PERSONALITY AND VOCATIONAL INTERESTS

IN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

By

SHOAIB KIANI

Dr Muhammad Ajmal National Institute of Psychology

Centre of Excellence Quaid-i-Azam University

Islamabad-Pakistan 2010

PERSONALITY AND VOCATIONAL INTERESTS

IN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

BY

SHOAIB KIANI

A dissertation submitted to the

Dr Muhammad Ajmal

National Institute of Psychology Centre of Excellence

Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

IN

PSYCHOLOGY

2010

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments i

Abstracts iii

List of Tables iv

List of figures viii

List of Appendixes ix

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

Personality 4

Psychological Traits 5

Historical Background of Trait Research 7

Taxonomies of Personality 8

Five Factor Model 10

Personality and Culture 12

Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) 15

Vocational Interests 21

The Concept of Fit or Congruence 22

Holland Theory of Vocational Choices 23

Self Directed Search (SDS) 29

Vocational Aspirations 33

Personality and Vocational Interests 38

Applicability of FFM to children 47

Gender differences on Personality and Vocational Interests 51

Rationale of the Study 54

CHAPTER II CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING ABOUT 60

PERSONALITY AND VOCATIONAL INTERESTS

CHAPTER III RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS 77

CHAPTER IV PERSONALITY AND VOCATIONAL INTERESTS OF 119

STUDENTS

Objectives 119

Hypotheses 120

Method 120

Psychometric properties 125

Relationship between Personality and Vocational interests 144

Discussion 163

CHAPTER V VOCATIONAL INTERESTS MEASURED BY SDS 177

SUMMARY CODES

Objectives 177

Hypotheses 178

Method 178

Results 180

Discussion 184

CHAPTER VI VOCATIONAL ASPIRATIONS OF THE STUDENTS 188

Objectives 188

Hypotheses 189

Method 189

Results 191

Discussion 202

CHAPTER VII EXPERT OPINIONS ABOUT PERSONALITY AND 210

VOCATIONAL INTERESTS

Objectives 210

Method 211

Results 213

Discussion 219

CHAPTER VIII GENERAL DISCUSSION 222

Implications of the Study 240

Limitations of the Study 242

Future Research 244

Conclusion 245

REFERENCES 246

ABSTRACT

The present study deals with the personality and vocational interests of the high school

students Relationship between personality and vocational interests and the degree of

agreement between vocational aspirations and vocational interests of the students were carried

out in the current study The differences with respect to demographical variables on personality

and vocational interests were also explored The main study was conducted on the sample of

596 students (319 male and 277 female students with a mean age of 1573 years) belonging to 7

government schools There were 303 students belonging to science group and 292 students

belonging to Arts group The different relationships between the personality and vocational

interests were assessed through a series of statistical analysis of Correlation Multiple

regression analysis t test and One Way Analysis of Variance The Alpha reliabilities of main

domains of NEO PI-R range from 36 (Openness) to 84 (Conscientiousness) The Alpha

reliabilities for scales of Self Directed Search (SDS) range from 53 to 68 for Activities 55 to

66 for Competencies 76 to 81 for Occupations and 71 to 80 for summary scales The results

established the psychometric properties of the instruments A moderate relationship was found

between FFM and Holland model The study identified the vocational preferences of students

with respect to demographical variables The results revealed significant gender differences on

personality and vocational interests The study also determined the vocational aspirations of the

students and found the degree of agreement between vocational aspirations and vocational

interests for most preferred careers The results revealed a moderate state of congruence for

careers (doctor and teacher) and a state of incongruence for some careers (army lawyer and

engineer) The findings of the study are also reinforced from the opinion of experts Some

pertinent areas were identified for future research The present research contributed both for

theory and practice The findings may be valuable in the field of career counseling as well as

for policy makers in the field of education

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Alpha reliability coefficients of 5 main scales of NEO PI-R (N=79)

102

Table 2 Item-total correlations of each item with respective subscales of

NEO PI-R (N = 79)

103

Table 3 Correlations of subscales with main scale of Neuroticism (N = 79) 105

Table 4 Correlations of subscales with main scale of Extraversion (N = 79) 106

Table 5 Correlations of subscales with main scale of Openness (N = 79) 107

Table 6 Correlations of subscales with main scale of Agreeableness (N=79) 108

Table 7 Correlations of subscales with main scale of Conscientiousness

(N = 79)

108

Table 8 Inter-correlations between five main domains of NEO PI-R (N=79) 109

Table 9 Alpha reliability coefficients of subscales of SDS (N = 79)

110

Table 10 Item-total correlations of subscales of SDS (N = 79) 112

Table 11 Inter-correlations of SDS Scales (N = 79) 116

Table 12 Alpha reliability coefficients of main scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

126

Table 13 Item-total correlations of each item with respective subscales of

NEO PI-R (N = 596)

127

Table 14 Inter-correlations between subscales and main scale of

Neuroticism (N = 596)

129

Table 15 Inter-correlations between subscales and main scale of

Extraversion (N = 596)

130

Table 16 Inter-correlations between subscales and main scale of Openness

(N = 596)

131

Table 17 Inter-correlations between subscales and main scale of

Agreeableness (N = 596)

132

Table 18 Inter-correlations between subscales and main scale of

Conscientiousness (N = 596)

133

Table 19 Inter-correlations between five domains of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

133

Table 20 Alpha reliability coefficients of subscales of SDS (N = 596)

134

Table 21 Item-total correlations of each item with respective subscales of 136

SDS (N = 596)

Table 22 Inter-correlations of SDS Scales (N = 596) 140

Table 23 Inter-correlations between 5 main scales including 30 facet scales

of NEO PI-R and 6 summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

144

Table 24 Summary of Multiple Regression Analysis for Demographic and

Five Domains of Personality on the six Personality Types

(N = 596)

148

Table 25 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of male and female

students on five domain scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

150

Table 26 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Science and

Arts group students on five domain scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

151

Table 27 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Urban and Rural

students on five domain scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

152

Table 28 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of 9th and 10th

class students on five domain scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

153

Table 29 Mean and standard deviation between three groups of students

based on parents education on the scores of five domain scales of

NEO PI-R (N = 596)

154

Table 30 One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) between three groups of

students based on parents education on the scores of five domain

scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

155

Table 31 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Lower age (14

to 16 yrs) and Upper age (17 to 19 yrs) groups of students on main

scales NEO PI-R (N = 596)

156

Table 32 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Male and

Female students on main summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

157

Table 33 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Science and

Arts group students on main summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

158

Table 34 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Urban and Rural

students on main summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

159

Table 35 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of 9th and 10th

class students on main summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

160

Table 36 Mean and standard deviation between three groups of students

based on parents education on the scores of six personality types of

SDS (N = 596)

161

Table 37 One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) between three groups of

students based on parents education on the scores of six

personality types of SDS (N = 596)

162

Table 38 Frequencies of highest summary codes of students on six

personality types of SDS (N = 596)

180

Table 39 Frequencies of highest summary codes of male (N = 319) and

female ( N = 277) students on six personality types of SDS

181

Table 40 Frequencies of highest Summary codes of Science (N = 304) and

Arts ( N = 292) group students on six personality types of SDS

182

Table 41 Vocational aspirations of the students (N = 482) 192

Table 42 The frequencies of highest summary codes of male (N = 243) and

female (N = 239) students on six personality types of SDS

192

Table 43 Mean and standard deviation between five groups of students

based on vocational aspirations on their scores on five domains of

NEO PI-R (N = 482)

193

Table 44 Repeated measure analysis of variance (ANOVA) between five

groups of students based on vocational aspirations on their scores

on five domains of NEO PI-R (N = 482)

194

Table 45 Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose vocational

aspiration is Doctor (N = 193)

195

Table 46 Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose vocational

aspiration is Army (N = 139)

196

Table 47 Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose vocational

aspiration is Teacher (N = 58)

197

Table 48 Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose vocational

aspiration is Lawyer (N = 55)

198

Table 49 Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose vocational

aspiration is Engineer (N = 37)

199

Table 50 Frequencies obtained from highest Summary code of five groups

of students (males and females) based on vocational aspirations via

hexagonal model (N = 482)

200

Table 51 Alpha reliability coefficients of five domains of personality of

Evaluation sheet (N = 25)

214

Table 52 Item-total correlations of five domains of Evaluation sheet (N =25) 214

Table 53 Inter-correlations of main scales of Evaluation sheet (N = 25) 215

Table 54 Mean and standard deviation between five groups of experts based

on their scores on five domains of Evaluation sheet (N = 25)

216

Table 55 Repeated measure Analysis of variance (ANOVA) between five

groups of experts based on their scores on five domains of

Evaluation sheet (N = 25)

217

Table 56 Frequencies of expert opinions about personality types

corresponding with their careers (N = 25)

218

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 Five Main Domains and 30 Facets of NEO PI-R 15

Figure 2 Hexagonal Structure of Hollandrsquos model 25

Figure 3

Figure 4

The Personality types (Holland 1985)

Hexagonal Representation of Inter correlations of SDS scales

(N = 596)

26

100

Figure 5 Sample Distribution in Schools 122

Figure 6 Sample Distribution within Schools 122

Figure 7 Hexagonal Representation of Inter-correlations of SDS Scales

(N = 596)

142

Figure 8 Hexagonal Representation of Inter-correlations of SDS Scales

(Naheed 1988) (N = 114)

143

LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix A Scoring Procedure for Vocational Aspirations on Hexagonal Model

Appendix B Focus Group Guidelines for Students

Appendix C Focus Group Guidelines for Teachers

Appendix D Demographical Questionnaire

Appendix E Future Possibilities Questionnaire

Appendix F Evaluation Sheet

Appendix G Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

NEO PI-R (Urdu Version)

Appendix H

Appendix I

Facets Scale of NEO PI-R (Urdu Version)

Answer Sheet NEO PI-R

Appendix J Self Directed Search SDS (Urdu Version)

Appendix K

Appendix L

List of Schools

List of difficult words generally asked by the students on

NEO PI-R

Appendix M List of difficult concepts generally asked by the students on SDS

1

Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

Personality traits and vocational interests are two major non-cognitive

domains in the field of psychology from dispositional realm These dispositional

attributes are important as they influence many outcomes related with work and life

success They both can measure individual differences The exact nature of the

association between the two domains remains vague despite hundreds of studies

(Borgen 1986 Hansen 1984)

The extensively used models are the Five Factor Model (FFM) of personality

(Costa amp McCrae 1992a) and Hollands model of vocational interests (Holland

1985a) They both contributed the common objective of predicting and explaining

individuals work behaviors FFM focus on ways of acting thinking and feeling

Whereas Hollandlsquos vocational theory focuses on individuals preferences

It is believed that the relationship between personality and vocational

interests would be very significant when individualslsquo behavioral tendencies match

their preferences The theoretical overlap between personality and vocational

interests has been consistently established by many researchers (eg Ackerman amp

Heggestad 1997 Barrett 2009 Barrick Mount amp Gupta 2003 Berings De Fruyt

amp Bouwen 2004 Bullock amp Reardon 2008 Duffy Borges amp Hartung 2009

Ehrhart amp Makransky 2007 Harris Vernon Johnson amp Jang 2006 Hartman amp

2

Betz 2007 Hogan amp Blake 1996 Larson Rottinghaus amp Borgen 2002 Logue

Lounsbury Gupta Frederick amp Leong 2007 Nauta 2004 Staggs Larson amp

Borgen 2007 Zhang 2008)

The applicability of FFM in many populations with diverse cultures has been

determined (Costa amp Widiger 1994 McCrae 1992) The relevance of the FFM to

children has been established by Digman and Takemoto-Chock (1981) This ground-

breaking work has been followed by some significant researches in youth (Digman amp

Inouye 1986 Logue et al 2007 McCrae et al 2005 Zhang 2008) as well as in

older sample (Chapman Duberstein Soumlrensen amp Lyness 2007)

The five dimensions of FFM (Neuroticism Extraversion Openness

Agreeableness and Conscientiousness) have been thoroughly extracted by means of

diverse instruments and assessment sources (Somer amp Goldberg 1999) by using

factorial techniques (Goldberg 1990) on samples of subjects of varying ages

(Costa amp McCrae 1988b De Fruyt Mervielde Hoekstra amp Rolland 2000 Digman

amp Shemelyov 1996 Mervielde amp De Fruyt 2000) and from various cultures using a

psycho-lexical approach (Anglo-American Goldberg 1990 1992 Hofstee DeRaad

amp Goldberg 1992 Saucier 1997 German Ostendorf 1990 Dutch De Raad 1992

Czech Hrebickova 1995 Polish Szarota 1996 Turkish Somer amp Goldberg 1999)

Holland (1966b) has conceptualized vocational interests as expressions of

personality (Holland 1999 Sullivan amp Hansen 2004) He termed the six vocational

3

types ie Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising and Conventional

(RIASEC) as Personality typeslsquo (see Holland 1973) Hollands assumed that

individuals will show a liking for occupations which match to their personal way of

life (Pryor 1986) Such a match will help in adjustment and eventually occupational

success on multiple levels

Personality measures explain the social skills and drive required to succeed

whereas measures of Vocational interest describe a person liking for an occupation

Thus these measures are related supplemental but not identical Some personality

traits may correspond with many vocational interests whereas other may not match

with any vocational interests

Personal occupational daydreams are good predictor of vocational choices

and are supported in the literature review (Brown amp Brooks 1991 Crabbs 1979

Sarnoff amp Remer 1982 Touchton amp Magoon 1977 Yanico 1981) Holland

Fritzsche and Powell (1994) indicated that current vocational aspirations are a

predictor of career choices (Hirschi amp Laumlge 2008 Miller Springer Tobacyk amp

Wells 2004)

Pakistan being a developing country have achieved some economical

development but yet not developed the high standard of professional skills in human

resource The professional skills are not crystallized Hence there seems to be a state

of chaos where individuals are not clear which vocations suit their interests and

abilities Hence it is of paramount importance to focus students in their school years

4

to understand their personality and vocational interests so that they can be guided to

choose suitable career in future The present study focused on the personality and

vocational interests of high school students The relationships among personality

vocational aspirations and vocational interests also require some exploration Such an

exploration needs a delineation of the concept of personality and vocational interests

Personality

Personality is a complex concept which is difficult to define Allport (1937)

and Murray (1938) defined personality but wide-ranging definitions covering all

aspects like intra psychic qualities of mind and body relations to others and

personal goals is yet to surface

According to Hogan (1991) personality refers to the social reputation the

way an individual is perceived by others The other aspect is private and must be

inferred as it refers to processes and propensities which explain why a person

behaves in a specific way

Personality traits referred to the stable characteristics which are

psychological in nature and provide reasons for persons behavior These traits

described a person and determine his emotional cognitive and behavioral

propensities Costa and McCrae (1989) defined ―personality as enduring emotional

5

interpersonal experiential attitudinal and motivational styles that explain behavior

in different situations Funder (2002) described personality as pattern of thought

emotion and behavior Larsen and Buss (2005) defined personality as ―the set of

psychological traits and mechanisms within the individual that are organized and

relatively enduring and that influence his or her interactions with and adaptations to

the intra-psychic physical and social environments (P4)

Psychological Traits

According to Larson and Buss (2005) psychological traits help to describe

people and recognize the dimensions of individual differences Second they may

facilitate to explain behavior Third traits help to predict the behavior Thus

personality helps in describing explaining and predicting individual differences

which are the hallmarks of good scientific theory

Psychological traits are fairly organized and enduring Personality is

organized because it includes decision rules and it is relatively enduring over time

and situation However some situation may be over-powering and suppress the

expression of psychological traits The person-environment interaction is a complex

personality feature and is difficult to describe The interaction with situations

included perceptions selections evocations and manipulations People interpret or

see an environment choose situations to enter and go about show reactions which

6

are produced in others and manipulate the ways to influence others All these forms

of interaction are important to understand the links between the personalities of

people and the nature of their environment

Adaptive functioning is another main feature of personality dealing with

coping adjusting and dealing with the challenges of life Generally the human

behavior is goal-directed functional and purposeful This adaptation is with

reference to physical social and intra-psychic environment The physical

environment often poses challenge for people which may be a direct threat to

survival Social environment also poses adaptive challenges The way one struggles

for belongingness love and esteem is actually coping with social environment

People have dreams needs fantasies are nevertheless real to everyone as an

important part of their psychological reality Thus social physical and intra-psychic

environment provides an important context for understanding human personality

Domains of Knowledge

The field of personality can be smartly segmented into different domains of

knowledge These consist of dispositional biological intra-psychic cognitive-

experiential social and cultural and adjustment domains as described by Larson and

Buss (2005) Dispositional domain deals with the individual differences Biological

domain assumed that human is collections of biological system and is illustrated as

the psychophysiology of personality Intra-psychic domain dealt with mental

7

mechanism of personality which generally operates at unconscious level Cognitive-

Experiential domain emphasizes on conscious thoughts feelings desires and beliefs

Adjustment domain referred to the coping adapting and adjusting in day to day

lives In the present study the dispositional domain of personality has been taken as

the theoretical base for exploring individual differences

Historical Background of Traits Research

Sir Francis Galton was the first scientist to recognize that personality

differences in peoplelsquos lives would eventually became encoded into their language

now known as the lexical hypothesis Allport and Odbert (1936) extracted 17953

adjectives and later reduced this gigantic list to 4500 personality describing words

Cattell (1943) as a starting point for his lexical analysis of personality traits reduced

the list and ended with a smaller set of 35 clusters of personality traits Fiske (1949)

later took a subset of 22 of Cattelllsquos 35 clusters and discovered five factors through

factor analysis Fiske is distinguished as the first person to determine five factor

model Tupes and Chiristal (1961) made the next major contribution to the five factor

taxonomy They studied the factor structure of 22 simplified descriptions in eight

samples and ended up with the five factor model Norman (1963) also found five

factors of personality traits Goldberg (1981) based on his lexical project found the

five factors

8

The event that led to the widespread acceptance of FFM among personality

researchers during 1980s was a symposium in Honolulu It is also followed by the

publication of the Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory Revised

(NEO PI-R) by Costa and McCrae (1992a) FFM established the common taxonomy

to understand one another

Taxonomies of Personality

Over the past century dozens of taxonomies of personality traits have been

proposed most of which are found on the intuitions of personality psychologists

Some of the taxonomies that have solid and empirical justifications are discussed

below

Eysenckrsquos Hierarchical Model of Personality

Eysenck (1981) developed a model of personality based on traits believed to

be highly heritable The three main traits were extraversion---introversion (E)

neuroticism---emotional stability (N) and psychoticism (P) and could be remembered

by an acronym PEN Eysencklsquos hierarchical model has super traits at top level and

narrow traits at the second level There is a third level of habitual acts and specific

traits are at the very lowest level

9

Extraversion included a large number of narrow traitsmdashsociable active

dominant lively etc These narrow traits co-vary significantly with each other to

load on the same large factor extraversionlsquo Eysenck and Eysenck (1975) described

extraverts as typically like to attend social parties strives for friendships and seem to

have people around them Introverts in contrast are aloof and distant prefer quiet

time and generally have predictable lifestyle (Larsen amp Kasimatis 1990) Thus

extraversion and introversion are central dimensions of human personality

Neuroticism consisted of a cluster of more specific traits like anxious lacking

self esteem tense moody irritable and guilty High scorers on neuroticism tend to

be worrier anxious and depressed The low-N scorers are more emotionally stable

balanced and calm and collected under stressful situations The third trait

Psychoticism consist of narrow traits like aggressive impulsive egocentric lacking

empathy and antisocial The high-P scorer is typically a solitary individual lacks

empathy laughs when someone gets hurt accidentally and shows insensitivity to the

pain and sufferings of others However the analyses of study by Aziz and Jackson

(2001) suggested that the five factor model was more forceful as compared to three-

factor model in the Pakistani data

Cattellrsquos Taxonomy

Cattell (1943) can be recognized with developing a strong empirical strategy

for identifying the basic dimensions of personality and with stimulating and

10

determining the entire trait approach to personality Cattelllsquos taxonomy consisted of

16 personality factors the largest in terms of the number of factors identified as basic

traits He tried to define describe explain and predict individual differences and

applied factor analysis to understand personality The 16 factors scales are

interpersonal warmth imagination boldness intelligence emotional stability

dominance impulsivity tension conformity insecurity suspiciousness shrewdness

sensitivity self-sufficiency self-discipline and radicalism

Although Cattell (1943) used factor analysis to find out common trait his

theory has not been effectively replicated Second order factor analyses of the 16

Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF Cattell Eber amp Tatsuoka 1970) pointed to

a model similar to the FFM (Cattell 1995 Krug amp Johns 1986) The numbers of

meta-analyses have confirmed the predictive value of Big Five across a wide range

of behavior

Five Factor Model (FFM)

The FFM (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) described the basic dimensions of

personality Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Agreeableness and

Conscientiousness These dimensions have been repeatedly recovered in factor

analyses in varied situations and populations (Costa amp McCrae 1985 Goldberg

1990 McCrae amp Costa 1987 Norman amp Goldberg 1966 Passini amp Norman 1966

Tupes amp Christal 1961) Similarly five factor structure have been reported and

11

evaluated by many investigators (Digman 1990 Digman amp Inouye 1986 Goldberg

1990 1992 John 1990 McCrae amp Costa 1987 McCrae amp John 1992 Wiggins amp

Pincus 1992) In many researches FFM has provided a suitable structure to interpret

and organize other personality systems (McCrae amp Costa 1985a 1989b Piedmont

McCrae amp Costa 1991)

One of the important characteristic of FFM is that the factors are dimensions

where people fall in between the extremes The five main dimensions and their facets

are heritable to some extent (Jang McCrae Angleitner Reimann amp Livesley 1998

Loehlin McCrae Costa amp John 1998) These factors are generally considered

universal recovered even in German and Chinese languages (McCrae amp Costa

1997)

Costa and McCrae used the NEO personality scales as a structure to

incorporate other measurement approaches like those developed by Eysenck (Costa

amp McCrae 1985) Jackson (Costa amp McCrae 1988a) Spielberger (Costa amp McCrae

1987) and Wiggins (McCrae amp Costa 1989b) It included scales like MMPI (Costa

Busch Zonderman amp McCrae 1986) and the MBTI (McCrae amp Costa 1989c)

These results provided commanding evidence in favor of the FFM in

subsuming other trait models of human personality During the last two decades

FFM received the most consideration and support from personality researchers

(Costa amp McCrae 1995a Goldberg 1981 McCrae amp John 1992 Saucier amp

12

Goldberg 1996 Wiggins 1996) as well as strong critics (Block 1995a 2001 Brand

1995 Briggs 1992 Cattell 1996 Costa amp McCrae 1992b 1995b Eysenck 1992

Goldberg amp Saucier 1995 Loevinger 1994 McAdam 1992 Pervin 1994)

FFM got tremendous support from personality psychologists (Digman amp

Shmelyov 1996 Kallasmaa Allik Realo amp McCrae 2000 Rolland Parker amp

Stumpf 1998 Somer amp Goldberg 1999 Tsuji et al 1997) in cross cultural studies

The FFM is claimed to be empirically rooted and theoretically sound model of

personality (as cited in Gill amp Hodgkinson 2007)

Personality and Culture

Recent years have seen an interest in studies of personality and culture

(Church 2001 Church amp Lonner 1998 Lee McCauley amp Draguns 1999 McCrae

2000) McCrae Yik Trapnell Bond and Paulhus (1998) determined the cross

cultural generalization of FFM using Chinese translations and American English of

NEO PI-R on samples in Germany Italy and South Korea The results showed that

the differences between Hong Kong and North American undergraduates and

between undergraduates of European and Chinese living in Canada were cultural in

origin

A significant criterion of the validity of a model of personality is its cross

cultural validity that is independent of culture (John Goldberg amp Angleitner 1984)

13

Berry (1969) suggested classic distinction about research which can be divided into

two categories The emic approach aimed at discovering the constructs specific to

each culture by gathering specific linguistic material in each culture and the etic

approach on the contrary aimed at verifying whether the constructs identified in a

given culture can be found in another context thereby attempting to distinguish

universals In short studies based on the psycho-lexical approach often integrated an

emic approach where as studies using lexical markers or standardized inventories

used an etic approach Some research combined both approaches that are called an

integrated method thus enabling both cross cultural universals and specific

dimensions to be recognized (Katigbak Church amp Akamine 1996 Yang amp Bond

1990 Yik amp Bond 1993) In the present study etic approach was overwhelmingly

used along with emic approach to explore the culture specific aspects related to

personality and vocational interests

During the review of literature there seems to be some dispute on the topic of

personality and culture This controversy is also identified by Knyazev Zupančič

and Slobodskaya (2008) and Triandis and Suh (2002) McCrae and Costa (2003)

claimed that personality traits are enduring tendencies while Shweder (1991) argued

against it and argued that global traits do not exist Applicability of FFM across

Pakistani culture needs to be explored in order to analyze the existing available

literature

14

McCrae and Costa (1997) claimed that personality traits are human universal

and can be found in all cultures Nevertheless the way in which these characteristics

are expressed is shaped by culture and experience (McCrae 2001 2002 McCrae amp

Costa 2008) Allik and McCrae (2004) showed similar personality profiles by

conducting secondary analyses with FFM data from 36 cultures They observed that

European and American cultures were higher in Extraversion and Openness to

Experience and lower in Agreeableness as compared to Asian cultures

Costa Terracciano and McCrae (2001) mentioned smallest gender

differences in personality among Asian and African cultures as compared to Europe

cultures Such studies demonstrated that comparing personality across cultures could

be helpful for understanding the dynamics associated with culture and personality

(Schmitt Allik McCrae amp Benet-Martinez 2007) Finally there is a sort of national

character (see Allik amp McCrae 2004 Schmitt et al 2007) that may interact with

culture to shape the manifestation of acquired needs in work settings

The majority of cross-cultural studies on personality have been conducted

with adults or late adolescents However there are few studies conducting on children

with reference to FFM (Gartstein Knyazev amp Slobodskaya 2005) Few studies

incorporated parentslsquo view of children which may be different in different cultures

These problems can be overcome by comparing cross-cultural differences through

self-reports and opinion from the experts These procedures have been being adopted

in the present study in order to examine the personality and vocational interests of

15

high school students and evaluate the findings with the opinion of the experts A

comprehensive measure of personality has been developed based on FFM by Costa

and McCrae (1992a)

Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO PI-R)

The NEO PI-R (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) is a measure of the five main

domains of personality as well as the 6 facets representing each domain The 5

domain scales and 30 facet scales of the NEO PI-R are

Five Domains Facets

Neuroticism (N)

Anxiety Angry Hostility Depression Self-

Consciousness Impulsiveness Vulnerability

Extraversion (E)

Warmth Gregariousness Assertiveness Activity

Excitement-Seeking Positive Emotions

Openness (O) Fantasy Aesthetics Feelings Actions Ideas

Values

Agreeableness (A)

Trust Straightforwardness Altruism Compliance

Modesty Tender-Mindedness

Conscientiousness (C)

Competence Order Dutifulness Achievement

Striving Self-Discipline Deliberation

Figure 1 Five main Domains and 30 Facets of NEO PI-R

16

NEO PI-R is a well designed instrument The instructions are quite clear and

self-explanatory It has proven its value in personality research and provides

comprehensive assessment of personality and facet traits It is quite useful in any

research on personality correlates like moral development (Lonky Kaus amp Roodin

1984) ego identity status (Tesch amp Cameron 1987) response to psychotherapy

(Miller 1991) and coping with military basic training (Vickers Kolar amp Hervig

1989)

The wide use of NEO PI-R in several cross cultural investigations attested its

broad based applicability and practical validity which has earned a status of cross

cultural instrument (Yang et al 1999) The use of NEO PI-R as an inventory in

English language may be limited to English literate population in Pakistan so the

need was felt to use the already translated version of NEO PI-R in Urdu language

(Chishti 2002) which is a national and widely understood language of Pakistan

NEO PI-R items can be administered orally by an interviewer without loss of

validity (Costa amp McCrae 1992b) It is a useful instrument which can be applied on

different populations It has also been used successfully in college students (Wiggins

amp Pincus 1989) and also on individuals having only high school education One of

the greatest strength of the instrument is its comprehensiveness If some scales are

omitted important relations with other criteria may be missed There is no time limit

for completing NEO PI-R however change can be introduced in the procedures to

17

facilitates individuals with poor reading skills The shorter version of the instrument

is also available

The NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI)

This is a shortened version with only 60 items measuring 5-factors of

personality It is a self-report and can be administered to adults with a 6th grade

reading level The time for administration is 10-15 minutes It correlated with the

NEO PI-R domain scales at 77 to 92 and has a 68 to 86 internal consistency

values However NEOndashFFI (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) measures only the broad five

domains and is not a comprehensive inventory like NEO PI-R which also measures

facets scales representing each main domain Hence NEO PI-R has been used in the

present study to measure the higher and lower order personality pattern of students

Urdu Version of NEO PI-R

The adaptation translation and cross validation of NEO PI-R in Urdu

language has been conducted in Pakistan by Chishti (2002) The back translation

method was used and 4 culture specific items ie 52 68 105 and 157 were adapted

in accordance with Pakistani culture The Urdu version and original English version

of NEO PI-R were administered on sample of Pakistan Air Force cadets The

reliability and validity of the Urdu version of NEO PI-R was established The Alpha

reliability coefficient for Urdu version ranged from 73 (Openness) to 89

18

(Conscientiousness) whereas the Alpha coefficients of English version ranged from

37 (Openness) to 80 (Neuroticism) This research demonstrated that Pakistani

version of Revised NEO Personality Inventory is a reliable and valid instrument for

the Pakistani subjects

Critical Analysis of Five Factor Model of Personality

Block (1995a) and Rounds and Zevon (1983) claimed researchers may group

words together to bias the results of a lexical hypothesis with personality adjectives

to reduce the number of redundant synonyms Block (1995a) identified

developmental issues and limited work experience related to researches conducted on

college students especially when occupational interests were examined In the scope

of the present study these limitations will not matter as Hollandlsquos model was

originally developed with high school and college students

Although validation studies on FFM of personality are well constructed

plentiful and impressive (Juni 1995) however confusion in wording statement and

use of compound sentences may pose validity problems Overall this inventory can

be used in both theory and practice contexts A demographically representative

normative group would help in generalizing the instrument to various populations

Miller (1991) noted that the FFM can be used in treatment plans of patient in a

systematic way without loss of compassion for the patient

19

It has been established that the FFM is quite attuned with well known

psychological theories Although Eysenck (1991) supported the PEN model as more

appropriate but majority of psychologists are in favor of factor-analytic FFM models

in the background of current psychological research (Ewen 1998) The FFMlsquos

compatibility with other models showed that this model is compatible with other

factor-analytical models McMartin (1995) favored the structure of personality

consisting of five big traits rather than Eysencklsquos model

The Five main dimensions have shown convergent and discriminant validity

across different instruments (McCrae amp Costa 1990) Nonetheless shortcomings of

the FFM have been discussed by many researchers (Eysenck 1991 John amp Robins

1993 McAdams 1992 Waller amp Ben-Porath 1987) McCrae and John (1992) have

described there are disputes among five-factorists about the best interpretation of

the factors there are certainly important distinctions to be made at the level of the

more molecular traits that define the factors and it is possible that there are other

basic dimensions of personality (p 177)

McAdams (1992) stated that FFM cannot achieve the title of the unified

psychological theory being just a list of five variables to identify and classify

personality traits Digman (1990) stated that five dimensions of personality can be

measured with high reliability and validity providing support to the personality

structure It appeared that the FFM holds well across cultural context

20

A five-factor outcome was clearly evident in studies conducted in Japan

Philippines and Germany (Digman 1990) One of the limitations of the FFM is that

it failed to anticipate behavior in many situations However FFM was complementary

and combatable to other theories including Freuds highly subjective theory of

psychoanalysis The stumbling block for the greatness of FFM is the criticism that

the model was not a theory rather just an idea for means of classification

The FFM have been well established as predictors of success in many

occupations involving managerial and semi-skilled roles (Barrick amp Mount 1991

Barrick et al 2001 Hurtz amp Donovan 2000 Mount Barrick amp Stewart 1998

Salgado 1998 2003 Tett Jackson amp Rothstein 1991) NEO PI-R offered

information that may be valuable to the counselor or clinician in many ways (Miller

