Vocational interests of women: A longitudinal study of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank.

Conducted a longitudinal study of the SVIB using 316 female university graduates representing 7 fields: art, elementary education, home economics education, and occupational therapy; the MD degree; and the master's degree in library science and social work. The average test-retest interval was 8.4 yr. for undergraduate majors and 10.6 yr. for graduate majors. Test-retest correlation coefficients for the total group over all scales ranged from .39-.65 with a median r of .58. On the precollege SVIB, majors were significantly different from nonmajors in the expected direction on the home economics teacher, occupational therapist, and physician scales. At retest, majors were significantly different from nonmajors in the expected direction for all comparisons. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validity studies of the Strong vocational interest inventories.

The concurrent validity of the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII) and the predictive validity of the SVIB were studied in an 18-yr follow-up of a university counseling center group of male college graduates. Results were compared with a previous 12-yr follow-up of the same Ss using C. McArthur's method (1954). The SCII had concurrent validity greater than the SVIB (T399) even after correction was made for a higher percentage of high standard scores on occupational scales. Predictive validity for 18 yrs was not quite as good as for 12 yrs. Although group data were similar for the predictive validity studies, classifications of individuals between studies varied substantially. A 6-yr predictive validity study for the SVIB (T399) had validity comparable to predictive studies using an earlier edition of the SVIB. Job satisfaction and satisfaction with type of work were statistically different, but resulted in no practical difference when used as a correlate with standard occupational scale score. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Female college students' scores on the men's and women's Strong Vocational Interest Blanks.

Administered the men's and women's forms of the SVIB and a career orientation questionnaire to a sample of 90 undergraduate women. Significant differences were found between mean scores on Occupational scales common to both forms and on mean number of B+ and A ratings on the men's and women's forms. Occupational scale scores and number of B+ and A interest ratings were examined in relationship to career vs. homemaker orientation. Ss differentiated on the basis of career orientation obtained significantly different mean numbers of B+ and A interest ratings on the women's SVIB. Implications for vocational counseling are discussed, and use of both forms of the SVIB is recommended in vocational counseling with college women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An 11-year follow-up of measured interest and vocational choice.

408 university graduates were followed up 11 yrs after they had taken the SVIB, the American College Testing Programs Examination, and the Opinion, Attitude, and Interest Survey as freshmen. Expressed choice predicted future occupation more accurately than measured interest, and the accuracy of both was greatest when they were congruent. Congruence of either measured interest or expressed choice with future occupation was unrelated to occupational satisfaction. The predictive accuracy of the single highest occupational scale on the SVIB was greater than that obtained from a grouping of SVIB scales. The SVIB was as efficient a predictor for a group of undecided freshmen as it was for a group of decided students. The method used to predict future occupation from the SVIB profiles of freshmen yielded lower "hit rates" than the retrospective method used in most validity studies. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of vocationally relevant information on the expressed and measured interests of freshman males.

46 undergraduate males from private and public school backgrounds who took the SVIB were classified as congruent or incongruent using a discrepancy method and administered a treatment consisting either of the Self-Directed Search (SDS) and relevant vocational information (treatment) or an irrelevant task (control). All Ss were retested 1 wk later using the SVIB, and examined for level of posttest congruence. Results suggest that private boarding school Ss were less congruent than private day or public school graduates. A secondary analysis revealed that Ss initially classified as low congruent significantly and nonartifactually increased in congruence from pretest to posttest. It was further found that increases in congruence could be attributed to changes in measured interests rather than to changes in expressed choice. Counseling implications are discussed. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ten-year follow-up of vocational interest scores of 1950 medical college seniors.

Using the Strong Vocational lnterest Blank (SVIB) and the Medical Specialists Preference Blank, interest scales for surgeon, internists, pathologists, and psychiatrists were administered to 783 seniors in 15 medical schools in 1950. 87% of this group returned questionnaires regarding then professional activities in 1960. 75% of the group were in specialized practice compared to less than 25% of all physicians in 1950. The specialist interest scales did not predict the specialty entered. A scale based on all the specialists did differentiate specialists from general practitioners. The SVIB Physician Scale did not differentiate among specialties or type of practice. Younger physicians appear to resemble psychiatrists in their interests. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

New approach to the prediction of medical specialization: Student-based Strong Vocational Interest Blank scales.

