Journal of Vocational Behavior 8, 313-319 (1976)

Distinctive Career Orientations of Holland Personality Types

JOHN C. SMART Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

The primary source of empirical support for Holland’s (1973) assumption that people tend to prefer and search for environments that are consistent with their dominant personal characteristics has been research on the tendency of college students to choose congenial college environments. The purpose of this study is to determine if a sample of male college students, classified according to Holland’s six personality types, also prefer occupational environments that are consistent with their primary personal orientations. Stepwise, discriminant analysis procedures are used to test the nulJ hypothesis that there are no statistically significant differences in the characteristics of occupational environments preferred by male students classified according to Holland’s personality types. The relationship of the results of this analysis to possible improvements in the areas of career counseling and placement services and future research on job satisfaction in complex organizations is discussed.

The theory of vocational choice proposed by Holland (1966, 1973) assumes that most people can be categorized as resembling one of six personality types; there are six analogous environmental models, and people tend to prefer and search for environments that encourage them to use their distinctive skills and competencies, are supportive of their attitudes and values, and permit them to assume agreeable roles (e.g., those who resemble the Realistic personality type search for Realistic environments, those who resemble the Social personality type search for Social environments). Walsh (1973) concluded that available research evidence supports the assumption that people tend to prefer and to choose congenial environments. The available evidence, however, is based almost exclusively on the tendency of college students to seek congenial college environments. For example, Holland and Nichols (1964) and Kipnis, Lane, and Berger (1967) found that college students tend to seek academic majors that demand or support their distinc- tive talents, Holland (1964) demonstrated that students are most likely to have “best friends” from similar academic majors (i.e., types are attracted to

Reprint requests should be addressed to John C. Smart, Office of Institutional Research, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061.

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Copyright @ 1976 by Academic Press, Inc. All riahta of remoduction in any form reserved.

314 JOHN C. SMART

similar types), and Apostal (1970) concluded that students tend to prefer college subcultures consistent with their own personal orientations.

The assumption that people also tend to prefer and to search for congenial occupational environments has received little attention. Schutz and Blocher (1960), Hollander and Parker (1969), and Marks and Webb (1969) demonstrated that occupational stereotypes are stable over time (i.e., are perceived similarly by people of different age groups). These findings are highly important to the purpose of this study because they demonstrate that students have the ability to identify occupational careers that are most likely to permit them to realize their distinctive needs and desires. The purpose of this paper is to test the assumption that people, classified according to the six personality types postulated by Holland (1966, 1973), actually prefer distinc- tive occupational careers that are consistent with their dominant personal orientations.

METHOD

The Cooperative Institutional Research Program questionnaire developed by the American Council on Education is routinely administered each year to all freshmen at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Students were asked to indicate the relative importance they place on 12 job characteristics in their selection of a long-term occupational career. A three- point response scale was used (3 = very important, 2 = somewhat important, 1 = not important). These 12 measures, representing characteristics of occupa- tional careers, constituted the predictor variables in a stepwise, multiple discriminant analysis. The dependent variables were the six personality types (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional) proposed by Holland (1966, 1973). All male freshmen whose declared academic majors were included in the occupational classification index developed by Holland (1973) were assigned to the appropriate personality type. The number and typical majors of male freshmen assigned to each personality type were: Realistic (n = 286; e.g., forestry and civil engineering), Investigative (n = 434; e.g., biology and physics), Artistic (n = 158; e.g., architecture and art), Social (n = 94; e.g., education and sociology), Enterprising (n = 161; e.g., industrial engineering and marketing), and Conventional (n = 86; e.g., accounting and finance).

RESULTS

The means and standard deviations of the six personality types and the univariate F ratio for each predictor variable in the stepwise, multiple discriminant analysis are presented in Table 1. The discriminating power of

DISTINCTIVE CAREER ORIENTATIONS 315

TABLE 1

Means, Standard Deviations, and Univariate F Ratios of Predictor Variables

Predictor variables

Uni- Real- Investi- Artis- Enter- Conven- variate listic gative tic Social prising tional F ratioa