1991 Muten 1991) Two of the NEO PI-R domains Openness and

Conscientiousness are promise to be of particular interest in the area of educational

psychology Vocational interests are strongly related to personality particularly to

Extraversion and Openness (Costa McCrae amp Holland 1984) NEO PI-R scales can

form a useful complement for vocational interests (McCrae amp Costa 1991a)

21

Vocational Interests

Vocational interests have been defined by many researchers (Dawis 1991

Savickas 1999) Interests as activities that are collection of likes and dislikes (Cole

amp Hanson 1978 Strong 1960 Kuder 1977) Bingham (1937) viewed interests as a

dispositional tendency and Carter (1944) described interests as attitudes that reflect

stable personality traits Holland (1973) stated that vocational interests are simply

another aspect of personality hellip If vocational interests are expressions of personality

then it follows that interest inventories are personality inventories (p7)

To be more precise vocational psychology is concerned an individuals

choice of a particular occupation and is related to satisfaction and productivity in it

Strong (1927) published the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) for Men for the

assessment of vocational interests Kuder (1934) introduced the Kuder Preference

Record (Walsh amp Osipow 1986) Holland (1957) published his prolific theory of

vocational choice and developed Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) and Self-

Directed Search to measure interest and personality types In the present study

vocational interests of the students are measured by the Self-Directed Search

22

The Concept of Fit or Congruence

The concept of fit or congruencelsquo between the person and the environment

attracted attention of many psychologists (Edwards 1991 Kristof 1996 Schneider

1987) People choose jobsworking settings which depend on many different factors

like pay and security (Argyle Furnham amp Graham 1981 Furnham amp Koritsas

1990) People have some choices to choose the vocational environment however

vocational choices or preferences are not free from restraints due to personality

influences demographic and economic constraints

Vocational interests reflect individual choices in engaging in tasks and

activities of their choice They liked to be in environments where they are attracted

by the people like them Congruency is the basic concept (French Rogers amp Cobb

1974) of compatibility between personality and the environment For example a

social personality in a social environment would prove to be highly satisfied with

opportunities and rewards

Due to rapid developments in technology the nature of jobs evolves and

changes quickly People can adapt himself to new job and even develop striking

changes in attitudes and work-related behavior Most organizations attempt through

various techniques to motivate individualslsquo behavior by giving remarkable incentives

(Furnham 1994) Even then the individual may quickly develop a misfit while other

23

negotiates for special privileges despite certain constraints (Argyle Furnham amp

Graham 1981)

In Pakistani job market where it is not easy to choose an appropriate career

that suits onelsquos personality and vocational interests thus despite having all the

motivation and suitable skills people may be unable to attain their desired careers

The economic state and policies are reflective of availability of jobs in the region

Moreover some factors like sex culture education social class may hinder people to

choose particular careers which they like most especially in developing countries

There are chances that people may continue to be in the job despite a mismatch

between interests and environment

Hollands typology advocated that congruence between interests and

environment is associated with greater satisfaction and is supported by many others

(Assouline amp Meir 1987 Mount amp Muchinsky 1978 Spokane 1985) There is a

dearth of literature in the field of vocational interests and the work environment in

Pakistani context Hence there is a requirement to investigate the level of congruence

between interests and environment of Pakistani potential workforce

Holland Theory of Vocational Choices

The work of Holland (1973 1985a and 1997) in the domain of vocational

interests stands out like a colossus He introduced an occupational classification

24

system (1958 1959 1966a 1966b) and a theory of vocational interests which

attracted substantial attention (Campbell amp Borgen 1999 McDaniel amp Snell 1999

Tracey amp Rounds 1993 1997)

Holland explicitly recognized the role of personality (1959 1966a 1973

1997) in his theory of vocational personalities and work environments He is of the

view that individuallsquos satisfaction depends on the match between hisher personality

and occupational environment

Although there was a criticism on Hollandlsquos typology (eg Gati 1991) yet

it has been widely studied in the vocational literature It has been emerged repeatedly

in cross-cultural analyses (Day amp Rounds 1998) and its generalizability has been

supported in large samples (Rounds amp Tracey 1993 Tracey amp Rounds 1993)

Holland (19731985a) theorized that personality traits self-knowledge and

occupational knowledge reflect career choices In making career choices

environmental factors like family school and social environment have a large role to

play Despite these constraints individuals searched for the type of environment

that suitscongruent with their personality type The theory specified a hexagonal

structure wherein each of the six RIASEC types appears on one point of the hexagon

It is assumed that adjacent types are most similar than types positioned opposite of

one another on the hexagon The types placed on alternate positions have a moderate

level of similarity Hollandlsquos career theory is based on concepts like match between

25

interest and work environment (congruence) difference between the highest and

lowest interest (differentiation) and similarity between the top few interests

(consistency) as mentioned by Leong and Gupta (2006) The hexagonal structural of

Holland model is represented below

Figure 2 Hexagonal structure of Holland Model (1985a)

Note R = Realistic I = Investigative A = Artistic S = Social E = Enterprising C = Conventional

Thus R-I relationship would be more consistentcongruent then R-A which is

on alternate type R-S relationship would be least consistent which are placed

opposite to each other The six personality types and their personality description are

shown below

I

E S

C A

R

26

The Realistic type like realistic jobs Has

mechanical abilities but may lack social

skills Is described as

Asocial Inflexible Practical

Conforming Materialistic Self-Effacing

Frank Natural Thrifty

Genuine Normal Uninsightful

Hardheaded Persistent Uninvolved

The Investigative type likes

investigative jobs Has mathematical and

scientific ability but often lacks

leadership ability Is described as

Analytical Independent Rational

Cautious Intellectual Reserved

Critical Introspective Retiring

Complex Pessimistic Unassuming

Curious Precise Unpopular

The Artistic type likes artistic jobs Has

writing musical or artistic abilities but

often lacks clerical skills Is described as

Complicated Imaginative Intuitive

Disorderly Impractical Nonconforming

Emotional Impulsive Open

Expressive Independent Original

Idealistic Introspective Sensitive

The Social type like social jobs Has

social skills and talents but often lack

mechanical and scientific ability Is

described as

Ascendant Helpful Responsible

Cooperative Idealistic Sociable

Empathic Kind Tactful

Friendly Patient Understanding

Generous Persuasive Warm

The Enterprising type like enterprising

jobs Has leadership and speaking

abilities but often lacks scientific ability

Is described as

Acquisitive Energetic Flirtatious

Adventurous Excitement- Optimistic

Agreeable seeking Self-Confident

Ambitious exhibitionistic Sociable

Domineering Extroverted Talkative

The Conventional type like conventional

jobs Has clerical and arithmetic abilities

but often lacks artistic ability Is

described as

Careful Inflexible Persistent

Conforming Inhibited Practical

Conscientious Methodical Prudish

Defensive Obedient Thrifty

Efficient Orderly Unimaginative

Figure 3 The personality types (Holland 1985a)

27

Hollandlsquos hexagon typically has been measured comprehensively with the

Self-Directed Search (SDS) (Holland 1985a) The other measures are the Strong

Interest Inventory (SII) (Hansen 1984 Hansen amp Campbell 1985 Harmon Hansen

Borgen amp Hammer 1994) and the Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) (Holland

1985c)

Hollands measure has been applied in many settings like in managerial work

(Maurer amp Tarulli 1997) It has also been applied to the situations like career change

(Oleski amp Subich 1996) and academic comfort (Mullis Mullis amp Brailsford 1997)

Career development over the life span has been studied by Richards (1993)

Concurrent validity studies have been conducted using Hollands measures in many

studies (Bikos Krieshok amp OBrien 1998 Harmon Borgen Berreth King Schauer

amp Ward 1996 Zachar amp Leong 1997)

Hollands personality types have been related with other personality measures

like the MBTI (Nordvik 1996) and the NEO-PI (Holland Johnston amp Asama

1994) It has also been related with the EPQ (Goh amp Leong 1993) Bem Sex Role

Inventory (Miller Knippers Burley amp Tobacyk 1993) and Attachment styles

(Randolph amp Waldrop 1995)

Various cross-cultural validations studies have been conducted on Hollands

theory in countries like Hong Kong (Farh Leong amp Law 1998) Britain (Furnham

Toop Lewis amp Fisher 1995) and Portugal (Alves Joaquim amp Hood 1995) A

study conducted by Haverkamp Collins and Hansen (1994) and Ryan Tracey and

Rounds (1996) found mixed support for the theory in Asian-American employees

28

and in African-American and white high school students However cross cultural

validation of Holland theory in Pakistan conducted by Naheed (1988) provided some

support for the theory

In the existing literature congruence satisfaction relationship has got mixed

support Young Tokar and Subich (1998) found that the congruence--satisfaction

relation as a function of personality type while Furnham (1994) noted that

extroversion and neuroticism may be associated with job satisfaction Carson and

Mowsesian (1993) found little support for the congruence--satisfaction relationships

The present study would help in identifying the level of congruence between the

interests and aspirations of students

In Pakistan the Holland theory was applied but with some adaptation there

are few occupations which are totally uncalled for Pakistani population and they even

do not know about them Therefore there was a requirement to adapt this model to

the Pakistani population The adaptation and translation of SDS was carried out by

Naheed (1988) in accordance to the cultural relevance of Pakistani population and is

used in the present study to measure the vocational interests

Cross cultural studies revealed mix support for the Holland model A meta-

analysis by Rounds and Tracey (1996) is supportive of Hollandlsquos model from

samples in the United States Rounds and Day (1999) suggested cross cultures

representations of work might exist emphasizing the importance of structure of

vocational interest across diverse cultures (Fouad 1999) There might be different

clustering of interests as proposed by Holland due to idiosyncratic aspects of

29

occupational perceptions within a cultural context (eg Law Wong amp Leong

2001) Hence applicability of Hollandlsquo model on high school students in Pakistani

culture need to be explored in order to add to the existing cross cultural literature on

vocational interests

Self Directed Search (SDS)

The Self Directed Search (Holland 1985a) is a self-administered and self

interpreted vocation counseling tool It consists of two booklets an assessment

booklet and an occupational classification booklet The SDS was developed with

purpose to provide a vocational counseling to those who do not wish to have access

to vocational counselors The SDS and its underlying typology have also proved to

be helpful research tools in education business and social science

The SDS increases self understanding satisfaction with current vocational

aspirations and interests In three experiments (Avallone 1974 Krivatsy amp Magoon

1976 Nolan 1974) the beneficial effects of the SDS have proved equal to those of

professional counselors The use of SDS is controlled by its user it stimulates

initiative and learning It eliminates the need for separate answer sheets proctors

special testing dates mailing delays scoring-service costs scoring stencils and

elaborate and complex score reports Norms are incorporated in the three letter

occupational codes

30

The SDS is an outgrowth of a theory of vocational interests (Holland 1959

1966b 1973 1985a) which has undergone extensive investigation and won wide

acceptance The relations between personal characteristics and the occupations in the

occupations finder are easily understood because they are grouped by the same code

letters used to summarize a personlsquos characteristics The personal assessment is

carried out on SDS by scoring the scales activities competencies occupations and

self estimates each representing six RIASEC personality types Scores are added

against RIASEC personality types The first three highest scores are the three-letter

summary codes A person compares all the three summary codes with the

occupations in the occupation finder For instance a person has the highest three

summary codes as ESA which match with the occupation lawyerlsquo in the occupation

finder

The first edition of SDS was published in 1971 The 1977 edition closely

resembled 1971 edition however many inconspicuous changes were also made In

1985lsquos edition 59 of the 228 items were revised The most obvious change was the

doubling of the occupational finder from 500 occupations to more than 1100

occupations The Form Easy (E) was developed for adolescents and adults with

limited reading skills The booklet ―you and your career (Holland 1985b) was

developed to make the SDS a more complete and self-directed experience explaining

the typology and dealing with some common interpretive problems The dictionary

of Holland occupational codes is a translation of the Dictionary of occupational titles

(DOT US Department of Labor 1977) into the Holland (1985a) classification

31

system The computer version was developed in 1985 and computer assisted

assessments became common later on (Chauvin amp Miller 2009)

The ease with which the typology and the SDS can be used understood and

communicated has lead to numerous unanticipated adaptations and revisions

Research on the SDS or its adaptations has been conducted in Australia Canada

Japan Netherlands New Zealand Switzerland Italy Israel Nigeria and Guyana

The SDS was found valid and reliable in many countries including China South

Africa and Slovenia (Holland 1995) The same is the case in Pakistan where SDS

has been translated and adapted into Urdu language (Naheed 1988) and was found

valid and reliable The vocational interests of the high school students were measured

in the present study by Urdu translated version of SDS

The SDS is most effective in private settings but the device has also been

used successfully in small groups of 15 to 25 If larger groups must be used monitors

familiar with the SDS are needed for every 25 to 30 persons The SDS is clearly

suitable for persons aged 15 and older but the upper and lower limits have not been

well investigated The reading level is estimated to be at the seventh and eighth grade

levels according to the Dale and Chall (1948) readability formula The SDS with

minor changes has been used successfully with young children males and females

high schoolers college students employed adults Spanish-American and American

Indians

32

Gender Differences

The inconsistent results on gender differences may be due to the different

samples used and to some extent due to cultural differences Holland Fritzsche and

Powell (1997) found that Realistic and Social types are related to gender in high

school students There were significant gender differences in a sample of African

American college students (Swanson 1992) male students had significant higher

scores on realistic investigate enterprising and conventional Holland codes as

compared to female Similar findings were also reported by Hines (1983) on a

sample of black college students Leong Austin Sekaran and Komarraju (1998)

found female workers had higher scores on realistic investigative artistic social

and enterprising than male workers in India

Tang (2001) stated that female students had higher scores on Artistic Social

and Conventional as compared to male students in China Tak (2004) examined

significantly higher scores in realistic enterprising and conventional for male

students and higher scores in artistic and social types for female students The same

findings were reported by Robertu Fox and Tunick (2003)

Mau and Bikos (2000) viewed adolescentslsquo occupational aspirations as

significant determinant of both short-term educational and long-term career choices

and career self-concept (Rojewski 1999) The more the adolescents get mature it is

easier to tap their abilities interests and values in forming their occupational

aspirations (Super 1990)

33

Vocational Aspirations

According to Holland (1962) while testing the predictive validity of a

personlsquos stated vocational aspiration it was discovered that such aspirations

predicted the category of the subsequent aspiration more efficiently than the high-

point code of the VPI or selected scales from the old SVIB Holland (1968)

explained that the most recent preferences are good estimates of what heshe will

choose or do next Consequently it seemed a good idea to have an aspirations section

in the SDS The inclusion of this list of vocational aspirations has proved valuable in

several ways (1) Coding the vocational aspirations leads to efficient predictions of

future aspirations and jobs (2) Discrepancies between the code of the current

aspiration and the SDS code can be used to promote self-understanding and

discussion (3) Assessing a personlsquos expressed aspirations emphasizes the importance

of a personlsquos self-direction and initiative

Daydream Codes

A personlsquos past and current aspirations are elicited in the daydreams section

of SDS The construct and predictive validity of these aspirations is usually as useful

as test information Counselors should notice the first letter code of the three most

recent vocational aspirations If they are the same (eg teacher social worker

recreation directormdashall Slsquos as per occupational finder book) then the likelihood of

the person maintaining a social aspiration is high If the first two of the three

34

aspirations have the same first letter code the predictive validity of the first

aspiration is moderate If the first three aspirations listed belong to different

occupational categories the predictive validity of the current aspiration is low

(Touchton amp Magoon 1977 Olsquo Neil amp Magoon 1977)

Daydream Code vs SDS Code

Several understandings are necessary for the skillful use of the occupational

classification First the codes are approximate not precise Consequently the degree

of discrepancy between SDS codes and occupational codes is rough not precise

Second the first letter of the occupational code is most important most descriptive

and more reliable Although codes shift slightly from sample to sample changes in

the first letter of the code are infrequent Changes in the second and third letters of

codes occur more frequently Third the distribution of occupational codes among

and within the six main categories is extremely uneven The data suggested that

people with flat profiles contradictory profiles or profiles with rare summary codes

present a variety of questions and problems These people have the greatest need of

professional assistance constructive work experience and information (Holland

1985a)

The relation between the code of the current vocational aspiration and the

SDS summary code is very significant When the first letter code of the current

aspiration and the SDS are the same the likelihood of a person maintaining that

aspiration is very high Three studies (Holland amp Lutz 1968 Holland amp Gottfredson

35

1975 Borgen amp Seling 1978) indicated that when interest inventories and reported

aspirations are in disagreement the predictive validity of the vocational aspiration

exceeds that of the interest inventory although the efficiency of this prediction is

much less than when inventory and aspiration are in agreement Hence there is a

requirement to investigate the level of congruence between vocational interests and

vocational aspirations of students within the purview of present study

In evaluating degree of agreement between SDS codes aspirations or

occupational choice the Zener-Schnuelle index (Zener amp Schnuelle 1976) can be

used Iachan (1984) has provided a mathematically more satisfying solution for

determining the agreement between any pair of three-letter codes in a six-variable

system A simpler index of agreement between any two codes can also be obtained

by employing the hexagonal model This simple procedure correlates about 75 with

the Zener-Schnuelle Index The scoring procedure entailed comparing the first letter

codes for the current vocational aspiration and the SDS The higher the score the

closer the agreement In the present study the state of congruence between the

vocational aspirations and vocational interests were determined by employing the

hexagonal model The detailed instructions and the scoring procedure for the

hexagonal model are described in Appendix ―A

Martin et al (2009) with reference to German Vocational Training System

argued that vibrant adjustments of aspirations play a decisive role for a successful

outcome from school to work transition Ali and Saunders (2009) explored the career

aspirations of rural Appalachian high school students and found adolescentslsquo

36

educational aspirations were strongly linked to future occupational aspirations and

career choices Numerous studies supported that occupational aspirations lead to

future career choices (Aziz 2001 Bandura 1986 Bandura Barbaranelli Capara amp

Pastorelli 1996 Eccles Wigfield amp Schiefele 1998 Lent Brown amp Hackett 1994

Rojewski 1999)

Career Development in Childhood

The different stages of childhood and adolescence are regarded as the years of

preparation for adulthood which covers primary school and junior high school

children They make certain decisions about their future careers It has been found

that career conscience develops in primary school students hence they can aspire

their careers in a more realistic way (Auger Blackhurst and Wahl 2005 Magnuson

and Starr 2000 Nazlı 2007 Trice and King 1991 Walls 2000)

Tokar Fischer amp Subich (1998) determined junior high school students can

associate their own characteristics with careers in Turkey Hirschi (2010) examined

the development and reciprocal interaction of vocational interests and career goals

and the relation of their development to basic personality traits in middle

adolescence According to Gottfredson (2002) career aspirationsgoals begin

developing in early childhood by eliminating occupational alternatives that conflict

with onelsquos self-concept Patton and Creed (2007) surveyed Australian high school

students on measures of occupational aspirationsexpectations and career status

aspirationsexpectations

37

The occupational interests and individual personality traits are related have

been found in the literature review (Betz amp Borgen 2000 Costa McCrae amp

Holland 1984 De-Fruyt amp Mervielde 1997 Goh amp Leong 1994 Gottfredson

Jones amp Holland 1993 Hogan amp Blake 1999 Holland Johnston amp Asama 1994

Ozone 1998)

Costa et al (1984) investigated the relationship between personality styles

and vocational interest and indicated gender differences did exist on scales of the

SDS Women scored higher in Artistic Social and Conventional interests and lower

in Realistic Investigative and Enterprising interests Furthermore significant

correlations existed between Investigative and Artistic vocational interests and

Openness and between Social and Enterprising vocational interests and Extraversion

across genders Gottfredson et al (1993) found similar results with the exception of

considerably smaller coefficients than Costa et al (1984)

Interest in examining relationships between personality and vocational

interests has long been examined so there is a requirement to deliberate on the

relationship between personality and vocational interests in Pakistani context

38

Personality and Vocational Interests

Terman (1931) stated ―For understanding an individuallsquos total personality it

is absolutely necessary to know something about the kinds and intensity of his

interests (p xvii) Darley (1941) said that interest development is an outgrowth of

personality development Berdie (1944) said that studies of interests are actually

studies of motivation and understanding the determinants of interests will solve the

riddles of personality origins Berdie hinted that interests and personality share

similar structures because they arise from similar causal determinants Darley and

Hagenah (1955) reviewed this topic extensively placing vocational interest within

personality theory Savickas (1999) masterfully surveyed the history of thought about

the theoretical meaning of interests and personality

Hollandlsquos hexagon model is the icon for an integrative theory describing

persons and environments and their interaction Several articles supported a more

unified view (eg Ackerman amp Heggestad 1997 Blake amp Sackett 1999 Borgen

1986 1999 Costa et al 1984 Holland 1997 1999 Prediger 1999) Spokane and

Decker (1999) stated ―It is increasingly apparent that interests personality self-

efficacy and other variants of personality and vocational self-concept may be facets

of a unified set of complex underlying traits (p 230)

Dawis (1991) clarified that interests are specific activities to attain values and

meet needs and personality traits are ways of acting to meet needs The relationship

39

between personality and interests would be greatest when there is a match between

individuallsquos behavioral tendencies and preferences Ackerman and Heggestad (1997)

found substantial relationship between personality and vocational interests

Hollandlsquos theory (1973 1985a) postulated that vocational interests are an

expression of personality which explicitly ―infers the structure of personality from

the clustering of vocational interests (Costa et al 1984 p 391) Therefore

Hollandlsquos model and the FFM should correspond meaningfully Goldberg (1990)

recommended further evaluation of the modellsquos comprehensiveness by testing its

capacity to encompass individual differences originating from different domains a

reasonable alternative is the structure of vocational interests Gottfredson Jones and

Holland (1993) have empirically assessed the relationship between the big five and

Hollandlsquos structural models

Personality-interest overlap by many researchers using SII (Harmon Hansen

Borgen amp Hammer 1994) and NEO-Personality Inventory-Revised (Carless 1999

Costa amp McCrae 1992a Gottfredson et al 1993 Tokar amp Swanson 1995) have

been explored The meta-analyses between personality and vocational interest have

empirically synthesized this relationship (Barrick et al 2003 Larson et al 2002)

The meta-analysis of Big Three and the Big Six have also been conducted (Staggs

2004) The present study found out the relationship between FFM including its facet

scales with six personality types

40

It is empirically well established that vocational interests show meaningful

relations to basic traits (Barrick et al 2003 Larson et al 2002) although not many

studies with adolescents are available (Hirschi amp Laumlge 2008 Larson amp Borgen

2006) The strongest and most consistent relations across studies are reported

Artistic interests relate moderately (r around 40 to 50) to the openness to experience

domain enterprising interests relate 20 to 50 with the extraversion domain social

interests relate moderately to the extraversion domain (r around 30 to 40)

investigative interests overlap 20 to 60 with the openness to experience domain

(Costa McCrae amp Holland 1984 De Fruyt amp Mervielde 1997 Gottfredson et al

1993 Holland et al 1994 Tokar amp Swanson 1995 Tokar Vaux amp Swanson

1995) and finally social interests correspond modestly (rs around 20) with the

agreeableness domain (De Fruyt amp Mervielde 1997 Tokar et al 1995) Realistic

interests and neuroticism domains were generally non-significantly correlated to

personality trait or interest type respectively

Sullivan and Hansen (2004) viewed interests as activities that are enjoyable

and motivating for individuals whereas personality are behavioral tendencies help in

motivation and determining success in particular activities They suggested the

importance of examining personality traits at facet levels and found that

extraversionlsquos underlying facets (warmth vs assertiveness) related differentially to

enterprising and social interests This distinction cannot be understood by simply

examining the main domain of extraversion Thus individual who is interested in

sales career would be happy and successful if heshe possesses assertivenesssocial

41

dominance disposition which is related to enterprising interests Heshe may not be

very successful if primarily possesses the warmthsociability disposition that is

related to social interests Logue et al (2007) investigated the five main domains

along with narrow personality facet traits He also investigated the vocational interest

linkage to satisfaction with major for college students

Tokar et al (1998) examining the five main domains reported the consistent

linkage between personality and vocational interests They found extraversion

domain correspond with enterprising and social vocational interests whereas

Openness domain has moderate relationship with artistic and investigative interests

Conscientiousness was linked to conventional interests while Agreeableness was

related with social vocational interests Neuroticism domain was generally not found

to be correlated with any vocational interests Similar findings were reported by

Ackerman and Heggestad (1997) and by Carless (1999)

This showed that consistent patterns of relationships between personality and

vocational interests have been established The meta-analysis conducted by Larson et

al (2002) found openness to be related to artistic (r =48) and investigative interests

(28) Extraversion was related to enterprising (r =41) and social interests (r =31)

Realistic interests and Neuroticism domains were not found related personality and

vocational interests respectively These findings suggested that vocational interests

may not be considered as part of individuallsquos personality disposition (Bordin 1943

Holland 1997 Tokar amp Swanson 1995 Tussing 1942)

42

In another meta-analysis examined by Barrick et al (2003) substantial

relationships between enterprising and artistic interests with extraversion and

openness to experience personality domain were obtained On the other hand the

realistic interests were not related to any personality traits RIASEC types were

regressed on the FFM scores showed a multiple R of 11 for realistic 26 for

investigative 42 for artistic 31 for social -47 for enterprising and 27 for

conventional types This meta-analysis concluded that there is relationship between

personality traits and vocational interests yet they are not identical and substitutes

for each other

Ackerman and Heggestad (1997) reviewed the relationship between

Hollands vocational interests and the FFM and found agreeableness is not related to

any vocational interests The same conclusion was reported for Neuroticism

However conscientiousness was related to conventional interests whereas

extraversion was related to enterprising and social interest Openness domain was

related with investigative artistic and social interest types They reported their

results based on three studies (Goh amp Leong 1993 Gottfredson et al 1993 Kanfer

Ackerman amp Heggestad 1996)

Empirical differences also emerged while comparing results from a study

conducted by De Fruyt and Mervielde (1999) with those of Ackerman and Heggestad

(1997) De Fruyt and Mervielde (1999) found a non significant relationship between

Investigative and Openness but found enterprising types to be significantly related to

43

conscientiousness Agreeableness was significantly related to the social and the

enterprising type Emotional stability is associated with the enterprising type and

conventional type whereas Ackerman and Heggestad (1997) did not However

consistent relationship existed between some of the personality traits and some of the

vocational interests The present study is designed to further authenticate this

consistent relationship in Pakistani context

Holland (1996) suggested that the six RIASEC types have ―strong to weak

relationships with four of the Big Five factors (p 400) Similarly a moderately

strong correlation was found between extraversion and openness personality traits by

Digman (1997)

The renaissance of interest and research in personality-interests relationship

suggested that FFM of personality traits as it relates to the Hollandlsquos model be

examined especially in the scope of present study Extraverts are very keen to obtain

organizational goals (Costa amp McCrae 1992a Goldberg 1992) Thus desire to

influence others and achieve economic gains is basic traits of extraverts (Gray

1987) Thus it can be concluded that those who are extraverted are more likely to

have preferences for enterprising and social jobs (Ackerman amp Heggestad 1997

Barrick amp Gupta 1997 De Fruyt amp Mervielde 1999 Gottfredson et al 1993)

Agreeableness domain is mainly related to social relations between each

others Those who are philanthropic gracious and eager to help others (Costa amp

McCrae 1992a) are high scorer on agreeableness domains Goldberg (1992) also

44

found that kindness generosity and fairness are related to high scorer on

agreeableness and they usually strive for cooperation rather than competition (Costa

amp McCrae 1992a) This suggested that agreeableness is likely to be related to social

vocational interests Previous Researches also supported significant relation

relationship between agreeableness and social interests (Barrick amp Gupta 1997 De

Fruyt amp Mervielde 1999)

Those who are high scorer on Openness to Experience are generally

imaginative possess intellectual curiosity and have originality On the other hand

artistic and investigative types are related to characteristics like abstraction insight

nonconformity and originality This suggested that there is a conceptual overlap

between openness to experience and artistic and investigative interests The same has

also been suggested by Barrick and Gupta (1997) and is supported by some more

studies (Ackerman amp Heggestad 1997 Gottfredson et al 1993)

Individuals who are high on neuroticism are especially attracted to jobs that

are relatively stressed free However stress is part and parcel of day to day routines

in organizational setup suggesting misfit for high scorer on neuroticism Emotional

stability and characteristics associated with Holland type are not found to be related

Therefore it is believed that scores on emotional stability will not be related to any

of the RIASEC types (Barrick amp Gupta 1997) Similar findings were reported by

Ackerman and Heggestad (1997) between any Holland type and emotional stability

45

Consequently a weak relationship is expected between emotional stability and any of

the six Holland personality types

The realistic type is non-significantly related to any personality dimension as

suggested by some studies (Ackerman amp Heggestad 1997 Barrick amp Gupta 1997

Costa et al 1984 De Fruyt amp Mervielde 1999 Tokar amp Swanson 1995) Since no

FFM personality trait are associated with preferences for aggressive action physical

activities and motor skill therefore personality traits are least expected to correspond

with realistic interests

People who scored high on conscientiousness are dependable orderly and

hardworking Thus conscientiousness is related to achievement striving (Digman

1990 Watson Clark amp Harkness 1994) These traits are essential for the success

and are related to the performance in all jobs (Barrick amp Mount 1991 Barrick et al

2001) It is expected that conscientiousness and conventional interests are more

relevant to each other Several studies have rendered support for conscientiousness

being positively related to conventional types (Ackerman amp Heggestad 1997

Barrick amp Gupta 1997 De Fruyt amp Mervielde 1999 Gottfredson et al 1993)

Costa et al (1984) found neuroticism correlated weakly with the artistic type

extraversion was strongly positively correlated with the enterprising type Openness

was strongly positively correlated with the artistic type Tokar and Swanson (1995)

concluded that openness and extraversion are particularly related to Holland model

The findings presented partial support to the existing body of literature about five-

46

factor model which claimed that it can assimilate organize and interpret other

structural model of personality

Similar conclusions were also reported by Schinka Dye and Curtiss (1997)

They reported fairly high correlations between extraversion openness and

agreeableness traits with the enterprising artistic and social personality interests

However the relationship between personality and RIASEC types are modest as 16 of

the 30 being less than r = 20 They were of the view that the FFM ―may not provide

powerful predictors of other aspects of global personalities including occupational

interests and possibly extending to other area of personal values preferences and

beliefs (p 366)

Costa McCrae and Kay (1995) have considered how NEO personality

inventory may be used in career assessment They acknowledged that ―personality

inventories should supplement rather than replace vocational interest inventories

(p 130) They were strongly supportive of three sorts of data in career assessment

ability trait and vocational interest They suggested that extraversion openness and

agreeableness of FFM are mostly relevant to vocational interests About neuroticism

they assumed neurotics are ―likely to be unhappy in whatever job they have (p

130) More importantly they distinguished between big five and facet scales Thus

they were of the view that individuals may have identical conscientiousness scores

but one is high in some facet traits and other could have the opposite pattern yet they

would be best suitable to quite different jobs This is apparent that 30 NEO

47

personality inventory facets are very vital and helpful to the expert which facets are

desirable or undesirable for different jobs

Waller Lykken and Tellegen (1995) initially conceptualized the

interrelatedness of personality and interests at a facet level in both domains One of

the limitation found in the literature review is that in most of the studies big five

traits and big six vocational interests were examined while very few studies looked at

the lower order facet level traits In the present study five personality traits were

studied along with the lower order facets in order to obtain detailed view of

personality and vocational interest relationship

Applicability of FFM to Children

The vast majority of studies have been conducted with samples of college

students and adults Whereas the FFM model has been examined and applied to

many populations cultures and domains of behavior (Costa amp Widiger 1994

McCrae 1992) Digman and Takemoto-Chock (1981) and Digman and Inouye

(1986) were the first who demonstrated the possible applicability of the FFM to

children Kohnstamm Slotboom and Elphick (1994) concluded that children of

school age demonstrated the presence of a factor similar to conscientiousness in

adults both in self-descriptions as well as in teacher and parent ratings

48

Farsides and Woodfield (2003) provided mixed empirical support about the

role five traits played in determining academic success Neuroticism was found to be

positively related to academic achievement in middle school but negatively at college

level Similarly extraversion predicted higher grades in middle school but lower

grades at the college level (De Raad amp Schouwenburg 1996 Eysenck 1996) They

proposed several reasons for this discrepancy These are due to small sample sizes

and the use of different personality measures Different criteria for academic success

varying time lapses between the collection of data and age specificity issued may

have jeopardized the results

Laidra Pullmann and Allik (2007) studied two large samples of school

children from 7 to 19 years of age and found the relationship between intelligence

and personality with respect to academic achievement in Estonian schools

Conscientiousness and openness traits have been found relevant to achievement

(Paunonen amp Ashton 2001)

