The presence of the general factor in interest and self-efficacy assessment and its meaning are reviewed. The general factor is found in all interest and self-efficacy assessment and has been viewed as (a) a nuisance factor with little effect on assessment, (b) a variable having substantive meaning and thus worthy of including in interpretation,…

This mixed-methods study explored the validity and usefulness of the Career Construction Interview (CCI) with college students (n = 83) from a midsize Southern university. Using Pearson's "r" correlations, comparisons were made between the three-letter RIASEC Strong Interest Inventory (SII) theme code and RIASEC theme codes derived from…

Two prominent models of values, one in work and the other in life, were examined as they each related to the dimensions underlying the Spherical Model of Interests (Tracey & Rounds, 1996) as measured by the Personal Globe Inventory (PGI; Tracey, 2002). The technique of external property vector fitting was utilized to plot the value constructs onto…

The present investigation used an emic approach to develop a set of Icelandic indigenous basic interest scales. An indigenous item pool that is representative of the Icelandic labor market was administered to three samples (N = 1043, 1368, and 2218) of upper secondary and higher education students in two studies. A series of item level cluster and…

A diverse Chinese sample of 2567 high school and college students was utilized to examine the structural validity of the PGI-S (Tracey, 2010) with respect to the fit to the circumplex structure, the theoretical model underlying the RIASEC types and the eight PGI (Tracey, 2002) interest types. The randomization test of hypothesized order relations…

This study was designed to examine the structure of vocational interests in a diverse sample of individuals who completed the 2005 revision of the Strong Interest Inventory. We examined the fit of three racial/ethnic groups (African American, Caucasian, and Latino/a), both genders, and three levels of professional status (GRS participant, student,…

One strategy commonly used to simplify the joint interpretation of interest and confidence inventories is the use of cutoff scores to classify individuals dichotomously as having high or low levels of confidence and interest, respectively. The present study examined the adequacy of cutoff scores currently recommended for the joint interpretation…

With an aim to improve vocational interest assessments geared toward the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) areas, we developed a new assessment by incorporating occupational complexity levels. Occupations which correspond to Holland's realistic and investigative themes were identified together with their complexity levels…

The purpose of this study is to examine the role of personality traits measured by the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ; [Tellegen, 2000] and [Tellegen and Waller, 2008]) in selecting educational majors. Personality traits were examined alone, and with the combination of Holland's hexagonal confidence domains, as measured by the…

An empirical measurement model for interest inventory construction uses internal criteria whereas an inductive measurement model uses external criteria. The empirical and inductive measurement models are compared and contrasted and then two models are assessed through tests of the effectiveness and economy of scales for the Medical Specialty…

The structure of vocational interests was investigated in Filipino high school students (N = 503), who rated their interest in 303 culture-relevant occupational titles and 93 major fields of study. Item-level principal components analyses identified general interest, prestige, and sex-type dimensions, rather than Prediger's (1982) People/Things…

Investigations addressing the match between vocational interests and satisfaction have emphasized higher-order dimensions (e.g., Holland themes) and specific occupational scales. Although support exists at these levels of analysis for the hypothesis that congruence between interests and work environments yields satisfaction, limitations of these…

Medical schools can assist students by providing them with quality career counseling to help them choose a medical specialty. Many schools use interest inventories to help identify students' specialty interests. This study examined the predictive validity of one such inventory, the Medical Specialty Preference Inventory (MSPI). In a longitudinal…

Goldberg (Goldberg, L. R. (1999). "A broad-bandwidth, public-domain, personality inventory measuring the lower-level facets of several five-factor models." In: I. Mervielde, I. Deary, F. De Fruyt, & F. Ostendorf (Eds.), "Personality psychology in Europe" (Vol. 7, pp. 7-28). Tilburg, The Netherlands: Tilburg University…

Prestige has been demonstrated to be a component in interest assessment [Tracey, T. J. G. (1997). The structure of interests and self-efficacy expectations: An expanded examination of the spherical model of interests. "Journal of Counseling Psychology", 44, 32-43; Tracey, T. J. G. (2002). Personal Globe Inventory: Measurement of the spherical…