Vocational choice, level, and consistency: An investigation of Holland's theory on an employed sample

Abstract

Four-hundred men, classified into personality type and level on the basis of their full-time employment, completed six measures of interests and personality. These men, 25–35-years of age, also gave a brief occupational history and indicated their degree of satisfaction with their present employment in a test of Holland's theoretical statements and procedures concerning field, level, and consistency. The results indicated that the employed men (a) tended not to consistently possess the personality orientation appropriate to their jobs, (b) did not rate themselves on personality characteristics in accordance with Holland's theory, (c) tended to work at occupational levels predictable from the summation of intelligence and self-evaluation, and (d) when classified as “consistent,” using Holland's procedures, did not express greater job satisfaction or have greater job stability than individuals designated as “inconsistent.”