Holland's Vocational Preference Inventory Research Articles

Toward an occupational classification for self-employed men: An investigation of entrepreneurship from the perspective of Holland's theory of career development

This study addressed entrepreneurship from the perspective of Holland's theory of career development. Sixty-four male entrepreneurs were interviewed and administered Holland's Vocational Preference Inventory. The respondents were classified as either Craft Entrepreneurs or Opportunistic Entrepreneurs, and the characteristics of the two groups were compared. The results of this study indicated that the Craft Entrepreneurs can be described as having a Holland occupational code of ERA, and the Opportunistic Entrepreneurs can be described as having a Holland occupational code of EAI. It is recommended that additional research should investigate self-employment as a distinct career option.

The Occupational, Learning, and Social Support Orientations of Employees

This study identifies indicators of possible job success by investigation of the relationship between work stability/satisfaction and occupational, learning, and social support orientations of rehabilitation personnel. A questionnaire that included Holland's Vocational Preference Inventory and Sheffield's Orientation of Adult Learners Scale was mailed to 338 employees in rehabilitation settings. The data analyses indicated that such employees have basically the occupational characteristics of social, artistic, and investigative profiles and that the environments of the rehabilitation facilities were basically social, artistic, and enterprising. Such a match promotes a stable and satisfying work situation based on Holland's theory. The occupational orientation of employees can also serve as an indicator of their learning orientation and preference and their social support orientations.

The influence of a career group experience on the vocational maturity of college students

The effects of a career group experience on the vocational maturity of theoretically grouped college freshmen and sophomores were investigated using Super's Career Development Inventory as the dependent measure. The dimensions of consistency/inconsistency and differentiation/nondifferentiation, as identified utilizing Holland's Vocational Preference Inventory, were investigated along with the dimensions of treatment/nontreatment and interaction effects. Predictions related to change in vocational maturity as a result of treatment were made for each dimension. The analysis sample was a group of 68 volunteer freshman and sophomore college students. Results indicated that students did significantly increase their vocational maturity as a result of the group experience. Furthermore, it was found, as predicted, that within experimental groups inconsistent and nondifferentiated students improved significantly more on some vocational maturity measures than consistent or differentiated students. Students who were both inconsistent and nondifferentiated showed consistently greater increases on virtually all vocational maturity measures than all other theoretical groups.

Holland Vocational Preference Inventory: Norms for a Sample of Female Students of Therapy

The Vocational Preference Inventory (Holland, 1965), a personality inventory composed entirely of vocational titles, has been widely used in vocational guidance (Holland, 1966). As norms for the female students enrolled in strongly vocational courses would be a useful contribution, a random sample of 139 female students in their first year of physical, occupational or speech therapy courses was administered the inventory as part of a laboratory course within the Department of Behavioural Science at Lincoln Institute, a college which awards degrees in physiotherapy, occupational and speech therapy. This sample comprised 55 students of physiotherapy, 53 of occupational therapy, and 31 of speech therapy. The mean age of the sample was 18 yr. 2 mo., with a standard deviation of 1 yr. 7 mo.

Relationships between Holland's VPI and Cattell's 16PF

The Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) and the Sixteen Personality Factors Questionnaire (16PF) were administered to 425 undergraduate students. The two instruments were compared using canonical analysis. The results indicated that the two instruments contained three pairs of related components. The contributions of the scales of the VPI and the 16PF to the three relationships supported Holland's theory of vocational choice. The results also supported the use of the VPI for personality assessment and the 16PF for vocational assessment.

Predicting Long Term Job Satisfaction and Persistence Among Rehabilitation Counselors

Rehabilitation counselors who completed the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) and Holland's Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) in 1970 while in graduate school, were followed up in 1975. Of the 164 for whom correct addresses could be obtained, 58 percent responded to questions about their satisfaction and persistence in the job of rehabilitation counselor. Although the SVIB and VPI scales usually associated with social service occupations were not related to subsequent job satisfaction, multiple correlation of several other scales predicted 18 percent of the job satisfaction score variance. For women counselors the best predictor of later job satisfaction was the academic achievement key of the SVIB; scores of this key were inversely related to later satisfaction as rehabilitation counselors. Multiple correlations also yielded small but significant relationships between SVIB and VPI scores and persistence in rehabilitation counselor work.