1. High anticipated earnings M 2.18 SD 0.69

2. Can work with ideas M 2.36 SD 0.65

3. Able to work with people M 2.17 SD 0.7 1

4. Great deal of inde- pendence

M 2.19 SD 0.73

5. Job openings generally available

M 2.48 SD 0.61

6. Can be helpful to others M 2.35 SD 0.61

7. Chance for steady progress M 2.39 SD 0.65

8. Intrinsic Interest in the field

M 2.64 SD 0.62

9. Rapid career advance- ment possible

M 2.17 SD 0.69

10. Can avoid pressure M 1.67 SD 0.74

11. Well-respected and prestigious occupation

M 1.94 SD 0.69

12. Can make an important contribution to society

M 2.28 SD 0.66

2.40 2.42 2.34 2.60 2.78 0.62 0.64 0.68 0.52 0.42

2.34 2.70 2.23 2.26 2.03 0.70 0.50 0.74 0.67 0.69

2.15 2.31 2.47 2.34 2.28 0.72 0.67 0.58 0.61 0.64

2.11 2.43 2.38 2.14 2.07 0.68 0.64 0.66 0.62 0.63

2.43 2.37 2.27 2.51 0.63 0.67 0.74 0.57

2.35 2.35 2.45 2.27 0.65 0.69 0.62 0.56

2.35 2.41 2.29 2.60 0.68 0.66 0.70 0.56

2.73 0.50

2.21 0.70

2.52 0.61

2.66 2.66 2.63 2.46 2.40 0.59 0.70 0.64 0.68 0.69

2.20 2.25 2.30 2.49 2.58 0.69 0.79 0.70 0.60 0.52

1.61 1.61 1.61 1.73 1.56 0.67 0.67 0.72 0.68 0.66

2.00 2.16 2.04 2.17 2.33 0.72 0.71 0.75 0.66 0.69

2.28 2.35 2.35 2.16 2.00 0.71 0.67 0.73 0.61 0.70

17.12b

la.026

s.ld

7.6ob

6.21b

1.62

4.56b

4.W

9.o6b

1.06

6.42b

4.22b

“df = 5/1213. bp < .ool.

316 JOHN C. SMART

the predictor variables was examined by Bartlett’s test (Rao, 1952). The total discriminant analysis produced a chi-square value of 297.66 (df = 60, p < .OOl). The first four roots were statistically significant (p < .OOl) and produced chi-square values of 153.31 (df = 16), 78.40 (df= 14), 44.60 (df= 12), and 32.67 (df= lo), respectively.

The predictor variables are presented in Table 1 in the order in which they emerged in the stepwise analysis. That is, “high anticipated earnings” accounted for the greatest portion of the variance, the addition of “can work with ideas” provided the greatest reduction in the remaining unexplained variance, and so on. Inspection of the univariate F ratios in Table 1 showed that the six personality groups were significantly different 0, < .OOl) on 10 of the 12 predictor variables. However, the results of the discriminant analysis showed that all of the significant variance between the groups was accounted for by the first four predictor variables in Table 1. The following paragraph indicates the nature of the differentiation provided by each of these four variables.

Conventional and Enterprising types earned a significantly higher mean score than Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, and Social types on the first variable, “high anticipated earnings.” Also, Investigative and Artistic types earned a significantly higher mean score on “high anticipated earnings” than Realistic types. Artistic types earned a significantly higher mean score than Investigative and Social types, and Enterprising types earned a significantly higher mean score than Conventional types on the second variable, “can work with ideas.” The addition of the third variable, “able to work with people,” differentiated Social types, who earned a higher mean score, from Investigative and Realistic types. The addition of “great deal of independence” further strengthened the discrimination between Social and Enterprising types (from p < .Ol to p < .OOl), with the former earning a higher mean score. The overall magnitude of the discrimination between the six personality groups provided by these four predictor variables is presented in Fig. 1.

Inspection of the between-groups F ratios presented in Fig. 1 showed that the four predictor variables produced statistically significant differentia- tion between all 15 possible group comparisons of the six personality types. However, it should be noted that while all possible comparisons of the six personality types were significantly different, the absolute magnitude of the F ratios in Fig. 1 did not conform in many instances to the order of “psychological resemblance” presented in Holland’s (1973) hexagonal con- figuration. For example, the correlation coefficients shown in Holland’s (1973) hexagonal model indicated that Social types are, in descending order, most like Enterprising, Artistic, Conventional, Investigative, and Realistic types. The magnitude of the F ratios in Fig. 1 suggested however, that Social types are, in descending order, most like Enterprising, Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, and Conventional types. This apparent inconsistency suggests that the

DISTINCTIVE CAREER ORIENTATIONS 317

REALISTIC 6.64” INVESTIGATIVE

ENTERPRISING 5 93.’ SOCIAL

Fig. 1. HoIland’s hexagonal configuration of personality types: F ratios of between group differences provided by four predictor variables. df = 4/1210; *p < .Ol; **p < .OOl.

order of “psychological resemblance” may not be constant across all types of measures used to examine the salient characteristic of the six personality groups.

DISCUSSION

The results of this study suggest that the findings of earlier research which demonstrated that students tend to prefer and to seek congenial college environments (e.g., Kipnis, Lane, & Berger, 1967; Apostal, 1970) may be extended to the area of occupational environments. That is, college students are likely to seek long-term careers in occupations they perceive will en- courage use of their distinctive competencies, support their dominant values, and permit them to assume agreeable occupational roles. This finding is supported by both the highly significant statistical differences between the six personality types proposed by Holland (see Fig. 1) and the tendency of the nature of these differences to be consistnet with the dominant personal characteristics of each personality type as postulated by Holland (1966, 1973). For example, the tendency of Conventional and Enterprising types to place more importance on the opportunity for higher earnings in their selection of a long-term career than the four other personality types is consistent with Holland’s description of the Conventional and Enterprising types as being relatively more interested in and responsive to materialistic rewards and incentives than other types. Similarly, the tendency of Artistic types to attach more emphasis to the opportunity to work with ideas in their choice of a long-term career than either Social or Investigative types appears generally consistent with Holland’s description of the Artistic type as being relatively more creative, imaginative, and idea oriented. Also, the tendency of

318 JOHN C. SMART

Social types to place more importance on the opportunity to work with people in their selection of a long-term career than either Realistic or Investigative types is consistent with Holland’s description of the Social type as possessing relatively stronger interpersonal skills and being more people oriented.

