An idiothetic examination of vocational interests and their relation to career decidedness.

Abstract

This study examined individuals’ deviation from J. L. Holland’s (1985, 1997) normative circular RIASEC model of organizing interests and determined if deviation is related to career indecision, career certainty, and perceptions of competence. Information was gathered from 162 college students enrolled in a career development course. Results revealed that deviation from the normative structure was associated with less career certainty and more career indecision. The contention that deviation was related to lower general self-efficacy was not supported. The range of interest structures used and the degree of deviation from the normative Holland RIASEC circle was also assessed. Recommendations for counselors are discussed. Almost all vocational interest models and instruments are based on normative structures, that is, structures generated and validated on large groups of people. A prominent example of such a normative structure is Holland’s (1985, 1997) RIASEC hexagon (or circle) of interest and occupation types. Holland proposed that vocational interests and occupations can be categorized into six main types: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional and that these types are organized in a hexagonal manner with proximity among types representing similarity. Although there are some different views on the structure of interests

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