Vocational interest and personality differences between development and research personnel: A field study

Employees classified into development and research groups were contrasted for differences in vocational interest and personality inventory responses. Discriminant and classification analyses indicated that these two groups could be distinguished. Development personnel exhibited greater interests in supervisory-related areas, but researchers showed a tendency toward high specialization and academic interests. With respect to personality characteristics, development personnel described themselves as more dominant, defensive, and achieving, yet less critical than research personnel.