Expressed and inventoried vocational interests: A comparison of instruments.

Compared the responses of 84 female Ss to the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII) and the Vocational Card Sort (VCS). The VCS task included J. L. Holland's themes and used the basic interest and occupational scales from the SCII. The results from both measures were related. The VCS was not significantly different from the SCII in internal consistency. The VCS themes were better predictors of expressed choices than the SCII themes. Comparisons of the instruments by the Ss did not yield clear preferences, and there was a strong tendency for Ss to suggest that a friend take both instruments. Ss perceived sex bias in the SCII but not in the VCS. Overall, the results support the use of the VCS including the Holland themes and the SCII basic interest category. Findings are discussed in relation to their implications for vocational counseling and future research. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparative impact of the SCII and the Vocational Card Sort on career salience and career exploration of women.

The effects of the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII), the Vocational Card Sort (VCS), and an exercise designed to make respondents aware of myths and realities of women in the world of work, the Auxiliary Informative Material (AIM), were examined in relation to (a) number and type of career options considered, (b) frequency and variety of information-seeking behaviors, (c) career salience, and (d) satisfaction with the career exloration experience. 120 female dormitory residents were randomly assigned to a control group and 4 treatment groups: (a) VCS only, (b) AIM and VCS, (c) SCII only, and (d) AIM and SCII. Analyses of variance indicated some differences in the impact of the SCII and the VCS on the dependent variables; the VCS was more effective than the SCII in broadening career options and in increasing the frequency with which Ss read occupational information. Although the AIM had no significant impact on broadening the career options or on stimulating information-seeking behaviors, it increased the career salience of women. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The stimulus value, treatment effects, and sex differences when completing the Self-Directed Search and Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory.

Assessed men's and women's immediate reactions to completing the Self-Directed Search (SDS) and the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII) and the impact of this testing on their subsequent behaviors 1 mo later. A random sample of 96 college freshmen completed either the SDS, SCII, or both instruments. Results indicate that (a) the SDS had significantly more perceived stimulus value than the SCII alone or the SCII and SDS combined, immediately after testing; (b) the SCII was perceived to have greater clarity of directions than the SDS; (c) there were no significant differences between groups on responses to testing or certainty about career planning; and (d) no sex differences between men and women on their immediate reactions to testing were found. A 1-mo follow-up of the Ss indicated that there were no significant sex or treatment differences between groups in satisfaction with career planning, clarity and certainty of ideas about career planning, and time spent thinking about career planning process. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of measures of expressed and inventoried vocational interests among counseling center clients.

Compared the responses of 50 female and 50 male counseling center clients (18–36 yrs old) to the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII) and the Vocational Card Sort (VCS). The 2 sets of Holland themes, using 3-point codes, were moderately related. Although the 5 highest basic interests of the 2 measures were rather strongly related, the relationships between the 5 highest occupational scales were less clearly related. It was also found that for females, the 5 highest VCS occupations were less sexually stereotyped than the comparable SCII scales. No differences were found for males. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the virtues of raw-scored interest inventories: Reaction to O'Neil, Price, and Tracey (1979).

J. M. O'Neil et al (see record 1979-27466-001) compared career-related outcomes following administration of the raw-scored Self-Directed Search (SDS), the "norm-scored" Strong-Campbell (SCII), and the 2 instruments in combination. The study was intended to address issues of sex bias in vocational-interest assessment. Ss who took the SDS were provided with the usual self-directed administration, scoring, and interpretation of raw scores. However, it is pointed out here that Ss in the SCII and SDS-SCII treatment groups received no SCII norm-based scores or interpretations. As discussed in this article, the principal conclusions in the earlier report regarding the relative effects and sex restrictiveness of "norm-scored instruments" and "raw-scored instruments" are not warranted by the study design. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Concurrent validity of the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory for graduate students in counseling.

Examined the vocational interests of 114 graduate counseling psychology trainees and the concurrent validity of the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII) for this group. Ss were administered the SCII, and a subgroup of 43 Ss completed a questionnaire assessing satisfaction with their graduate program, interests in various types of coursework, and preferences for future professional employment. Results generally support the concurrent validity of the SCII in a group of counseling trainees but also indicate differences in the ordering of SCII Holland themes in this group vs psychologists in general. Relationships between certain SCII scores and Ss' preferences concerning coursework and future employment were found. Implications of the findings for both the training and the employment of counseling psychology trainees are discussed. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does the Vocational Exploration and Insight Kit equal the sum of its parts? A comparison study.

This study compared the effects of a new vocational intervention, the Vocational Exploration and Insight Kit (VEIK), with those of the Self-Directed Search (SDS) and the Vocational Card Sort (VCS). Ss were 103 female undergraduates. Effects of the 3 procedures were measured by a Career Alternatives and Satisfaction Questionnaire, the Vocational Exploration Behavior Checklist, and the Feedback Sheet. The SDS, VCS, and VEIK had small and similar effects on Ss' vocational behavior. Findings lend support to counselor-free techniques as appropriate and inexpensive methods of career exploration. The use of certain criteria for outcome studies of vocational interventions is also discussed. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

College women's Holland-theme congruence: Effects of self-knowledge and subjective occupational structure.

