Self-concept, occupational member concept, and occupational interest area relationships in male college students.

Abstract

This investigation subjected Super's postulated self-concept-vocational preference relationship to empirical test. Four hundred twenty-eight male college students, representing 39 college majors, selected their most-and least-preferred occupational interest areas from a list of 14 areas. The subjects described themselves and their most-and least-preferred occupational member concepts with Adjective Check List items. Individuals perceived a greater degree of congruence between themselves and their most-preferred occupational member concepts than between themselves and their leastpreferred occupational member concepts. Additional support for Super's theory was that certain distinctive self-concept features were found for individuals attracted to different occupational interest areas. Super (1951) has formulated a theory of vocational development in which an individual's occupational choice is seen as his attempt to implement his self-concept. Specifically, Super, Starishevsky, Matlin, and Jordaan (1963) have stated:In expressing a vocational preference, a person puts into occupational terminology his idea of the kind of person he is; that in entering an occupation, he seeks to implement a concept of himself; that in getting established in an occupation he achieves self-actualization, [p. 1]

Impact of Proactive Personality and Self-Esteem on Organizational Attraction

“…Super's Theory of Vocational Choice (1953) suggests that individuals select occupations as a means of developing his or her selfconcept. Ziegler's (1970) findings support and extend Super's theory in that self-descriptions and perceived characteristics of individuals in preferred occupations were more congruent than the self-descriptions and the perceived characteristics of individuals in least preferred occupations (Tom, 1971). In addition, those who prefer certain occupations over others share self-concept characteristics (e.g., adventurous, easygoing, etc.)…”

“…In addition, those who prefer certain occupations over others share self-concept characteristics (e.g., adventurous, easygoing, etc.) which distinguish them from individuals who prefer other occupations (Ziegler, 1970). In other words, there appears to be common personality dimensions inherent of Super's self-concept and vocational preference.…”

Behavioral Self-Control and Career Development

“…For example, high school science teachers, engineers, ministers, and business managers use sl,ightly different "vocabularies" to describe themselves (Hunt, 1967). Also, college students tend to see themselves as more similar to people in jobs they prefer than to people in jobs tIley dislike (Ziegler, 1970).…”

High School Transcript as a Set of "Nonreactive" Measures for Predicting College Success and Major Field.

“…The choice of a major field by a college student is a decision of considerable magnitude. Furthermore, the choice of a major field provides a visible classification of people that may be as personally descriptive of them as any personality inventory (Elton, 1967;Goldschmid, 1967;Holland, 1968;Rand, 1968;Ziegler, 1970).…”

“…Most investigations of the determinants of major-field choice have considered attitudes, values, or personality traits (Elton, 1967;Holland, 1968;Goldschmid, 1967;Ziegler, 1970). Some of these studies have included ability measures as well (Cooley, 1967;Elton, 1967;Holland, 1968;Stahmann, 1969).…”