Vocational interests of APA presidents.

Data presented by D. P. Campbell (1965) on the scores of 50 past presidents of the American Psychological Association on the Strong Vocational Interest Blank suggest some trends in psychology. These trends are (1) a greater interest in psychological matters by more recent presidents and (2) the possibility of a growing professionalism at the expense of teaching and scientific interests. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Vocational interests of male and female social workers.

For a sample of 496 male social workers, a key was constructed for the Strong VIB that differentiated them from a Men-in-General group with only 16% overlap. A key for female social workers (N = 464) differentiated them from Women-in-General with only 29% overlap. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Vocational interests of persons with spinal cord injury.

Administered the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory to 134 males (mean age 26.3 yrs) and 22 females (mean age 31.7 yrs) with spinal cord injury to assess Ss' vocational interests. Ss' scores were compared to the norms for men and women. Rank-order analysis indicated that males' responses showed them to be introverted and more interested in working with things than data or people. Although the smaller sample of females makes conclusions less certain, the females' responses were similar to the males'. Since the interests of these people were often incongruent with the physical limitations imposed by their disability, findings suggest that counselors must apply extra ingenuity to assist in identifying vocational alternatives. (11 ref) (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)     

Vocational interests of naval aviation cadets: Final results.

As a validity study of the Kuder Preference Record, 605 cadets entering flight training were administered the inventory. "The KPR demonstrated small but statistically significant validity for prediction of all categories of attrition. However, when differences in mechanical ability were controlled, this inventory did not show a significant relationship to the pass-fail criterion." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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)     

Vocational interests of middle-aged men with traumatic spinal cord injury.

Objectives: Describe vocational interests of middle-aged men with traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). Participants: Seventy-nine Caucasian men with traumatic SCI (mean age?=?44 years; mean time since onset?=?20 years), 74% with quadriplegia. Measure: Strong Interest Inventory. Results: Replicated the unique pattern of interests found by D. E. Rohe and G. T. Athelstan (1982) among younger men with SCI. Compared with the normative sample, participants were more introverted, less academically oriented, and primarily interested in physically challenging and action-oriented occupations despite their functional limitations. Conclusions: Middle-aged men with traumatic SCI have the same unique vocational interest pattern as their younger peers. This pattern is not an artifact of age or time since onset and may partially explain low rates of employment after SCI. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A 10-year longitudinal study of scientists and practitioner interests in psychology: Assessing the Boulder model.

How stable are the practice and research interests of psychologists, and what does that stability indicate about the discipline of psychology? This article examines scientist and practitioner interests over a 10-year period, showing that scientist and practitioner interests have temporal stability and that 1989 interests can predict 1999 behaviors. It also suggests that what is really taught in doctoral programs is not always reflected in what programs claim to teach. Some of the disagreement about training might be more productive if the accreditation process allowed programs to be more honest with respect to their educational goals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Strong Vocational Interest Blank versus expressed vocational interests: A review.

Reviewed studies toward determining the relative merits of the SVIB vs. an expression of vocational interest. Topics included are (1) terminology, (2) correspondence between the SVIB and expressed interests, (3) reliability, (4) validity, (5) problems of experimental design, (6) conclusions, and (7) implications for counseling. (44 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Vocational interests and career indecision among psychosis-prone college students

This study investigated the relationship between scores on scales that purport to measure psychosis-proneness and scores on vocational interests, identity, and differentiation scales in a sample of 233 college students who completed the Perceptual Aberration and Magical Ideation scales, the Strong Campbell Interest Inventory, and the Career Decision Scale. The present findings are consistent with prior work indicating a sex-related association of scores on measures of psychosis-proneness and vocational interests. A positive correlation between scores on vocational indecision and measures of psychosis-proneness was also found, suggesting that both men and women who score high on psychosis-proneness find it difficult to formulate long-term career goals. Finally, there was no significant correlation between scores on measures of psychosis-proneness and Holland's Vocational Differentiation Index. Present results are discussed in light of previously reported sex differences among psychosis-prone adults and diagnosed schizophrenics. The implications of the findings for vocational counselors are also addressed.     

Satisfactions and interests.

