Investigating Holland′s Typological Theory with Army Occupational Specialties

Abstract

We investigated how well Holland′s (1985a) typology can distinguish Army occupational specialities and the validity of the congruence-satisfaction hypothesis in this context. The Vocational Preference Inventory was completed by 154 enlisted men in four representative Army specialities. Holland codes for the work environments were based on the enlisted men′s Vocational Preference Inventory scores, supervisors′ ratings on the Position Classification Inventory, and the Army′s rational codes. The majority of the soldiers were Realistic types, supporting Holland′s hypothesis that individuals select occupations that are congruent with their type. In a stronger test, Holland codes did a poor job of distinguishing the occupational specialities, however. Lack of support for the congruence-satisfaction hypothesis was attributed to several factors, not all of which are unique to the Army context. The study raised questions about the ability of Holland′s typology to distinguish Realistic working class occupations in the general economy and about the congruence-satisfaction hypothesis in this context.