Career Assessment and the California Psychological Inventory

Abstract

The CPI is a 462-item inventory, scored for 20 folk measures, 3 vectors, and 13 optional special-purpose scales. Its goal is to furnish a veridical picture of any individual, stressing descriptors easily recognized and used by ordinary people in everyday life. In 1987, a theoretical three-vector model of personality was introduced, based on two basic orientations (toward people and toward societal values), and a third independent theme reflecting ego integration. Four lifestyles termed the Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta are defined, each having seven possible levels of realization or integration. In regard to careers, Alphas seek and do best in managerial and leadership roles, Betas function well in supportive/ancillary positions, and Gammas look for and are adept in creating change. Deltas work best alone, in fields such as art, literature, and (depending on their ability) mathematics.The primary purpose of the California Psychological Inventory (CPI; Gough, 1987) is to furnish information in a user-friendly way from which an insightful interpreter can construct a meaningful and veridical picture of the person tested. The portrait evolved should be one that friends and acquaintances will recognize as accurate, that can be used as the basis for predictions about significant future behavior, and to account for past actions. Central to this formulation is the notion of a single individual whose selfpresentation in the test protocol is to be interpreted in an interpersonally relevant manner by a trained and empathic counselor or psychologist.Nomothetic information in the form of statistical treatment of data from aggregates, correlations with other tests, depiction of factor structure, and all of the other things that go into contemporary quantitative analyses will always be of interest, but will count for little unless case studies of individuals show the inventory to be accurate in characterizing people one at a time.One of the five axioms governing the construction and validation of the CPI specifies folk concepts as the units of measurement. A folk concept is, simply, a term that people everywhere use easily and regularly in daily life to describe and account for their own behavior and that of others. Examples from the profiled scales of the CPI include dominance, sociability, selfcontrol, and flexibility. Although all of the 20 scales on the profile sheet have their own theory, research history, and subtleties of meaning, the first implication of each is to identify an attribute that anyone can recognize.Published and copyright

Positive Disposition in the Prediction of Strategic Independence among Millennials

“…It is used in a variety of research studies, including understanding more about the relationships between high school and college students' scores on the CPI and their academic performance (Gough 1985). Other CPI-related research explores how scores on the CPI relate to individuals' career choices and decisions (Bartnick et al 1985) and career profiles (Gough 1995). Data were gathered from respondents using a 7-point Likert type response scale (1 = 'never' to 7 = 'always').…”

“…A component of the California Psychological Inventory (CPI), planfulness is an appropriate construct to build understanding of the predispositions of young adults as they plan to transition from college to careers and adulthood. Planfulness assesses an individual's need for achievement in structured situations such as college and captures the degree to which an individual is organized, efficient, foresighted, productive, thorough, persevering and seen by others as capable and reliable (Gough 1995).…”

Expanding the Focus of Career Assessment

“…What company do I want to work for?&dquo; This change in emphasis will expand the focus of career assessment to include those variables that impact job satisfaction and promotability. Several researchers are expanding the career assessment domain by linking interests, skills, and abilities (Swanson, 1993), interests, abilities, and personality (Carless, 1999;Costa, McCrae, & Kay, 1995;Gough, 1995;Holland, Johnston, & Asama, 1994), and taking a more integrated approach to career assessment in general (Prediger & Swaney, 1995). We expect this trend to continue and present evidence for the need to expand the traditional set of assessments.…”