Studied longitudinal data from 1583 undergraduates in an attempt to devise means of predicting eventual specialization for medical students. Specialty membership was determined in a follow-up study 11 yr. after the SVIB was administered. SVIB scales for surgeons, obstetricians, pediatricians, and psychiatrists were developed, using the items which differentiated the specialist groups as freshmen. Senior-based scales were also tested, but predicted no better than those using freshman responses. The resulting student-based scales were reliable on retest, but on measures of distributional overlap, they did not perform as well as standard SVIB occupational scales. However, their predictive validity was superior to that of previously developed SVIB scales for medical specialists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Are SVIB interests correlated with differential academic achievement?

Segel's (1934) finding that SVIB scores correlated more highly with differential academic achievement than with absolute academic achievement has been often quoted, but little studied. The relationship between SVIB scores and ACT test scores for 1875 university freshman males was compared with the relationship between SVIB scores and the differences between pairs of ACT tests. The SVIB scale scores were more highly correlated with differential achievement than with absolute achievement when scholastic aptitude scores were held constant; however, the relationship was slight. When only hypothesized relationships were considered, no difference was found. The interpretation of SVIB scores as reflecting variations in either absolute academic achievement or differential academic achievement should be highly guarded. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of medical school attendance from college freshman SVIBs.

This study compared the SVIB profiles of 2 groups of college freshmen, 1 group which eventually applied to medical school and another which did not, but all of whom scored an A on the Physican scale. Significant differences were found between the 2 groups on 8 occupational scales, the largest of which were on the Artist and Architecture scales which were highly negatively related to subsequent application to medical school. The results give further evidence of a lack of a common interest factor in Group I of the SVIB. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ten-year follow-up of the Tyler Vocational Card Sort and the Strong Vocational Interest Blank.

The Tyler Vocational Card Sort (TVCS) and SVIB for men were completed by 67 university students in 1965. The 1975 occupations held by 47 of these Ss were identified. The TVCS was more accurate than the SVIB, by a very small amount, in predicting occupation held 10 yrs after original testing; both methods achieved about 50% accuracy. Of the 47 Ss, 23 took the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII) 10 yrs after the original testing. The reliability of the SVIB (1965) scores and the SCII (1975) scores was greater by a very small amount than that of the SVIB (1965) and the TVCS (1975) scores and that of the TVCS (1965) and TVCS (1975) scores. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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

Decision implications of E. K. Strong's (1955) assumption of equal base rates for his men-in-general 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. Use of the SVIB as recommended by Strong implicitly assumes that false negative errors are much more serious than are false positives. 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; this effect is greater when statistically optimal cutting scores, rather than those recommended by Strong, are used. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The vocational interests of American Psychological Association presidents.

The Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) is one of the most widely used psychological instruments. The SVIB was developed by comparing the interests of men in specific occupations with a group of Men-in-General: To accomplish this it was, of course, necessary to collect completed SVIBs from men in a variety of occupations. For this purpose, between about 1925 and 1955, E. K. Strong, Jr., collected about 10,000 SVIBs from men scattered over roughly 50 occupations. Strong's materials constitute an immensely valuable treasure of data, useful for scientific purposes. For example, by using some inventories completed many years ago, it has been possible to study the stability of interests within an occupation over 30 years. As Strong was concerned with men who were successful and satisfied in their occupations, he inevitably collected SVIBs from prominent leaders in many fields. As time moves on, the characteristics of these men assume some historical significance. It is perhaps the first time that systematic psychometric data have been available on the outstanding leaders of earlier eras. This article discusses the representation of the psychology profession in the Strong files, and presents a detailed table reflecting the completed SVIB inventories for 50 of the past 70 APA presidents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Proposed scoring changes for the Strong Vocational Interest Blank.