Examined personality/occupational choice congruence as a function of self-knowledge of personality and consistency of occupational perceptions with a task-oriented hexagonal model of work proposed by J. L. Holland (1966, 1973), using 94 female undergraduates. Ss completed the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII) to measure Holland personality and a self-ranking on the 6 Holland themes to measure self-knowledge. Ss expressed perceived similarities among the 6 Holland occupational environments by rating all possible pairs of the types on a numerical similarity/dissimilarity scale. Convergence between S's self-ranking of personality and her SCII-derived personality profile defined self-knowledge. Correlation between S's similarity ratings among pairs of environments and distances in Holland's hexagon determined the degree to which perceptions were consistent with a hexagonal model. Results indicate a significant relation between congruence and both self-knowledge and hexagonal subjective occupational structure. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between self-esteem and response style.

Response preferences of 30 high, 30 middle, and 30 low self-esteem undergraduate Ss on the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII) were analyzed to examine relationships between sex, self-esteem, and response style. Based on discriminant analyses, significant results indicated that like and dislike preferences discriminated between self-esteem groups but not between sex groups. Ss of high and middle self-esteem groups responded more often with like preferences, while Ss of the low self-esteem group responded more often with dislike preferences across all sections of the SCII. Inspection of the Your Characteristics section revealed that high and middle self-esteem Ss attributed strengths to themselves more frequently than did low self-esteem Ss. Two-way ANOVAs of Ss' profile scores revealed significant self-esteem effects but not significant sex and interaction effects. Compared with test profiles of low self-esteem Ss, test profiles of high and middle self-esteem Ss exhibited greater differentiation and provided more helpful information regarding particular interests and occupational areas for further vocational exploration. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Change in vocational interests after spinal cord injury.

117 males (aged 20–72 yrs) with spinal cord injury (SCI) completed an SCI questionnaire and 2 versions of the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII), one with standardized instructions and one with instructions to recall interests from an earlier, preinjury age. Strong Vocational Interest Blanks taken prior to injury were located for 14 Ss. These provided direct evidence concerning stability of interests and suggested that the larger group was relatively accurate in the recall of preinjury interests. 130 age-matched males without SCI also completed the SCII twice to assess the presence of any variance uniquely associated with the preinjury recall method. Results show that the interests of SCI Ss were as stable as those of the non-SCI Ss and that changes that did occur were consistent with those found in nondisabled samples. It is suggested that the recall method is potentially useful for future research. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality characteristics of adult women with low and high profiles on the SCII or SVIB occupational scales.

Investigated how women (aged 25 yrs and over) with low profiles (LP) on the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII) or SVIB female Occupational Scales differ from women who have high profiles (HP) with respect to measured personality characteristics (California Psychological Inventory [CPI]) and vocational needs (Minnesota Importance Questionnaire [MIQ]). 467 Ss for both SCII and SVIB groups, LP Ss differed from HP Ss on 35 CPI items and scored significantly lower on 9 CPI scales (e.g., Dominance, Capacity for Status, Sociability) and on 3 MIQ needs (Authority, Creativity, and Responsibility). LP and HP Ss differed significantly on 96 of the 110 SCII scales that are relevant to women and on 52 of the 85 female SVIB scales. At a response difference of at least 28%, 70 SCII and 61 SVIB items best separated LP and HP Ss. Compared with LP Ss, HP Ss liked activities that involved writing, public speaking, and leadership. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stability of interests and the predictive and concurrent validity of the 1981 Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory for college majors.

116 of the 162 Occupational scales of the 1981 revision of the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII) were constructed with new criterion samples. This study (a) assessed the concurrent and predictive validity of the revised SCII and explored its usefulness for predicting college majors (Exp I) and (b) examined the differential effect of stable and unstable interests during college on the validity of the SCII (Exp II). Data were analyzed for 354 females and 261 males who completed the SCII as college freshmen; 81% were still enrolled in school at the time of this study. Results indicate that the revised SCII can be used to predict college majors, having concurrent and predictive validity comparable to previous forms of the SCII. It was slightly more predictive for females than for males. Findings also show that the majority of Ss had stable interests during their college careers. The revised SCII was significantly more predictive of college majors for Ss who were satisfied with their majors or who had stable interests than it was for those who were dissatisfied or had unstable interests. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is math anxiety a local phenomenon? A study of prevalence and dimensionality.

Administered the Math Anxiety Rating Scale (MARS) and the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII) to 1,045 college freshmen. The relationship between MARS scores and performance in freshman mathematics was determined by partial correlation and multiple regression techniques. Correlations were computed between each of 3 scales of the SCII and the MARS. Most Ss reported only low levels of math anxiety, and there were no large sex differences on the MARS either for the total sample or within course levels. There were small but significant correlations between the MARS and 2 of the 3 SCII scales. The MARS was factor analyzed; 3 factors were identified and labeled Evaluation Anxiety, Arithmetic Computation Anxiety, and Social Responsibility Anxiety. Results are contrasted with findings of previous studies of math anxiety, and methodological and conceptual issues in the study of math anxiety are discussed. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ordinal position, approval motivation, and interpersonal attraction.

