Abstract
Recent studies further the development of trait-state models for vocational interests. Unlike personality, vocational interest states were found to vary mainly below respective trait levels. This preregistered experience-sampling study (N = 217, Nobs = 5,631) aimed to replicate and explain why the trait-state relation in vocational interests differs from personality. We tested competing assumptions about the conceptualization of interest states. Across two operationalizations using items that were (not) tailored to participants’ daily lives, interest states varied mainly below trait levels. This suggests that the distinct pattern is no measurement artifact, but that interest traits generally constrain the experience of states in daily life. Overall, the results refine the conceptualization of interest states and demonstrate that different psychological constructs meaningfully differ in their trait-state relations.
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