jobs and satisfactions available from work. Analyses revealed no statistically significant differences (a = .05) among groups.     

Knowledge of the world of work: A test of occupational information for young men

The study evaluates a test of occupational information administered to a national sample of 5000 young men, aged 14–24 in 1966, as part of the National Longitudinal Surveys of employment behavior. The predictive validity of the test score is assessed by reference to multiple regression analyses which confirm the significance of the score as an independent predictor of subsequent hourly earnings and occupational status. Correlation and factor analyses are used to examine the quality of the measurement instrument. All in all, the instrument is judged to exhibit desirable characteristics in terms of internal consistency reliability, discriminatory power, and level of difficulty. The test's reliability compares favorably with a commercially produced test designed to be used in counseling as a measure of occupational knowledge. With the possible modification of deleting a section relating to knowledge of earnings differentials, the test is commended to those involved in assessing and counseling the occupational choice process.     

Interest differentiation in high school and vocational indecision in college

Vocational indecision was defined as being both a college upperclassman and having no major. In a sample of 1622 students in college for three years, 24% indecisive students were found and compared with vocationally decisive students (having majors) using precollege measures of achievement, aptitude, and interest. Measures of interest differentiation were of particular concern. Indecisiveness was best predicted from present and past achievement measures, e.g., cumulative college GPA or high school mathematics GPA. Interest predictors slightly augmented the multiple correlation including Outdoor interest, Business Contact interest, and interest differentiation. Most important to vocational indecision in these juniors and seniors, however, was lower academic achievement.     

Predictive value and psychological meaning of vocational aspirations

The psychological meaning and predictive value of a person's vocational aspirations were examined by applying Holland's typology to the vocational aspirations of high school juniors (N = 1005), college juniors (N = 692), employed adults (N = 140), and a second sample of college students studied over a one-year interval (N = 624). The aspirational data were obtained from the Daydreams section of the Self-Directed Search (Holland, 1972). Categorical and correlational analyses show that a person's retrospective vocational aspirations have coherence and yield efficient predictions of subsequently expressed choice. In addition, the degree of coherence or similarity among a person's vocational aspirations provides a potentially useful index of a person's decision-making ability.     

Processing the information contained in another's behavior

This study investigates attributions based on behavior congruent with situational demands (in-role) and those based on behavior incongruent with situational demands (out-of-role). By analyzing these processes in terms of a Bayesian inference model, it was possible to determine (a) the diagnostic values observers intially assign to behaviors, (b) the actual informational impact of these behaviors, and (c) the degree of optimality in processing information contained therein. The main results can be summarized as follows: (1) The diagnostic value and actual informational impact of out-of-role behaviors were much higher than those of inrole behaviors. (2) Information about out-of-role behaviors was less optimally processed than information about in-role behaviors. (3) Observers assigned smaller diagnostic values to behaviors which were described in great detail than to behaviors which were described in summary statements. (4) Observers' attitudes influenced their initial beliefs about the actors but not the processing of new information about the actor. (5) The Bayesian inference model predicted observers' inferences reasonably well.     

Use of first person pronouns as a function of increased objective self-awareness and performance feedback

A recent integrating formalation in social psychology, the Duval-Wicklund theory of “objective self-awareness,” has the core assumption that attention focused on the self is always aversive and, hence, avoided. While faced with either a TV camera or a mirror, and after they had received false feedback concerning their creativity, 98 undergraduates guessed at the meaning of foreign language pronouns, the unobtrusive dependent measure of the direction of the focus of attention. The standard Duval-Wicklund effect was replicated—more attention to self, that is, more first-person pronouns—in the “camera” or “mirror” than in the “no camera” or “no mirror” conditions. However, within the camera or mirror conditions, avoidance of self-focused attention occurred only after negative feedback.