A study of the effect of replacing with new items 102 items in the current SVIB on the validity and reliability of the SVIB. 8 occupational groups were used. The results showed that the validity and reliability remained essentially the same after dropping the items. Also, the weighting system of the SVIB was compared with scales using unit weights. The results indicated that the unit weights keys were virtually identical to the weighted keys on 3 criteria: validity, reliability, and scale intercorrelations. Thus, the SVIB when revised should be scored using unit weight scales. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Internal-external control of reinforcement and the Strong Vocational Interest Blank: A comparison study.

Studied the relationship between the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB), Form T399, and Rotter's Internal-External Control Scale (I-E scale). A previous study by D. G. Zytowski (see record 1967-07353-001) suggested a relationship between locus of control and occupational interest. To verify this, he correlated the SVIB with the I-E scale and concluded that such a relation did exist. Because the SVIB has been revised since Zytowski's study, a comparable study using the newer SVIB form was completed. Using a college freshman sample of 736, Pearson correlation coefficients were computed between the I-E scale and the SVIB; several correlations were significant at the .10 level; however, the largest correlation was -.16. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Strong Vocational Interest Blank in-general samples.

Throughout the history of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB), the aggregation of "in-general" samples to represent an "average" has been of concern because an adequate in-general sample is necessary for the development of valid occupational scales for the SVIB. 6 in-general samples have been generated over the years to fit different developments of the SVIB. In the present study 20 experimental homogeneous scales were used to measure the similarities and differences among the 6 in-general samples. Generally, all samples were strikingly similar, with the greatest differences appearing between male and female in-general samples. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Vocational interests of college freshmen and their social origins.

The relationship between interests as measured on the SVIB and socioeconomic status of college students was explored. 9 groups of entering college freshmen were selected on the basis of father's occupation and educational level of both parents. Differences among distributions of the 9 groups on each of 48 SVIB scales were tested for significance using the analysis of variance test. Conclusions are: measured vocational interests of college students were not independent of social origin, college students of lesser cultural background tended to identify with occupations requiring quantitative and technical training, extent of overlap between social groups on SVIB scales was high. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rorschach prediction of success in clinical training: A second look.

Reports the development of a Rorschach Index based on an ego-psychological conceptualization of an optimal personality picture of the successful trainee in clinical psychology. Rorschach Index prediction for 155 trainees of the Veterans Administration assessment project were compared with dichotomous predictions from the Miller Analogies Test (MAT) and the SVIB. The Rorschach Index predicted success and failure and identified failures for personality reasons more effectively than the MAT or the SVIB. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A vocational interest scale for biologists.

A Biologist scale for the SVIB (Form M) was developed following procedures outlined by E. K. Strong, Jr. 4 groups were employed: (a) criterion (N = 251) systematically selected from Volume 2 of American Men of Science, (b) cross-validation (N = 89) selected at an American Institute of Biological Science convention, (c) 2 concurrent validation groups (Ns = 121, 306) selected from the Pennsylvania State University student body. Results indicated that the scale differentiated the interests of: (a) the biologists from Strong's men-in-general group (P1), (b) the biologists from the interests measured by 36 other SVIB scales, (c) the concurrent validation groups in the expected direction. Reliabilities of .88 (criterion) and .87 (cross-validation) were obtained. It was concluded that the scale has sufficient validity and reliability to be a useful counseling device. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multiple correlations between personality factors and SVIB Occupational scales.

Investigated the construct validity of the Occupational scales of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) with 359 male college students as Ss. 5 personality factors derived from the California Psychological Inventory (CPI) were correlated with each of the SVIB Occupational scales. Multiple correlation coefficients ranged from .24 to .64. The median coefficient of determination (corrected for shrinkage) was .18. The CPI Extraversion, Emotional Sensitivity, and Independent Thought factors yielded the highest individual correlations with the scales. The CPI Adjustment and Conventionality factors correlated negligibly with the SVIB Occupational scales. The significant relationships are consistent with J. L. Holland's personality theory of careers. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)