Similarly Hair and Graziano (2003) analyzed five factor traits in middle

school and found correlations with high school GPA Heaven Mak Barry and

Ciarrochi (2002) and Maqsood (1993) examined the relationship between personality

variables and adjective scales for agreeableness and conscientiousness to self-rated

academic performance in adolescents of 14ndash16 years of age None of the three

Eysencklsquos PEN model correlated significantly with GPA in a sample of Russian

adolescents (Slobodskaya Safronova amp Windle 2005)

49

A somewhat different approach was taken by Parker and Stumpf (1998) to

assess personality dimensions according to five factor model on academically

talented youth (mean age = 1377) from the USA They used four different

instruments NEO-FFI ACL MBTI and CCQ The findings largely supported the

conception about FFM that data derived from adults is applicable to academically

talented youth

Chung (1983) administered 120 occupation titles which were derived from

the General Occupational Themes (GOT) of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank

(Campbell 1974) and Hollands Vocational Preference Inventory (1965) In factor

analysis it was clearly seen that Realistic and Investigative correlated more with

Factor II while Artistic Social Enterprising correlated more with Factor I

Conventional was a bi-factor variable It can be said that Factor I is Arts subjects and

Factor II is Science subjects

It is obvious from the above study that according to students choices of

academic subjects the secondary school pupils in Hong Kong are of two main types

arts students and science students Science students preferred occupations of realistic

or investigative types and arts students preferred occupations of artistic social or

enterprising types all of which were their personality types Both science students

and arts students would prefer occupations of conventional type

Larson and Borgen (2006) studied the overlap of the Strong Basic Interest

scales with the facet scales of the NEO-PI-R They found that specific Basic Interest

50

scales could be predicted best from specific facet scales of the NEO-PI-R Public

speaking interests were most related to the assertiveness facet of the extraversion

domain science interests were most related to the ideas facet of the openness

domain and office practices interests were most related to the order facet of the

conscientiousness domain

More studies of this kind need to be done to explicate the links between

interests and personality The present study examining the relationship between

lower order personality facets and vocational interests in high school students may

well locate important interest-personality linkages that are obscured in the more

general big six and big five models

McCrae et al (2002a) were of the opinion that the NEO PI-R could be

significantly used for measuring personality in adolescents Adolescentslsquo self-ratings

have also displayed a structure similar to adults (Allik Laidra Realo amp Pullman

2004 Scholte van Aken amp van Lieshout 1997) Markey Markey Ericksen and

Tinsley (2002) have suggested that preadolescent can also reliably rate themselves

using a standard measure of adult personality (NEO-Five Factor Inventory)

On the other hand many studies have linked personality traits to career

choice and interests among adolescents (Feather amp Said 1983 Hartman Fuqua amp

Blum 1985 Hartman Fuqua amp Hartman 1988 Lokan amp Biggs 1982 Medina amp

Drummond 1993) There has been little research on career decidedness and

personality traits among ―middle adolescents (ie about 14 to 17 years) Even

51

though adolescence is characterized by marked personality change and development

(Piaget 1952) it is also a time when relatively stable personality traits emerge

(McCrae et al 2002b)

Gender Differences on Personality and Vocational Interests

Previous research suggested that there are considerable differences in

vocational interests due to gender (Benbow 1988 Hansen Collins Swanson amp

Fouad 1993 Lubinski amp Benbow 1992) The literature also suggested the

differences between traits and interests on sample of college students when compared

with sample of working adults Goh and Leong (1993) found low to moderate

correlations between personality and RIASEC personality types may be because of

sample of college students They assumed that older adults could be expected to have

more highly differentiated vocational interests

Existing literature showed that differences in personality factors can be

expected for high achiever students (Dauber amp Benbow 1990 Goff amp Ackerman

1992) Same is the case about differences in vocational choices for intelligent

students as compared to average students (Lubinski amp Benbow 1992) Intelligent

students have been found to be high on realistic and investigative categories

(Benbow amp Stanley 1982 Dauber amp Benbow 1990)

52

In supporting the applicability of the FFM in Chinese adolescents Wu

Lindsted Tsai and Lee (2008) used NEO personality inventory revised (NEO-PI-R)

in Taiwanese adolescents Women found to be higher in neuroticism extraversion

and agreeableness scores as opposed to males The gender differences reported in the

study are supportive of the results from other cultures This suggested that the

Chinese NEO-PI-R retains the psychometric properties of other language versions

In a study related to gender differences and personality Costa Terracciano

and McCrae (2001) based on the analyses of NEO PI-R data from 26 cultures (N =

23031) suggested that gender differences replicated across cultures for college age

and adult samples They found that the differences are broadly consistent with

gender stereotypes Personality factors were reasonably unchangeable across ages

Schmitt Realo Voracek and Allik (2009) suggested that sex differences in

personality traits are larger in countries whose cultures are prosperous healthy and

egalitarian Women have more opportunities in such cultures which are equal with

those of men They reported the findings in which women reported higher levels of

neuroticism extraversion agreeableness and conscientiousness than did men across

most nations

Women scored higher scores on social types measured by SDS as these are

related to people and service oriented occupations (Holland et al 1994) Men scored

significantly higher scores on Realistic scales which are related to technical skilled

trades engineering occupations Hansen et al (1993) found different career structure

53

for men and women He assessed sex differences in Hollands hexagon ordering of

career interests as measured by the SII They found that women scores on

Investigative and Realistic scales were highly correlated supporting significant

gender differences on Hollandlsquos model

The literature is rich in studies investigating gender differences in personality

traits (Feingold 1994 Jorm 1987) These differences are replicated regardless of

culture period and instruments used to measure these traits These differences

appeared to be a universal phenomenon (Colom amp Jayme-Zaro 2004) and have been

found among adults children and young people in almost all countries (Barrett amp

Eysenck 1984 Delgado 1995 Francis 1993)

The present study was designed to find out the personality vocational

interests and vocational aspirations of the high school students The differences with

respect to demographic variables on personality and vocational interests were also

determined

54

Rationale of the Study

One of the long held goals of psychology has been to establish a model that

can conveniently describe human personality and can be used in the remedying of

personality disorders and improving general understanding of personality One of the

prominent models in contemporary psychology is what is known as the five-factor

model of personality (Digman 1990) This model incorporated five different

variables into a conceptual model for describing personality Neuroticism

Extraversion Openness Agreeableness and Conscientiousness are five mains

domains of personality which are measured by NEO PI-R (Costa amp McCrae 1992a)

The five factors are sometime referred to as the ―Big Five (Ewen 1998) The FFM

is among the newest models and showed promise to be among the practical and

applicable models available in the field of personality psychology (Digman 1990)

Hollandlsquos model explicitly recognized the role of personality in fact

Hollandlsquos taxonomy is personality taxonomy Holland (1985a) clearly outlined the

domain of personality traits believed to correspond with each of the six personality

types If Holland taxonomy is personality taxonomy then five factor model and

Holland taxonomy should correspond with each other Hollands RIASEC typology

has shown that congruence between interests and environment is associated with

greater satisfaction (Assouline amp Meir 1987 Mount amp Muchinsky 1978 Spokane

1985) ―Congruency is the primary concept (French et al 1974) and refers to the

55

compatibility of the personality and the environment Vocational interests are

multifaceted orientations associated with behaviors that reflected an individuals

choice to engage in tasks and activities they like and to be in environments where

they are surrounded by people who are similar to them

Five factor model of personality and Hollandlsquos model of vocational interests

are most widely accepted and used models in the research literature on personality

and vocational interests Recent trends in literature review showed that there is

consistent pattern of relationship between personality and vocational interests

(Barrett 2009 Barrick et al 2003 Bullock amp Reardon 2008 Ehrhart amp

Makransky 2007 Harris et al (2006) Larson et al 2002 Logue et al 2007

Staggs et al 2007 Zhang 2008) Lot of studies and meta-analyses were conducted

to determine this relationship between personality and vocational interests This

relationship has been described in studies in diverse population and samples

Majority of the studies were conducted on the sample of college students or adults

However few studies were also conducted on the school students The results showed

that general relationship pattern between personality and other variables have been

replicated on the sample of school students (Hair amp Graziano 2003 Laidra et al

2007 Parker amp Stumpf 1998 Wu et al 2008)

In Pakistan there are few studies conducted on the five factor model of

personality (Akhtar 2004 Anis-ul-Haque 2003 Chishti 2002 Safdar 2002

Shaheen 2007 Taj 2003) In these studies Urdu translated versions of NEO PI-R to

56

measure personality were used on Pakistani population Similarly translation and

adaptation of SDS measuring vocational interests on Pakistani High school students

was conducted by Naheed (1988) However the relationship between personality and

vocational interests has not been explored earlier within the context of Pakistani

society

The present study is an endeavor to find out the relationship between

personality and vocational interests among high school students There are many

types and categories of schools in Pakistan There are private schools as well as

government schools The general trend in Pakistan is that parents send their children

to private schools which are also popularly known as English medium schools

However majority of English medium schools are located in the urban localities

Whereas in rural areas there are very few English medium schools in the near

vicinity and therefore the government schools generally cater for the majority of rural

students Another reason for sending the children to government schools is the socio-

economic status of parents The fee structure of government schools is affordable to

commoners in Pakistan

The government schools from both urban and rural areas belonging to

Rawalpindi district are taken in the study In Punjab the biggest province of

Pakistan the government schools have almost the same syllabus and same facilities

in all schools Hence the sample was taken from Rawalpindi district and it was

assumed that the results of the study could be generalized to the population of

57

students of government schools in Punjab Although there are limited facilities in

government school (Memon 2007) the students from these schools are contributing

in the development of Pakistan in different capacities However still there are large

numbers of students who could not complete their studies and might not have

achieved suitable careers Therefore this appears to be a neglected area which

requires immediate attention

The present study also explored the differences in demographical variables on

personality and vocational interests The participation rates of women in occupations

traditionally held by men have increased dramatically in the past few decades Many

more women are becoming doctors bankers human resource managers lawyers and

are working on many executive and managerial positions Overall men and women

still show somewhat different participation rates in the occupations and these

differences seem to be related to differences in values

In Pakistan the students after passing 8th

class have to choose two different

categories of subjects ie the science group and humanities group There are many

career opportunities which are based on these categories of subjects Therefore

students of 9th

and 10th

classes were taken in the study Since there are no career

counselor in the schools to guide the students about suitable career matching their

personality and vocational interests the present study also endeavored to explore the

vocational interest preferences and vocational aspirations of the students Whether

the degree of agreement between vocational aspirations and vocational interests of

58

the students exist To authenticate the results and add in cultural relevance to the

concepts used in the study the opinion of experts about personality and vocational

interests are also incorporated These were the issues which were addressed in the

study

The current study would be helpful in further refinement of the theoretical

framework and explore relationship that exists between personality and vocational

interests Whether the consistent relationship between personality and vocational

interests would replicate in Pakistani context The work values nature of jobs career

opportunities pay structure etc are quite different from western culture Therefore

this study endeavored to explore the relationship between personality and vocational

interest in Pakistani context It further explored the differences of various

demographical variables on personality and vocational interest The current study

will help in generalizing the results and application of two widely used models in

Pakistani context These models have been empirically supported by previous studies

and thus are taken as theoretical framework for the present study The study will also

add to the understanding of career counselors and policy makers about the vocational

aspirations of the students their preferences and level of congruence between

vocational interests and vocational aspirations

The study has been designed into six parts The part 1 of the study was

designed to develop insight and conceptual understanding about the personality and

vocational interests in high school students Part 2 of the study is regarding the

59

development of research instruments Part 3 of the study is designed to find out the

relationship between personality and vocational interests of the students In Part 4

the vocational interests and general pattern for the preferences for occupational types

by the students was studied Part 5 is associated with the degree of agreement

between vocational aspirations and vocational interests of the students Part 6 is

about the evaluation of personality profile by the experts and finally the results were

discussed along with the implications of the study

60

Chapter II

PART 1 - EXPLORATION OF CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING ABOUT

PERSONALITY AND VOCATIONAL INTERESTS OF THE STUDENTS

Majority of the previous researches were conducted on the relationship

between personality and vocational interests among college students and adults

(Ackerman amp Heggestad 1997 Barrick et al 2003 Larson et al 2002) However

the relationship between personality and vocational interests among high school

students is not very prevalent in the reported literature This study was designed to

develop insight and conceptual understanding about the personality and vocational

interests of high school students in Pakistan

The sample selected for the study was consisted of students of government

schools under the administrative control of Punjab (the biggest province in Pakistan)

A large segment of society has low socio-economic status and lives in the urban as

well as rural areas of Pakistan (World Bank 2000) Government schools generally

catered for the students belonging to this segment of society Hence there is a

requirement to understand the dynamics of personality and vocational interests in

students of government schools

The vocational aspirations are also considered as part of Self Directed Search

(SDS) in which participants were asked to give the list of vocational preferences

Since there are no proper mechanisms in Pakistani school where students can be

guided and counseled hence exploring their vocational aspirations is of great

61

importance Vocational aspirations of the students depend on many factors Due to

limited availability of research literature in Pakistan about vocational aspirations

there is a requirement to explore and understand the vocational aspirations of the

students and find out the degree of agreement with vocational interests Gender

differences between the personality vocational interest and vocational aspirations of

the students were also explored The information gathered in this study was quite

helpful in designing the subsequent parts of the research study

Objectives

To develop insight about the personality and vocational interests of high

school students

Method

In this part series of focus groups and interviews were conducted to develop

insight into the study Focus group is a carefully planned discussion designed to

obtain perceptions feelings and manner of thinking about subject under

investigation It provides a fast easy and practical way of getting in touch with the

target population This part of the research consisted of following steps

Step 1 Focus groups with the students

Step 2 Focus groups with the teachers

Step 3 Interviews with the Principals

62

In this study 6 focus groups were conducted 4 with students and 2 with

teachers of different schools The willingness of the participants was taken before

hand and a convenient sampling technique was used in this part of the study Few

guidelines (attached at Appendix ―B) with the help of experts (one PhD scholar and

one MPhil scholar) in the field of psychology were prepared before the focus group

with students in order to get maximum information about the personality development

and vocational choices of the students

Two focus groups were conducted one with male and the other with female

teachers independently The topic guide was prepared with the help of experts (one

PhD scholar and one MPhil scholar) in the field of psychology and attached at

Appendix Clsquo The researcher acted as moderator assisted by one co-moderator

(MPhil in Psychology) Before starting each focus group a brief introduction about

the purpose of the study was provided to the participants The participants in groups

were asked to introduce themselves with each other They were explained the general

rules and discussion guidelines They were given assurance about the confidentiality

of their opinions and comments

According to guidelines prepared for the focus groups participants were asked

open and neutral questions Participants were asked to talk freely with each other and

pay respect to the opinions of others There is no concept of right and wrong answers

in this discussion Separate focus groups were conducted with male and female

students as well as teachers The logic for conducting separate focus groups for male

and female students and teacher was that female students as well as teachers were

reluctant to conduct focus groups with male counterparts All the focus group

63

discussion was transcribed with notes The samples procedures and findings of the

focus groups and interviews are described below

Step 1 Focus groups with students

Total 4 focus groups were conducted with students The details are shown below

Sample

Two focus groups were conducted with the male students Two focus groups

were conducted with female students Two focus groups were conducted with the

students of urban areas (one each with male and female students) and similarly two

focus groups were conducted with the students of rural areas In each focus group 8

participants were selected 4 students from 9th

class (2 each from Science and Arts

group) and 4 students from 10th

classes (2 each from Science and Arts groups) were

selected All the students were from government schools located in Rawalpindi The

age range was from 14 years to 19 years (mean age = 165 years)

Procedure

The participants were approached in the schools with the help of school

administration After getting their consent 8 students were selected for each focus

group They were given oral instructions and general purpose of the study was

explained to them Participants were encouraged to give frank and honest opinion

The session took about 60 to 80 minutes for each focus group The discussion was

64

noted down and at the end participants were acknowledged for their cooperation and

participation

Findings of the Focus Groups with Students

Following information was obtained from the focus groups conducted with the

students

1 Most of the students responded that they were studying because they wanted

to achieve good career and some of them responded to become good human

beings

2 Majority of the male student wanted to become doctor engineer army officers

etc These seem to be the favorite careers for male students in Pakistan While

most of the female students wanted to become doctor teacher lawyer nurse

etc They agreed that there were many factors which influenced them to

choose particular choices as future careers However they were of the opinion

that whatever they had selected best matched with their temperaments

3 Some of the students responded that the idea to adopt their desired career has

not been from the childhood They further responded that with the passage of

time they had changed the profession of their choices This showed that

initially they have choices at fantasy level but with the passage of time they

changed it realistically With regard to future choices majority of the students

were inspired either by the influence of media or by their interactions with

any of the successful close relative

65

4 Most of the students were aware of the basic criteria for the attainment of

choice of profession up to some extent Although they did not have the

complete details about the basic selection criteria about the profession of their

choices however they have working knowledge Students were aware of the

fact that they have to work hard in studies in order to achieve the desired

careers They were also taking interest in games and activities related to their

career choice

5 Students were asked to narrate the benefits which they will have to get after

adopting the particular profession Most of them responded that it would be

interesting and they will get a good job and will be financially better off

They also said that they would get respect in the society and will improve

their personality Once they were asked about the demerits of choosing

particular profession they responded that they may have to go far away from

home and some said that there is a continuous struggle and study in life

6 The students did not have clear second and third choices Some of the

students responded that their second choice would be business while some

were sure to achieve their first career choice Most of the students narrated

that they did not receive any formal guidancecounseling in order to adopt

any career Some of the students said that teachers informally discussed about

their choice of careers This showed that at school level there is no proper

counselingguidance program

7 Most of the students narrated that their fathers had asked to adopt a particular

profession This showed that parents have tried to influence their children for

66

adopting a particular career Most of the students were of the view that their

personality suited to the vocations of their choices and their activities and

interests also matched with the desired careers

8 Science students were interested to become doctors engineers and scientists

etc Majority of the students had opted science group in 9th

class While very

few opted Arts group rather their teachers had put them in Arts groups due to

less marks Science students were of the opinion that if they did not succeed

to achieve the desired careers that depend on science subjects then they could

shift to other many options Arts group students narrated that if they did not

succeed to achieve the career of their choice then they have many other

options including army civil superior services lawyer teacher and even any

government job etc

9 Students were aware of the facts that very few students achieved good marks

to get admission in professional colleges However they said that they are

trying hard to achieve their targets Majority of the students mentioned that

they are not very good in English as a subject They said that they have

problems in spoken English Majority of the students mentioned that they are

very good in Urdu language as compared to English language

Step 2 Focus Groups with Teachers

Two focus groups were conducted with teachers One focus group was

conducted with male teachers and one focus group was conducted with female

teachers The details are shown below

67

Sample

The composition of the focus group included teachers having at least 10 years

of teaching experience Teachers having a minimum stay of 3 years in a school

where science and arts subjects are being taught to students were selected Focus

groups were conducted with teachers selected from six different schools The most

senior teachers teaching Science and Arts subjects were selected Five of them were

vice-principals and 3 were senior teachers There were 8 participants in the focus

group for male teachers 4 teachers were science teachers and 4 teachers were

teaching Arts subjects The age range for male teachers was from 32-48 years and

mean age was (M = 38 years)There were 6 participants in the focus group for female

teachers 3 teachers were science teachers and 3 were teaching Arts subjects The age

range for female teachers was from 30-45 years and mean age was (M = 35 years)

Procedure

The participants were approached in the schools with the help of school

administration After getting their consent the selected participants were briefed

about the purpose of the discussion They were encouraged to give frank and honest

opinion The session started with the introduction of all the participants Initially the

discussion was on general topics but later on it was moved to more specific topics It

was made sure for each participant to get a chance to speak The session took about

60 to 70 minutes for each focus group The discussion was generated focusing on the

individual differences between the students vocational choices of the students

factors affecting them and the procedures adopted in the schools for allotting Science

68

and Arts group The educational policy and curriculum (Aly 2006) and their effects

on helping and guiding the students were also discussed The discussion was noted

down and at the end participants were acknowledged for their cooperation and

participation

Findings of the Focus Groups with Teachers

Followings information was obtained from the focus group conducted with

the teachers

1 According to the teachers there are no significant things in curriculum which

could be helpful for the students to set direction for their future adjustments

Similarly the educational policy was also not very lucid (Zaman 2008) in this

regard

2 Schools have their own method of allotting Science and Arts groups to

students however generally the criteria to allot Science group and Arts group

are based on marks Students who get more marks are placed in Science

group while those who scored less marks are placed in Arts group However

sometimes preference is given to the choices of students as well It was also

observed that students after passing grade 8th have to choose between two

major groups ie Science group and Arts group The subjects and the

curriculum taught at the schools are not much helpful in choosing suitable

careers Majority of the schools in Rawalpindi city have science group in

Matriculations While very few offered both Science and Arts group In some

of the schools the strength of student either in science or in arts groups was

69

very low There are differences between science and arts students regarding

choice of careers

3 There are lot many private English medium schools in urban areas whereas

very limited such opportunity are available in rural areas Only government

schools catered for the majority of rural population Generally speaking due

to low socio economic status of parents children are being sent to

government schools There are separate schools for boys and girls hence no

coeducation in government high schools Teachers are of the opinion that the

fee structure of government schools is very reasonable and people with less

income can afford to send their children in government schools

4 In some schools even the shortage of teaching staff lack of adequate funds

and facilities were also mentioned by the teachers According to them proper

facilities should be provided to the government schools They considered

teachers as low paid employees They admitted that teachers sometimes

behaved harshly with the students According to teachers students have

limited career choices due to non availability of job opportunities for them

They said that most of the students are interested to join jobs in public sector

Female students have even more limited careers choices due to socio-cultural

scenario and non availability of job opportunities for them However they are

very eager to join even the non-traditional careers which were not encouraged

earlier for females

5 Teachers are of the opinion that some of the students are very hard working

and achieved outstanding results while majority of the students are just

70

mediocre They said that there are many factors which influence the

vocational aspirations of the students

6 They said that well trained career counselor should be appointed in the

schools to help students identifying their true potentials It will also be helpful

in guiding the students to achieve suitable careers Teachers said that they

tried to guide the students about their career choices They said that students

are very keen to choose desired profession and are well aware about the basic

requirement of achieving the desired profession

Step 3 Interviews with the Principals of Schools

Few interviews were also conducted with the principals from both Boys and

Girls government Schools These were unstructured interviews however the focus

was on the guidelines prepared for the focus groups Principals from 4 boy and 3 girl

government schools were interviewed The schools were both from urban and rural

areas All the principals had at least 20 years of service It took about 30 to 45

minutes for each interview The researcher was accompanied by one well trained

assistant All the details and information were transcribed by taking short notes All

the principals were briefed about the purpose of the study They were assured about

the confidentiality of the interviews Initially general discussion was started followed

by asking specific questions based on the guidelines prepared for the focus groups

for teachers and students Detail information was collected which were given below

71

Findings of the Interviews with Principals of Schools

Maximum information was collected from interviews Followings were the

observations based on the content analysis and feedback received from the

interviews

1 All the principals were highly qualified and experienced teachers Majority of

the principals were satisfied by the performance of their students It was felt

that there are lack of proper facilities shortage of teachers and limited

allocation of funds for the government schools

2 They said that there are some highly qualified teachers in the schools

Principals are of the strong opinion that career counselors should immediately

be posted to each school

3 They said that students had different attractive vocational aspirations however

very few able to achieve them There are gender differences between students

about vocational interests Science and arts students also differed with each

other about the vocational interests They were of the opinion that limited

career opportunities are available for the students in public sector Students

belonging to rural areas should be given some incentives in terms of marks

and scholarships to compete with the students of urban areas

4 Well paid and highly qualified teachers should be posted to these categories

of schools Rural areas schools catered for large number of students hence

their standard should be enhanced by providing latest audio-visual and

electronic equipments Principals were of the opinion that the government

should enhance educational budget for government schools A large number

72

of talents can be polished to become good citizen by providing proper

facilities and guidance to the students of government schools

5 It would be of great significance if the vocational aspirations of the students

are based on their related interests and competencies Moreover they should

be provided opportunities to join the occupations of their interests They are

very likely to excel in the field of their interests

Discussion

The present study was planned to get insight about the personality and

vocational interests of high school students With the help of literature review

researcher was able to identify certain issues related to personality and vocational

interests of different samples However issues related to personality and vocational

interests of Pakistani school students are of great importance In Pakistan the students

of high schools have to decide two major categories of science and arts (humanities)

group These distinctions are of paramount importance because many careers depend

on the distinctions of these subjects For instance doctors and engineers are the

profession which can only be achieved by science students Therefore this stage is very

important for students in decision making about future career

The findings of this part of the study revealed that there are gender differences

between the vocational interests of the students Male students have preferences for

different occupations while females have preferences for some other occupations

Similarly these differences were also observed for science and arts group students

73

There were many factors which influenced the choices of the students Since

this study dealt with the personality and vocational interests of the students who are

yet not admitted in any professional college so the vocational aspirations of the

students were of great concern Although vocational aspirations are part of

vocational interests measured by SDS but the findings of focus groups and interviews

suggested that some in depth analysis on vocational interests of the students need to

be carried out

According to Hollandlsquos model (Holland 1994) when there is congruence

between vocational aspirations and vocational interests there are more chances for

the individual to succeed in their desired career The findings of this part of the study

also observed that there are gender differences about the vocational aspirations of the

students It was also noticed that science and arts group students have different

vocational aspirations depending on the subjects which they are studying The

present study also endeavored to explore the vocational aspirations of the students

and find out the degree of agreement between vocational aspirations and vocational

interests measured by Hollandlsquos model Gender differences about the vocational

aspirations of the students were also explored

The sample selected for the study was from government schools which are

located in urban as well as rural areas Majority of the students were of same socio-

economic background In rural areas there are very few private schools while

majority of the students are being catered for by the government schools Another

reason for choosing government schools in the study was that majority of the

population lives in rural areas therefore students from these areas are being

74

accommodated by these schools Neglecting these government schools in term of

facilities meant that government is neglecting the educational rights of majority of

the rural population Hence there is a requirement to deeply analyze the personality

and vocational interests of the students of government schools Another point of

concern was that there are no career counselors in the schools to guide and counsel

the students according to their vocational interests Hence the vocational aspirations

as well as vocational interests of the students also need to be explored in depth

The main study exploring conceptual understanding related to personality and

vocational interests was conducted on 9th

and 10th

class students The effects of

demographical variables were also observed both on personality and vocational

interests independently The sample selected may not be mature enough and the

findings of the study need to be validated for cultural relevance by the experts of

different fields Although the findings obtained by conducting focus groups and

interviews showed that students were well aware about their vocational aspirations

have matching personality and interests with the desired careers and are striving hard

to achieve them However it was felt that opinion of experts of different fields may

be obtained about the personality profiles related to their occupations Experts were

also requested to categorize the matching personality types mentioned by Holland

model (Holland 1985a) with their respective occupations in Pakistani context

The consistent relationship between FFM and vocational interests was found

in the literature review (Barrick et al 2003 Larson et al 2002 Staggs et al 2007)

Extraversion is consistently related to social and enterprising interests openness is

related to investigative and artistic interests agreeableness is related to social

75

interests and conscientiousness is related to conventional interests The present study

will further help in exploring personality-interest relationships

The findings of the present study are also supported by the literature on

gender differences (Costa et al 1984 Gottfredson et al 1993 Holland et al 1994)

Bullock and Reardon (2008) illustrated male college students showed an interest in

Realistic and Enterprising vocations whereas women showed an interest in Social

Artistic and Enterprising vocations Hence it is assumed that Male will prefer

Realistic Investigative and Enterprising interests and Female will prefer Artistic and

Social interests

According to Holland occupational classification Doctor as a vocational

aspiration of students should have Investigative interests Army should have Realistic

interests Teacher should have Social interests Lawyer should have Enterprising and

Engineer should have Realistic and Investigative interests Thus it is expected that

studentslsquo vocational aspirations should match with their interests to attain the state of

congruence

The findings of the present study about preferences of Science and Arts

students are also supported by the research conducted in Hong Kong by Chang

(1981) Science students will prefer Realistic and Investigative occupations and Arts

students will prefer occupations of Artistic Social and Enterprising types Both

Science and Arts students will prefer occupations of Conventional types The results

are supported by the existing literature (Leung amp Hua 2005 Staggs et al 2007) The

findings of the study supplemented the existing body of literature about differences

between gender and science and Arts students

76

In the present study the Urdu translated version of NEO PI-R (Chishti 2002)

and SDS (Naheed 1988) to measure personality and vocational interests respectively

were used on the high school students It was decided that pretesting of both the

instruments on the sample of high school students may be carried out Overall this

part of the research was of great help in designing subsequent studies related to

personality and vocational interests of the Pakistani students

77

Chapter III

PART 2 - RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS

This part of the study was designed to finalize the research instruments

comprehendible to the target population The study pertained to the measurement of

personality and vocational interests of the high school students Five factor model of

personality (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) and Hollandlsquos model (Holland 1985a) of

vocational interests provided the theoretical framework for the present study

Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) measures the

personality domains and Self Directed Search (SDS) measures the vocational interests

Demographic Sheet Future Possibilities Questionnaire and Evaluation Sheet were also

designed to obtain the required information Pretesting of the research instruments were

also carried out on a small sample

Objectives

1 To carry out pretesting of the research instruments

Method

The study was conducted to finalize the followings instruments

Step 1 Demographic Sheet

Step 2 Future Possibilities Questionnaire

Step 3 Evaluation sheet

78

Step 4 NEO PI-R

Step 5 SDS

Step 6 Pretesting of the Research Instruments

Step 1 Demographic Sheet

Based on the information gathered in previous part (see chapter II) of the study

a demographic sheet was constructed with the help of experts (two PhD students and

one MPhil psychologist) from National Institute of Psychology Quaid-i-Azam

University Islamabad The demographic sheet consisted of detailed information about

the participants including variables like name gender age class sciencearts group

urbanrural fatherlsquos income fatherlsquos education and name of school etc The

demographic sheet is attached at Appendix Dlsquo

Step 2 Future Possibilities Questionnaire

Future possibilities questionnaire asked two questions about the vocational

aspirations of the students The first question was ―What career do you intend to adopt

in futurelsquolsquo The second question was ―If you have more than one career choice please

write in order of preference Some of the information about the demographical

variables was also obtained The future possibilities questionnaire is attached at

Appendix Elsquo

Step 3 Evaluation Sheet

An evaluation sheet was constructed to evaluate the personality profile of

selected vocations by the experts An evaluation sheet was developed with the help of

experts (one PhD psychologist one PhD scholar and One MPhil in psychology)

79

Evaluation sheet consisted of rating of 30 facets of personality (NEO PI-R) on a seven

point scale (1 to 7) ranging from least desiredlsquo to most desiredlsquo The conceptual

definitions of 30 facets of personality (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) are printed on the

evaluation sheet Experts of different fields were administered evaluation sheet to get

personality profiles related to their occupations Experts were also given the detailed

definitions of six personality types as described in Hollandlsquos typology Experts in each

field are required to choose one out of six personality types which meaningfully

correspond with their respective profession Detailed instructions were written on the

evaluation sheet Personal information like name profession designation and

experience were also mentioned The evaluation sheet along with detailed instructions

is attached at Appendix Flsquo

Step 4 NEO Personality Inventory Revised (NEO PI-R)

The NEO PI-R is self-administered and available in two parallel versions Form

S is designed for self-reports and Form R is the rating version of the instrument

Research has been conducted on this instrument and it has been translated into many

languages The NEO PI-R is a systematic assessment of emotional interpersonal

experimental attitudinal and motivational styles The inventory gives a detailed

assessment of normal personality can be used in human resource development

industrialorganizational psychology as well as vocational counseling and clinical

practice It consisted of 240 items and 3 validity items with the administration time of

