Development and Criterion Validity of Differentiated and Elevated Vocational Interests in Adolescence

Abstract

Interest differentiation and elevation are supposed to provide important information about a person's state of interest development yet little is known about their development and criterion validity. The present study explored these constructs among a group of Swiss adolescents. Study 1 applied a cross-sectional design with 210 students in eleventh grade. Study 2 applied a one-year longitudinal design with 289 students in seventh to eighth grade. Gender, personality traits, and career exploration were significant predictors of state and development of differentiation and elevation. Increase in differentiation predicted increase in career decidedness above traits. Elevation could not predict increase in exploration behavior over traits. The results provide support for differentiation and elevation as important aspects of adolescents' vocational interests.

Diversity in Unity: Perspectives from Psychology and Behavioral Sciences

“…The result is in line with previous studies (Fouad & Mohler, 2004;Hirschi, 2009;Stark, 2001) which found that female students had a higher level of differentiation career interest than male students. According to Hirschi and Läge (2008), female students have a higher level of interest differentiation because they are generally more knowledgeable and have more information about the career world than male students.…”

“…A clear career interest makes it easier for an individual to determine career decisions and career plans (Donohue, 2006;Hirschi & Läge, 2008;Hirschi & Läge, 2007;Hirschi, 2009;Nauta, 2005;Davis, 2007). Some other researchers have reported that students who have clear career interests obviously also have a high level of confidence in achieving a higher level of education (Nauta, 2007;Hirschi & Läge, 2007;Davis, 2007).…”

Sex Differences in Variability in Vocational Interests: Evidence from Two Large Samples

“…More differentiated interest profiles are related to positive career outcomes such as career choice readiness and vocational identity (Hirschi & Läge, ) and more stable career aspirations (Bergmann, ). Research within Holland's () RIASEC framework further indicates that women tend to have more differentiated interest profiles than men in middle school, high school, and college (Fouad & Mohler, ; Hirschi, ; Tracey & Robbins, ). However, research with mathematically gifted students found that male high school and college students had more differentiated interest and ability profiles than female students (Achter, Lubinski, Benbow, & Eftekhari‐Sanjani, ; Lubinski, Webb, Morelock, & Benbow, ).…”

Estabilidade temporal dos escores de interesses profissionais: estudo longitudinal

“…Quanto maior o valor, maior o nível de nitidez. Outra forma de obter esse índice é a partir do desvio padrão de todas as dimensões (Hirschi, 2009). Ao verificar que a correlação entre os dois métodos foi de 0,975, optou-se por utilizar nas análises deste estudo a maneira tradicional, sugerida por Holland (1997).…”

“…Algumas pesquisas realizadas no contexto internacional empregaram delineamentos longitudinais ou de teste--reteste a fim de verificar a estabilidade das medidas de interesses profissionais (Lent, Tracey, Brown, Soresi, & Nota, 2006;Primé & Tracey, 2010;Rottinghaus, Coon, Gaffey, & Zytowski, 2007) e explorar a utilidade dos conceitos secundários (Hirschi, 2009(Hirschi, , 2010. Hirschi (2010) fez duas aplicações de um instrumento baseado no modelo tipológico de Holland (1997) em uma amostra composta por adolescentes, com intervalo de dez meses.…”