Integrating Abilities and Interests in Career Choice: Maximal versus Typical Assessment

Abstract

The present article focuses on ways in which structural information from the ability and interest domains can be usefully integrated to inform career development and choice processes as well as allied research. Examining the structural models in these two domains, in addition to the distinction between maximal and typical assessment, the authors suggest that self-assessments of ability/self-efficacy have greater utility than assessments of maximal ability for informing career exploration and choice. Given this, they note several ways that self-ratings of ability can be integrated with interest information in clinical settings. In the second section, they focus on the definition of the general factor in vocational interest data. The authors hypothesize that this factor can be interpreted as interest flexibility and is particularly salient as a moderator in the person-environment fit-career outcome relation. They then propose a number of testable hypotheses relevant to this relation.

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

“…Overall, the results imply that elevation is meaningfully related to personality dispositions and could be regarded as an indicator of vocational flexibility and openness (Darcy & Tracey, 2003). However, the study cannot support a claim that elevation indicates a clients' energy level (Bullock & Reardon, 2005) and implies caution in overestimating the potential influence of interest elevation on subsequent career behavior.…”

“…However, counselor should not assume that an adolescent with more elevated interests will automatically be more active in his or her career decision-making process. Promoting the development of more elevated interests could be a fruitful goal in counseling in order to increase vocational flexibility and presumably subsequent educational and job satisfaction (Darcy & Tracey, 2003). The present study suggests that counselors promote more environmental exploration for students with low elevated profiles in order to reach this goal.…”

“…Based on this positive evidence of the meaningfulness of interest profile elevation Darcy and Tracey (2003) viewed profile elevation as a general interest factor which indicates vocational flexibility and Bullock and Reardon (2005) regarded profile elevation as an indicator of a client's energy level.…”

Moderators of the interest congruence-occupational outcome relation

“…Those individuals who have low average scores across all scales have been found to be cynical and cautious while those with high average scores are cheerful and enthusiastic (Berdie, 1943;Holland, 1997;Stewart, 1960). Darcy and Tracey (2003) posit that the mean interest level is indicative of the construct of interest flexibility. Some individuals are more flexible in their interests.…”

“…If an individual viewed the occupational group as important, then there were stronger relations between congruence and occupational outcomes. Darcy and Tracey (2003) proposed that the overall interest level would be a moderator of the congruence-outcome relation. Specifically, they focused on the general factor that has been found in all interest measurement (Prediger, 1982;Rounds & Tracey, 1993;Tracey & Rounds, 1996).…”