Strong Vocational Interest Blank Research Articles

Gender-Related Individual Differences and Mortality in the Terman Longitudinal Study: Is Masculinity Hazardous to Your Health?

Data were collected, refined, and analyzed on 654 men and 210 women in Lewis Terman’s “gifted children” longitudinal study to examine links between masculinity and mortality. Masculinity measures included gender diagnosticity (GD) scores, measuring the male-or female-typicality of occupational preferences in 1940 and masculinity-femininity (M-F) scores from the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB). Hazard analyses showed GD was significantly related to mortality for both men and women (interquartile relative hazard 1.25 for men and 1.62 for women), with masculine women and masculine men more likely to die at any given age. SVIB M-F was similarly related to mortality for both men and women (respective interquartile relative hazards = 1.26 and 1.36). The effects remained significant after controlling for certain health behaviors and Big Five traits.

Rumblings of a Distant Drum

The Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) was showing great evocative validity during career counseling, decades-long predictive validity, and wide relational fertility, opening the door to theories describing the social mechanisms that bring about an assortative mating between individuals and occupational fates when, out of the blue, the SVIB was suppressed. First the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII) and then today's Strong Interest Inventory (SII) were offered as its increasingly inadequate replacements. Apparently, sales had replaced science as the value guiding the changes made with each new test. Even so, why the classic SVIB was made the object of a book-burning by a university press remains an inexplicable atrocity. Can this outrage be now, belatedly, undone?

Relationship of Interest Measurement from the Copsystem Interest Inventory (Form P) and the Strong Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII): Construct Validation of Two Measures of Interest at the College Level

The 1969 revision of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) introducted to that instrument the concept of homogeneously keyed scales presenting 23 Basic Interest scales, and the 1974 revision, the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII) integrated the six Holland types into the scoring in terms of six Theme scales (Campbell and Hansen, 1981)-29 scales in all. These changes acknowledging the theoretical structures of occupational interests make comparisons between the SCII constructs and other homogeneously keyed instruments more meaningful. The purpose of the present study was to provide construct validity data by evaluating the relationship between results obtained from the college level form of the Carrer Occupational Preference System, Interest Inventory, Form P (COPS-P) (Knapp-Lee, Knapp, and Knapp, 1983) and those of the Theme and Basic Interest scales of the SCII. Correlations were computed between the COPS-P scales and both the SCII Theme and Basic Interest scales for a sample of 122 college students. The magnitude of correlations between conceptually similar COPS-P and SCII Theme scales ranged between .29 and .72 with the median being .60. In virtually every instance the COPS-P scale was more highly related to the theoretically consistent SCII Theme scale than to any other Theme scale in the array. In a comparison of the COPS-P scales with the SCII Basic Interest Scales, an examination of relationships between those scales which have identical, or nearly identical, names did show a range in magnitude of .37 to .81 with a median of .68. The highest correlation was between the COPS-P Communication, Written scale and the SCII Basic Interest scale, Writing. The pattern of correlations between the COPS-P scales and the SCII Theme scales provided support for the theoretical constructs measured by the two instruments.

Life history and vocational interests

To obtain some information concerning the antecedents of various forms of vocational interests, scores on the 22 basic interest scales of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) were correlated with 389 life history or autobiographical data items. Items yielding significant correlations were clustered on the basis of item content. The clusters obtained for the business management, science, and adventure scales are presented and discussed. Subsequently, certain general conclusions are drawn concerning the life history correlates of inventoried vocational interests.

Prenatal ‘female hormone’ administration and psychosexual development in human males