35-45 minutes It can be administered to students and adults and the reading level

should be at least 6th grade The scoring options include hand scoring and software

scoring

80

Development and Validation

The NEO PI-R began in 1978 as the NEO inventory with three domains and 18

facets relating to N E and O In 1983 18 items domain scales measuring A and C were

added In 1985 the instrument was published as NEO personality inventory In 1990

facets scales for A and C were completed and some minor modifications were made in

original N E and O items which lead to the development of NEO PI-R The revised

inventory differed in the addition of facet scales for the A and C domains and also in

minor changes in some of the items comprising the N E and O scales These changes

were made to improve upon the internal consistency and validity of several facet scales

Correlation between the original scales and the revised scales ranged from (r = 93 to

95) The five-factor model has emerged as being an important development in the

study of individual differences These constructs have been shown to be quite robust

empirically and have impressive validity The field of personality assessment is moving

rapidly towards the five-factor model as the conceptual framework for most assessment

needs

Scoring of the Instrument

The NEO PI-R has a 5-point self-rating response format (strongly agree to

strongly disagree) The scoring options include hand scoring and software scoring

The scoring of NEO PI-R is quite easy The scorer examined the answer sheet and

check that a response has been given for each item The respondents should be

encouraged to complete the missing responses If the respondent is unsure of the

meaning of an item or is unsure of how to respond he or she may be told to use the

neutral response option The NEO PI-R should not be scored if 41 responses are

missing If three responses are missing from a facet scale it should be interpreted with

81

caution If the respondent has 150 or more agree and strongly agree responses or 50 or

fewer items as agree and strongly agree the NEO PI-R should be interpreted with

caution 106 items are negatively scored

The scales of NEO PI-R and NEO-FFI measure traits that approximate normal

distributions Majority of the individuals score near average while few lie on the

extremes Scales are most conveniently explained by describing characteristics of

extremely high or extremely low scores It may also be useful to consider pairs of

domain scores in terms of two-dimensional planes which correspond in many cases to

particular areas of life The affective plane defined by N and E which represents the

individuallsquos basic emotional styles (Costa amp McCrae 1980 Watson amp Tellegen 1985)

and the interpersonal plane or circumplex defined by E and A (McCrae amp Costa

1989c) have been extensively researched E and O together are important both for

vocational interests (Costa et al 1984) and for the selection of optimal forms of

therapy (Miller 1991) E and C jointly determine patterns of activity O and A are

relevant to attitudes O and C are important to academic performance and A and C

represent the basic dimensions of character

Reliability

Internal consistency coefficients for both forms (ie form S and form R) range

from 86 to 95 for domain scales and from 56 to 90 for facet scales Alphas for the

domain range from 86 to 92 for Form S and from 89 to 95 for Form R Internal

consistency estimates for the facets Form S range from 56 to 81 For the Form R

facets these values range from 60 to 90 (Costa amp McCrae 1992b) Six-year retest

reliabilities for the Neuroticism Extraversion and Openness domains ranged from 68

to 83 in both self-reports and observer ratings Three-year retest coefficients between

82

63 and 79 were found for the domains of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness (Costa

amp McCrae 1992b) The reliability and validity of the Urdu version of NEO PI-R

(Chishti 2002) was established in Pakistan The alpha reliability coefficient for Urdu

version of NEO PI-R ranged from 73 (Openness) to 89 (Conscientiousness) whereas

the Alpha coefficients of English version ranged from 37 (Openness) to 80

(Neuroticism) This demonstrated that Urdu version of Revised NEO Personality

Inventory is a reliable and valid instrument for the Pakistani subjects

Validity

Many studies have been conducted on the external validity (eg Golberg 1989

John 1989 McCrae amp Costa 1985a 1987 Ostendorf 1990 Trapnell amp Wiggin

1990) Details about different types of validity (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) are given

below

Content Validity Content validity means that the test samples appropriately

from the range of characteristics it is intended to represent In the NEO PI-R content

validity is addressed by identifying six distinct facets to sample each domain and by

selecting non-redundant items to measure each facet (Costa amp McCrae 1992a)

Criterion Validity It means that identifiable groups of individuals differ in their

mean scores in theoretically predictable ways The findings that patients in

psychotherapy score high on Neuroticism (Miller 1991) and that drug abusers score

low on Agreeableness and Conscientiousness (Brooner King Kidorf Schmidt amp

Bigelow 1997) provided some evidence of criterion validity for NEO-PI scales

83

Construct Validity The value of a scale lies in its ability to show meaningful

relations to external criteria that allow making valid inferences about scale scores while

interpreting individual cases Data on construct validity show that the scales of NEO

PI-R are generally successful in measuring the intended constructs The dimensions of

the NEO PI-R have been found to emerge over different types of factoring methods and

types of samples (Costa 1996 McCrae Zonderman Costa Bond amp Paunonen 1996)

over self-reports and observer ratings (McCrae 1994 Peidmont 1994) and even cross-

culturally (eg Spanish Korean Hebrew Chinese and German see McCrae and

Costa 1997 for a review of cross-cultural data) Several studies that demonstrated the

theoretically appropriate predictive power of NEO PI-R scales with respect to a variety

of external criteria including psychological well-being coping and defenses needs and

motivation Jungian types interpersonal traits and creativity and divergent thinking

provided evidence of construct validity for both forms

Convergent and Discriminant Validity Convergent and discriminant validity of

the facet scales have been established as well (eg Costa McCrae amp Holland 1984

Costa amp McCrae 1986 Lorr 1986) Sufficient data exists documenting the convergent

and discriminant validity of the facets themselves documenting their utility as useful

and non redundant measures of personality (Costa 1996 Costa McCrae amp Dye 1991

Peidmont amp Weinstein 1993) The clinical value of NEO PI-R has also been

documented Information from this instrument has been shown relevant to anticipating

psychotherapeutic outcome (Miller 1991) and for understanding the Axis 11

personality disorders (Trull 1992)

84

Costa and McCrae (1992b) outlined several strategies for using the NEO in a

clinical context Convergent validity is seen in the fact that NEO PI-R facet scales are

correlated with alternative measures of similar constructs For example N1 Anxiety is

related to Anxiety as measured by the State-Trait Personality Inventory (Spielberger et

al 1979) and Tension as measured by the Profile of Mood States (McNair Lorr amp

Droppleman 1971) A1 Trust is positively correlated with the Trusting scale of the

Interpersonal Style Inventory (Lorr 1986) and negatively correlated with the Suspicion

scale of the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory (Buss amp Durkee 1957) All 30 scales

show substantial correlations with appropriate criteria

Discriminant validity is seen by contrasting the correlates of different facets

particularly from different domain The Personality Research Form (PRF Jackson

1984) is considered as correlates of the E facet scales PRF Affiliation is related to E1

Warmth and E2 Gregariousness PRF Dominance is related to E3 Assertiveness PRF

harm avoidance is negatively related to E5 Excitement ndashSeeking and PRF Play is

related to E6 Positive Emotion A study examined the 300 items of the Adjective

Check List (ACL Gough amp Heilbrun 1983) and the seven largest correlates were

identified for each of the 30 NEO PI-R facets These correlates showed an appropriate

and distinctive pattern that testifies to the discriminant validity of the facet scales

Norms Normative information for Form S is based on a sample of 500 men and

500 women screened from a larger pool of 2273 individuals These 1000 individuals

were selected demographically in order to match US Census projections for 1995 Form

R norms were obtained from 143 ratings of 73 men and 134 ratings of 69 women

These ratings were obtained from both spouses and multiple peer ratings (McCrae amp

Costa 1991a)

85

Judgesrsquo Evaluation of NEO PI-R

The NEO PI-R Form S was translated in Urdu at National Institute of

Psychology Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad by Chishti (2002) The Urdu version

of NEO PI-R is used in this study The Urdu version was given to four experts (two

PhD psychologists and two were MPhil in psychology) to evaluate the possibility of

administering the inventory to grade 9th

and 10th

students It was evaluated by the

expert that the translated version is quite easy to understand however few words and

concepts may be difficult to understand by some of the students It was also suggested

that any queries raised by the students must be addressed and meaning of words may be

explained in a standardized way NEO PI-R Urdu version along with detailed

instructions is attached at Appendix Glsquo The facet scales of NEO PI-R (Urdu version)

are attached at Appendix Hlsquo The answer sheet is attached at Appendix Ilsquo

Conceptual Definitions of the Personality

The dispositional domain of Personality was measured by NEO PI-R which was

developed to operationalize the five factor model of personality The five factors

represent the most basic dimensions underlying the traits identified in both natural

language and psychological questionnaire Factors are defined by groups of inter-

correlated traits called facets Each cluster of facets determined the domain The basic

definitions (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) as well as crucial distinctions of 5 domains and

30 facets are described below

Neuroticism (N) The most pervasive domain of personality scales contrasts

adjustment or emotional stability with maladjustment or neuroticism The general

tendency to experience negative effects such as sadness embarrassment anger guilt

86

and disgust is the core of neuroticism domain People who score high on such

dimension tend to experience greater level of stress In contrast people who score low

tend to be generally calm relaxed hardy relatively unemotional self-satisfied High

scorer may be at risk for some kinds of psychiatric problems but the N scale should not

be viewed as a measure of psychopathology

Extraversion (E) The high score in this domain indicates that extraverts like

people prefer large group and gathering They are assertive active and talkative like

excitement and stimulation and tend to be cheerful in disposition They are upbeat

energetic and optimistic The introverts are reserved rather than unfriendly

independent rather than followers even paced rather than sluggish Introverts may be

shy but they do not necessarily suffer from social anxiety and are not unhappy or

pessimistic

Openness (O) Individuals who are high on Openness (O) have been described

as imaginative aesthetic sensitivity creative intellectual curiosity independent

analytical traditional artistic liberal and having broad interests Open individuals are

curious about both inner and outer worlds and their lives are experientially richer They

are willing to entertain novel ideas and experience both positive and negative emotions

more keenly than do closed individuals In contrast individuals who are low in (O)

have been described as conventional down to the earth uncreative simple not

curious non adventurous conforming non analytical traditional conservative and as

having narrow interests Alternative formulations of FFM often label this factor as

Intellect and (O) scores are modestly associated with both education and measured

intelligence

87

Agreeableness (A) Agreeableness is primarily a dimension of interpersonal

tendencies The agreeable person is fundamentally altruistic He or she is sympathetic

to others and eager to help them and believe that other will be equally helpful in return

By contrast the disagreeable or antagonistic person is egocentric impractical of otherslsquo

intensions and competitive rather than cooperative Low (A) is associated with

narcissistic antisocial and paranoid personality disorders whereas high (A) is

associated with the dependent personality disorders (Costa amp McCrae 1990)

Conscientiousness (C) Conscientious individuals are purposeful strong-willed

determined scrupulous punctual reliable consistent and is associated with academic

and occupational achievement Low scorers are not necessarily lacking in moral

principles but they are less exacting in applying them just as they are attention

seeking low assertiveness low orderliness and more lackadaisical in working toward

their goals

Neuroticism Facets

Anxiety (N1) Anxious individuals are apprehensive fearful prone to worry

nervous tense and jittery High scorers are more likely to have such fears as well as

free-floating anxiety Low scorers are calm and relaxed They do not dwell on things

that might go wrong

Angry Hostility (N2) Angry hostility represents the tendency to experience

anger and related states such as frustration and bitterness This scale measures the

individuallsquos readiness to experience anger Low scorers are easygoing and slow to

anger

88

Depression (N3) It measures normal individual differences in the tendency to

experience depressive affect High scorers are prone to feelings of guilt sadness

hopelessness and loneliness They are easily discouraged and often dejected Low

scorers rarely experience such emotions

Self-Consciousness (N4) Self conscious individuals are uncomfortable around

others sensitive to ridicule and prone to feeling of inferiority Low scorers do not

necessarily have poise or good social skills they are simply less disturbed by awkward

social situations

Impulsiveness (N5) It refers to the inability to control cravings and urges

Desires (for food cigarettes possessions etc) are perceived as being so strong that the

individual cannot resist them although he or she may later regret the behavior Low

scorers find it easier to resist such temptations having a high tolerance for frustration

Vulnerability (N6) Individuals who score high on this scale feel unable to cope

with stress becoming dependent hopeless or panicked when facing emergency

situations Low scorers perceive themselves as capable of handling themselves in

difficult situations

Extraversion Facets

Warmth (E1) Warm people are affectionate and friendly They genuinely like

people and easily form close attachments to others Low scorers are neither hostile nor

necessarily lacking in compassion but they are more formal reserved and distant in

manner than high scorers

Gregariousness (E2) Gregariousness is the preference for other peoplelsquos

company Gregarious people enjoy the company of others and the more the merrier

89

Low scorers tend to be loners who do not seek- or who even actively avoid ndash social

stimulation

Assertiveness (E3) High scorers on this scale are dominant forceful and

socially ascendant They speak without hesitation and often become group leaders Low

scorers prefer to keep in the background and let others do the talking

Activity (E4) A high Activity score is seen in rapid tempo and vigorous

movement in a sense of energy and in a need to keep busy Active people lead fast-

paced lives Low scorers are more leisurely and relaxed in tempo although they are not

necessarily sluggish or lazy

Excitement-seeking (E5) High scorers crave excitement and stimulation

They like bright colors and noisy environments Low scorers feel little need for thrills

and prefer a life that high scorers might find boring

Positive emotion (E6) It assesses the tendency to experience positive emotions

such as joy happiness love and excitement High scorers laugh easily and often They

are cheerful and optimistic Low scorers are not necessarily unhappy they are merely

less exuberant and high-spirited

Openness Facets

Fantasy (O1) Individuals who are open to fantasy have a vivid imagination

and an active fantasy life They daydream not simply as an escape but as a way of

creating for themselves an interesting inner world They elaborate and develop their

fantasies and believe that imagination contributes to a rich and creative life Low

scorers are more prosaic and prefer to keep their minds on the task at hand

Aesthetics (O2) High scorers have a deep appreciation for art and beauty

They are moved by poetry absorbed in music and intrigued by art They need not have

90

artistic talent nor even necessarily what most people would consider good taste but for

many of them their interest in the arts will lead them to develop a wider knowledge and

appreciation than that of the average individual Low scorers are relatively insensitive

to and uninterested in art and beauty

Feelings (O3) Openness to feelings implies receptivity to onelsquos own

inner feelings and emotions and the evaluation of emotion as an important part of life

High scorers experience deeper and more differentiated emotional states and feel both

happiness and unhappiness more intensely than others Low scorers have somewhat

blunted affects and do not believe that feeling states are of much importance

Actions (O4) Openness is seen behaviorally in the willingness to try different

activities go new places or eat unusual foods High scorers prefer novelty and variety

to familiarity and routine Over time they may engage in a series of different hobbies

Low scorers find change difficult and prefer to stick with the tried-and-true

Ideas (O5) This trait is seen not only in an active pursuit of intellectual

interests for their own sake but also in open-mindedness and a willingness to consider

new perhaps unconventional ideas High scorers enjoy both philosophical arguments

and brain-teasers Openness to ideas does not necessarily imply high intelligence Low

scorers on the scale have limited curiosity and if highly intelligent narrowly focus

their resources on limited topics

Values (O6) Openness to Values means the readiness to re-examine social

political and religious values Closed individuals tend to accept authority and honor

tradition and as a consequence are generally conservative regardless of political party

affiliation

91

Agreeableness Facets

Trust (A1) High scorers have a disposition to believe that others are honest

and well-intentioned Low scorers tend to be cynical and skeptical and to assume that

others may be dishonest or dangerous

Straightforwardness (A2) The individuals with high scores on this scale are

frank sincere and ingenuous Low scorers are more willing to manipulate others

through flattery craftiness or deception They view these tactics as necessary social

skills and may regard more straightforward people as naive

Altruism (A3) High scorers have an active concern for otherslsquo welfare as

shown in generosity consideration of others and a willingness to assist others in need

to help Low scorers are somewhat self-centered and are reluctant to get involved in the

problems of others

Compliance (A4) This facet concerns characteristic reactions to interpersonal

conflict The high scorer tends to defer to others to inhibit aggression and to forgive

and forget Compliant people are meek and mild The low scorer is aggressive prefers

to compete rather than cooperate and has no reluctance to express anger when

necessary

Modesty (A5) High scorers are humble and self-effacing although they are not

necessarily lacking in self-confidence or self-esteem Low scorers believe they are

superior people and may be considered conceited or arrogant by others A pathological

lack of modesty is part of the clinical conception of narcissism

Tender-Mindedness (A6) This facet scale measures attitudes of sympathy

and concern for others High scorers are moved by otherslsquo needs and emphasize the

92

human side of social policies Low scorers are more hardheaded and less moved by

appeals to pity They would consider themselves realists who make rational decisions

based on cold logic

Conscientiousness Facets

Competence (C1) Competence refers to the sense that one is capable

sensible prudent and effective High scorers feel well prepared to deal with life Low

scorers have a lower opinion of their abilities and admit that they are often unprepared

and inept

Order (C2) High scorers are neat tidy and well organized They keep

things in their proper places Low scorers are unable to get organized and describe

themselves as unmethodical Carried to an extreme high order might contribute to a

compulsive personality disorder

Dutifulness (C3) In one sense conscientious means ―governed by

conscience and that aspect of conscientiousness is assessed as dutifulness High

scorers adhere strictly to their ethical principles and scrupulously fulfill their moral

obligations Low scorers are more casual about such matters and may be somewhat

undependable or unreliable

Achievement Striving (C4) Individuals who score high on this facet have high

aspiration levels and work hard to achieve their goals They are diligent and purposeful

and have a sense of direction in life Very high scorers however may invest too much

in their careers and become workaholics Low scorers are lackadaisical and perhaps

even lazy They are not driven to succeed They lack ambition and may seem aimless

but they are often perfectly content with their low levels of achievement

93

Self-Discipline (C5) It is the ability to begin tasks and carry them through to

completion despite boredom and other distractions High scorers have the ability to

motivate themselves to get the job done Low scorers procrastinate in beginning chores

and are easily discouraged and eager to quit People low in self-discipline cannot force

them to do what they want themselves to do

Deliberation (C6) Deliberation is the tendency to think carefully before

acting High scorers are cautious and deliberate Low scorers are hasty and often speak

or act without considering the consequences At best low scorers are spontaneous and

able to make snap decisions when necessary

Step 5 Self-Directed Search (SDS)

The SDS is an outgrowth of a theory of vocational choices (Holland 1959

1966b 1973 1985a) which has undergone extensive investigation and won wide

acceptance The SDS Form R (SDS Holland 1994) is one of the most widely used

interest inventories (Spokane amp Holland 1995) and is available in multiple formats

eg paper-pencil personal computer internet mail-in scoring (Professional Report

Service) and kit (Vocational Exploration and Insight Kit) (Reardon amp Lenz 1998) The

SDS is a self-administered self-scored and self interpreted vocation counseling tool It

included two booklets an assessment booklet and an occupational classification

booklet To use the SDS a person fills out the assessment booklet and obtained three

letter occupational codes The code is then used to locate suitable occupations in the

occupational classification booklet the occupation finder Most people can complete

the SDS in 40 to 50 minutes The SDS is used in high school colleges adult centers

correctional institutions women centers and employment offices for career education

94

vocational guidance and placement The SDS is not helpful for people who are grossly

disturbed uneducated or illiterate The scale and rating in the SDS assessment booklet

include

Activities (six scales of eleven items each)

Competencies (six scales of eleven items each)

Occupations (six scales of fourteen items each)

Self estimate (two sets of six ratings each rating corresponding to a type)

Total items = 228

The SDS is clearly suitable for persons aged 15 and older but the upper and

lower limits have not been well investigated The SDS in its published form or with

minor changes has been used successfully with males and females college students

young children employee adults etc

Reliability and Validity of SDS

The SDS (Holland 1985a) is an extension of Hollands work on the study of

personality types Holland contended that each individual to some extent resembles

one of six basic personality types realistic investigative artistic social enterprising

or conventional The SDS consisted of an assessment workbook which is scored by the

client and a reusable booklet The Occupations Finder The workbook begins with a

section on Occupational Daydreams The sections that follow deal with Activities

Competencies Occupations (attitudes toward specific occupations) and Self-Estimates

(of abilities) Raw scores are converted into a three-letter summary code which

95

reflected a preferred style The order of the three letters in the summary code is

hierarchical the first letter representing the strongest preference for a particular type

Hollandlsquos six personality types are unique This is not to suggest that other

researchers have not proposed six major personality factors (Brand 1995) but none are

described in the same terminology as has been done by Holland Over the past decade

there has been a renewed interest in the topic of personality at work (Hough 1998)

There have been meta-reviews in the area (Barrick amp Mount 1991 Salgado 1997) as

well as studies looking at personality trait correlates of specific work outcomes like

absenteeism (Judge Martocchio amp Thoresen 1997) and job satisfaction tension and

propensity to leave (Van der Berg amp Feij 1993) Numerous studies have been

conducted to establish the reliability and validity of SDS The cross cultural researches

also provided evidence that SDS is a reliable and valid instrument

Reliability Internal consistency coefficient for the assessment scales range from

84 to 92 for males and 86 to 91 for females (age range 14 to 18) In general the 1985

revision is slightly more reliable than the 1977 revision 69 of the summary scales are

more reliable 17 show no difference and 14 is less reliable The standard error of

the difference score at the 5 level range from 78 to 98 for the 14 to 18 years old

sample from 78 to 94 for the 19 to 25 years old sample and from 84 to 97 for the 26

to 74 years old sample Internal consistency coefficients on the summary scale

coefficients on the paper version of the SDS ranged from 90 to 94 Test-retest

reliability correlations for the summary scales ranged from 76 to 89 (Holland et al

1994)

96

Validity In general the concurrent or predictive validity of the SDS summary

scales or occupations scales are comparable with and sometimes exceed the

concurrent or predictive validities of other interest inventories (Dolliver 1975

Gottfredson amp Holland 1975 Hanson Noeth amp Prediger 1977 Holland amp

Gottfredson 1975 Hughes 1972 OlsquoNeil Magoon amp Tracey 1978 Touchton amp

Moggon 1977 Wiggins amp Westlander 1977) Kappa (k) is an index of agreement that

takes into account the marginal in the 6 x 6 tables that were used to obtain the

percentage of hits so that it is an accurate index of agreement The value of k is 27 and

36 for females and males respectively for 14 to 18 years old The value of k is 44 and

36 for females and males respectively for 19 to 25 years old

The validity of Hollandlsquos (1973 1985b) trait characterizations of the types

generally has been supported by empirical studies relating scores on type measures

(eg SDS VPI) to a wide range of personality inventories including Cattelllsquos 16PF

(Holland 1962 Ward Cunningham amp Wakefield 1976) the Edwards Personal

Preference Schedule (Utz amp Korben 1976 Wakefield amp Cunningham 1975) the

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (Martin amp Bartol 1986) and the NEO Inventory (Costa

et al 1984) In addition Holland group membership has been related to scores on the

16PF (Bolton 1985 Peraino amp Willerman 1983) Jacksonlsquos (1967) Personality

Research Form (Beysner Bodden amp Winer 1978) the California Psychological

Inventory (Taylor amp Kelso 1973) and the Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey

(Turner amp Horn 1975) among others Various studies have looked at the cross-cultural

validity of Hollands theory such as Khan Alvi Shaukat Hussain and Baig (1990) and

Siddiqa (1999) who performed their study in Pakistan They revised many items

because of cultural differences and not being able to confirm statistics yet they

97

concluded that the model promises to be useful in a non-western culture (p 132)

Judgesrsquo Evaluation of the SDS

The SDS was translated in Urdu at National Institute of Psychology Quaid-i-

Azam University Islamabad by Naheed (1988) The procedures used in translation were

direct translation team or committee approach and back translation Field probe

techniques were used for cultural adaptation and modification After thorough

deliberation 18 items were discarded from the inventory The final version has 210

items Activities have six scales of eleven items each Competencies have six scales of

ten items each Occupations have six scales of twelve items each and Self ratings have

two sets of six ratings each rating corresponding to a type The Urdu version of SDS is

used in the present study

The Urdu version was given to four experts (two PhD and two MPhil scholars)

in the field of psychology to evaluate the possibility of administering the inventory to

grade 9th

and 10th

students It was evaluated by the expert that the translated version is

quite easy to understand however few words and concepts may be difficult to

understand by some of the students It was also suggested that any queries raised by the

students must be addressed and meaning of words may be explained in a standardized

way The Urdu version of SDS is attached at appendix Jlsquo

Conceptual Definitions of Vocational Interests

The dispositional aspects of vocational interests are conceptualized by the

Holland typology of vocational interests Vocational interests are measured by Self

98

Directed Search (Holland 1985a) The SDS measures six types of vocational interests

known as personality types The definitions are described below

Personality Types

According to Holland (1985a) most people can be described as one of six

personality types realistic investigative artistic social enterprising and conventional

The description of each type is shown below

Realistic type The realistic types are predisposed to activities that entail

working with objects perceive themselves as having mechanical and athletic abilities

and value the tangibles They prefer activities involving the systematic manipulation of

machinery tools or animals

Investigative type The investigative types prefer to engage in activities

involving observational symbolic and creative inquiry see themselves as being

scholarly and intellectual and value science They tend to be analytical curious

methodical and precise

Artistic type The artistic types like ambiguous free and unsystematic

activities perceived themselves as expressive original intuitive introspective

nonconforming and value aesthetic qualities

Social type The social type like working with others to inform train cure

and enlighten see themselves as liking to help others understanding others and having

teaching ability and value social and ethical concerns and activities

Enterprising type The enterprising types show preference for activities that

involve manipulation of others to achieve organizational goals or economic gain

perceive themselves as aggressive self-confident and sociable and value political and

economic achievement

99

Conventional type The conventional types tend to like activities that entail

ordered manipulation of data and records perceive themselves as conforming and

orderly and value business and economic achievement

Step 6 Pretesting of Research Instruments

This part of the study dealt with the pretesting of research instrumentsNEO PI-

R and SDS along with the demographic sheet were administered to the small sample of

students The results showed the reliabilityvalidity of main domains of NEO PI-R and

main scales of SDS The sample procedures and results of the study are discussed

below

Sample

In this part of the study 100 students were taken from one boy school for the

study purpose All the students were taken from a school situated near Rawalpindi

After getting their consent 100 willing students were randomly selected 50 students

were taken from 9th

class and 50 students were taken from 10th

class 50 Science and 50

Arts students were randomly selected Convenient sampling technique was used as far

as selection of school is concerned One Government school where arts and science

subjects are being taught was taken for the study Within the school the sample is

divided into two main categories 9th

class students and 10th

class students Then in each

class (9th

or 10th

class) sample is distributed into science and arts groups students In

each science or arts group 25 students were selected using the systematic random

sampling techniques Depending on the number of students available in each category

the interval k was calculated by dividing the total available students by 25 Once k is

computed then any number between 1 and computed k has been randomly selected for

100

each category Using the nominal roll of students for each category every student

falling on the selected number in the sequence was selected for the study The

distribution of sample is described below

Distribution of Students in a School

Figure 4 Sample distribution in a school

All the tests were administered to 100 students and after scrutinizing the data

and eliminating the absentees the sample was left with only 79 students The age

range is from 14 years to 19 years The mean age is 1615 years There are 43 science

students and 36 arts students 45 students were from 9th

class and 34 students were

from 10th

class

Procedure

The tests were administered to the students in the course of two days The

students were administered demographic sheet NEO PI-R and SDS as per the

convenience of school administration On the first day demographic sheet and SDS

One School

(100 Students)

50 Students

from 10th

Class

50 Students

from 9th

Class

25 Students

(Science Group)

25 Students

(Arts Group)

25 Students

(Science Group)

25 Students

(Arts Group)

101

were administered to the students On the second day NEO PI-R was administered on

the same students The testing was carried out in-groups of 50 students Detail

instructions were printed on the cover pages of inventories however students were

also briefed about the instructions verbally as well Questions and queries were also

addressed The tests were personally administered by the researcher assisted by two

well trained individuals The consent of the students and the school administration

were sought prior to test administration The students were briefed about the purpose

of the study They were also requested to inform or write down any problem they

face while completing these inventories There were no significant observations

pointed out by the sample during this phase

Results

The data was analyzed by computer using SPSS 13 Alpha reliability

coefficients of all the main scales of NEO PI-R were computed Item total

correlations of all the items with their respective subscales were also computed

Correlations of subscales of NEO PI-R and inter-correlation between the five main

domains were calculated The results showed the reliability and validity of NEO PI-R

and are shown in Table 1 to Table 8 Alpha reliability coefficients of subscales of

SDS are shown in Table 9 Item-total correlations of each item with respective

subscales and the inter-correlations matrix between the subscales and summary

scales are shown in Table 10 to 11 The result demonstrated the reliability and

validity of the SDS

102

ReliabilityValidity of NEO PI-R

The reliabilityvalidity of NEO PI-R was calculated The alpha reliability

coefficients of five main scales of NEO PI-R illustrated the internal consistency of

the instrument and are shown in Table 1

Table 1

Alpha reliability coefficients of 5 main scales of NEO PI-R

Scales No of items Alpha coefficients Alpha coefficients

(N = 79) (N = 60)

Neuroticism 48 76 77

Extraversion 48 62 80

Openness 48 34 73

Agreeableness 48 68 76

Conscientiousness 48 81 89

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

source of alpha coefficients (N =60) (Chishti 2002)

Five main scales of NEO PI-R (Neuroticism Extraversion Openness

Agreeableness Conscientiousness) showed moderate Alpha reliability coefficients

ranging from 34 (Openness) to 81 (Conscientiousness) Overall the results

demonstrated high internal consistency of the instrument as reflected by alpha

coefficients except Openness domain An alpha value of 5 or 6 or more was deemed

sufficient for the purpose of estimating the reliability of scale However subscale

Openness showed weak internal consistency as compared to other four scales

Whereas Alpha coefficient determined by Chishti (2002) showed high internal

consistency of five domains including (73) Openness domain This showed low

internal consistency of openness domain However item-total correlations of each

scale have been calculated to find out the construct validity of each subscale

103

Table 2

Item-total correlation of each item with respective subscales of NEO PI-R (N = 79)

Anxiety (N1)

(Items = 8)

r Warmth

(E1)

(Items = 8)

r Fantasy

(O1)

(Items = 8)

r Trust

(A1)

(Items = 8)

r Competence

(C1)

(Items = 8)

r

n1 55 n2 34 n3 03 n4 31 n5 53

n31 42 n32 53 n33 59 n34 52 n35 45

n61 53 n62 47 n63 07 n64 41 n65 35

n91 42 n92 42 n93 56 n94 34 n95 22

n121 38 n122 53 n123 25 n124 60 n125 35

n151 51 n152 40 n153 42 n154 52 n155 46

n181 44 n182 48 n183 34 n184 55 n185 37

n211 42 n212 46 n213 34 n214 44 n215 42

Hostility

(N2)

(Items = 8)

r Gregarious

(E2)

(Items = 8)

r Aesthetics

(O2)

(Items = 8)

r Straight

Forward

(A2) (Items = 8)

r Order

(C2)

(Items = 8)

r

n6 46 n7 30 n8 27 n9 38 n10 41

n36 45 n37 65 n38 44 n39 58 n40 41

n66 48 n67 43 n68 40 n69 41 n70 38

n96 30 n97 54 n98 38 n99 33 n100 35

n126 44 n127 26 n128 47 n129 58 n130 52

n156 34 n157 33 n158 45 n159 52 n160 31

n186 37 n187 53 n188 39 n189 53 n190 53

n216 66 n217 53 n218 47 n219 33 n220 30

Depression

(N3)

(Items = 8)

r Assertive-

ness

(E3)

(Items = 8)

r Feelings

(O3)

(Items = 8)

r Altruism

(A3)

(Items = 8)

r Dutifulness

(C3)

(Items = 8)

r

n11 12 n12 44 n13 34 n14 55 n15 42

n41 59 n42 17 n43 57 n44 21 n45 40

n71 25 n72 60 n73 41 n74 57 n75 40

n101 37 n102 28 n103 35 n104 50 n105 49

n131 33 n132 49 n133 55 n134 50 n135 60

n161 37 n162 22 n163 44 n164 65 n165 52

n191 32 n192 41 n193 47 n194 51 n195 47

n221 39 n222 13 n223 41 n224 38 n225 50

Continuedhellip

104

Self-

Conscious

(N4) (Items = 8)

r Activity

(E4)

