Personality and vocational interests in an adult sample

Johns Hopkins University This article examines the relations between Holland's vocational typology and the Neuroticism-Extraversion-Openness (NEO) model of personality in a sample of men (N = 217) and women (N = 144) aged 21 to 89 \bung and old adult groups were similar to college students m most vocational interests, and the same pattern of sex differences was found. Correlations between Self-Directed Search (SDS) scales and NEO scores showed strong associations of Investigative and Artistic interests with Openness to Experience, and of Social and Enterprising interests with Extraversion Individuals interested primarily in Conventional occupations tended to be closed to experience. These associations were generally confirmed when spouse ratings were used as a non-self-report measure of personality traits in a subset of the subjects The NEO complements the Holland typology, primarily m providing measures of Neuroticism Research on the possible utility of supplementing vocational interest data with personality measures is suggested, and some implications for vocational counseling among older adults are discussed Historically, vocational interests and personality traits have been considered relatively distinct areas of inquiry. Instruments such as Strong's (1943) Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) and the Kuder Preference Inventory (1960) were empirically derived and pragmatically oriented guides to occupational choice. By contrast, with such notable exceptions as the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory and the California Psychological Inventory, personality models (e.g., Cattell, 1946; Eysenck, 1960; Murray, 1938) have often been theoretical in orientation, and personality measures have usually been constructed through rational or factor analytic methods. Although relations between the two domains have long been hypothesized (e.g., Darley & Hagenah, 1955; Strong, 1943), early research results were inconsistent. Indeed, Super (1957) concluded that "personality traits seem to have no clear-cut and practical significant differential relation to vocational preference" (pp. 240-241). In part, this conclusion reflects the use of older personality measures such as the

[1]  P. Costa,et al.  Joint factors in self-reports and ratings: Neuroticism, extraversion and openness to experience , 1983 .

[2]  R Hogan,et al.  A socioanalytic theory of personality. , 1983, Nebraska Symposium on Motivation. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation.

[3]  D. Woodruff.  The role of memory in personality continuity: a 25 year follow-up. , 1983, Experimental aging research.

[4]  J. Nicholls,et al.  Some dangers of using personality questionnaires to study personality. , 1982 .

[5]  Robert R. McCrae,et al.  Consensual validation of personality traits: Evidence from self-reports and ratings. , 1982 .

[6]  P. Costa,et al.  Self-concept and the stability of personality: Cross-sectional comparisons of self-reports and ratings , 1982 .

[7]  David Magnusson,et al.  Longitudinal stability of personality characteristics1 , 1981 .

[8]  P. Costa,et al.  Constancy of adult personality structure in males: longitudinal, cross-sectional and times-of-measurement analyses. , 1980, Journal of gerontology.

[9]  P. Costa,et al.  Still stable after all these years: personality as a key to some issues in adulthood and old age , 1980 .

[10]  David Arenberg,et al.  Enduring dispositions in adult males , 1980 .

[11]  P. Costa,et al.  Influence of extraversion and neuroticism on subjective well-being: happy and unhappy people. , 1980, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[12]  M. Perone,et al.  Satisfaction with real and simulated jobs in relation to personality variables and drug use. , 1979, The Journal of applied psychology.

[13]  G. D. Gottfredson,et al.  Career stability and redirection in adulthood. , 1977 .

[14]  P. Costa,et al.  Personological interpretation of factors from the Strong Vocational Interest Blank Scales , 1977 .

[15]  P. Costa,et al.  Age differences in personality structure: a cluster analytic approach. , 1976, Journal of gerontology.

[16]  W. S. Zimmerman,et al.  The Guilford-Zimmerman temperament survey handbook : twenty-five years of research and application , 1976 .

[17]  A. Buss,et al.  A Temperament Theory of Personality Development , 1975 .

[18]  J. L. Holland,et al.  Differentiation of Occupational Perceptions Among Different Age Groups. , 1974 .

[19]  J. L. Holland,et al.  Making Vocational Choices: A Theory of Careers , 1973 .

[20]  D. Campbell,et al.  Stability of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank for Men. , 1971 .

[21]  J. L. Holland,et al.  Explorations of a theory of vocational choice. VI. A longitudinal study using a samp.e of typical college students. , 1968, The Journal of applied psychology.

[22]  A. Wessman,et al.  Mood and personality. , 1967 .

[23]  John L. Holland,et al.  The psychology of vocational choice: A theory of personality types and model environments. , 1967 .

[24]  M. Rokeach,et al.  The Open and Closed Mind , 1960 .

[25]  Donald E. Super,et al.  The psychology of careers : an introduction to vocational development , 1958 .

[26]  Edward K. Strong,et al.  Vocational interests of men and women , 1954 .

[27]  H. Eysenck.  The structure of human personality , 1953 .

[28]  K Edward,et al.  Permanence of interest scores over 22 years. , 1951 .