(1) Considerable data exist from animal research relating prenatal hormone levels to postnatal behaviors in the male. The data from human males are few. One strategy for testing this association is the study of humans exposed prenatally to exogenous ‘pregnancy maintaining hormones’. (2) Fifty-eight young adult males exposed to one of four hormone regimens were matched against nonhormone exposed controls. There were 17 males exposed to diethylstilbestrol (DES), 22 exposed to DES and natural progesterone, 10 to natural progesterone only, and 13 to synthetic progesterone. (3) Subjects were interviewed for various aspects of psychosexual development, and administered the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI), the Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey (GZTS), the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB), and the Embedded Figures Test (EFT). (4) Drug, total dosage, and time of drug administration were significantly associated with several aspects of boyhood, adolescent, and adult psychosexual development on interview and with differences in scales of the psychometric tests. (5) The most contrasting boyhood behaviors were between those exposed to progesterone and DES. Progesterone subjects tended to recall boyhood behaviors which departed from the conventional male mode toward ‘femininity’. The DES subjects tended to recall the most conventionally ‘masculine’ boyhoods. During adulthood, DES plus natural progesterone subjects reported a high sex drive while synthetic progesterone subjects reported a low sex drive. Erectile failure was more often reported by subjects exposed to natural progesterone only. (6) Three drug regimens were associated with elevations of the Feminine scale of the BSRI and two with elevations of the feminine scale of the GZTS. (7) The rates of homosexual behavior were comparable for drug and non-drug-exposed subjects.

Factor analysis of Strong Vocational Interest Blank items.

University of MinnesotaThis study was undertaken to identify independent interest dimensions thatwere equivalent across different subject samples, as a first step toward mappingthe vocational interest domain. The responses to 347 female form items and357 male form items from the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) wereobtained, using the appropriate form for the following five single-sex samples:women in general (n = 1,000), men in general (n = 1,000), female occupational(n — 2,500), male occupational (n — 3,600), and male rehabilitation client(n — 1,874). Separately for each sample the SVIB items were intercorrelated,and the correlation matrices were factored by a principal axes technique, usingthe highest off-diagonal correlations as communality estimates with rotation toa varimax criterion. Factors between same-sex samples were compared usingTucker's coefficient of congruence. The analyses resulted in 11-13 factors, de-pending on the sample, of which 9 and 8 were judged to be equivalent acrossthe two female and three male samples, respectively.The Strong Vocational Interest Blank(SVIB; Strong, 1943), initially published in1927, has been one of the most successful andwidely used instruments in vocational coun-seling practice and research. Much of what isreliably known about vocational interests isbased on research with the SVIB (Campbell,1971; Crites, 1969; Barley & Hagenah,1955; Strong, 1943; Tyler, 1965). The sev-enth edition of Mental Measurements Year-

Careers in the Clergy: the Myth of Femininity

Forty-one undergraduate males were administered the standard Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) (Form T-399) just prior to entering a seminary sponsored by a major Protestant denomination. Earlier research had reported that the choice of a religious occupation was associated with feminine interest patterns and with personality characteristics as revealed by psychological measures. Results of the present study did not support previous findings. Although seminarians who scored high on the MF scale of the MMPI were similar to subjects in previous studies, those scoring low on the MF scale had measured interests different from those commonly attributed to this population. Implications for further research were made.

Expressed and inventoried vocational interests as predictors of college graduation and vocational choice

This is a follow-up study of 195 agricultural students originally tested when they entered college in 1970. Students whose Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) patterns were consistent with their stated choice of major were the congruent sample. Students whose SVIB patterns were inconsistent with their stated choices of major were the discrepant sample. A follow-up was made on graduation rates, eventual major, and job placement. Discrepant subjects changed major more often but graduated at the same rate as congruents. The SVIB did not seem to add anything to the student's expressed interests in predicting college continuation. There was a trend for congruent graduates to more frequently take jobs which matched their majors.

The Strong Vocational Interest Blank and Performance in Economics

The purpose of this study was to discover the relationship between interest patterns measured by the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) and achievement in an introductory course in economics. The study involved samples of 57 and 116 students in the Introduction to Economics courses at Westfield State College taught by the author from 1974 to 1976. The study was of an experimental nature since the relationship between interest patterns and achievement is still in the process of investigation [1,2,3].