Videotape modeling of interest in nontraditional occupations for women

This study investigated peer social modeling of interest in nontraditional occupations for women as a possible technique in career counseling. Subjects in treatment and control groups were female undergraduate, undeclared majors in a liberal arts curriculum. Two series of videotaped films with sex of counselor as a controlled variation of the modeling were presented to two experimental groups. Selected criteria from Holland's Vocational Preference Inventory and a simulated career choice indicated a significant increase in interest in nontraditional occupations by subjects viewing a modeling series with reinforcement by a male counselor.

Empirical derivation of SVIB-Holland scales and conversion tables

Significant relationships between the Holland Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) and the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) were again empirically demonstrated in this study, and conversion equations were developed to use standard scores of SVIB scales, rather than items, to produce estimates of VPI scores. Cross validation on a limited population yielded supportive evidence that these conversion equations can provide meaningful VPI estimates from SVIB scale scores. The need for validation across a variety of populations was underscored in order to assess further generalizability of these findings.

A factor analytic validation of Holland's Vocational Preference Inventory

A principal components analysis was applied to a 135-item pool of the Holland Vocational Preference Inventory, Sixth Revision. The sample consisted of a cross section of 100 men and 200 women college students under the age of 25 yr. An eight-factor structure was defined for each of the sexes which is discussed in relation to Holland's clinically based scales, sex differences and criterion groups as defined by choice of major subject. The a priori clinical scales were partially upheld with differences attributed to the characteristics of the sample and sociopolitical time context during which the test was administered. A new scale emerged relating to an interest in professions involving law and politics.

Empirical derivation of SVIB-Holland scales: A brief report

The Strong Vocational Interest Blank responses of 93 students were used to construct six empirical scales similar to the scales of Holland's Vocational Preference Inventory. Scores on the empirical scales were correlated with actual VPI scores. The resulting correlations were compared to coefficients obtained from correlating the intuitive scales designed by Campbell with actual VPI scores. It was concluded that (1) meaningful estimates of VPI profiles can be obtained by scoring selected items from the SVIB and (2) further work with the empirical scales is needed prior to settling on a SVIB scoring procedure for estimating VPI profiles.

Extending Holland's theory to adult women

The potential of Holland's theory for use in the vocational guidance of adult women depends in part on more validity data with regard to the conceptual meaningfulness of the constructs. This study reports the findings of a correlative analysis between scores on Holland's Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI), which measures the six “styles”, and selected scales on four criterion tests predicted in advance to be related to the VPI. The findings for this sample of adult women indicate strong evidence for the validity of the Intellectual, Conventional and Enterprising “styles”, but questions are raised with regard to the meaningfulness of the Realistic, Social, and Artistic types.

Promoting career information seeking behaviors in college students

This study was concerned with the effects of group reinforcement counseling on the frequency of career information-seeking behaviors for 94 theoretically grouped college freshmen and sophomore males. Holland's Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) was used to identify consistent-inconsistent vocational patterns and Crites' Vocational Inventory (VDI) was used to identify vocational maturity-immaturity. Predictions about behavioral change were made for each theoretical conception. Three counseling sessions each 1.5 hr long were utilized. Pre-, post-, and post-post measures of cognitive and active information seeking behaviors outside of the treatment sessions were taken. Group reinforcement counseling and vocational consistency were significantly related to behavioral change over the 6 weeks of this investigation. Unanticipated results regarding the tested dimensions and behavior change are reported and discussed.