The problem of defining satisfaction and the difficulties in distinguishing interests and satisfactions are indicated. "Aside from the final, consummatory activity, satisfaction cannot be identified in terms of activities, as can interests… . Because opinion items are not as stable as interest items, it is doubtful that they can be as useful as interest items in predicting future behavior." 5 characteristics of interests are that they: are acquired, are persistent, vary in intensity, function in acceptance-rejection behavior, are indicated in readiness to act. "Interest tests are diagnostic because no two persons have acquired the same lists of activities nor are the activities classified in the same manner as liked or disliked. Moreover, people engaged in an occupation have to a marked degree similar interests, and so people in one occupation can be differentiated from members of other occupations." Major topics are: job satisfaction and job success; opinion, attitude, interest, and satisfaction; measurement of motivation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Inventoried vocational interests of cartographers.

Studied the interests of 466 male cartographers to develop a cartographer scale for the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB). Results show that (a) cartographers liked science, mathematics, and religious activities; (b) they were masculine and diverse and tended to dislike activities involving other people; and (c) their interests were most similar to those of computer programers, public administrators, Air Force officers, and physical therapists though none of those SVIB keys adequately portrayed the interests of the cartographers. The cartographer key developed was cross-validated on 2 cartographer samples drawn from other populations (n = 89) and was found to discriminate adequately between cartographers and men in general. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Field independence and educational-vocational interests.

Results of a study of 55 male undergraduates indicate: (1) field dependence-independence (FD-FI), as measured by the Rod and Frame Test, is predictive of educational-vocational interest dispelling the notion that FD-FI merely reflects intelligence; and (2) the Guilford-Zimmerman Masculinity-Femininity scale may reflect a rigidity-flexibility or an instrumental-expressive dimension, particularty for FI Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

SVIB interests and product preferences.

Related interest patterns and consumer product preferences. The SVIB and a product preference questionnaire were administered to 239 male business students. Significant interest differences were found between Ss preferring a convertible automobile to a sedan automobile, a trip to Yellowstone to a trip to Las Vegas, and a savings account to common stock. These differences were aligned on a people-nonpeople interest axis, with the latter product in each pair being associated with relatively more people-oriented interest patterns, and suggest that meaningful interest-product preference relationships may exist. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The validation of expressed interests as compared with inventoried interests: a fourteen-year follow-up.

Of 63 sophomores in 1939-40, who took the Strong VIB and a social history interview, occupational choice follow-up data were available in 1953 for 60 Ss. "Apparently the Strong… is most applicable to men reared in the middle class success culture. The Strong seems less applicable for those upper-middle and upper class groups who possess an alternative culture. Among this group, expressed interests are more accurate predictors than the test scores. The inventory predicts Ambitious Careers (feeling… that higher occupational goals can be attained) while the expressed interests predict Responsive Careers (feeling of acceptance with job progression which parents or relatives expect worker to follow)." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children and adults as intuitive scientists.

The metaphor of children and lay adults as intuitive scientists has gained wide acceptance. Although useful in one sense, pertaining to scientific understanding, in another, pertaining to the process of scientific thinking, the metaphor may be fundamentally misleading. Research is reviewed indicating that processes of scientific thinking differ significantly in children, lay adults, and scientists. Hence, it is the instruments of scientific thinking, not just the products, that undergo "strong restructuring" (S. Carey; see record 1987-08644-001). A framework for conceptualizing development of scientific thinking processes is proposed, centering on progressive differentiation and coordination of theory and evidence. This development is metacognitive, as well as strategic. It requires thinking about theories, rather than merely with them, and thinking about evidence, rather than merely being influenced by it, and, hence, reflects the attainment of control over the interaction of theories and evidence in one's own thinking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stability of vocational interests within nonprofessional occupations.

Tested the assumption that individuals' scores and criterion group characteristics for nonprofessional vocations remain stable over long periods of time. Navy Vocational Interest Inventory scores received by 208 Navy enlisted men in a variety of occupational specialties were compared with their retest scores obtained 5 yr. later. Results show substantial reliability of individual scores, paralleling reliabilities obtained with the SVIB. Comparisons of interest profiles of criterion groups tested in 1951 with those of men entering the same specialties 13 yr. later also showed considerable stability. Findings should be generalizable to the Minnesota Vocational Interest Inventory, a revision of the original inventory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On measuring the vocational interests of women.

Examined the structure of women's interests as shown by the SVIB, the Kuder Occupational Interest Survey, Holland's Vocational Preference Inventory, and the American College Testing Vocational Interest Profile. Analyses of the interrelationship of scales and of the interest patterns of women selecting various occupations support the similarity of the structure of women's interests to the structure previously found for men. It is suggested that this information be used to provide women with information about more and more diverse career options than are now commonly available. (27 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)