Strong Vocational Interest Blank basic interest clusters and occupational satisfaction

A Q-factor analytic technique applied to the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) basic interest scales of 156 males yielded three bipolar factors described as conceptual (applied vs theoretical thinking); interpersonal (people vs things); and volitional (autonomy vs structure). From these results the investigators constructed a model for categorizing occupations into corresponding vocational areas: managerial vs academic, social vs physical sciences, and professional vs technical. Each individual's primary interest area and occupational status relative to the six corresponding areas was then determined. The degree of fit between interests and job categorization related significantly to ratings of job satisfaction ( p < .001). Those findings are complementary to Holland's notion that interests are expressions of psychological needs and to Lofquist and Dawis' perception of interests and jobs as needs and need reinforcers.

Strong Vocational Interest Blank scores and differential attraction to in individualized curriculum

Research suggests that preference for and effectiveness of instructional methods vary with individual differences in personality and motivation. Students who had taken the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) and were completing an individualized course in preclinical dentistry made a hypothetical choice between individualized and traditional curricula. As compared with students preferring the regular option, those preferring the individualized optipn scored higher on interests in scientific, aesthetic-cultural, and adventuresome activities and on motivation for academic achievement and professional specialization. On occupational scales, they were more similar to those in biological science and social service and resembled less those in skilled trades, business and accounting, and sales. The groups did not differ in Dental Aptitude Test scores or grades. Findings from the SVIB and questionnaire data suggest that individualized programs are especially suited to students with high intellectual interests, academic motivation, self-discipline, and organization. Implications for individualized programs are discussed.

Exploring new directions for Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory Occupational Scale construction

Recent concern for eliminating Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) sex bias has focused on the current use of separately normed Occupational Scales for the two sexes. This study implemented six basic methods of scale construction to examine the feasibility of combined-sex scales as well as advantages or disadvantages of modifications of current techniques designed to improve both single-sex and combined-sex scale construction. To study these six methods of scale construction, samples of male and female Ph.D. sociologists were collected. Concurrent validity and test-retest reliability data indicated that combined-sex scale construction for sociologists is possible if differences in female and male occupational interests, as measured by the SVIB, are treated as irrelevant variables in the world of work, and if concurrent validity is sacrificed.

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.

An optimum A-B scale of psychotherapist effectiveness.

On the basis of the original Whitehorn-Betz data collected over a 16-year period, it is shown that all previously derived A-B scales of psychotherapist effectiveness using Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) items are deficient in terms of correlation with the original criterion and, frequently, in terms of reliability as well. The reasons for these deficiencies are discussed, and a new experimental A-B scale is formulated and tested for adequacy. This scale is shown to possess substantial internal consistency reliability and to have a high degree of correlation with the criterion even after the removal of possible contaminating factors such as use ofancillary teatments, differences in patient prognosis, and changing practices and interest over time. It is further shown that none of the A-B scales has any validity with respect to female therapists in the original data pool. Exploration of the factor-analytic structure of this new scale and two other widely used A-B measures in terms of the occupationa scales of the SVIB reveals differential loadings on four dimensions labeled verbal/comceptual vs. manual/practical, scientific vs. sales, social concern, and artistic vs. business-oriented. It is concluded that although male therapists' scores on the best of the A-B scales may , under certain circumstances,be related to short term judged improvement in patients treated, there is little evidence that high scoring therapists are more likey than low scoring ones to have a favorable, long range impact on diagnosed schizophrenics.

Same-sex and cross-sex reliability and concurrent validity of Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory.

Reliability and concurrent validity data for the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII) were developed for a sample of 180 students scored on appropriate sex norms and scales. These data were compared with data for the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SV.IB), data reported in the SCII Manual, and data for the same sample scored on the opposite sex's norms and scales and scored disregarding sex. Two-week test-retest reliability correlations were approximately .90. Agreement between high scores and self-reported curriculum and occupational preferences ranged from 32% to 60%. The SCII has same-sex reliability and concurrent validity near those of the SVIB. Cross-sex scores are not significantly less reliable and valid. Scoring on all Occupational scales produces significantly higher concurrent validity. The appearance of a new edition of a test leaves many users skeptical until its technical and practical value is demonstrated by more data than are given in the test manual. The new merged form of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB), the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII), incorporates changes which make it more than just a new edition of the SVIB. The most significant change is that one form of the SCII is provided for both men and women. A result of combining the men's and women's forms is that in addition to appropriate sex (same-sex) scores, a subject's scores on the scales of the opposite sex (cross-sex) are available. Strong (1943, 1966), Perry and Cannon (1967, 1968), Campbell (1971), and the Association for Measurement and Evaluation in Guidance Commission on Sex Bias in Measurement (1973) recommended against using one or all of the cross-sex scales. Seder (1940), McCornack (1956), Laime and Zytowski (1963), and Stanfiel (1970) have said that the men's form or some of the men's scales were useful for some women. Campbell (1974) recommended that a person

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.