(Items = 8)

r Actions

(O4)

(Items = 8)

r Compliance

(A4)

(Items = 8)

r Achievement

Striving

(C4) (Items = 8)

r

n16 44 n17 46 n18 35 n19 39 n20 55

n46 03 n47 30 n48 12 n49 53 n50 49

n76 72 n77 33 n78 46 n79 35 n80 50

n106 46 n107 56 n108 32 n109 50 n110 51

n136 42 n137 52 n138 30 n139 60 n140 51

n166 39 n167 25 n168 22 n169 38 n170 54

n196 54 n197 39 n198 36 n199 51 n200 51

n226 38 n227 40 n228 49 n229 33 n230 59

Impulsive-

ness (N5) (Items = 8)

r Excitement

seeking (E5)

(Items = 8)

r Ideas

(O5) (Items = 8)

r Modesty

(A5) (Items = 8)

r Self Discipline

(C5) (Items = 8)

r

n21 23 n22 19 n23 25 n24 39 n25 40

n51 57 n52 34 n53 26 n54 33 n55 71

n81 34 n82 46 n83 41 n84 49 n85 58

n111 35 n112 36 n113 53 n114 16 n115 63

n141 39 n142 35 n143 23 n144 50 n145 52

n171 40 n172 42 n173 52 n174 49 n175 38

n201 46 n202 45 n203 48 n204 41 n205 47

n231 39 n232 55 n233 50 n234 55 n235 53

Vulnerability

(N6)

(Items = 8)

r Positive

Emotion

(E6) (Items = 8)

r Values

(O6)

(Items = 8)

r Tender

Mindedness

(A6) (Items = 8)

r Deliberation

(C6)

(Items = 8)

r

n26 50 n27 44 n28 39 n29 39 n30 34

n56 39 n57 49 n58 45 n59 39 n60 66

n86 49 n87 46 n88 39 n89 30 n90 42

n116 53 n117 32 n118 50 n119 53 n120 65

n146 48 n147 48 n148 42 n149 41 n150 37

Continuedhellip

105

Vulnerability

(N6)

(Items = 8)

r Positive

Emotion

(E6) (Items = 8)

r Values

(O6)

(Items = 8)

r Tender

Mindedness

(A6) (Items = 8)

r Deliberation

(C6)

(Items = 8)

r

n176 61 n177 56 n178 24 n179 44 n180 19

n206 56 n207 29 n208 28 n209 48 n210 52

n236 29 n237 40 n238 32 n239 40 n240 56

Note n1 to n240 represent each item of Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R)

Neuroticism domain includes subscales N1 N2 N3 N4 N5 N6 Extraversion domain includes subscales

E1E2E3E4E5E6 Openness domain includes subscales O1O2O3O4O5O6 Agreeableness domain

includes subscalesA1A2A3A4A5A6 Conscientiousness domain includes subscales C1C2C3C4C5C6

P lt 05 P lt 01 P lt 001

The findings in Table 2 illustrated the item-total correlations of each subscale

of NEO PI-R Items of each subscale are positively correlated with the total score of

respective subscale The results showed that almost all the items significantly

correlated with the total of their respective subscale However 11 items (3 11 22

42 44 46 48 63 114 180 and 222) from subscales fantasy depression excitement

seeking assertiveness altruism self-conscious actions fantasy modesty

deliberation and assertiveness have non-significant correlations with their respective

subscales Overall the results showed the construct validity of 30 subscales of NEO

PI-R

Table 3

Correlations of subscales with main scale of Neuroticism (N=79)

Subscale r

Anxiety (N1) 76

Angry Hostility (N2) 61

Depression (N3) 55

Self-Consciousness (N4) 71

Impulsiveness (N5)

Vulnerability (N6)

67

68

p lt 001

106

In Table 3 the correlations of six subscales with the main scale of Neuroticism

domain were computed The results showed that all the six subscales i-e Anxiety

(N1) Angry hostility (N2) Depression (N3) Self-Consciousness (N4) Impulsiveness

(N5) and Vulnerability (N6) are highly significantly correlated with the main scale of

Neuroticism domain The range of magnitude of correlations is from a minimum

(r = 55 p lt 001) of subscale (N3) to a maximum (r = 76 p lt 001) of subscale (N1)

This showed the construct validity of subscales of Neuroticism domain of NEO PI-R

Table 4

Correlations of subscales with main scale of Extraversion (N=79)

Subscale r

Warmth (E1) 68

Gregariousness (E2) 58

Assertiveness (E3) 36

Activity (E4) 47

Excitement-seeking (E5)

Positive Emotion (E6)

61

63

p lt 001

The finding in Table 4 showed that all the six subscales i-e Warmth (E1)

Gregariousness (E2) Assertiveness (E3) Activity (E4) Excitement seeking (E5)

and Positive Emotion (E6) are highly significantly correlated with the main scale of

Extraversion domain The range of magnitude of correlations is from a (r = 36 p lt

107

001) of subscale (E3) to a maximum (r = 68 p lt 001) of subscale (E1) This

showed the construct validity of facet scales of Extraversion domain of NEO PI-R

Table 5

Correlations of subscales with main scale of Openness (N=79)

Subscale r

Fantasy (O1) 42

Aesthetics (O2) 55

Feelings (O3) 54

Actions (O4) 45

Ideas (O5)

Values (O6)

52

24

p lt 05 p lt 001

The correlations of six subscales with the main scale of Openness domain

shown in Table 5 revealed that all subscales are significantly correlated with the

main scale of Openness domain The range of magnitude of correlations is from a

minimum (r = 24 p lt 05) of subscale (O6) to a maximum (r = 55 p lt 001) of

subscale (O2) The subscale of Values has moderate correlation with the openness

domain scale Overall this showed the construct validity of facet scales of Openness

domain of NEO PI-R

108

Table 6

Correlations of subscales with main scale of Agreeableness (N=79)

Subscale r

Trust (A1) 46

Straight forwardness (A2) 65

Altruism (A3) 60

Compliance (A4) 67

Modesty (A5)

Tender mindedness (A6)

29

64

p lt 01 p lt 001

In Table 6 the correlations of six subscales with the main scale of

Agreeableness domain were computed All the six subscales i-e Trust (A1) Straight

forwardness (A2) Altruism (A3) Compliance (A4) Modesty (A5) and Tender

mindedness (A6) are highly significantly correlated with the main scale of

Agreeableness domain The range of magnitude of correlations is from (r = 29 p lt

01) of subscale (A5) to a maximum (r = 67 p lt 001) of subscale (A4) This showed

the construct validity of facet scales of Agreeableness domain of NEO PI-R

Table 7

Correlations of subscales with main scale of Conscientiousness (N=79)

Subscale r

Competence (C1) 51

Order (C2) 50

Dutifulness (C3) 69

Achievement striving (C4) 72

Self discipline (C5)

Deliberation (C6)

81

77

p lt 001

109

The findings in Table 7 showed that all the six facets subscales are highly

significantly correlated with the main scale of Conscientiousness domain The range

of magnitude of correlations is from a minimum (r = 50 p lt 001) of subscale (C2)

to a maximum (r = 81 p lt 001) of subscale (C5) This displayed the construct

validity of subscales of Conscientiousness domain of NEO PI-R

Table 8

Inter-correlations between five main domains of NEO PI-R (N=79)

Scale I II III IV V

I Neuroticism (N) -

II Extraversion (E) -11 -

III Openness (O) -15 26 -

IV Agreeableness (A) -13 11 05 -

V Conscientiousness (C) -43 33 27 54 -

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

p lt 05 p lt 01 p lt 001

Table 8 indicated the inter-correlations of five main domains of NEO PI-R The

result showed that the 5 main domains (Neuroticism Extraversion Openness

Agreeableness and Conscientiousness) are significantly correlated with each other

Neuroticism (N) domain is negatively correlated with all other domain however

significantly negatively correlated with Conscientiousness (r = -43 p lt 001)

Extraversion (E) is significantly correlated with Openness (r = 26 p lt 05) and

Conscientiousness (r = 33 p lt 01) Conscientiousness (C) is significantly correlated

with all other domains This inter correlation matrix showed the construct validity of

the five domains of NEO PI-R

110

ReliabilityValidity of SDS

Table 9 showed the alpha reliability coefficients of summary scales and

subscales of activities competencies occupations and self-estimates of SDS on the

basis of six personality types ie Realistic (R) Investigative (I) Artistic (A) Social

(S) Enterprising (E) and Conventional (C) Item-total correlations of each item with

their respective subscales were calculated Inter-correlation of subscales activities

competencies occupations self-estimate1 self-estimate2 and main summary scales

were also computed to establish the reliabilityvalidity of SDS

Table 9

Alpha reliability coefficients of subscales of SDS (N=79)

Scales No of items Alpha coefficients

(N = 79)

Alpha coefficients

(N = 120)

Activities

Activities (R) 11 48 57

Activities (I) 11 48 65

Activities (A) 11 57 60

Activities (S) 11 51 65

Activities (E) 11 58 60

Activities (C) 11 52 66

Continuedhellip

111

Scales No of items Alpha coefficient

(N = 79)

Alpha coefficient

(N = 120)

Competencies

Competencies (R)

10

63

57

Competencies (I) 10 69 60

Competencies (A) 10 65 59

Competencies (S) 10 61 70

Competencies (E) 10 61 61

Competencies (C)

Occupations

10

52

62

Occupations (R) 12 72 55

Occupations (I)

Occupations (A)

Occupations (S)

Occupations (E)

Occupations (C)

Summary

Realistic

Investigative

Artistic

Social

Enterprising

Conventional

12

12

12

12

12

33

33

33

33

33

33

77

70

77

77

78

76

77

75

71

75

74

56

65

63

55

50

-

-

-

-

-

-

Note SDS = Self Directed Search

Source of alpha coefficients Urdu version SDS (N = 120) (Siddiqa 1999)

112

Table 9 showed the Alpha reliability coefficients of main summary scales

ranging from 71 (Social) to 77 (Investigative) This showed very high internal

consistency of the instrument Alpha reliability coefficients of Activities subscales

range from 48 (Activities R amp Activities I) to 58 (Activities E) whereas the alpha

reliability coefficient computed by Siddiqa (1999) on working women also range

from 57 (Activities R) to 66 (Activities C) The alpha reliability coefficients of 6

subscales of Competencies range from 52 (Competencies C) to 69 (Competencies

I) while alpha coefficient computed by Siddiqa (1999) were ranging from 57

(Competencies R) to 70 (Competencies S) The Alpha reliability coefficients of 6

subscales of Occupations range from 70 (Occupations A) to 78 (Occupations C)

whereas alpha coefficient computed by Siddiqa (1999) ranging from 55

(Occupations R) to 65 (Occupation A) This showed that alpha coefficients of SDS

have same values as compared to alpha coefficients determined by Siddiqa (1999)

Overall the results revealed that all subscales of SDS have moderate to high internal

consistency

Table 10

Item-total correlation of subscales of SDS (N=79)

Activities

(R)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(R)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(R)

(Items=12)

r Self-

estimates 1

(Items =6)

r

v1 51 V67 48 V127 36 S1 59

V2 37 V68 58 V128 54 S2 37

V3 23 V69 32 V129 47 S3 50

V4 50 V70 48 V130 46 S4 52

V5 46 V71 45 V131 61 S5 63

V6 52 V72 29 V132 50 S6 61

V7 42 V73 56 V133 46

Continuedhellip

113

Activities

(R)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(R)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(R)

(Items=12)

r Self-

estimates 2

(Items =6)

r

V8 44 V74 62 V134 44 S7 65

V9 39 V75 36 V135 51 S8 58

V10 21 V76 66 V136 49 S9 58

V11 31 V137 51 S10 60

V138 59 S11 54

S12 35

Activities (I)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(I)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(I)

(Items=12)

r

V12 41 V77 41 V139 56

V13 40 V78 64 V140 46

V14 42 V79 65 V141 50

V15 32 V80 41 V142 46

v16 33 V81 52 V143 61

V17 21 V82 46 V144 62

V18 52 V83 60 V145 51

v19 43 V84 42 V146 61

V20 50 V85 41 V147 45

V21 68 V86 59 V148 47

V22 11 V149 61

V150 50

Activities

(A)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(A)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(A)

(Items=12)

r

V23 36 V87 41 V151 54

V24 25 V88 36 V152 48

V25 49 V89 45 V153 48

V26 52 V90 59 V154 55

V27 45 V91 63 V155 55

Continuedhellip

114

Activities

(A)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(A)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(A)

(Items=12)

r

V28 34 V92 41 V156 37

V29 39 V93 47 V157 48

V30 39 V94 48 V158 50

V31 64 V95 59 V159 53

V32 41 V96 51 V160 52

V33 49 V161 43

V162 37

Activities

(S)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(S)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(S)

(Items=12)

r

V34 48 V97 50 V163 41

V35 46 V98 53 V164 41

V36 44 V99 46 V165 58

V37 20 V100 36 V166 57

V38 34 V101 47 V167 63

V39 56 V102 40 V168 50

V40 12 V103 37 V169 67

V41 41 V104 61 V170 49

V42 47 V105 43 V171 34

V43 56 V106 54 V172 50

V44 33 V173 60

V174 69

Activities

(E)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(E)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(E)

(Items=12)

r

V45 56 V107 66 V175 50

V46 47 V108 41 V176 52

V47 47 V109 48 V177 53

V48 52 V110 28 V178 52

Continuedhellip

115

Activities

(E)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(E)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(E)

(Items=12)

r

V49 32 V111 63 V179 55

V50 32 V112 56 V180 66

V51 34 V113 34 V181 52

V52 50 V114 44 V182 61

V53 41 V115 51 V183 65

V54 51 V116 40 V184 47

V55 37 V185 56

V186 33

Activities

(C)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(C)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(C)

(Items=12)

r

V56 37 V117 49 V187 60

V57 40 V118 49 V188 49

V58 42 V119 44 V189 61

V59 50 V120 58 V190 56

V60 35 V121 48 V191 57

V61 33 V122 23 V192 56

V62 49 V123 20 V193 40

V63 42 V124 50 V194 59

V64 44 V125 31 V195 51

V65 39 V126 55 V196 51

V66 51 V197 58

V198 52

Note SDS = Self Directed Search V1 to V198 and S1 to S12 represent each item of Self Directed Search (SDS)

Activities Competencies and Occupations each comprising RIASEC subscales

p lt 05 p lt 01 p lt 001

Table 10 showed the item-total correlation of subscales of SDS Almost all

the items significantly correlated with the total of each subscale (activities

competencies occupations and self-estimates) except items no 10 17 22 37 40

and 123 The results showed the construct validity of each subscale of SDS

116

Table 11

Intercorrelation of SDS Scales (N=79) Activities Competencies Occupation Self Rating 1 Self Rating 2 Summary

Ra Ia Aa Sa Ea Ca Rc Ic Ac Sc Ec Cc Ro Io Ao So Eo Co R1 I1 A1 S1 E1 C1 R2 I2 A2 S2 E2 C2 Rs Is As Ss Es Cs

Ra -

Ia 23 -

Aa 31 14 -

Sa 30 27 27 -

Ea 34 14 58 32 -

Ca 24 35 36 45 47 -

Rc 51 22 48 26 40 18 -

Ic 31 39 31 24 49 37 50 -

Ac 43 16 65 32 47 22 63 42 -

Sc 34 24 42 27 49 17 47 46 62 -

Ec 40 33 47 46 59 33 57 48 60 64 -

Cc 30 29 36 19 48 38 52 56 49 50 55 -

Ro 58 16 39 23 38 10 63 31 57 54 52 47 -

Io 43 17 38 21 59 27 40 54 51 59 50 54 62 -

Ao 41 09 59 26 34 03 40 10 60 47 42 27 61 59 -

So 32 21 29 26 40 21 40 48 41 51 51 52 42 72 51 -

Eo 30 02 36 22 42 26 40 29 34 35 42 42 43 45 40 53 -

Co 33 10 30 26 36 37 36 33 30 39 43 56 46 59 44 62 78 -

R1 22 13 30 08 15 03 17 13 16 35 28 20 21 25 24 30 20 25 -

I1 18 18 31 16 48 15 33 31 32 18 40 30 25 16 21 23 22 11 19 -

A1 00 06 04 09 06 01 -02 14 08 25 23 08 05 22 -05 24 -07 04 20 -06 -

S1 -05 -04 33 -12 08 -01 -08 03 14 13 03 08 05 07 24 11 10 11 26 17 -07 -

E1 09 08 04 -02 02 02 -06 36 18 25 02 19 10 38 14 28 19 26 24 -14 32 19 -

C1 13 -11 08 04 18 -04 00 28 17 07 04 12 02 21 11 16 11 14 07 19 20 12 36 -

R2 05 05 39 13 27 10 03 12 22 22 23 22 26 34 33 34 23 21 52 17 16 27 36 12 -

I2 11 04 23 19 34 24 20 29 15 23 29 26 18 27 19 33 15 30 21 31 19 00 24 21 28 -

A2 10 -06 13 -06 27 -03 19 20 26 35 27 07 15 29 34 23 03 01 28 40 11 08 07 17 20 38 -

S2 03 -02 36 -12 19 -03 08 09 28 24 16 13 12 24 35 22 11 14 29 14 04 77 26 15 31 00 17 -

E2 26 28 23 12 15 24 14 51 26 34 33 25 20 50 18 38 11 27 31 -02 46 01 53 29 25 22 13 18 -

C2 13 -07 20 19 29 -01 21 05 16 14 10 24 15 21 26 17 23 36 01 17 05 10 19 24 04 12 -01 22 -01 -

Rs 71 23 53 30 47 19 73 41 62 58 61 52 84 62 61 53 48 49 57 34 11 12 20 09 51 28 26 23 32 17 -

Is 42 51 44 33 62 43 53 82 52 58 63 63 52 77 39 67 39 50 29 51 19 07 33 25 31 54 37 16 51 16 62 -

As 41 10 74 29 53 18 54 35 82 65 61 40 58 63 79 53 36 36 36 36 31 24 22 21 38 33 54 38 37 22 67 59 -

Ss 31 21 53 38 48 24 38 44 56 69 58 48 45 63 60 75 45 53 42 28 19 58 33 18 42 26 26 67 36 24 58 61 68 -

Es 44 24 53 35 69 41 48 64 57 64 73 60 53 72 48 66 72 70 36 31 26 13 46 28 41 37 23 27 59 26 65 75 64 68 -

Cs 37 18 41 34 55 56 42 51 42 42 48 74 42 61 38 58 64 84 20 27 11 13 33 44 23 37 06 18 35 52 49 64 44 57 75 -

Note SDS = Self Directed Search Please read Ra as Realistic Activities Ia as Investigative Activities Aa as Artistic Activities Sa as Social Activities Ea as Enterprising Activities Ca as Conventional

Activities Rc as Realistic Competencies Ic as Investigative Competencies Ac as Artistic Competencies Sc as Social Competencies Ec as Enterprising Competencies Cc as Conventional Competencies Ro as

Realistic Occupations Io as Investigative Occupations Ao as Artistic Occupations So as Social Occupations Eo as Enterprising Occupations Co as Conventional Occupations R1and R2 as Realistic self estimateI1 and I2 as Investigative self estimate A1 and A2 as Artistic self estimate S1 and S2 as Social self estimate E1 and E2 as Enterprising self estimate C1 and C2 as Conventional self estimate Rs as

Realistic Summary Is as Investigative Summary As as Artistic Summary Ss as Social Summary Es as Enterprising Summary Cs as Conventional Summary r ge 22 is significant at 05 to 001 level

117

Table 11 showed the inter-correlations of SDS scales (Activities

Competencies Occupations Self-estimates and Summary scores) on six personality

types The substantial relationship existed between the subscales of SDS The results

indicated that the inter-correlations of six subscales of Activities are significantly

correlated with each other

All Competencies scales have significant positive correlations ranging from (r

= 42 p lt 001) to (r = 64 p lt 001) with each other The inter-correlation of six

subscales of Occupations showed that all the 6 subscales are significantly correlated

ranging from (r = 40 p lt 001) to (r = 78 p lt 001) with each other All the 6

summary scales are significantly correlated with each other ranging from (r = 44 p lt

001) to (r = 75 p lt 001) This inter-correlation matrix showed the construct validity

of the six subscales of SDS

Discussion

This part of the study dealt with the pretesting of measures of personality and

vocational interests on small scale Pretesting of both the instruments (NEO PI-R and

SDS) and reliability and validity of the instruments were established in this part of the

study The pretesting of Urdu versions of the instruments was decided on a sample of

randomly selected 100 high school students from government school of Rawalpindi

district After scrutinizing the data and eliminating the absentees the analysis was

carried out on a sample of 79 students The aim in this part of the study was to find

out the reliabilityvalidity of both the instruments and get acquainted with the

practical problems which can come across during the research Overall the results

showed that both the instrument NEO PI-R and SDS have significant reliability and

118

validity The results demonstrated moderate alpha reliability coefficients of subscales

of both the instruments and were highly internally consistent The inter-correlations

between the main and subscales of both the instruments showed the construct validity

of all the scales The alpha coefficients of Urdu translated versions of NEO PI-R and

SDS were compared with alpha coefficients computed by Chishti (2002) and Siddiqa

(1999) The results revealed moderate internal consistency of the scales of NEO PI-R

and SDS except for Openness domain Burki (2009) reported alpha value of 35 for

openness domain in organizational setup Fayyaz (2008) reported alpha value of 38

for openness domain in pilot study and 58 for main study after adding synonyms for

difficult words Safdar (2002) reported alpha coefficient of 59 for openness domain

on MSc students The low internal consistency of openness scale may be due cultural

effect

Since the sample was quite less as compared to the numbers of items in the

inventories however no major decisions like discarding and changing the items

based on the statistical analysis was done The analyses provided the researcher a

confidence about the reliabilityvalidity of the instruments It was decided to conduct

the pretesting on the sample which has to be selected for the main study However

during the pretesting stage researcher faced some problems regarding the willingness

of few individuals to participate in the study on second day of testing Few minor

questions and queries were raised by the students like time of the tests meaning of

few words use of pencil or pen etc Overall the results of the study showed that Urdu

versions of both the scales (NEO PI-R and SDS) can be administered being the

reliable and valid instruments on the main sample of high school students

119

Chapter IV

PART 3 PERSONALITY AND VOCATIONAL INTERESTS

OF THE STUDENTS

This part of the study was designed to find out the relationship between

personality based on five factor model (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) and vocational

interests based on RIASEC model (Holland 1985a) of high school students NEO PI-

R is used to measure personality profiles of students and SDS is used to establish the

vocational interests During literature review the consistent pattern of relationship

between personality and vocational interests was observed (Barrick et al 2003

Larson et al 2002 Staggs et al 2007) The relevance of these two heuristic models

in Pakistani culture has been explored The psychometric properties of NEO PI-R and

SDS were established on the main sample The mean differences on personality and

vocational interests with respect to demographic variables were also computed All

theoretically derived hypotheses on the personality-interests relationship and gender

differences were also empirically verified The objectives hypotheses sample

sample characteristics procedures and results are discussed below

Objectives

1 To study the relationship between personality (five factor model) and

vocational interests (Hollandlsquos typology) among high school students

120

2 To find out the mean differences with respect to demographic variables

(gender sciencearts urbanrural 9th

10th

classes parentslsquo education) on

personality and vocational interests of the students

3 To establish psychometric properties of the research instruments

Hypotheses

Followings hypotheses were formulated to study the above mentioned

objectives

1 Extroversion will be positively correlated with the Enterprising and Social

types

2 Openness to Experience will be positively correlated with Artistic and

Investigative types

3 Agreeableness will be positively correlated with the Social type

4 Conscientiousness will be positively correlated with Conventional type

5 Female tend to score higher on Neuroticism Extraversion Agreeableness and

Conscientiousness as compared to male

6 Male tend to score higher on Realistic interests as compared to female

7 Female tend to score higher on Artistic and Social interests as compared to

male

Sample

Initially the researcher got the list of all government schools situated in

Rawalpindi Tehsil and District by the Directorate of education where Science and

121

Arts classes are being taught The schools were contacted on telephone Only seven

schools could be traced which have sufficient numbers of Science and Arts students

Thus convenient sampling technique was used as far as selection of school is

concerned The main study was conducted on the 700 students of 7 different schools

of Rawalpindi The list of boysgirls and urbanrural areas schools is attached at

Appendix Klsquo

The sample has been taken randomly within the school Among the list of

willing students 100 students from each school were selected In each school 50

students 25 science students and 25 Arts students were randomly selected from grade

10th

and similarly 50 students 25 science students and 25 Arts students from grade 9th

were randomly selected In each science or arts group 25 students were selected using

the systematic random sampling techniques Depending on the number of students

available in each category the interval k was calculated by dividing the total available

students by 25 Once k is computed then any number between 1 and computed k has

been randomly selected for each category Using the nominal roll of students for each

category every student falling on the selected number in the sequence was selected for

the study 4 boy schools and 3 girl schools were selected 2 boy schools and 2 girl

schools were selected from urban areas of Rawalpindi while 1 boy and 1 girl school

was selected from rural areas of Rawalpindi 1 boy school which was selected for the

pretesting of research instrument contained majority of the students from rural areas

The sample of the main study included the data from the study conducted in Chapter

III (pages 99 to 101) regarding pretesting of research instruments Overall 400 boys

and 300 girls were selected The distribution of schools and the students in each

school are shown in the following figures

122

Distribution of Sample in Schools

Figure 5 Sample Distribution in Schools

Distribution of Students in each School

Figure 6 Sample Distribution within Schools

4 Boys

Schools (400

Students)

3 Girls

Schools (300

Students)

2 Schools from

Rural Areas

(200 students)

2 Schools

from Urban

Areas

(200 students)

1 School from

Rural Areas

(100 students)

2 Schools

from Urban

Areas

(200 students)

(200

Seven Schools

(700 Students)

One School

(100 Students)

50 Students

from 10th

Class

50 Students

from 9th

Class

25 Students

(Science Group)

25 Students

(Arts Group)

25 Students

(Science Group)

25 Students

(Arts Group)

123

Sample Characteristics

All the tests were administered on the 700 students in a course of two days

Some of the individuals did not correctly fill the questions of the inventories

according to the instructions and few of them were absent on the second day of

testing After scrutinizing the data and eliminating the absentees the sample is left

with a total of 596 students Cases with incomplete data were excluded from further

analyses which led to a decrease in the number of valid cases by 1485 There are

319 male and 277 female students Their age range is from 14 years to 19 years with

a mean age of 1573 years The average fatherslsquo income for 494 students is Rs 7634-

approximately (102 cases are missing) ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 50000 There are

only 14 cases having father income greater than 20000 There are 382 students

belonging to urban areas and 214 students were from rural areas Among them 328

students from 9th

class and 268 students are from 10th

class There are 304 students

belonging to science group and 292 students belonging to Arts group

Instruments

Following instruments were used in the study

1 NEO PI-R

2 SDS

3 Demographic sheet

(See details about instruments in chapter III pages 78 to 99)

Procedure

The booklets were prepared for two inventories (NEO PI-R amp SDS) The

inventories were administered to the participants in group settings The consent of the

124

students and school administrations were taken before administration of tests Data

were collected during the second half of the school year (from January to March) The

measures were administered in a group in classrooms during school hours All the

participants from different schools were divided into groups of 50 Two groups one

from 9th

class including 50 students were administered tests separately and the second

group including 50 students from 10th

class were administered the same tests on the

same day The testing procedures were carried over the course of two days

The group of 50 students from each class was administered SDS and

Demographic sheet on the first day of testing and NEO PI-R was administered on the

same group on second day Two well trained invigilators assisted the researcher in

conduct of tests The timings of administering the tests were also adjusted according

to the convenience of school administration The participants were given written

instructions printed on the first page of each inventory Before the start of the

inventories some sentences were written in order to explain the response format and

specific instructions regarding the inventory Subjects were also briefed about the

approximate time required to complete the inventory The average time to complete

one inventory is 40 minutes List of some difficult words asked by students for

explanation from NEO PI-R are attached at Appendix Llsquo and that of SDS are at

Appendix Mlsquo Once the data is completed then it is subjected to statistical analysis

OperationalConceptual Definitions of the Variables

Personality (details are in chapter III pages 85 to 93)

Vocational interests (details are in chap III pages 97 to 99)

125

Science group students The science group students are those who studied

science subjects (Physics Chemistry Mathematics and Biology) along with

compulsory subjects (English Urdu Pakistan Studies Islamiat)

Arts group students (Humanities group) The arts group students are those

who studies humanities subjects which are non-scientific and non-technical subjects at

school (For instance Social studies Arabic Islamiat (elective) Home economics etc)

along with compulsory subjects (English Urdu Pakistan Studies Islamiat)

Urban students The school students who are resident of urban area and are

studying in schools which are located in the urban localities of Rawalpindi city

Rural students The school students who are resident of rural area and are

studying in schools which are located in the rural areas of Rawalpindi city

Parentsrsquo education Three groups of students were formulated based on the

education of parents Father Mother educated grouplsquo have at least matriculation

education for both father and mother father educated grouplsquo father have at least

matriculation education but mothers are not matriculates father mother uneducated

grouplsquo have none of father or mother have matriculation education

The results of the study are computed and are mentioned in the following

Psychometric Properties of the Research Instruments

The psychometric properties of research instruments (NEO PI-R and SDS)

were established on the main sample of the study The Alpha reliabilities item-total

correlations and inter-correlations between the subscales and main scales of all the

126

three research instruments were computed A hexagonal arrangement of vocational

interests for the main sample was also calculated

ReliabilityValidity of NEO PI-R

Table 12 showed the Alpha reliability coefficient of main scales and subscales

of NEO PI-R

Table 12

Alpha reliability coefficients of main scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Scales No of items Alpha coefficients

Neuroticism 48 67

Extraversion 48 65

Openness 48 36

Agreeableness 48 71

Conscientiousness 48 84

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

The results showed the Alpha reliability coefficients of 5 main scales of NEO

PI-R The 5 main scales revealed moderate Alpha reliability coefficients ranging from

36 (Openness) to 84 (Conscientiousness) The highest alpha value is of scale

Conscientiousness and lowest value is of scale Openness The same findings were

observed during the pretesting stage (see Table 1) Overall the results showed

moderate to high internal consistency of the NEO PI-R except Openness domain

127

Table 13

Item-total correlation of each item with respective subscales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Anxiety

(N1)

(Items = 8)

r Warmth

(E1)

(Items = 8)

r Fantasy

(O1)

(Items = 8)

r Trust

(A1)

(Items = 8)

r Competence

(C1)

(Items = 8)

r

n1 49 n2 44 n3 18 n4 38 n5 46

n31 51 n32 55 n33 50 n34 49 n35 47

n61 27 n62 41 n63 26 n64 38 n65 48

n91 47 n92 34 n93 57 n94 47 n95 20

n121 29 n122 51 n123 37 n124 54 n125 51

n151 50 n152 46 n153 51 n154 46 n155 46

n181 40 n182 46 n183 34 n184 49 n185 43

n211 47 n212 40 n213 32 n214 41 n215 51

Hostility

(N2)

(Items = 8)

r Gregarious-

ness

(E2)

(Items = 8)

r Aesthetic

(O2)

(Items = 8)

r Straight

Forward

(A2)

(Items = 8)

r Order

(C2)

(Items = 8)

r

n6 52 n7 52 n8 40 n9 42 n10 27

n36 30 n37 55 n38 45 n39 47 n40 40

n66 50 n67 43 n68 41 n69 39 n70 49

n96 21 n97 49 n98 35 n99 47 n100 40

n126 40 n127 38 n128 47 n129 44 n130 50

n156 30 n157 40 n158 53 n159 51 n160 38

n186 35 n187 42 n188 52 n189 56 n190 42

n216 44 n217 57 n218 49 n219 34 n220 45

Depression

(N3)

(Items = 8)

r Assertive-

ness

(E3)

(Items = 8)

r Feelings

(O3)

(Items = 8)

r Altruism

(A3)

(Items = 8)

r Dutifulness

(C3)

(Items = 8)

r

n11 35 n12 49 n13 46 n14 49 n15 41

n41 59 n42 30 n43 35 n44 32 n45 41

n71 27 n72 56 n73 36 n74 56 n75 44

n101 46 n102 26 n103 36 n104 49 n105 50

n131 42 n132 40 n133 49 n134 45 n135 53

Continuedhellip

128

Depression

(N3)

