Development and psychometric properties of the Nonverbal Vocational Interest Scale (NVIS)

Abstract

Vocational interest inventories play an important role in supporting adolescents and young adults in their vocational choice. However, existing verbal and pictorial questionnaires have limitations regarding the complexity, abstraction level, and ambiguity of the item material. The presented research attempts to overcome these limitations by developing a new pictorial questionnaire. Study 1 describes the construction process of the Nonverbal Vocational Interest Scale (NVIS) and its psychometric properties, evaluation, and construct validation. Data from N = 363 adolescents and young adults in lower secondary school and vocational training centres were considered. Study 2 was conducted to confirm convergent and discriminant validity. N = 237 adolescents and young adults completed the revised form of the NVIS and the Photo-Interest-Inventory (F-I-T). The results confirm that the NVIS is a reliable and valid computer-based instrument for assessing vocational interests. Limitations and implications for further research and use in vocational training and counselling settings are discussed.