Attempted to incorporate ordinal position effects within approval-dependency theory. 257 undergraduates completed the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (SDS) and birth-order data prior to the actual experiment. Bogus SDSs were completed by the E to correspond to the same score level of the individual Ss but with either 75 or 50% item agreement. The 3 * 2 analyses of variance for SDS scores and expressed attraction indicate that 1st- and middle-born females had higher SDS scores and expressed more attraction. A separate analysis indicates that although only-born females had similar SDS scores, they expressed significantly more attraction. Correlations between SDS scores and expressed attraction were significant. Results are interpreted as being congruent with approval-dependency theory. (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)     

Relation of career indecision to changes in expressed vocational interests.

Examined the stability or changes in the expressed vocational interests of 98 undergraduate women over a 2-yr period. Interests were measured by the Vocational Preference Inventory and 2 career indecision scales, and changes were measured by questionnaire. Ss were divided into 3 groups: stable (69 Ss), changed (13 Ss), and undecided (16 Ss). Results show significant differences between groups on GPAs and on the vocational measures. Results further show that career indecision predicted changes in expressed vocational interests. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of touch on self-exploration and the therapeutic relationship.

Used 3 response measures to compare touch and no touch in an initial interview: the Depth of Self-Exploration Scale (used for rating clients' self-exploration), the Relationship Inventory (completed by both counselors and clients), and the Relationship Questionnaire (completed by clients). Ss were the 1st 20 female undergraduates seeking personal counseling. A 24-yr-old male and a 32-yr-old female graduate student served as counselors. Significant differences at the .01 level were found between touched and nontouched Ss for depth of self-exploration: Ss who were touched engaged in more self-exploration than Ss who were not touched. No significant differences were found between touch and no-touch groups on the measures of perception of relationship. There were no significant differences between the 2 counselors and no interaction effects for any of the response measures. (30 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of genotype and postnatal experiences on activity, avoidance, shock threshold, and open-field behavior of rats.

Studied the effects of postnatal experience in 6 experiments on the activity, avoidance, shock threshold, and open-field behavior of 91 selectively-bred Ss from high-avoidance (RHA/Lu) strains and 93 from low-avoidance (RLA/Lu) strains. Significant differences were found between postnatal experiences in shuttle box activity, but strain differences were not significant. The high-avoidance Ss acquired avoidance learning significantly faster and had lower shock thresholds than the low-avoidance Ss. However, postnatal experience had significant effects on avoidance and shock threshold only in the high-avoidance Ss. No significant strain differences were found in open-field behavior, and the postnatal experience effects showed only higher order significant interactions. Results are discussed in the framework of quantitative genetics and a direct-action hypothesis of postnatal experience. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A review of female–male score differences on the Strong-Campbell twin occupational scales.

The current version of the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII) contains 37 occupational scales that are "twin" scales (TS), with one scale based on female norms and another based on male norms. (The general pattern of scores on the SCII TS is for test takers to receive higher scores on the other-sex scale than they do on their same-sex scale.) However, the various occupational scales differ from one another in their patterns of score differences. Four studies of the SCII TS—B. F. Laime and D. G. Zytowsky (1963), J. D. Stanfel (1970), P. H. Munley et al (1973), and P. W. Lunneborg (1975)—were reviewed, and correlations were developed to show the degree of similarity in the results. Various explanations for the phenomena have been advanced, relating the score differentials to the masculinity or femininity of the occupations. These explanations were tested with the SCII differential score data with only partial success. Findings indicate that counselors will need to know average female and male test-taker scores on other-sex occupational scales to make accurate SCII test interpretations. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The discrepant repressor: Differentiation between low anxiety, high anxiety, and repression of anxiety by autonomic–facial–verbal patterns of behavior.

Examined the notion that personality questionnaires can be used to predict different styles of coping with anxiety, as expressed by individual differences in patterns of autonomic, verbal, and nonverbal reactions. In line with earlier modifications of the repression–sensitization concept, the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale (MAS) and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (SDS) were used to select 4 groups of 12 Ss each from a pool of 206 male university students in Germany: low-anxious Ss, repressors, high-anxious Ss, and defensive high-anxious Ss. Measures of autonomic arousal, facial activity, and self-reported affect were obtained during a potentially anxiety-arousing free-association task and during a number of control conditions, including an amusing film. Significant differences in baseline-corrected heart rate and self-reported anxiety as well as rated facial anxiety all indicated that repressors exhibited a discrepancy between low self-reported anxiety and high heart rate and facial anxiety; low anxious Ss reported an intermediate level of anxiety, although they showed low heart rate and facial anxiety; high-anxious Ss had consistently high values on all 3 variables; and the defensive high-anxious Ss showed an intermediate level of anxious responding. These group differences were specific to the task of freely associating to phrases of mixed (sexual, aggressive, neutral) content and to self-reported anxiety, indicating that they reflect individual differences in coping with anxiety. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)