(Items = 8)

r Assertive-

ness

(E3)

(Items = 8)

r Feelings

(O3)

(Items = 8)

r Altruism

(A3)

(Items = 8)

r Dutifulness

(C3)

(Items = 8)

r

n161 48 n162 38 n163 39 n164 50 n165 50

n191 46 n192 41 n193 42 n194 47 n195 52

n221 42 n222 40 n223 41 n224 45 n225 52

Self-

Conscious

(N4)

(Items = 8)

r Activities

(E4)

(Items = 8)

r Actions

(O4)

(Items = 8)

r Compliance

(A4)

(Items = 8)

r Achievement

Striving

(C4)

(Items = 8)

r

n16 45 n17 35 n18 40 n19 34 n20 50

n46 24 n47 29 n48 21 n49 51 n50 54

n76 59 n77 18 n78 33 n79 49 n80 43

n106 45 n107 44 n108 39 n109 34 n110 57

n136 49 n137 46 n138 37 n139 50 n140 53

n166 23 n167 41 n168 34 n169 46 n170 60

n196 50 n197 50 n198 43 n199 50 n200 50

n226 35 n227 46 n228 46 n229 44 n230 53

Impulsive

(N5)

(Items = 8)

r Excitement

Seeking

(E5)

(Items = 8)

r Ideas

(O5)

(Items = 8)

r Modesty

(A5)

(Items = 8)

r Self

Discipline

(C5)

(Items = 8)

r

n21 31 n22 44 n23 38 n24 39 n25 34

n51 51 n52 34 n53 31 n54 44 n55 63

n81 38 n82 41 n83 47 n84 49 n85 51

n111 34 n112 47 n113 48 n114 21 n115 51

n141 38 n142 47 n143 43 n144 46 n145 50

n171 40 n172 44 n173 46 n174 48 n175 56

n201 40 n202 43 n203 44 n204 32 n205 53

n231 45 n232 50 n233 48 n234 50 n235 50

Vulnerability

(N6)

(Items = 8)

r Positive

emotion

(E6)

(Items = 8)

r Values

(O6)

(Items = 8)

r Tender

Minded

(A6)

(Items = 8)

r Deliberation

(C6)

(Items = 8)

r

n26 49 n27 55 n28 44 n29 38 n30 47

n56 38 n57 46 n58 36 n59 44 n60 56

Continuedhellip

129

Vulnerability

(N6)

(Items = 8)

r Positive

emotion

(E6)

(Items = 8)

r Values

(O6)

(Items = 8)

r Tender

Minded

(A6)

(Items = 8)

r Deliberation

(C6)

(Items = 8)

r

rn86 42 n87 47 n88 31 n89 45 n90 42

n116 51 n117 38 n118 30 n119 50 n120 54

n146 50 n147 55 n148 30 n149 37 n150 45

n176 45 n177 54 n178 26 n179 49 n180 37

n206 45 n207 15 n208 36 n209 50 n210 46

n236 39 n237 46 n238 38 n239 47 n240 56

Note n1 to n240 represent each item of Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R)

Neuroticism domain includes subscales N1 N2 N3 N4 N5 N6 Extraversion domain includes subscales

E1E2E3E4E5E6 Openness domain includes subscales O1O2O3O4O5O6 Agreeableness domain includes

subscalesA1A2A3A4A5A6 Conscientiousness domain includes subscales C1C2C3C4C5C6

p lt 001

The item-total correlations of each subscale of NEO PI-R are mentioned in

Table 13 All the items are significantly positively correlated with their respective

subscale Whereas during pretesting stage 11 items were not significantly correlated

with their respective subscale (see Table 2) The results displayed the construct

validity of each subscale of NEO PI-R

Table 14

Inter-correlation between subscales and main scale of Neuroticism (N = 596)

Scales I II III IV V VI VII

I Anxiety (N1) -

II Hostility (N2) 32 -

III Depression (N3) 22 21 -

IV Self Conscious (N4) 27 20 27 -

V Impulsiveness (N5) 15 26 20 11 -

VI Vulnerability (N6) 29 31 17 19 35 -

VII Neuroticism (N) 64 62 57 56 57 65 -

p lt 01 p lt 001

130

In Table 14 the inter-correlation of six subscales of Neuroticism domains of

NEO PI-R are shown The result showed that all the 6 subscales are significantly

correlated with each other The range of magnitude of correlations between subscales

and main domain scale is from a minimum (r = 56 p lt 001) of subscale Self

Conscious (N4) to a maximum (r = 65 p lt 001) of subscale Vulnerability (N6) The

similar findings for correlations between subscale and main scale of neuroticism were

found during pretesting stage (see Table 3) This inter-correlation matrix showed the

construct validity of the six subscales of Neuroticism domains of NEO PI-R

Table 15

Inter-correlation between subscales and main scale of Extraversion (N = 596)

Scales I II III IV V VI VII

I Warmth (E1) -

II Gregariousness (E2) 34 -

III Assertiveness (E3) 14 05 -

IV Activities (E4) 22 05 16 -

V Excitement Seeking(E5) 27 15 08 20 -

VI Positive Emotion (E6) 37 24 01 20 12 -

VII Extraversion (E) 70 59 40 51 56 59 -

p lt 01 p lt 001

Table 15 showed the inter-correlation of six subscales of Extraversion

domains of NEO PI-R The 6 subscales are significantly correlated with each other

and are highly significantly correlated with the main scale of Extraversion domain as

131

were observed in Table 4 The range of magnitude of correlations between subscale

and main domain scale is from a minimum (r = 40 p lt 001) of subscale (E3) to a

maximum (r = 70 p lt 001) of subscale (E1) This inter-correlation matrix showed

the construct validity of the six subscales of Extraversion domains of NEO PI-R

Table 16

Inter-correlation between subscales and main scale of Openness (N = 596)

Scales I II III IV V VI VII

I Fantasy (O1) -

II Aesthetics (O2) 03 -

III Feelings (O3) -07 25 -

IV Actions (O4) 02 02 -03 -

V Ideas (O5) -02 19 27 -01 -

VI Values (O6) 05 -10 -08 05 -04 -

VII Openness (O) 32 62 54 33 57 24 -

p lt 01 p lt 001

The findings in Table 16 showed the inter-correlation of six subscales of

Openness domains of NEO PI-R The result showed that Fantasy (O1) and Actions

(O4) have non-significant correlation with all other subscales Values (O6) is

significantly negatively correlated with Aesthetic (O2) and Feelings (O3) The results

revealed that six subscales are significantly correlated with the main scale of

Openness domain The magnitude of correlations for Fantasy Actions and Values

with main domain of Openness is fairly low as compared to other scales This may

have effect on the overall low internal consistency of the Openness domain (see Table

132

1 5 and 12) This inter-correlation matrix showed the moderate construct validity of

the six subscales of Openness domains of NEO PI-R

Table 17

Inter-correlation between subscales and main scale of Agreeableness (N = 596)

Scales I II III IV V VI VII

I Trust (A1) -

II Straight Forwardness (A2) 12 -

III Altruism (A3) 39 19 -

IV Compliance (A4) 24 15 29 -

V Modesty (A5) -05 20 -09 16 -

VI Tender mindedness (A6) 28 17 30 28 05 -

VII Agreeableness (A) 60 54 62 65 35 60 -

p lt 05 p lt 001

The result mentioned in Table 17 revealed that all the 6 subscales are

significantly correlated with each other However Altruism (A3) is significantly

negatively correlated with Modesty (A5) All the six subscales are significantly

correlated with the main scale of Agreeableness domain The range of magnitude of

correlations is from a minimum (r = 35 p lt 001) of subscale (A5) to a maximum (r

= 65 p lt 001) of subscale (A4) Similar correlations between subscales and main

scales of agreeableness were observed in Table 6 This showed the construct validity

of the six subscales of Agreeableness domains of NEO PI-R

133

Table 18

Inter-correlation between subscales and main scale of Conscientiousness (N=596)

Scales I II III IV V VI VII

I Compliance (C1) -

II Order (C2) 34 -

III Duty (C3) 40 40 -

IV Achievement striving (C4) 44 46 56 -

V Self discipline (C5) 43 41 56 50 -

VI Deliberation (C6) 40 37 47 49 50 -

VII Conscientiousness (C) 68 65 77 79 79 73 -

p lt 001

The results shown in Table 18 revealed that all the 6 subscales are

significantly correlated with each other and also with the main scale of

Conscientiousness domain (also see Table 7) The range of magnitude of correlations

is from a minimum (r = 65 p lt 001) of subscale (C2) to a maximum (r = 79 p lt

001) of subscale (C4 and C5) This inter-correlation matrix showed the construct

validity of the six subscales of Conscientiousness domains of NEO PI-R

Table 19

Inter-correlations between five main domains of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Scale I II III IV V

I Neuroticism (N) -

II Extraversion (E) -17 -

III Openness (O) -09 34 -

IV Agreeableness (A) -25 14 10 -

V Conscientiousness (C) -49 27 22 55 -

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

p lt 05 p lt 001

134

The findings in Table 19 showed that all the 5 main scales are significantly

correlated with each other Neuroticism (N) domain is significantly negatively

correlated with all other domains The inter correlation matrix provided well defined

evidence of construct validity of the five domains of NEO PI-R as compared to inter

correlations matrix during pretesting stage (see Table 8)

ReliabilityValidity of SDS

Following tables showed the alpha reliability coefficients of summary scales

and subscales of Activities Competencies and Occupations of SDS on the basis of

six personality types ie Realistic (R) Investigative (I) Artistic (A) Social (S)

Enterprising (E) and Conventional (C) Item-total correlations of each item with their

respective subscales were also calculated Inter-correlations of subscales and main

summary scales were also computed to establish the validity of SDS

Table 20

Alpha reliability coefficients of subscales of SDS (N = 596)

Scale No of items Alpha coefficients

Activities

Activities (R) 11 54

Activities (I) 11 65

Activities (A) 11 62

Activities (S) 11 53

Activities (E) 11 62

Activities (C) 11 68

Continuedhellip

135

Scale No of items Alpha coefficients

Competencies

Competencies (R)

10

63

Competencies (I) 10 66

Competencies (A) 10 63

Competencies (S) 10 55

Competencies (E) 10 58

Competencies (C)

Occupations

10

65

Occupations (R) 12 76

Occupations (I)

Occupations (A)

Occupations (S)

Occupations (E)

Occupations (C)

Summary

Realistic

Investigative

Artistic

Social

Enterprising

Conventional

12

12

12

12

12

33

33

33

33

33

33

80

77

77

81

81

78

76

80

71

77

80

Note SDS = Self Directed Search

136

The Alpha reliability coefficients of each subscale based on six personality

types of SDS are shown in Table 20 The Alpha coefficient of summary scales ranged

from 71 (Social) to 80 (Artistic and Conventional) This displayed very high

internal consistency of the SDS The alpha coefficient value of Activities subscales

ranged from 53 (Activities S) to 68 (Activities C) Competencies subscales ranged

from 55 (Competencies S) to 66 (Competencies I) and Occupations subscales

ranged from 76 (Occupations R) to 81 (Occupations E and C) This showed that

alpha coefficients of all subscales of SDS are better than the alpha coefficients

determined at pretesting stage of SDS (see Table 9) This revealed construct validity

of subscales of SDS

Table 21

Item-total correlation of each item with respective subscale of SDS (N = 596)

Activities

(R)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(R)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(R)

(Items=12)

r Self-

estimates 1

(Items =6)

r

V1 57 V67 32 V127 37 S1 56

V2 40 V68 57 V128 58 S2 53

V3 31 V69 34 V129 58 S3 40

V4 20 V70 50 V130 59 S4 49

V5 58 V71 56 V131 58 S5 57

V6 52 V72 39 V132 47 S6 60

V7 43 V73 57 V133 55 Self-

estimates 2

(Items = 6)

r

V8 45 V74 56 V134 41 S7 65

V9 45 V75 48 V135 46 S8 62

V10 24 V76 54 V136 54 S9 60

V11 44 V137 53 S10 55

V138 61 S11 52

S12 50

Continuedhellip

137

Activities

(I)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(I)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(I)

(Items=12)

r

V12 55 V77 43 V139 60

V13 45 V78 49 V140 54

V14 41 V79 38 V141 63

V15 52 V80 40 V142 60

v16 35 V81 42 V143 64

V17 30 V82 57 V144 54

V18 65 V83 50 V145 56

v19 62 V84 44 V146 55

V20 62 V85 30 V147 47

V21 44 V86 53 V148 44

V22 12 V149 56

V150 55

Activities

(A)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(A)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(A)

(Items=12)

r

V23 45 V87 51 V151 55

V24 32 V88 50 V152 49

V25 52 V89 42 V153 62

V26 49 V90 50 V154 58

V27 52 V91 54 V155 59

V28 47 V92 48 V156 50

V29 35 V93 49 V157 49

V30 37 V94 41 V158 52

V31 52 V95 43 V159 50

V32 54 V96 52 V160 52

V33 45 V161 54

V162 50

Continuedhellip

138

Activities

(S)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(S)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(S)

(Items=12)

r

V34 44 V97 40 V163 47

V35 35 V98 57 V164 50

V36 42 V99 45 V165 59

V37 45 V100 29 V166 58

V38 44 V101 42 V167 59

V39 50 V102 44 V168 48

V40 30 V103 35 V169 52

V41 37 V104 44 V170 53

V42 46 V105 49 V171 48

V43 49 V106 52 V172 52

V44 44 V173 52

V174 56

Activities

(E)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(E)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(E)

(Items=12)

r

V45 51 V107 49 V175 59

V46 42 V108 50 V176 55

V47 44 V109 45 V177 62

V48 43 V110 40 V178 53

V49 44 V111 45 V179 48

V50 45 V112 43 V180 62

V51 49 V113 43 V181 53

V52 35 V114 48 V182 58

V53 42 V115 47 V183 58

V54 58 V116 46 V184 62

V55 49 V185 54

V186 52

Continuedhellip

139

Activities

(C)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(C)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(C)

(Items=12)

r

V56 36 V117 55 V187 59

V57 58 V118 50 V188 61

V58 37 V119 43 V189 64

V59 57 V120 53 V190 61

V60 34 V121 49 V191 60

V61 51 V122 33 V192 55

V62 52 V123 39 V193 47

V63 50 V124 59 V194 57

V64 55 V125 49 V195 57

V65 45 V126 59 V196 44

V66 55 V197 56

V198 61

Note V1 to V198 and S1 to S12 represent each item of Self Directed Search (SDS)

p lt 01 p lt 001

The results shown in Table 21 are related to the item-total correlations of

subscales (Activities Competencies Occupations and Self-estimates) based on six

personality types (Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising and

Conventional) of SDS The results showed that all the items significantly correlated

with the total of their respective subscale whereas 6 items were non-significantly

correlated with their subscales during pretesting stage (see Table 10) The results

displayed the construct validity of each subscale of SDS

140

Table 22

Inter-correlations of SDS Scales (N = 596) Activities Competencies Occupations Self Rating 1 Self Rating 2 Summary

Ra Ia Aa Sa Ea Ca Rc Ic Ac Sc Ec Cc Ro Io Ao So Eo Co R1 I1 A1 S1 E1 C1 R2 I2 A2 S2 E2 C2 Rs Is As Ss Es Cs

Ra -

Ia 26 -

Aa 38 26 -

Sa 19 35 29 -

Ea 39 33 53 37 -

Ca 39 40 48 37 66 -

Rc 57 28 28 19 32 33 -

Ic 26 54 27 22 38 38 38 -

Ac 30 24 63 30 43 36 40 39 -

Sc 22 30 35 31 40 32 29 40 47 -

Ec 38 31 41 35 54 46 44 41 50 53 -

Cc 35 34 36 29 46 53 43 50 46 39 58 -

Ro 54 23 32 15 35 36 53 31 37 29 41 42 -

Io 38 38 35 19 36 41 35 51 39 32 40 45 61 -

Ao 33 24 55 25 42 39 26 27 56 37 40 39 55 61 -

So 31 32 32 32 42 43 28 41 37 35 43 48 48 67 57 -

Eo 38 22 39 25 49 50 36 28 38 28 48 45 57 57 62 64 -

Co 36 26 34 29 45 52 34 31 37 24 44 53 53 55 53 62 75 -

R1 21 13 11 10 16 09 22 10 12 12 21 16 23 18 15 20 20 25 -

I1 22 03 10 08 26 18 23 08 06 11 27 12 20 08 11 09 27 24 26 -

A1 -04 17 08 19 09 09 -07 17 12 15 07 09 00 15 11 22 04 11 09 -02 -

S1 03 03 38 11 19 15 02 09 33 24 20 18 07 13 32 15 18 14 09 13 04 -

E1 12 34 10 09 11 18 16 41 19 12 17 18 14 36 17 25 12 20 13 02 28 13 -

C1 27 11 05 07 17 12 28 17 11 11 20 15 27 23 12 17 22 23 26 26 01 07 29 -

R2 15 19 22 18 26 25 13 23 21 15 28 31 23 27 23 31 30 29 31 14 16 21 25 17 -

I2 18 15 21 13 21 21 22 19 19 21 29 28 20 18 19 22 22 29 25 25 15 18 24 23 40 -

A2 05 13 19 15 18 11 08 22 27 29 24 18 09 23 24 22 14 17 08 13 25 17 17 12 24 29 -

S2 -01 01 32 03 14 08 -01 07 31 20 16 11 04 12 30 13 13 11 11 13 07 69 13 11 20 16 19 -

E2 12 26 05 10 12 17 12 36 18 19 19 19 08 21 07 17 05 13 12 06 21 08 33 17 21 12 18 11 -

C2 12 19 08 14 14 14 16 15 14 13 17 12 15 17 16 16 09 17 06 19 21 03 23 18 17 18 24 06 23 -

Rs 75 33 40 23 44 43 75 39 43 33 52 50 81 56 48 48 56 54 53 30 03 11 23 37 49 35 15 09 19 20 -

Is 43 68 39 31 49 51 47 76 43 43 54 55 53 78 50 59 53 55 28 40 20 17 44 31 38 49 31 15 32 27 63 -

As 34 31 77 36 51 46 31 39 80 49 50 46 45 55 82 54 52 49 17 12 38 39 26 12 31 29 51 37 18 23 48 56 -

Ss 24 32 52 51 48 43 25 39 56 62 52 47 35 50 60 69 51 48 20 17 22 68 25 17 35 29 32 64 21 16 41 54 69 -

Es 46 44 49 37 73 64 45 54 53 47 75 60 53 62 58 64 77 68 26 29 18 24 47 32 41 33 27 21 44 25 63 73 64 63 -

Cs 47 40 43 37 60 74 48 46 45 37 58 73 56 59 52 61 68 83 26 30 15 18 31 47 37 36 24 14 26 41 64 69 56 55 79 -

Note SDS = Self Directed Search Please read Ra as Realistic Activities Ia as Investigative Activities Aa as Artistic Activities Sa as Social Activities Ea as Enterprising Activities Ca

as Conventional Activities Rc as Realistic Competencies Ic as Investigative Competencies Ac as Artistic Competencies Sc as Social Competencies Ec as Enterprising Competencies

Cc as Conventional Competencies Ro as Realistic Occupations Io as Investigative Occupations Ao as Artistic Occupations So as Social Occupations Eo as Enterprising Occupations

Co as Conventional Occupations R1and R2 as Realistic self estimateI1 and I2 as Investigative self estimate A1 and A2 as Artistic self estimate S1 and S2 as Social self estimate E1

and E2 as Enterprising self estimate C1 and C2 as Conventional self estimate Rs as Realistic Summary Is as Investigative Summary As as Artistic Summary Ss as Social Summary Es

as Enterprising Summary Cs as Conventional Summary r ge 08 is significant at 05 to 001 level

141

Table 22 showed the inter correlations matrix of all the scales of Activities

Competencies Occupation Self-estimates and Summary scales of SDS All the 6

subscales of Activities are significantly correlated with each other and have moderate

internal consistency The range of magnitude of inter-correlations is from a minimum

(r = 19 p lt 001) to a maximum (r = 66 p lt 001) The range of magnitude of inter-

correlations for Competencies subscales is from a minimum (r = 29 p lt 001) to a

maximum (r = 58 p lt 001) The results also displayed the inter-correlation of six

subscales of Occupations and range of magnitude is from a minimum (r = 48 p lt

001) to a maximum (r = 75 p lt 001) which provided evidence of construct validity

of SDS subscales

The inter-correlations of six main summary scales of SDS showed that all the

6 summary scales ie Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising and

Conventional are significantly correlated with each other and have moderate internal

consistency The range of magnitude of inter-correlations is from a minimum (r = 41

p lt 001) to a maximum (r = 79 p lt 001) This inter-correlation matrix

demonstrated the construct validity of all the subscales of SDS

The inter correlation matrix was plotted to find out the correlational pattern

among the scales of the SDS The relationships among the major categories can be

ordered according to a hexagon in which distances between occupational classes are

inversely proportional to the size of the correlations between them The spatial

arrangement facilitates the interpretation of the degrees of similarity and difference

among the categories

142

Hexagonal Representation of Inter-correlations of SDS Scales

Figure 7 Hexagonal Representation of Inter-correlations of SDS Scales (N = 596)

Note SDS = Self Directed Search read R as Realistic I as Investigative A as Artistic S as Social E as

Enterprising and C as Conventional

Figure 7 presented the representation of averages of all the inter-correlations

between the subscales and summary scales of SDS Any relationship between two

types is the average of 36 correlations in 6 x 6 matrixes Data from Table 22 are

arranged in this hexagon for each of the 6x6 matrices (activities competencies

occupations self-estimates and summary scores) The evidence for the hexagonal

arrangement of vocational interests is substantial According to a hexagon the

distances between the occupational classes depend on the size of correlations Closer

the distances between occupational classes better the size of correlation The results

showed that the relationship between RI is better than RA and similarly the

relationship between RA is better than RS Similarly in almost all the cases the

relationships between occupational classes are determined according to Hollandlsquos

33 24

26

33

29

37

32

33

34

A

S E

C

24

25

30

27

20

32

25

I R 30

143

assumptions However the relationship between IE which are placed opposite on the

hexagon have stronger relationship of (r = 34) which is even better than the IS and IC

which are adjacent types In Figure 7 the magnitude of average correlations ranged

from (20 to 37) However arrangements of occupational classes on the hexagon are

supportive of Holland assumption The hexagonal representation of inter-correlations

computed by Naheed (1988) on high school students (Figure 8) showed almost the

same pattern This displayed the validity of Holland model on high school students

Hexagonal Representation of Inter-correlations of SDS Scales (Naheed 1988)

Figure 8 Hexagonal Representation of Inter-correlations of SDS Scales (N = 114)

Note SDS = Self Directed Search read R as Realistic I as Investigative A as Artistic S as Social E as

Enterprising and C as Conventional

Source Naheed (1988)

33 24

23

33

35

40

32

27

39

A

S E

C

27

29

23

33

23

33

27

I R 26

144

Relationship between Personality and Vocational Interests

The results in this section demonstrated the relationship of five main domains

of personality and six personality types of vocational interests according to the main

objective of the study The 30 facets of five domains of personality are also correlated

with the six personality types The mean differences with respect to demographic

variables (gender sciencearts group urbanrural 9th

10th

classes and parentslsquo

education) on personality and vocational interests were also computed The results are

shown below

Table 23

Inter-correlations between 5 main scales including 30 facet scales of NEO PI-R and 6

summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

Scaletypes Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

Neuroticism (N) -12 -06 -03 01 -10 -11

Anxiety (N1) -10 -05 02 -02 -10 -06

Hostility (N2) -07 02 07 08 01 -02

Depression (N3) -05 -02 -05 01 -01 01

Self Conscious (N4) 04 03 03 05 01 -02

Impulsiveness (N5) -07 -03 -05 -01 -05 -09

Vulnerability (N6) -18 -15 -10 -06 -20 -22

Extraversion (E) 08 16 27 25 22 13

Warmth (E1) 02 15 21 23 18 12

Gregariousness (E2) -01 01 02 04 05 -02

Assertiveness (E3) 08 07 19 15 12 07

Activities (E4) 08 13 17 13 14 08

Excitement (E5) 08 07 19 20 13 09

Positive Emotion (E6) 03 13 18 13 14 11

Continuedhellip

145

Scaletypes Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

Openness (O) 09 13 24 22 15 10

Fantasy (O1) -07 -11 -11 -07 -11 -11

Aesthetics (O2) 06 12 25 23 10 07

Feelings (O3) 01 12 17 16 14 07

Actions (O4) 01 -02 06 01 -04 -02

Ideas (O5) 20 21 20 18 25 22

Values (O6) -03 -07 -03 -03 -01 -04

Agreeableness (A) 05 12 10 04 14 15

Trust (A1) 11 14 13 12 19 18

Straight Forwardness (A2) 01 08 06 -01 04 05

Altruism (A3) 02 10 06 05 11 10

Compliance (A4) 03 01 04 -01 04 07

Modesty (A5) -04 -06 -15 -18 -11 -06

Tender mindedness (A6) 05 15 20 14 20 15

Conscientiousness (C) 18 21 14 13 25 27

Compliance (C1) 21 22 15 17 21 26

Order (C2) 08 06 -01 01 05 10

Duty (C3) 07 16 12 08 18 16

Achievement striving (C4) 14 25 15 12 29 27

Self discipline (C5) 15 10 08 08 16 18

Deliberation (C6) 12 13 12 13 17 21

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory SDS = Self Directed Search

p lt 05 p lt 01 p lt 001

The results shown in Table 23 are related to the correlations between five

main domains including 30 facets of NEO PI-R and six personality types of SDS The

results showed substantial relationship exists between personality and vocational

interests both at higher and lower order facet scales The Neuroticism domain is

significantly negatively correlated with Realistic Enterprising and Conventional

146

personality types The six subscales of Neuroticism domain generally have non-

significant correlation with all six personality types except Vulnerability subscale

which is significantly negatively correlated with five personality types Extraversion

domain is significantly positively correlated with all six personality types except

Realistic type Extraversion have the magnitude of relationships with Enterprising

type is (r = 22 p lt 001) with Social type is (r = 25 p lt 001) and (r = 27 p lt

001) The facets scales of Extraversion domain generally significantly correlated with

all the six personality types except Gregariousness which is non-significantly

correlated with any of the six personality types The findings supported the hypothesis

no1 of the study which stated that Extraversion is correlated to Social and

Enterprising types

Openness domain is significantly positively correlated with all the six

personality types The magnitude of relationship is (r = 09 p lt 05) with Realistic

types (r = 22 p lt 001) with Social type (r = 24 p lt 001) with Artistic type and (r

= 13 p lt 01) with Investigative type All the subscale of Openness domain generally

significantly correlated with all the six personality types except facet scale Fantasy

which is negatively significantly correlated with four personality types Facet scales

Values and Actions have non-significant correlation with all the six types The facet

scales of Fantasy Actions and Values also have non-significant correlation with

other facet scales of Openness domain (see Table 16) Overall the findings supported

the hypothesis no 2 that openness to experience will be positively correlated with

Artistic and Investigative types

Agreeableness domain is significantly positively correlated with Investigative

(r = 12 p lt 01) Artistic (r = 10 p lt 05) Enterprising (r = 14 p lt 001) and

147

Conventional types (r = 15 p lt 001) This domain is non-significantly correlated

with Social and Realistic types The subscale Trust of Agreeableness domain

significantly correlated with all the six types while facet scale Modesty is negatively

correlated with all six types The findings did not support the hypothesis no 3 which

stated that agreeableness will be positively related to social personality types

However Trust and Tender-mindedness facet scales are positively significantly related

to Social interests

Conscientiousness domain is significantly positively correlated with all six

personality types The magnitude of relationship range from (r = 13 p lt 001) with

Social type and (r = 25 p lt 001) with Enterprising type and (r = 27 p lt 001) with

Conventional type All the six facets scale of Conscientiousness domain generally

significantly correlated with all the six personality types except facet scale Order

which is non-significantly correlated with five personality types The findings that

Conscientiousness is positively correlated to Conventional interests supported the

hypothesis no 4 Overall it is obvious from the results that considerable relationship

existed between Five Factor Model and Hollandlsquos typology

In Table 24 multiple regression analysis was conducted to find out specific

contribution of various variables on six personality types (realistic investigative

artistic social enterprising and conventional) The predictor variables included

gender 9th

10 classes urbanrural scienceArts group parents education neuroticism

extraversion openness agreeableness and conscientiousness Variables were entered

simultaneously in the block Six RIASEC types were entered one by one as criterion

variable

148

Table 24

Summary of Multiple Regression Analysis for Demographic and Five Domains of

Personality on the six Personality Types

Dependent Variables

Independent

Variables

b SE β t

REALISTIC INTERESTS

R = 370 R

2 = 137

Adj R2

= 124

Constant 4291 7993

9th

10th

class -1825 622 -116 -2936

Gender

UrbanRural

-3271

1765

653

653

-228

108

-5445

2703

Conscientiousness 073 022 179 3374

INVESTIGATIVE INTERESTS

R = 401 R

2 = 161

Adj R2

= 148

Constant 8384 7666

9th

10th

class -1405 596 -092 -2356

SceinceArts

Conscientiousness

-4459

079

599

021

-297

199

-7442

3814

ARTISTIC INTERESTS

R = 460 R

2 = 212

Adj R2

= 199

Constant -21365 7708

9th

10th

class -2054 600 -130 -3423

Gender

Openness

4566

128

632

031

290

166

7230

4136

Extraversion 108 023 194 4757

Continuedhellip

149

Dependent Variables

Independent

Variables

b SE β t

SOCIAL INTERESTS

R = 391 R

2 = 153

Adj R2

= 139

Constant -10357 7133

9th

10th

class -1860 556 -132 -3347

Conscientiousness

Openness

053

101

019

029

144

147

2754

3541

Extraversion 042 021 089 1986

ENTERPRISING INTERESTS

R = 381 R

2 = 145

Adj R2

= 132

Constant -3502 7643

9th

10th

class -1817 595 -121 -3052

ScienceArts

Conscientiousness

-2294

085

598

021

-154

216

3836

4104

Extraversion 079 022 150 3532

CONVENTIONAL INTERESTS

R = 345 R

2 = 119

Adj R2

= 105

Constant -1025 8543

9th

10th

class -1800 627 -115 -2873

Gender

Conscientiousness

-1677

108

660

022

-108

264

-2541

4921 p lt 05 p lt 01 p lt 001

150

The results showed that Urbanrural (β = 108 p lt 01) and Conscientious (β

= 179 p lt 001) have some impact on Realistic interests Conscientious (β = 199 p

lt 001) have some impact on Investigative interest Gender (β = 290 p lt 001)

Openness (β = 166 p lt 001) and Extraversion (β = 194 p lt 001) have an impact

on Artistic interests Conscientiousness (β = 144 p lt 001) Openness (β = 147 p lt

001) and Extraversion (β = 191 p lt 001) have some impact on Social interests

Conscientiousness (β = 216 p lt 001) and Extraversion (β = 150 p lt 001) have

some impact on Enterprising interests Conscientiousness (β = 264 p lt 001) have

an impact on Conventional interests Gender contributed considerably to predict

Artistic interests Extraversion contributed substantially to predict the Enterprising

and Social interests Openness contributed significantly in predicting the Artistic

interests Conscientiousness contributed substantially in predicting the Conventional

interests Hence the results demonstrated support to the hypotheses no 1 2 and 4

Table 25

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of male and female students on five

main domain scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Scales Gender Total No

of cases

M SD t

Neuroticism Male 319 13714 1477

178 Female 277 13931 1498

Extraversion Male 319 14954 1211

240 Female 277 15226 1555

Openness Male 319 13537 955

186 Female 277 13685 988

Agreeableness Male 319 16169 1444

484 Female 277 16736 1403

Conscientiousness Male 319 16958 1963

104 Female 277 17121 1777

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

p lt 05 p lt 001 df = 594

151

Table 25 showed the mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of male

and female students on the five domains of NEO PI-R There are significant mean

differences between male and female scores on Extraversion and Agreeableness

domains Although there are non-significant mean differences between male and

female students on Neuroticism Openness and Conscientiousness domains yet the

female students mean scores are higher than male studentslsquo scores on all the five main

domain scales These findings supported the hypothesis no 5 of the study

Table 26

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Science and Arts group students on

five main domain scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Scale Group Total No

of cases

M SD t

Neuroticism Science 303 13949 1584

224 Arts 293 13677 1376

Extraversion Science 303 15155 1420

135 Arts 293 15001 1352

Openness Science 303 13655 977

120 Arts 293 13560 962

Agreeableness Science 303 16559 1420

218 Arts 293 16300 1478

Conscientiousness Science 303 17112 2009

103 Arts 293 16952 1736

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

p lt 05 df = 594

The finding in Table 26 displayed that there are significant mean differences

between scores of Science and Arts students on Neuroticism and Agreeableness

domains The science students mean scores are higher than Arts students score

152

Overall there are non-significant mean differences between science and Arts students

on Extraversion Openness and Conscientiousness domains This showed that science

or arts students have non-significant differences with respect to personality profiles