Manifest Anxiety and Vocational Preference among Male Graduate Students

Holland (1966) has asserted that most people can be categorized as being one of six personality types with corresponding environments: Realistic, Intellectual, Social, Conventional, Enterprising, and Artistic. According to Holland's theoretical formulations, each environment is dominated by a given type of personality wherein individuals search for vocations that will lead to fulfillment of their needs. Relatively little research has been concerned with the relationship between anxiety per se and vocational choice; however, some implications may be drawn from the existing literature. Steiner and Vannoy (1966) found that the Manifest Anxiety Scale (MAS) was positively correlated with conformity which persisted in the absence of social pressure. More recently Hountras and Scharf (1970) reported that Ss who were external in locus of control were significantly more anxious than were Ss who were internal. The research might be interpreted to suggest that the intellectual personality types might be less anxious, with conventional, artistic, and realistic types being more anxious. Ss were 145 randomly selected male graduate students at the University of North Dakota who were drawn from 18 departments and grouped into Holland's six classifications. Ss were administered the forced-choice MAS (Heineman, 1953) and Holland's (1965) Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI). No significant differences were found among the six personality types (P = 2.11, p > .05). The artistic group had the highest mean (27.74) and the social group had the lowest mean (23.17). The groups expected to be more anxious were the three most anxious groups; however, the intellectual group was only slightly less anxious than these three groups. The relationship of anxiety to the VPI scales showed only slight correlations. The largest correlation of -.I5 occurred with the Enterprising scale. It seems reasonable to conclude that anxiety, as measured by the forcedchoice version of the Manifest Anxiety Scale, is not related to the vocational choices of males in graduate school as measured by Holland's scale. This might mean that graduate school might be seen as a relatively homogeneous work environment for the six vocational types. If future research shows that differing amounts of anxiety are found for different work environments. the difference might be due to the environments themselves rather than

Occupational choice of male graduate students as related to values and personality: A test of Holland's theory

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationships among personality factors, value patterns, and occupational choice, as determined by major area of concentration, of male graduate students at the University of North Dakota in the context of Holland's theory of vocational choice. Using Holland's classification system, six groups were derived: Realistic, Intellectual, Conventional, Enterprising, Social, and Artistic. Relationships between major area of concentration and scores achieved on the Holland Vocational Preference Inventory, the Allport-Vernon-Lindzey Study of Values, the Miller Occupational Values Indicator, and the Cattell and Eber Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire were investigated. Results of discriminant analysis revealed several interesting findings, and conclusions related that life values, work values, and personality characteristics were significantly related to occupational choice.

A spatial configuration of occupations

A mathematical analysis of the relationships among the six scales of Holland's Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) yielded a representation of the six VPI scales in a “best-fitting” plane. The projection of VPI means of occupational groups onto that plane gave a spatial map of occupations in which the degree of relatedness was represented by the distance in the plane. The planar configuration was used to measure several concepts of vocational psychology and to test two initial hypotheses.

A canonical correlational analysis of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank, the Holland Vocational Preference Inventory, and the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule.

A canonical correlational analysis of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank, the Holland Vocational Preference Inventory, and the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule.

THE RELATION OF VOCATIONAL INTERESTS TO LIFE GOALS, SELF‐RATINGS OF ABILITY AND PERSONALITY TRAITS, AND POTENTIAL FOR ACHIEVEMENT

In three analyses using canonical correlation, interests as measured by Holland's Vocational Preference Inventory, were related to (a) 35 life goals, (b) 31 self‐ratings of ability and personality traits, and (c) 22 scales measuring potentials for achievement. The sample consisted of 20,369 college freshmen in 37 institutions. Results are shown separately for males and females for five factors for each analysis.

Vocational Rehabilitants' Personality and Work Adjustment: A Test of Holland's Theory of Vocational Choice

This study tested 3 hypotheses derived from Holland's theory of vocational choice: relations between levels of Holland's hypothesized personality dimensions for person-environment interactions (congruency, consistency, and homogeneity) and two work adjustment variables (satisfaction and satisfactoriness) from the Minnesota Studies in Vocational Rehabilitation. 124 male Ss and 76 female Ss, classified as having psychological or physical disabilities, were administered the Holland Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) and the short-form Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ). Their employers completed the short-form Minnesota Satisfactoriness Scale (MSS). Levels of congruency, consistency, and homogeneity derived from the VPI were hypothesized to be related to levels of the MSQ and MSS scores. No over-all confirmation was found for the hypotheses; however, some encouragement for further exploration of the efficacy of Holland's personality dimensions was indicated. Significant relationships, involving the answers to questionnaire items of the responders to requests for participation in the study, are reported and discussed.

The joint use of the kuder preference record and the holland vocational preference inventory in the vocational assessment of high school girls

The joint use of the kuder preference record and the holland vocational preference inventory in the vocational assessment of high school girls

EFFECTS OF A "GOOD-ADJUSTMENT" FAKING SET ON THE HOLLAND VOCATIONAL PREFERENCE INVENTORY.

EFFECTS OF A "GOOD-ADJUSTMENT" FAKING SET ON THE HOLLAND VOCATIONAL PREFERENCE INVENTORY.