The inheritance of cognitive interest styles among twins

Through twin studies, research in behavioral genetics has demonstrated significant genetic components in many personality traits. Less research has been done on inheritance of vocational interest preferences, partially because of the lack of a wholistic conceptual model for understanding the relationships among diverse occupational interests. With the development of scales for the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) to measure the six cognitive interest styles propounded by Holland, a parsimonious and comprehensive mapping of the occupational world was available and lent itself to the study of measuring inheritance of vocational preferences among twins. Median intraclass correlations for 409 pairs of monozygotic males, tested with the SVIB, was r = .50; for 570 pairs of monozygotic females, r = .55; for 237 pairs of dizygotic males, r = .27; and for 370 pairs of dizygotic females, r= .27.

Probability and utility assumptions underlying use of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank.

Decision implications of Strong's assumption of equal base rates for his menin-gcncral (MIG) and individual occupational groups are explored. Using the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) Physician's scale as an example, it is demonstrated that when realistic base rates are assumed, total decision error rate using the SVIB—even when optimal cutting scores are employed— is at best about equal to that resulting from prediction using base rates alone. It is shown that use of the SVIB as recommended by Strong implicitly assumes that false negative errors are much more serious than are false positives. Finally, it is shown that when reasonable utility or gain matrices are assumed, use of the SVIB can reduce total error rate despite the limitations imposed by low occupational base rates, and that this effect is greater when statistically optimal cutting scores, rather than those recommended by Strong, are used. In many practical decision-making tasks faced by psychologists , scores on some continuous test or variable are used to make dichotomous decisions. In a study that is now a classic, Meehl and Rosen (1955) demonstrated that cutting scores used in such decisions must take into account population base rates, that is, the relative frequency of the category or group of interest. They showed that a device which usefully reduces decision or classificatio n errors when the base rate of the dichotomous phenomenon of interest (e.g., schizophrenic versus normal or shoplifter versus honest shopper) is near .50 may be useless—or may even lead to increased errors—when the base rate is very high or very low. They presented conditions that must be met for the test to achieve a greater degree of accuracy than would result from use of the base rates alone. Dawes (1962) later provided a more easily understood analysis in terms of conditional probabilities. Rorer, Hoffman, LaForge, and Hsieh (1966) presented an analytic (as opposed to empirical) solution to the determination of optimal cutting scores, and Rorer, Hoffman, and Hsieh (1964) provided extensive tables of optimum cutting scores for groups differing both in

Vocational interest orientations: A comparison of rural university and junior college freshmen

The increase in junior colleges imposed new demands on counselors. Some areas to be investigated are the differences in counseling programs between junior colleges and universities; the differences in student bodies; and the importance of vocational guidance. This study addresses itself to elements of those areas. Male and female samples were drawn from two rural educational institutions: a four year university and a junior college. Differences in vocational interest orientations were explored through the nonoccupational scales of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB). For males significant differences were found on the academic achievement, diversity of interest, managerial orientation, and occupational level scales. Females differed on the diversity of interest scales.

The application of Holland's vocational model to the strong vocational interest blank for women

To pattern recent research on the Men's form of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB), six scales were developed for the Women's form that mapped the vocational model of Holland's interest theory. The scales were free of item overlap, and within each scale, the items intercorrelated highly positive and represented a wide range of popularity. Concurrent validity for the scales consisted of rank order mean scores for 91 female groups, primarily occupational samples used in construction of the occupational scales on the SVIB. The groups were arranged in a meaningful and common sense order on each of the six scales. These data were consistent with the correlations of the Holland-based scales with the basic interest scales and occupational scales now in existence.