Table 27

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Urban and Rural group students

on five main domains of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Scale Group Total No

of cases

M SD t

Neuroticism Urban 382 13827 1453

27 Rural 214 13793 1556

Extraversion Urban 382 15221 1385

335 Rural 214 14828 1357

Openness Urban 382 13622 977

55 Rural 214 13576 962

Agreeableness Urban 382 16478 1439

102 Rural 214 16351 1476

Conscientiousness Urban 382 17087 1878

92 Rural 214 16939 1879

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

p lt 001 df = 594

The results mentioned in Table 27 showed the mean standard deviation and t-

value of scores of students belonging to Urban and Rural areas on five main domains

of NEO PI-R There are significant mean differences between scores of students of

urban and rural areas on Extraversion domain The mean scores of urban students are

higher than rural students This showed that students from urban areas are high on

Extraversion domains due to better exposure as compared to rural areas students

153

Overall there are non-significant mean differences between scores of students

belonging to urban and rural areas on other domains of NEO PI-R

Table 28

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of 9th and 10th class students on five

main domains of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Scale Class Total No

of cases

M SD t

Neuroticism 9

th 328 13824 1453

498 10

th 268 13804 1556

Extraversion 9

th 328 15022 1385

129 10

th 268 15151 1357

Openness 9

th 328 13570 977

14 10

th 268 13649 962

Agreeableness 9

th 328 16215 1439

63 10

th 268 16698 1476

Conscientiousness 9

th 328 16831 1878

96 10

th 268 17281 1879

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

p lt 05 df = 594

The results mentioned in Table 28 showed that there are non-significant mean

differences between the scores of 9th

and 10th

class students on main domains of NEO

PI-R except on Neuroticism domain

154

Table 29

Mean and standard deviation between three groups of students based on parents

education on the scores of five domain scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Domains

of personality

Father

mother

educated

(N = 150)

Father

educated

(N = 214)

Father

mother

uneducated

(N = 232)

M SD M SD M SD

Neuroticism 13922 1512 13805 1585 13754 1382

Extraversion 15391 1526 14979 1405 14971 1244

Openness 13689 919 13571 1035 13582 945

Agreeableness 16643 1378 16451 1544 16278 1397

Conscientiousness 17072 1909 17048 1860 16994 1882

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory Father mother educated

group (both the parents have at least matriculation education) father educated group (only fathers have at least

matriculation education) father and mother uneducated group (none of the parents have matriculation)

Table 29 indicated the mean and standard deviation of three groups of students

based on parent education on the five domains of NEO PI-R The group of students

having the father mother educated has the highest mean scores on all the five main

domains of personality

155

Table 30

One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) between three groups of students based on

parents education on the scores of five domains of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Domains Sum of

squares

df Mean

square

F

Neuroticism Between group 25805 2 12902

58

Within group 13178765 593 22223

Total 13204571 595

Extraversion Between group 194335 2 97167

512

Within group 11254588 593 18979

Total 11448924 595

Openness Between group 14148 2 7074

74

Within group 5611657 593 9463

Total 5625806 595

Agreeableness Between group 122115 2 61057

291

Within group 12427334 593 20956

Total 12549450 595

Conscientiousness Between group 6336 2 3168

08

Within group 20995752 593 35406

Total 21002088 595 Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

p lt 01

Table 30 showed one way analysis of variance between 3 groups of students

based on parentslsquo education The results showed that there are non-significant mean

differences between the 3 groups of students based on parentslsquo education except

Extraversion domain of NEO PI-R The results showed that group of students whose

parents are educated have highest mean (M = 153 91 SD = 1526) and F (2 593) =

512 p lt 01) Overall findings revealed that parents education have non-significant

effects on the personality patterns of students

156

Table 31

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Lower age (14 to 16 yrs) and

Upper age (17 to 19 yrs) groups on main scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Scale Group Total No

of cases

M SD t

Neuroticism Lower age 460 13816 1483

75 Upper age 136 13811 1517

Extraversion Lower age 460 15101 1406

01 Upper age 136 15007 1325

Openness Lower age 460 13611 979

01 Upper age 136 13587 953

Agreeableness Lower age 460 16481 1457

03 Upper age 136 16267 1430

Conscientiousness Lower age 460 17065 1850

166 Upper age 136 16928 1977

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

In Table 31 the result showed mean differences of two age groups on NEO PI-

R The sample was divided into two groups students of lower age group consisted of

ages (14 to 16 years) while students of upper age group consisted of ages (17 years to

19 years) There are non-significant mean differences between the two groups This

showed that age differences have no significant effects on the scores of NEO PI-R

Gender differences on scores of SDS

The mean differences on the scores of male and female students were

computed on main summary scales of SDS The results are shown below

157

Table 32

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Male and Female students on main

summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

Personality

Types

Gender Total No

of cases

M SD t

Realistic Male 319 2572 740

648 Female 277 2170 773

Investigative Male 319 2864 756

02 Female 277 2866 754

Artistic Male 319 2615 752

809 Female 277 3110 735

Social Male 319 2832 724

486 Female 277 3106 644

Enterprising Male 319 2863 749

46 Female 277 2835 754

Conventional Male 319 3139 756

208 Female 277 3007 794

Note SDS = Self Directed Search

p lt 05 p lt 001 df = 594

The results mentioned in Table 32 showed the mean standard deviation and t-

value of scores of male and female students on the six personality types of SDS

There are significant mean differences between the scores of male and female

students on Realistic Artistic Social and Conventional personality types Mean

scores of male is higher than scores of females on Realistic personality type This

showed that males have a preference for Realistic jobs as compared to females and

thus hypothesis no 6 is supported

There are significant mean differences on the scores of students on artistic and

social personality types The mean scores of female students are higher than scores of

male students This proved that females have a preference for Artistic and Social jobs

158

as compared to male students These findings supported the hypothesis no 7 of the

study Mean scores of males are higher than scores of females on Conventional

personality type This showed that male students have preference for Conventional

type jobs as compared to females

Table 33

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Science and Arts group students on

main summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

Personality

Types

Gender Total No

of cases

M SD t

Realistic Science 303 2454 789

220 Arts 293 2313 769

Investigative Science 303 3091 690

784 Arts 293 2629 749

Artistic Science 303 2799 826

140 Arts 293 2891 736

Social Science 303 2959 719

06 Arts 293 2955 681

Enterprising Science 303 2978 743

431 Arts 293 2716 737

Conventional Science 303 3137 784

192 Arts 293 3015 765

Note SDS = Self Directed Search

p lt 05 p lt 001 df = 594

The findings in Table 33 showed that there are significant mean differences

between Science and Arts students on Realistic Investigative and Enterprising

personality types The scores of science students are slightly better than arts students

159

on Realistic Investigative and Enterprising types This revealed that science students

have preference for Realistic Investigative and Enterprising personality types

Table 34

Mean Standard deviation and t-value of scores of Urban and Rural group students

on main summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

Personality

Types

Group Total No

of cases

M SD t

Realistic Urban 382 2303 811

348 Rural 214 2533 702

Investigative Urban 382 2897 766

140 Rural 214 2807 732

Artistic Urban 382 2892 779

195 Rural 214 2762 787

Social Urban 382 3001 717

195 Rural 214 2885 668

Enterprising Urban 382 2884 770

148 Rural 214 2789 712

Conventional Urban 382 3101 793

97 Rural 214 3036 747

Note SDS = Self Directed Search

p lt 001 df = 594

The results in Table 34 showed that there are non-significant mean differences

between students of urban and rural areas on personality types of SDS except

Realistic type The mean scores of rural students are slightly higher than urban area

students on Realistic personality types This showed that students from rural areas

prefer more Realistic jobs

160

Table 35

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of 9th and 10th class students on

main summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

Personality

Types

Group Total No

of cases

M SD t

Realistic 9

th 328 2468 734

198 10

th 268 2284 825

Investigative 9

th 328 2889 713

557 10

th 268 2835 803

Artistic 9

th 328 2892 788

03 10

th 268 2788 775

Social 9

th 328 3015 705

03 10

th 268 2891 692

Enterprising 9

th 328 2900 729

116 10

th 268 2788 773

Conventional 9

th 328 3137 758

124 10

th 268 3004 794

Note SDS = Self Directed Search

p lt 05

The results mentioned in Table 35 showed that there are non-significant mean

differences between students of 9th

class and 10th

class on personality types of SDS

except on Investigative type The mean scores of 9th

class students are slightly higher

than 10th

class students on Investigative personality types

161

Table 36

Mean and standard deviation between three groups of students based on parents

education on the scores of six personality types of SDS (N = 596)

Personality

Types

Father

mother

educated

(N = 150)

Father

educated

(N = 214)

Father

mother

uneducated

(N = 232)

M SD M SD M SD

Realistic 2236 827 2403 749 2465 768

Investigative 2905 731 2921 723 2787 792

Artistic 2988 829 2873 762 2726 757

Social 3027 704 2985 685 2891 710

Enterprising 2886 740 2899 751 2781 754

Conventional 3096 724 3111 793 3034 794

Note SDS = Self Directed Search Father mother educated group (both the parents have at least matriculation

education) father educated group (only fathers have at least matriculation education) father and mother

uneducated group (none of the parents have matriculation)

Table 36 indicated the mean and standard deviation of three groups of students

based on parentslsquo education on the five domains of NEO PI-R The group having the

father mother uneducated have the highest mean scores on Realistic (M = 2465 SD =

768) The group having the father educated have the highest mean scores on

Investigative (M = 2921 SD = 723) Enterprising (M = 2899 SD = 751) and

Conventional types (M = 3111 SD = 793) The group having the father mother

educated have the highest mean scores on Artistic (M = 2988 SD = 829) and Social

(M = 3027 SD = 704)

162

Table 37

One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) between three groups of students based on

parents education on the scores of six personality types of SDS (N = 596)

Personality

Types

Sum of

squares

df Mean square F

Realistic

Between group

48932

2

24466

405

Within group 3581898 593 6040

Total 3630830 595

Investigative

Between group

23247

2

11623

204

Within group 3364123 593 5673

Total 3387371 595

Artistic

Between group

65136

2

32568

538

Within group 3588032 593 6050

Total 3653168 595

Social

Between group

19116

2

9558

194

Within group 2908057 593 4904

Total 2927173 595

Enterprising

Between group

18301

2

9150

162

Within group 3333998 593 5622

Total 3352299 595

Conventional

Between group

7363

2

3681

61

Within group 3579824 593 6036

Total 3587187 595 Note SDS = Self Directed Search

p lt 05 p lt 01

Table 37 showed the analysis of variance between 3 groups based on parentslsquo

education of students and their effects on the six personality types The results showed

that there are significant mean differences between the 3 groups of students based on

parentslsquo education on the scores of Realistic and Artistic personality types The group

having father mother uneducated have higher mean on Realistic type as compared to

other groups The group having father mother educated have the highest mean on

163

Artistic type as compared to other groups There are non-significant mean differences

between three groups on other personality types

Discussion

Two most widely used models to measure personality and vocational interests

from dispositional domain are Five factor model and Hollandlsquos typology respectively

Costa and McCrae (1992a) designed the NEO PI-R based on Five factor model

Numerous reliability and validity studies were conducted over the years in different

countries as well as in Pakistan (Anis-ul-Haque 2003 Chishti 2002 Safdar 2002

Shaheen 2007 Taj 2003) Hence it is expected that NEO PI-R has cross cultural

efficacy and can be confidently administered on Pakistani population

Holland has proposed a comprehensive model of vocational interests based on

dispositional domains Holland has developed a comprehensive measure of vocational

interests ie Self Directed Search (SDS) SDS was translated comprehensively by

(Naheed 1988) in Pakistan and during the adaptation process few items were

changed and modified and thus the measure is left with 210 items Numerous

reliability and validity studies were conducted over the years in different countries as

well as in Pakistan (Khan et al 1990 Naheed 1988 Siddiqa 1999) Hence it is

expected that SDS has cross cultural efficacy and can be administered on Pakistani

students

The main study was conducted to determine the relationship between

personality and vocational interests The mean differences of different demographic

variables (gender ScienceArts groups urbanrural 9th

10th

classes and parentslsquo

education) on the personality and vocational interests were also explored Despite

164

researcher best efforts random sampling could not be employed properly for the

selection of schools in the study Initially it was decided that 10 schools (5 each from

urban and rural areas) would be selected randomly However finally 7 school (both

from rural and urban areas) with ample students from science and arts groups could be

located by the researcher In each school 100 students (50 science students and 50

Arts students) were randomly selected in the study Thus total of 700 students were

administered the tests After scrutinizing the data and doing away with the absentees

the final data was left with 596 students

The results of the study showed the reliabilityvalidity of NEO PI-R and SDS

Alpha reliability coefficients (see Table 12) of main domains scores and subscales of

NEO PI-R showed the internal consistency of the instrument The range of Alpha

coefficients vary from 36 (Openness) to 84 (Conscientiousness) Openness domain

has low Alpha reliability coefficient of (36) This reflected that this domain has low

internal consistency This may be due to the cultural effect The subscale of Openness

domain consisted of facet scales including Fantasy Aesthetics Feelings Actions

Ideas and Values This low internal consistency of Openness scale was also observed

in other cultures as Laidra et al (2007) showed low internal consistency of Openness

domain (42) in Estonian school students

In a context where Islam being the most widely accepted and practiced

religion the scales Values Fantasy and Actions need to be deliberated thoroughly for

their relevance in Pakistani culture (see conceptual definitions Openness facets scales

in chap III pages 89 to 90) The applicability of Openness Domain in Pakistani

students also needs to be further explored Openness is related to experience novel

things and is generally described by characteristics like imaginative curious and

165

aesthetically sensitive (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) It required education which is based

on the principle of openness and broadness coupled with economic prosperity Some

of the statement in Openness scales are of abstract nature and Pakistani understand

behavior example more easily than the abstract (see for example Mirza 1975)

Moreover in Pakistani culture which is a collectivistic culture (Hofstede

2001) a person who fantasizes and build castle in air is not encouraged or socially

approved Whereas in western culture the word fantasy have different connotations as

compared to Pakistani context Similarly facet scales Ideas and Values of openness

domains have different connotation in Pakistan as compared to western culture In

Pakistan people follow the norms of the society and tribes hence itlsquos difficult for

them to challenge these norms In certain part of the country people feel pride to stick

to their traditions and values These cultural differences have effects on the results of

facets scales of Openness domain

Low internal consistency of Openness domain also indicated that high school

student may not be able to provide reliable information about their personality traits

John Caspi Robins Moffitt and Loeber (1994) mentioned coefficient alpha

reliabilities of four scales exceeded α = 7 except α = 53 for Openness scale The

finding that alpha was lowest for the Openness scale is consistent with the adult Big

Five literature showing that the Openness factor is the least homogeneous of the Big

Five domains (eg Goldberg 1990 Norman 1963) Parker and Stumpf (1998) stated

that Openness showed the smallest degree of convergence across the self report a

finding that confirms earlier observations on the model in general (Ostendorf 1990)

Given its relatively low reliability the usefulness of the Openness scale may be

established through demonstration of more validity studies

166

The inter correlation matrix between subscales and Openness domain (see

Table 16) showed that subscales Fantasy Actions are non-significantly correlated

with other subscales Subscale Values significantly negatively correlated with

Aesthetic and Feelings This showed that Fantasy Actions and Values of Openness

domain have not only low internal consistency but also affected the construct validity

of the Openness domain The results needed to be interpreted with caution for

Openness domain

Safdar (2002) used Urdu version of NEO PI-R on university students and

reported Alpha value of 59 for Openness domain and 41 for Agreeableness domain

Taj (2003) reported alpha coefficient of 37 for Agreeableness for a sample of

working and non working women Chishti (2002) reported low alpha coefficient of

Fantasy (51) Feelings (30) Actions (20) and Values (20) facets scales of

Openness domain on Urdu version of NEO PI-R

The Alpha reliability coefficients (see Table 20) of the subscales (Activities

Competencies Occupations and Self-ratings) of SDS showed high internal

consistency of the instrument The alpha coefficient of summary scales range from (α

= 71) for Social to (α = 80) for Artistic and Conventional All subscales of SDS have

high reliability coefficients Intercorrelations between the Activities Competencies

Occupations Self-ratings and Summary scales (see Table 22) showed the construct

validity of the SDS These correlations were plotted in the hexagon (see Figure 7) for

the three levels adjacent types alternate types and opposite types The relationship

between adjacent types was better than alternate types and similarly the relationship

between alternate types was better than opposite type The results proved the

relevance of Holland model on high school students

167

Relationship of personality and vocational interests

The main objective of the final study was to determine the relationship

between personality and vocational interests of the high school students To achieve

this objective few hypotheses on the relationship between personality and vocational

interest were formulated Inter-correlation (see Table 23) between the 5 main domains

of personality including its 30 facet scales and the six personality types were

calculated The results showed that substantial relationship existed between the two

models Extraversion domain is significantly positively correlated with all six

personality types except Realistic type The magnitude of relationship range from (r =

22 p lt 001) with Enterprising type and (r = 25 p lt 001) with Social type

The hypothesis No 1 was ―Extroversion will be positively correlated with the

Social and Enterprising types The results showed that Extraversion is positively

correlated with Social and Enterprising types This means that Extraversion domain

overlapped with the Enterprising interests and Social interests These findings are

supported in the literature (Costa et al 1984 De Fruyt amp Mervielde 1997 Holland et

al 1994 Tokar amp Swanson 1995 Tokar et al 1995) Previous studies also

supported the positive correlation of Extraversion with social interests (Carless 1999

Costa Fozard amp McCrae 1977 Costa et al 1984 Peraino amp Willerman 1983) and

with Enterprising interests (Carless 1999 Costa et al 1984 Peraino amp Willerman

1983 Waller et al 1995) The results also revealed that Extraversion is non-

significantly correlated with Realistic type The present finding of a non-significant

relationship between Extraversion and Realistic interests are supported by Peraino and

Willerman (1983)

168

The results also mentioned that the facet scales of Extraversion domain

generally significantly correlated with all the six personality types except

Gregariousness which is non-significantly correlated with any of the six personality

types Sullivan and Hansen (2004) found that associations between personality traits

and vocational interests can be accounted for by associations between lower-order

personality traits and interests

A study on 934 Flemish-speaking students by De Fruyt and Mervielde (1997)

analyzed their data in terms of the 30 facet scores as well as the total big five scores

The pattern of correlations showed clearly that few of the big five facets were related

to the realistic and investigative type while many were related to the social and

enterprising type

The findings in Table 23 displayed that strongest relationship is between

extraversion and artistic social and enterprising types The strongest correlations

between Extraversion and Enterprising and Social types of Hollands model have been

supported in the literature (Blake amp Sackett 1993 Bolton 1985 Costa et al 1984

Dillon amp Weissman 1987 Goh amp Leong 1993 Gottfredson et al 1993 Hogan

1986 Peraino amp Willerman 1983) However negative correlations between

Extraversion and Realistic and Investigative types have been reported in the literature

(Blake amp Sackett 1993 Bolton 1985 Costa et al 1984 Peraino amp Willerman

1983) Overall the results of the study supported the hypothesis that Extraversion is

positively correlated with Social and Enterprising interests

Openness domain is significantly correlated with all the six personality types

(see Table 23) The six facet scales of Openness are generally significantly correlated

with the six personality types However facet scales Actions and Values have non-

169

significant correlation with any of the personality types Fantasy is negatively

correlated with most of the personality types

The hypothesis 2 was ―Openness will be positively correlated with

Investigative and Artistic types The results showed that Openness is positively

significantly correlated with all the six personality types however Openness has

moderate strong correlation with Artistic type (r = 24 p lt 001) with Social type (r =

22 p lt 001) and with Investigative type (r = 13 p lt 01) It appeared that people

who express Investigative and Artistic interests also tend to be more open to new

experiences The curiosity and inquisitiveness of the Investigative type described by

Holland (1985a) as intellectual scholarly and curious represented that Investigative

interests overlap 20 to 60 with the Openness to Experience domain (Costa et al

1984 Gottfredson et al 1993 Holland et al 1994 Tokar amp Swanson 1995 Tokar

et al 1995) Artistic interests related moderately (r around 40 to 50) to the Openness

to Experience domain (Costa et al 1984 De Fruyt amp Mervielde 1997 Gottfredson et

al 1993 Holland et al 1994 Tokar amp Swanson 1995 Tokar et al 1995)

Individuals scoring high on Artistic and Enterprising interest scales are more

likely to demonstrate characteristics of those high in Openness and Extraversion

respectively Caldwell and Burger (1998) showed that high levels of Extraversion and

Openness (in addition to Agreeableness and Emotional Stability) are predictive of the

number of job offers received in a job search Tokar et al (1998) reported that

―greater extraversion is also linked to higher frequency and quality of job search

activities (p 144) as well as job satisfaction and change

The Big Six and the Big Five are indeed related to one another in important

ways applicable to counseling but not universally There are substantial linkages

found by (Larson et al 2002) and (Barrack et al 2003) between Artistic and

170

Openness Investigative and Openness Social and Extraversion and between

Enterprising and Extraversion Aesthetics (a facet of Openness to Experience) largely

accounted for the association between Artistic interests and Openness The results

showed that Openness was found to have moderately strong positive correlations with

the Investigative Realistic and Artistic vocational interests a finding consistent with

those reported by others (Carless 1999 Costa et al 1977 Costa et al 1984 Duffy amp

Crissy 1940 see also review by Tokar et al 1998 and meta-analysis by Staggs

2004) Overall the results supported the hypothesis that Openness is positively

correlated with Artistic and Enterprising types

Agreeableness domain is significantly correlated with all the personality types

except Realistic and Social types (see Table 23) The results showed that facets scales

of Trust and Tender mindedness significantly correlated with all the personality types

Facet scale Compliance has non-significant correlation with any of the six personality

types Modesty is negatively correlated with all the personality types Modesty has

different connotation in Pakistani culture as compared to western culture The most

people in Pakistani society are modest and show sympathies and personal interest

with respect to other people However the socio-economic situation in Pakistan

pressurized the individual to think of his improvement of economic condition and thus

has more concern about self at times instead of concern of others

The findings of previous research suggested that Social interests corresponded

modestly (r s around 20) with the Agreeableness domain (De Fruyt amp Mervielde

1997 Tokar amp Swanson 1995 Tokar et al 1995) The personality factor score of

aggression was also found to be negatively related to the social vocational interest

factor This finding is similar to the results reviewed by Tokar et al (1998) who

found a positive relationship between agreeableness (low aggressiveness) and Social

interests

171

The result of the present study showed that Agreeableness is significantly

correlated with Artistic types The Artistic types like ambiguous free and

unsystematic activities perceived themselves as expressive original intuitive

introspective nonconforming and value aesthetic qualities Some aspects of Social

types and Artistic types are related with each other in Pakistani culture This may be

the reason that Agreeableness is significantly correlated with Artistic interests This

overlap between Social interests and Agreeableness is the weakest of the five

correlations but is consistent across the interest measures (Ackerman amp Heggestad

1997) However this showed that the hypothesis Agreeableness will be positively

correlated with the Social typelsquo is not supported by the results

Conscientiousness domain is significantly correlated with all the six

personality types All the facet scales significantly correlated with the six personality

types except facet scale Order However Order scale is significantly correlated with

Conventional type The results showed moderate strong relationship between

Conscientiousness and Conventional type Conscientiousness has strong moderate

correlation with Conventional type (r = 27 p lt 001) Enterprising type (r = 25 p lt

001) and Investigative type (r = 21 p lt 001) The results of meta analysis

conducted by Larson et al (2002) showed that the correlation of Conventional

interests and the Conscientiousness domain was moderately positive when the SDS

was the measure used (r = 29) but dropped to only slightly positively related when

the SII was the measure used (r =13) On the opposite end of the dimension it is

shown that the Conventional type has been correlated with control (Gottfredson et al

1993) judging (Dillon amp Weissman 1987) and conscientiousness (Blake amp Sackett

1993) The findings in the present study showed that hypothesis ―Conscientiousness

will be positively related with Enterprising interests is supported by the results

172

The findings in the present study regarding the consistent overlap between

personality and vocational interests were also confirmed by the multiple regression

analysis (see Table 24) which supported that some of the personality variables have

considerably contributed in predicting the vocational interests

Tokar Fischer and Subich (1998) reported that in general consistent

relationships appear across many correlational studies They stated that the

personality factor of Extraversion was consistently linked to Enterprising and Social

vocational interests Openness was found to be moderately related to Artistic and

Investigative interests Conscientiousness was related to Conventional interests

Agreeableness was linked with Social vocational interests and Neuroticism was not

found to consistently correlate with vocational interests Similar results were reported

by Ackerman and Heggestad (1997) and by Carless (1999) In the relationship

between personality and vocational interests sizable independent variance is also

present Considering the overlap among certain relationships can improve the

knowledge of the connection between these individual differences and vocational

behavior Additional research is needed to strengthen the understanding of potential

implications for practitioners

Mean Differences on Demographical Variables

The mean differences with respect to demographical variables (gender

science-arts urban-rural 9th

- 10th

classes and parentslsquo education) on personality and

vocational interests were also explored Gender differences were explored on five

factor model and were also consistent with findings using other personality

inventories (eg Eysenck amp Eysenck 1975) The results showed (see Table 25) that

there are significant mean differences between male and female students on

173

Extraversion and Agreeableness of the NEO PI-R The mean scores of female are

higher as compared to male students In a male dominated Pakistani society it may be

the case that male will score higher on Extraversion domain However with changing

societal scenario where girls are also quite active and taking part in all aspects of life

the results showed that female are slightly better on extraversion domain which

consist of subscales like warmth gregariousness assertiveness activity excitement

and positive emotion On the other hand female scores are slightly better on

Agreeableness domain Although there are non-significant gender differences on

Neuroticism domain but the mean scores of female students are slightly better than

male students The findings are supported in the existing literature (eg Chapman et

al 2007 Costa et al 1984 Costa et al 2001) The hypothesis that ―female tend to

score higher on neuroticism extraversion agreeableness and conscientiousness as

compared to male students is supported by the results

The mean scores differences between science and arts students on five

domains of personality showed that there are significant differences on neuroticism

and agreeableness domain of five factor model (see Table 26) The scores of science

students are slightly higher on both the domains as compared to arts students The

mean differences between urban and rural areas students showed that there are

significant differences on extraversion domain while non-significant differences were

observed on other domains of personality (see Table 27) This may be due to the

reason that urban students have better opportunities in the urbanized localities and

they take part in different types of social activities While in rural areas there are

limited opportunities and students generally involved in routine activities

174

The mean differences between 9th

and 10th

class students were also explored

The results showed significant mean differences on neuroticism domains while non-

significant differences were observed on other domains of personality The mean

scores of groups of students based on educations of parents on personality were

explored The ANOVA was computed and the results showed that there are only

significant mean differences on extraversion domains (see Tables 29 to 30) The mean

scores of those students whose father and mother are educated are slightly better than

other two groups Overall the results showed that parentslsquo education have no effects

on personality of high school students The mean score differences between lower age

group (up to 16 years) and upper age group (17 years and above) on score of NEO PI-

R are also calculated The results showed that there are non-significant differences on

all the five personality domains This showed that age of the students has no effects

on the scores of NEO PI-R in this study (see Table 31) The use of NEO PI-R on

schools students showed that results can be replicated in adolescents reading in

schools as it is observed on adults Overall the results showed that there are no

significant effects of demographical variables on personality Hence no further

analysis has been carried out to explore the differences of demographical variables on

personality

Gender differences on vocational interest showed that there are significant

differences on Realistic Artistic Social and Conventional interests (see Table 32)

The mean scores of male students are higher as compared to female students on

Realistic and Conventional types On Social and Artistic types the mean scores of

female students are higher than male students In Pakistani culture Female have more

interests in Artistic and Social activities hence their scores are higher on both these

scales The findings are supported by the research literature (eg Betz Harmon amp

175

Borgen 1996 Betz amp Klein 1996 Costa et al 1984 Gianakos amp Subich 1988

Henry amp Bardo 1987 Murray amp Hall 2001 Smart 1989 Stonewater 1987 Varca

amp Shaffer 1982 Walsh Bingham amp Sheffey 1986 Walsh amp Huston 1988) The

results supported the hypotheses that male will score higher on Realistic interests and

female will score higher on Social and artistic interests

Mean differences of science and arts students on the scores of SDS were also

explored (see Table 33) The result showed that there are significant differences on

Realistic Investigative and Enterprising types among science and arts students The

means scores of science students were higher as compared to Arts students There

were non-significant differences on Artistic type however mean score of Arts

students were slightly higher as compared to science students In Pakistan the schools

have two groups of students one is science group and the other one is Arts group

Science students prefer occupations which are related to science subjects Hence

science students should adopt Realistic and Investigative types occupations as

compared to Arts students Whereas Arts students have keen interests in activities

related to Artistic and Social types These findings are supported by the study

conducted on Hong Kong students (Chang 1981)

The results showed that there are non-significant mean differences between

students of 9th

and 10th

classes on personality types except Investigative type The

mean scores of urban and rural areas on six personality types were also explored

There are significant mean differences between urban and rural area students on

realistic vocational interests There are significant mean differences on Realistic and

Artistic interests between groups of students based on parentslsquo education The means

176

scores of group whose parents are educated are slightly higher as compared to other

groups on Artistic vocational interests

Overall the result showed significant gender differences on personality (only

on Extraversion and Agreeableness) and vocational interests (Realistic Artistic

Social and Conventional) There were also significant differences between science

and arts students on vocational interests However urbanrural and 9th

and 10th

class

students have non-significant differences on personality and vocational interests

Parentslsquo education also has significant effects on personality (Extraversion) and

vocational interests (Realistic and Artistic) of students Overall parentslsquo education has

non-significant effects on personality and vocational interests Hence no further

analysis of demographical variables on personality has been carried out Similarly no

further analysis on urbanrural 9th

10th

classes and parentslsquo education on vocational

interests have been carried out However further analysis on gender differences and

sciencearts students on vocational interests have been carried out in the subsequent

study

177

Chapter V

PART 4 VOCATIONAL INTERESTS MEASURED BY

SDS SUMMARY CODES

This study was designed to determine the preferences of vocational interests of

the students by scoring the SDS summary codes The first three highest summary

codes (Holland 1985a) are of great significance and can be interpreted in term of

degree of consistency by employing the hexagonal model The general pattern for the

preferences for occupational types by the students was studied Differences between

male and female students as well as science and Arts students were also determined

The objectives and hypotheses of the study are mentioned below

Objectives

1 To find out the preferences of students on occupational types based on SDS

summary codes

2 To find out the preferences of male and female students on occupational types

based on SDS summary codes

3 To find out the preferences of science and arts students on occupational types

based on SDS summary codes

178

Hypotheses

1 Male students will prefer Realistic Investigative and Enterprising interests as

compared to female students

2 Female students will prefer Artistic and Social interests as compared to male

students

3 Science students will prefer occupations of Realistic and Investigative types as

compared to Arts students

4 Arts students will prefer occupations of Artistic Social and Enterprising types

as compared to Science students

5 Both Science and Arts students will prefer occupations of Conventional types

Operational Definitions of the Concepts

Summary codes The SDS measures the six personality types (Realistic

Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising and Conventional) from the subscales

Activities Competencies Occupations and Self-ratings In each subscales scores are

calculated on each six RIASEC types SDS has YesNolsquo response format In

activities subscale there are 11 items in each six RIASEC categories By adding all

the Yeslsquo scores for R type give the score for activities R Similarly scores for

activities IASEC are calculated The same scoring procedure is used for other

subscales of competencies occupations and self-ratings Summary scores are the

cumulative scores obtained by adding the scores of each subscale on six personality

types For instance the score for R types will be the cumulative scores obtained by