A notable inconsistency between the results of this study and Holland’s (1973) description of the salient characteristics of each personality type is the tendency of Realistic types to place significantly less emphasis on the opportunity for higher earnings in their choice of a long-term career than either Investigative or Artistic types. In fact, the Realistic type has the lowest mean score of all groups on this variable. Holland (1973) describes the Realistic type as being relatively more pragmatic and placing a higher value on such personal traits as money, power, and status than either the Investigative or Artistic type. A possible explanation for this inconsistency is the reclassifi- cation of Architecture from the Realistic category (Holland, Whitney, Cole, & Richards, 1969) to the Artistic category (Holland, 1973). This reclassification may have reduced the relatively greater importance that the Realistic type is postulated to associate with tangible, materialistic interests and, conversely, increased the importance’of these personal traits to the Artistic type. This possibility and the fact that 139 of the 158 (88%) Artistic types in this study were Architecture majors may have contributed to the emergence of this unanticipated finding. Future research should examine the validity of this reclassification and/or its possible implications for defining the salient personal characteristics of the Realistic and Artistic types.

With this single exception, the positive support that the findings of this study provide for Holland’s assumption that people prefer and search for congenial environments has important implications for the career counseling of college students and research on job satisfaction in complex organizations. For example, career counselors might encourage students whose majors are included in the Conventional and Enterprising categories (e.g., accounting and marketing) to give serious consideration to occupations that are likely to provide greater opportunity for economic rewards; students in Artistic majors

(e.g., architecture and art) might be encouraged to seriously consider careers that offer the greatest opportunity to work with ideas; and students in Social majors (e.g., education and sociology) might be encouraged to give serious consideration to occupations that are likely to provide greater opportunity to work with people.

Previous research by Smart (1975) has demonstrated that the overall job satisfaction of academic department chairmen, classified according to Holland’s six personality types, was differentially related to unique weightings and combinations of their satisfaction with 15 different opportunities available in their jobs. The findings of this study identify distinctive characteristics of occupational careers that the respective six personality types regard as most

DISTINCTIVE CAREER ORIENTATIONS 319

important in their initial selection of a long-term career. It would appear reasonable to assume that the extent to which these distinctive occupational characteristics or opportunities are actually available in the student’s chosen career will be related to the subsequent overall job satisfaction of the respective personality types. For example, future research might examine such possibilities as (a) the opportunity for high earnings is most predictive of the overall job satisfaction for those in Conventional and Enterprising occupa- tional careers, (b) the overall job satisfaction of those employed in Artistic careers is most highly related to their opportunity to work with ideas, and (c) the opportunity to work with people is most predictive of the overall job satisfaction for those in Social careers. The findings of this study and those reported by Smart (1975) suggest that reliance on a single reward or incentive system is not likely to meet adequately the adverse needs and interests of members employed in different occupational areas within complex organiza- tions.

REFERENCES

Apostal, R. A. Personality type and preferred college subculture. Journal of College Student Personnel, 1970, 11, 206-209.

Holland, J. L. Explorations of a theory of vocational choice: V. A one-year prediction

study. Moravia, N. Y.: Chronicle Guidance Professional Service, 1964. Holland, J. L. Zhe psychology of vocational choice. Waltham, Mass.: Blaisdell, 1966. Holland, J. L. Making vocational choices. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1973. Holland, J. L., & Nichols, R. C. Explorations of a theory of vocational choice: III. A

longitudinal study of change in major field of study. Personnel and Guidance Journal, 1964, 43, 235-242.

Holland, J. L., Whitney, D. R., Cole, N. S., & Richards, J. M., Jr. An empirical

occupational classification derived from a theory of personality and intended for practice and research. Iowa City, Iowa: The American College Testing Program, 1969.

Hollander, M. A., & Parker, H. J. Occupational stereotypes and needs: Their relationship to vocational choice, Vocational Guidance Quarterly, 1969, 18, 91-98.

Kipnis, D., Lane, G., & Berger, L. Character structure, vocational interest, and achieve- ment. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 1967, 16, 335-341.

Marks, E., & Webb, S. C. Vocational choice and professional experience as factors in occupational image. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1969, 53, 292-300.

Rao, C. R. Advanced statistical methods in biometric research. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1952.

Schutz, R. A., & Blocher, D. H. Self-concepts and stereotypes of vocational preferences. Vocational Guidance Quarterly, 1960, 8, 241-244.

Smart, J. C. Environments as reinforcer systems in the study of job satisfaction. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 1975, 6, 337-347.

Walsh, W. B. Theories of person-environment interaction: Implications for the college

student. Iowa City, Iowa: The American College Testing Program, 1973.

Received: August 4, 1975.