179

adding the R scores of subscales activities competencies occupations and self

estimates Therefore six score representing six RIASEC are obtained for each student

The first three highest scores are arranged in descending order and assigned codes

according to type which they represented Summary codes are the first three highest

codes measured by SDS The person used the summary codes (RIASEC) to locate the

suitable occupations from the occupational finder

PersonalityOccupational types The conceptual definitions of personality

types are mentioned in chapter III pages 97 to 99

Science group and Arts group The operational definitions of science and

Arts group students are mentioned above in chapter IV pages 125

Sample

The sample of the study was the same as used in chapter IV (for details see

pages 120 to 123) of the study The study was conducted on 596 high school students

There are 319 male and 277 female students Their age range is from 14 years to 19

years with a mean age of 1573 years There are 304 students belonging to Science

group and 292 students belonging to Arts group

Instruments

Demographic sheet and Self Directed Search (SDS) was used in this part of

the study (details are in chapter III for demographic sheet (see page 78) and for SDS

(see pages 93 to 99)

180

Frequencies of Highest Summary Codes of Students

The frequencies of highest summary codes achieved by students were

computed Gender differences and highest summary codes of science and arts students

have also been calculated The results are shown below

Table 38

Frequencies of highest Summary codes of students on six personality types of SDS

(N = 596)

Highest

summary

codes

SDS Summary Codes

Realistic

R

Investigati

ve

I

Artisti

c

A

Socia

l

S

Enterprisi

ng

E

Conventional

C

1st

summary

code

35 123 120 155 66 234

2nd

summary

code

58 120 124 141 151 138

3rd

summary

code

65 125 128 131 174 120

Note 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary code as second highest summary SDS code

3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

The findings in Table 38 showed the overall frequencies of highest summary

SDS codes of students Summary codes having equal scores are also included in the

scoring The results showed that C is the highest summary codes achieved by the

majority of the students followed by S and A The frequencies of 2nd

and 3rd

summary

codes depict E as the highest summary code achieved by the students followed by S

and C These results revealed that majority of the Pakistani students have preferences

for conventional vocational interests

181

Table 39

Frequencies of highest Summary codes of male (N = 319) and female (N = 277)

students on six personality types of SDS

Highest Summary

Codes

Summary Codes

Realistic

R

Investigative

I

Artistic

A

Social

S

Enterprising

E

Conventional

C

M F M F M F M F M F M F

1st summary code 31 4 66 57 31 89 57 98 40 26 152 82

2nd

summary code 46 12 66 54 41 83 65 76 85 66 82 66

3rd

summary code 50 15 61 64 63 65 78 53 93 81 44 76

Note M = Male F = Female read 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary code as second

highest summary SDS code 3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

Table 39 showed the overall summary code distribution of male and female

students on six personality types The first three highest summary codes were

computed for each student Summary codes having equal scores are also included in

the scoring The results showed the highest summary codes for both males and

females For male high school students the highest summary codes of C have the

highest frequency 152 studentslsquo highest summary code was C followed by I as 66

studentslsquo highest summary code 57 male students highest summary code was S

followed by 40 studentslsquo highest code as E and 31 students have R and A as highest

summary code Majority of the students have E and C as the 2nd

highest summary

codes for the male students E and S codes are the 3rd highest summary code

preferences for majority of the male students

Female high school studentslsquo highest summary codes of S have the highest

frequency 98 students achieved S as highest summary code followed by 89 studentslsquo

182

highest summary code of A 82 highest summary codes are C and 57 highest

summary codes are I A and S codes are the 2nd

highest summary codes achieved by

the majority of the female students followed by E and C as 2nd

highest summary

codes E and C codes are the 3rd

highest summary codes achieved by the female

students

Overall the results showed that male students have strong preferences for

Conventional interests followed by Investigative interests while females have

preferences for Social and Artistic interests Males preferred more Realistic

Investigative Enterprising and Conventional interests as compared to females

Realistic is the least preferred choice for females These findings supported the

hypothesis no 1 On the other hand female students have strong preferences for

artistic and social interest as compared to male students These findings are supportive

of hypothesis no 2

Table 40

Frequencies of highest Summary codes of Science (N = 304) and Arts (N = 292)

students on six personality types of SDS

Highest Summary

Codes

Summary Codes

Realistic

R

Investigative

I

Artistic

A

Social

S

Enterprising

E

Conventional

C

S A S A S A S A S A S A

1st summary code 16 19 92 28 52 63 50 95 38 26 112 113

2nd

summary code 30 23 72 49 39 83 63 71 81 58 78 69

3rd

summary code 37 28 53 63 60 60 80 55 81 82 49 58

Note S = Science students A = Arts students 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary

code as second highest summary SDS code 3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

183

Table 40 showed the overall summary code distribution of Science and Arts

students on six personality types The first three highest summary codes were

computed for each student Summary codes having equal scores are also included in

the scoring The results showed the highest summary codes for both Science and Arts

students For Science studentslsquo highest summary codes of C have the highest

frequency 112 studentslsquo highest summary code was C followed by I as 92 studentslsquo

highest summary code 52 Science students highest summary code was A followed by

50 studentslsquo highest code as S 38 students have E and 16 students have R as highest

summary codes E and C are the 2nd

highest summary codes for the majority of

Science students E and S codes are the 3rd

highest summary code preferences of

majority of Science students

Arts studentslsquo highest summary codes of C have the highest frequency 113

students achieved C as highest summary code followed by 95 studentslsquo highest

summary code of S 63 highest summary codes are A and 28 highest summary codes

are I A and S are the 2nd

highest summary codes achieved by the majority of Arts

students followed by C and E E and I are the 3rd

highest summary codes achieved by

the majority of Arts students Overall the results showed that Science students have

preferences for Conventional and Investigative type occupations These findings have

partially supported the hypothesis no 3 Arts studentslsquo preferences are for

Conventional Social and Artistic type occupations as compared to science students

Thus findings supported the hypothesis no 4 The results also displayed that both

Science and Arts students have preference for Conventional type occupations Hence

the results supported hypothesis no 5

184

Discussion

The highest summary codes of students were demonstrated to find out the

general trends of students In Pakistani culture which is a collectivist culture there

are many factors which are influencing the choices of the students In a diverse

culture of Pakistan where there are many educational system imparting knowledge to

the students it is very difficult to pinpoint the common factors for all students

However in government school belonging to Punjab province (the biggest populous

province of Pakistan) the general trends showed that majority of the students

preferred Conventional type occupations followed by Social types The Conventional

types tend to like activities that entail ordered manipulation of data and records

perceive themselves as conforming and orderly and value business and economic

achievement They have clerical and arithmetic abilities but often lack artistic ability

Since there are limited career opportunities in Pakistan for students of government

school there are chances that system may be producing certain types of interests and

abilities in students However the trend is slightly different when gender differences

are accounted for the present study Male students have preference for Conventional

type occupations followed by Investigative types while female have preferences for

Social and Artistic type occupations

Since Pakistan is still a male dominated society females are preferably

allowed to adopt the profession like teacher doctor and nursing etc these profession

entail social interests Male students outnumbered their female counterparts in hard

sciences (eg mathematics physics and engineering) Kirkcaldy (1988) reported

women to have significantly lower interests level than men for technical and scientific

jobs While male have low interests for design and socio-educational jobs In addition

185

women preferred less structured more creative less task-oriented and more

permissive types of jobs a description that fits well with artistically or emotionally

involving jobs (Furnham 2005) This suggested that vocational interests may be the

cause of gender differences in educational and occupational choices One cannot be

sure whether gender differences in vocational interests are influenced by culture

personality or ability factors eg whether women prefer certain jobs because they

suit their abilities their personalities or simply conform to social expectations

(Gottfredson 2005)

Gender differences in Holland personality types have been widely researched

using a variety of measurement criteria including academic majors (Gianakos amp

Subich 1988) occupational choices (Smart 1989) and leisure activities (Varca amp

Shaffer 1982) as well as scores on vocational self-efficacy questionnaires (Betz et

al 1996 Betz amp Klein 1996) and interest inventories (Costa et al 1984 Henry amp

Bardo 1987 Stonewater 1987 Walsh et al 1986 Walsh amp Huston 1988)

In general researchers have found greater manifestations of Realistic

Investigative and Enterprising traits among men than among women In contrast

Social and Artistic qualities have generally been found to be more prevalent among

women (Betz et al 1996 Betz amp Klein 1996 Costa et al 1984 Gianakos amp Subich

1988 Henry amp Bardo 1987 Smart 1989 Stonewater 1987 Varca amp Shaffer 1982

Walsh et al 1986 Walsh amp Huston 1988) Results have been mixed in regard to the

Conventional personality type with some researchers finding stronger propensities in

men (Betz et al 1996 Betz amp Klein 1996 Gianakos amp Subich 1988) and others in

women (Costa et al 1984 Stonewater 1987) A detailed study need to be conducted

to look into the reason of preferring Conventional interests in male students in the

present study Overall the results partially supported the hypothesis that male prefer

186

Realistic Investigative and Enterprising interests while female prefer Social and

Artistic interests

In Pakistan two main types of subjects are being taught at high school level in

government schools The science group consists of science subjects while in Arts

group the subjects are from humanities group After passing the middle classes the

students were allotted science and arts group to carry on study in 9th

class The criteria

of allotting science and arts groups to students differ from school to school Some of

the schools allot science group to those students who scored better in middle class

examination and arts group to those who have less mark In some school the allotment

depends on the number of seats and capacity in the class Still some schools have

limited faculty to teach science or arts subject therefore the allotment is according to

their convenience However it was observed that in some school the student interest

and his preferences for the choice is taken as the criterion for allotment Overall there

is no set criterion of allotment of science and Arts subjects to the students of high

schools

The result showed (see Table 40) that the summary codes choices of Science

and Arts group students also differ from each other The science and Arts group

students have Conventional as the most preferred summary code The second highest

score of science students is of Investigative type This showed that science students

have some preferences for Investigative type occupations which entail scientific

abilities The Investigative type likes investigative jobs and has mathematical and

scientific ability The students of Arts group have Social and Artistic type preferences

This also showed that Arts students have some preferences for Social and Artistic

type occupations The summary scores of 2nd

summary code and 3rd

summary code

showed the scattered pattern for the science students Overall science students have a

187

well defined vocational pattern to some extent in accordance with the Holland

typology The Arts students study arts or humanities subject in their curriculum The

first summary code score of Arts students showed that 113 students highest code is

Conventional followed by 95 students have Social and 63 students have Artistic

codes as their highest scores The results showed that Arts students also have well

defined summary code scores to some extent according to Holland typology

The findings partially supported the hypothesis that Science students preferred

Realistic and Investigative types as compared to Arts group The findings also

partially supported the hypothesis that Arts students preferred Artistic Social and

Enterprising types as compared to science students The results also supported the

hypothesis that both science and arts students preferred Conventional types and is

supported by the existing literature (Leung amp Hua 2005 Staggs et al 2007) The

findings of the study about Science and Arts students are also supported by the

research conducted in Hong Kong by Chang (1981) and supplemented the existing

body of literature about differences between gender and science and Arts students

However the findings also drew attention to the ever changing nature of phenomena

and suggested ongoing research pertaining to this important topic

Vocational interests are associated with behaviors that reflect an individuals

choice to engage in tasks and activities they like Congruency is the primary concept

in which realistic personality in a realistic environment would prove to be highly

consistent to fulfill the interests and skills of the person The relation between the

vocational aspirations and vocational interests is very significant Hence there is a

requirement to investigate the level of congruence between vocational interests and

vocational aspirations of students

188

Chapter VI

Part 5 VOCATIONAL ASPIRATIONS OF THE STUDENTS

This part of the research was designed to explore in detail the vocational

aspirations of the students Vocational aspirations are measured as part of SDS and

are considered as the validity check on the SDS summary codes In Pakistan there is

no concept of employing career counselors in the school The students are left on the

mercy of different moderators which influence them to choose certain occupations as

their future choices The job opportunities available in the market where students

have easy access and are open to all students on merit and job security are some of

the main reasons of selecting particular occupations as future choices Therefore the

present study explored in detail the vocational aspirations of the students Majority of

the students mentioned doctor army teacher lawyer and engineer as their vocational

aspirations The gender differences were also studied in this part of the research The

degree of agreement between vocational aspirations and vocational interests of the

students were also determined The objectives of the study are

Objectives

1 To compare gender differences on vocational aspirations of the students

2 To find out the differences on personality and vocational interests with respect

to vocational aspirations

3 To determine the degree of agreement between vocational aspirations and

vocational interests of the students

189

Hypotheses

1 Female students are likely to aspire more Social Artistic and Conventional

codes as compared to male students

2 Male students are likely to aspire more Investigative Realistic and

Enterprising codes as compared to female students

3 Doctor as a vocational aspiration of students is likely to have high degree of

agreement with their Investigative SDS summary code

4 Army as a vocational aspiration of students is likely to have high degree of

agreement with their Realistic SDS summary code

5 Teacher as a vocational aspiration of students is likely to have high degree of

agreement with their Social SDS summary code

6 Lawyer as a vocational aspiration of students is likely to have high degree of

agreement with their Enterprising SDS summary code

7 Engineer as a vocational aspiration of students is likely to have high degree of

agreement with their Realistic and Investigative SDS summary codes

OperationalConceptual Definitions

Vocational aspirations Vocational aspirations of the students are the

prospective vocational choices of the student which they intended to adopt in future

Vocational aspirations and matching occupational codes According to Hollandlsquos

(1997) coding system as RIASEC using the Dictionary of Holland Occupational

Codes (Gottfredson amp Holland 1996) the profession Doctor should have the

Investigative (I) as highest occupational code the profession Army should have the

Realistic (R) as highest occupational code the profession Teacher should have the

190

Social (S) as highest occupational code the profession Lawyer should have the

Enterprising (E) as highest occupational code and the profession Engineer should

have the Realistic (R) and Investigative (I) as highest occupational code

Degree of agreement The relationship between the code of the current

vocational aspiration and the SDS summary code represent degree of agreement

When the first letter code of the current aspiration and the SDS are the same the

likelihood of a person maintaining that aspiration is very high A simpler index of

agreement between any two codes can also be obtained by employing the hexagonal

model The scoring procedure entailed comparing the first letter codes for the current

vocational aspiration and the highest summary SDS codes The higher the score the

closer the agreement Detailed scoring procedure is attached at Appendix Alsquo

Personality The conceptual definitions of personality and main domains of

personality are mentioned above in chapter III pages 85 to 93

Vocational interests The conceptual definitions of vocational interests

including personality types are mentioned above in chapter III pages 97 to 99

Summary codes The operational definition of summary codes is mentioned

above in chapter V pages 178 to 179

Instruments

Following instruments were used in the study

4 NEO PI-R

5 SDS

6 Demographic Sheet

7 Future Possibilities Questionnaire

(See details about instruments in chap III pages 78 to 99)

191

Sample

The sample of the study consisted of 482 students selected from the main

sample of the study (see chapter IV pages 120 to 123) The sample has been taken

randomly within the school The sample was selected based on the five most preferred

vocational aspirations of the students (doctor army teacher lawyer and engineer)

There are 4 boys and 3 girlslsquo schools 2 boy schools and 2 girl schools were selected

from urban areas of Rawalpindi while 2 boys and 1 girl school were selected from

rural area of Rawalpindi There are 243 male students and 239 female students 271

are in 9th

class and 211 in 10th

class students 254 are Science students and 228 are

Arts students Urban students are 321 and rural students are 161 Their age range is

from 14 years to 19 years with a mean age of 1566 years The average fatherslsquo

income is Rs 7669- approximately

Procedure

(Details are given in chapter IV pages 123 to 124)

Results

In this study gender differences on vocational aspirations of the students were

computed Highest summary codes of students based on vocational aspirations were

determined The degree of agreement between vocational aspiration and SDS

summary codes were also explored The results are shown below

192

Table 41

Vocational aspirations of students (N = 482)

Vocational aspirations

Gender

Doctor Army Teacher lawyer Engineer

Male students

(N = 243)

75 124 7 10 27

Female students

(N = 239)

118 15 51 45 10

Total 193 139 58 55 37

The finding in Table 41 showed the frequencies of vocational aspirations of

both male and female students Doctor seems to be favorite career for both boys and

girls Male preferred Army predominantly while very few female opted for this

choice Teaching is the profession which the girls liked most Very few boys opted for

the teaching profession Lawyer as a profession is the favorite for the female as

compared to the male Engineering is more liked by boys as compared to girls The

results showed gender differences between the vocational aspirations of the students

Table 42

The frequencies of highest summary codes of male (N = 243) and female (N = 239)

students on six personality types measured by SDS

Gender

SDS Summary Codes

Realistic

R

Investigative

I

Artistic

A

Social

S

Enterprising

E

Conventional

C

Male students 21 50 24 43 32 114

Female students 4 49 63 83 20 60

Note SDS = Self Directed Search

The findings in Table 42 indicated the gender differences between male and

female students on the highest summary codes on six personality types Summary

codes having equal scores are also included in the scoring Highest summary codes of

193

243 male students who aspired about different vocations were calculated on six

personality types The results showed that male students have preference for

Conventional type followed by Investigative and Social types Highest summary

codes of 239 female students were computed on six personality types The results

showed that female students have preference for Social code followed by Artistic and

Conventional codes Overall the results proved that male students aspired more

Realistic Enterprising and Conventional codes as compared to female students

While female students aspired more Social Artistic codes as compared to male

students The results supported hypotheses no 1 and 2

Table 43

Mean and standard deviation between five groups based on vocational aspirations of

students on their scores on five domains of NEO PI-R (N = 482)

Domains of

personality

Vocational Aspirations

Doctor

(N = 193)

Army

(N = 139)

Teacher

(N = 58)

Lawyer

(N = 55)

Engineer

(N = 37)

M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD

Neuroticism 13815 1392 13565 1667 13905 1426 14131 11 1426 13946 1248

Extraversion 15057 1400 15084 1269 14879 1353 15534 11 1410 15008 1343

Openness 13693 987 13507 930 13455 888 13736 11 1033 13435 968

Agreeable-

ness

16484 1543 16485 1412 16490 1404 16536 11 1407 16832 1180

Conscientiou

sness

17034 1792 17296 1978 16740 1489 17278 11 1619 17251 2072

Note M = means scores SD = standard deviation NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Openness Extraversion

Personality Inventory

Table 43 indicated the mean and standard deviation of five groups of students

on the five domain of NEO PI-R The group having the vocational aspiration of

194

lawyers have the highest mean scores on Neuroticism (M = 14131) followed by

engineers (M = 13946) and teachers (M = 13904) The group of students whose

vocational aspirations are lawyer have the highest mean on Extraversion (M =

15534) and Openness (M = 13736) The group of students having the vocational

aspiration of engineer have the highest mean scores (M = 16832) on Agreeableness

The group of students having the vocational aspiration of Army have the highest

mean scores (M = 17296) on Conscientiousness

Repeated measure ANOVA

Repeated measure ANOVA is a technique used to test the quality of means

The repeated measures test is more powerful because it separates between-subject

variability from within-subject variability

Table 44

Repeated Measure Analysis of variance (ANOVA) for five groups based on vocational

aspirations of students on their scores on five main domains of personality (N = 482)

Effects MS df F Greenhouse-Geisser

Personality 46927511 4 23910 p lt 001

Personality x

Vocational Aspirations

212801 16 1084 p lt 371

Personality x Gender 371554 4 1893 p lt 137

Personality x

Vocational Aspirations x

Gender

124512 16 634 p lt 792

Error 196270 1888

p lt 001 Male = 243 Female = 239 Personality means five main domains of personality (neuroticism

extraversion openness agreeableness and conscientiousness) Vocational aspirations means five groups of

students based on five vocational aspiration (Doctor Army Teacher Lawyer and Engineer)

Mauchly‟s Test W = 40 χ 2 (9) = 42794 p lt 001 Wilks‟ Lambda = 096 F (4 16) =0 97 p gt 05

195

In order to test sphericity Mauchlylsquos Test was inspected which tests for the

equivalence of the hypothesized and the observed variancecovariance patterns The

test was highly significant W = 40 χ 2 (9) = 42794 p lt 001 suggesting that the

assumption of sphericity had been violated A one-way within subjects (or repeated

measures) ANOVA was conducted to compare the effect of five group based on

vocational aspirations on five main domains of personality However results in Table

44 suggested that only personality has significant differences within subjects however

there is no significant effects of personality vocational aspirations and gender There

is no significant effect of the vocational aspirations Wilkslsquo Lambda = 96 F (4 16) =

97 p gt 05 These results suggested that vocational aspirations really do not have an

effect on five domains of personality

Table 45

Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose vocational aspiration is

Doctor (N = 193)

Summary codes

Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

1stsummary code 5 48 24 47 15 54

2nd

summary code 7 38 32 40 30 46

3rd

summary code 13 25 35 33 58 29

Note SDS = Self Directed Search 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary code as second

highest summary SDS code 3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

Table 45 showed the frequencies of first three SDS summary codes for

students whose prospective vocational choice is doctor The three highest SDS

summary codes for each student were computed The dominant summary code is

Conventional as 54 studentslsquo highest code followed by Investigative as 48 studentslsquo

196

highest summary code 47 students highest summary code is Social while 24 studentslsquo

highest summary code is Artistic According to Holland an Investigative type likes

Investigative jobs has mathematical and scientific ability but often lacks leadership

ability They are described as analytical curious intellectual reserved and precise

According to Holland classification the vocational choice doctor should have an

Investigative type as their first summary code However 48 students scored

Investigative type as their highest summary code This showed that those opted for

doctor has some parity with the prospective vocational choice and thus partially

supported the hypothesis no 3

Table 46

Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose vocational aspiration is Army

(N = 139)

Summary codes

Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

1st summary code 7 27 14 24 20 47

2nd

summary code 12 24 15 21 31 36

3rd

summary code 19 19 10 38 32 21

Note SDS = Self Directed Search 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary code as second

highest summary SDS code 3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

Table 46 showed the frequencies of first three SDS summary codes for

students whose prospective vocational choice is Army The three highest SDS

summary codes for each student were computed The dominant summary code is

Conventional as 47 studentslsquo highest code followed by Investigative as 27 studentslsquo

first choice 24 students highest summary code is Social while 20 studentslsquo highest

summary code is Enterprising According to Holland Conventional types has clerical

and arithmetic ability They are conforming conscientious orderly persistent and

197

practical For Army the Realistic should be predominant choice while only 7 studentslsquo

highest summary score is Realistic This showed the degree of incongruence between

vocational aspiration of Army and SDS summary code Thus hypothesis no 4 is not

supported by the results

Table 47

Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose prospective vocational choice

is Teacher (N = 58)

Summary codes

Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

1st summary code 0 4 16 21 3 16

2nd

summary code 4 5 14 15 9 11

3rd

summary code 3 15 11 8 11 11

Note SDS = Self Directed Search 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary code as second

highest summary SDS code 3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

The results in Table 47 displayed the overall frequencies of first three

summary codes computed from SDS for the students whose prospective vocational

choice is teacher The dominant summary code is Social as 21 studentslsquo highest code

followed by each Artistic and Conventional as 16 studentslsquo highest summary code

According to Holland classification the vocational choice of teacher should have

Social as their first summary code Social type like social jobs has social skills and

talents but often lacks mechanical and scientific ability They are described as

cooperative friendly kind persuasive tactful and warm However 21 students

attained social as their highest summary code This showed that those opted for

teachers have some degree of congruence between the vocational aspirations of

198

teacher and original summary codes Hence hypothesis no 5 is partially supported by

the results

Table 48

Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose prospective vocational choice

is Lawyer (N = 55)

Summary codes

Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

1st summary code 2 5 10 24 2 11

2nd

summary code 2 15 18 9 3 8

3rd

summary code 1 8 11 4 17 15

Note SDS = Self Directed Search 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary code as second

highest summary SDS code 3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

Table 48 showed the frequencies of first three SDS summary codes for

students whose prospective vocational choice is lawyer The dominant summary code

is Social as 24 studentslsquo highest code followed by Conventional and Artistic as 11 and

10 studentslsquo highest summary code respectively 2 students highest summary code is

Enterprising According to Holland classification the vocational choice of lawyer

should have Enterprising as their first summary code The Enterprising types show

preference for activities that involve manipulation of others to achieve organizational

goals or economic gain perceive themselves as aggressive self-confident and

sociable and value political and economic achievement They liked enterprising jobs

and have leadership and speaking abilities but often lacks scientific ability However

24 students attained social as their highest summary code which is adjacent to

enterprising type This showed that those opted for lawyers have degree of

199

incongruence between the vocational aspirations and their vocational interests Thus

hypothesis no 6 is not supported by the results

Table 49

Frequencies of SDS Summary scales of students whose prospective choice is Engineer

(N = 37)

Summary codes

Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

1st summary code 4 5 9 5 3 13

2nd

summary code 2 6 3 5 11 11

3rd

summary code 7 8 2 9 7 5

Note SDS = Self Directed Search 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary code as second

highest summary SDS code 3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

The results indicated in Table 49 displayed the overall frequencies of first

three summary codes computed from SDS for students whose prospective vocational

choice is engineer The dominant summary code is Conventional as 13 studentslsquo

highest code followed by Artistic as 9 studentslsquo highest summary code 5 students

highest summary code is Investigative and the same number ie 5 studentslsquo highest

summary code is Social According to Holland classification most of the engineering

discipline has Investigative as their highest code and some have Realistic also

However 5 students attained investigative type as their highest summary code This

shows that those opted for engineering have high degree of incongruence between the

vocational aspiration of engineer and original summary codes Thus hypothesis no 7

is not supported by the results

200

Table 50

Frequencies of scores obtained from highest Summary code of students (Males and

females) based on five groups of vocational aspirations of students via hexagonal

model (N = 482)

Vocational

aspirations of

students

Highest

summary code

from

classification

booklet

Frequencies of scores obtained from highest summary

codes based on hexagonal model

1 2 3 4

M F M F M F M F

Doctor

(N = 193

I 6 6 44 53 8 28 17 31

Army

(N = 139)

R 15 3 23 4 79 7 6 1

Teacher

(N = 58)

S 0 0 4 16 3 14 0 21

Lawyer

(N = 55)

E 0 3 4 9 6 31 0 2

Engineer

(N = 37)

IR 3 0 14 1 7 7 3 2

Note M = Male F = Female I = Investigative R = Realistic S = Social E = Enterprising 4 score means that

highest summary code and Holland classification code correspond with each other 3 means that highest summary

codes and Holland classification codes are adjacent on the hexagon 2 means that the highest summary codes and

Holland classification codes are on alternate on the hexagon and 1 means that the highest summary codes and

Holland classification codes are on the opposite side on the hexagon

Table 50 showed the relationship between vocational aspirations of the

students and highest summary scale based on hexagonal model 193 students opted

doctor as their vocational aspirations and their highest summary code from

classification booklet is Investigative Highest summary code of 17 male students

matched with their highest prospective code while 8 studentslsquo score were adjacent and

44 studentslsquo score were on the alternate position on hexagon Similarly 31 female

studentslsquo highest summary code matched with their highest vocational aspirations

201

code 28 studentslsquo score are on adjacent types while 53 studentslsquo scores are on the

alternate types on hexagon These results also partially supported hypothesis no 3

139 students opted for army as their vocational aspiration their choices and

highest summary scale on SDS were compared based on hexagonal model The

results showed that only 6 male students vocational aspirations matched with their

highest summary code ie Realistic 79 studentslsquo summary scales were adjacent to

Realistic type 23 male students have alternate matching with the summary scale

while 15 students have opposite summary scale Similarly 1 female student vocational

aspiration and highest summary code matched with each other while 7 students

summary code are adjacent to their prospective choice highest code The results

obtained from hexagonal model did not support hypothesis no 4

58 students opted for teacher as their vocational aspiration and the highest

summary code for teacher is Social 7 male students were on the adjacent or alternate

type 21 female student highest summary codes matched with their highest

prospective vocational choice code 14 students summary code were on adjacent types

while 16 students were on alternate type Thus the results supported hypothesis no 5

for female students

55 students opted for lawyer as their vocational aspiration while the code for

the choice lawyer is Enterprising 6 male students highest summary codes were on

adjacent types and 4 students codes were on alternate types 2 female students highest

code matched with highest vocational aspirations code while 31 female studentslsquo

highest summary codes were on adjacent types The results also did not support

hypothesis no 6

37 students opted engineer as their vocational aspirations whereas the highest

summary code for the engineer choice is Investigative 3 male students highest

202

summary code matched with their highest prospective choice code7 students highest

summary codes were on adjacent types while 7 studentslsquo summary codes were on

alternate types 2 female students highest summary code matched with their

vocational aspiration highest code while 7 female students summary scale were on the

adjacent types on the hexagon This also not supported the hypothesis no 7 Overall

the results provided partial support for doctor and teacher vocational aspirations while

there is a state of incongruence between the vocational aspirations of army lawyer

and engineer and their SDS summary codes

Discussion

The study was designed to explore the vocational aspirations of the students

and determine their differences on personality and vocational interests Miller et al

(2004) studied the relationship of expressed occupational daydreams and scores on

the Self-Directed Search (SDS) and found results consistent with Hollands theory of

careers It has long been recognized that personal daydreams about ourselves have

relevance for career planning and are a relatively good predictor of vocational choice

(Brown amp Brooks 1991 Touchton amp Magoon 1977 Yanico 1981)

In the existing theoretical and empirical literature vocational interests and

career goalsaspirations are frequently referred to as measured versus expressed

interests (Spokane amp Decker 1999) The first referred to interests as they are assessed

with standardized interest inventories representing a central part of a personlsquos

personality (Holland 1999) The latter referred to stated vocational aspirations which

are considered an expression of a personlsquos self-concept (Super 1990)

203

Literature supported the facilitative role of the use of occupational daydreams

within the context of career counseling (Crabbs 1979 Sarnoff amp Remer 1982)

Holland et al (1994) indicated that current vocational daydreams are a moderate to

good predictor of later career behaviors The evidence for relying on a personlsquos

occupational aspirations for the prediction of occupational field are presented by

Holland and Lutz (1968) Holland and Whitney (1968) Dolliver (1969) Whitney

(1969) Holland Gottfredson amp Nafziger (1973) Holland (1985b) Holland and

Gottfredson (1975) McLaughlin and Tiedeman (1974) Touchton and magoon

(1977) OlsquoNeil and Magoon (1977) Borgen and Seling (1978) and Gottfredson and

Holland (1975) These studies indicated that the category of peoplelsquos current

vocational aspirations or the history of their aspirations is a moderate to efficient

predictor of the category of their current aspiration major field vocational plan or

current occupation over one three four and eleven-year intervals People whose

aspirations belong to the same category are more predictable than people whose

aspirations belong to different categories Holland (1968) showed that a personlsquos

history of occupational preferences and especially the most recent preferences are

good estimates of what will choose or do next The same findings are also supportive

of studies (Ansari 1981 Aziz 2001 Riaz 1995 Zaidi 1979) conducted on

occupational aspirations in Pakistani context

In the present study the five most reported or preferred career of students of

government schools were doctor army teacher advocate and engineer 482 students

opted for the five types of vocational aspirations 118 female students and 75 male

students opted doctorlsquo as their first choice Doctor is considered as the most favorite

career in Pakistan Only those students can get admission in professional medical

colleges who achieved very good marks in science subjects In Pakistan doctor is

204

considered as the best job for female students 124 male students opted Army as their

favorite choice while only 15 female opted Armylsquo as their daydream choice This

showed that male have preference to join Army In Pakistan where there are limited

job opportunities getting jobs in government department on merit is considered as

very difficult therefore armed forces provide sufficient opportunities to the youth to

join on merit Moreover due to job security armed forces are still the best option

available for male students

51 female students wanted to be teacher while only 7 male opted teacher as

their favorite career Again the profession of teacher is considered as one of the best

for females There are some moderating factors which start influencing the students

from very early age These effects needed to be studied in depth for better

understanding about the vocational aspirations of the students 45 female wanted to be

advocate in their life while only 10 male studentslsquo favorite career was advocate This

showed that female are coming out and adopting different occupations which were not

considered suitable earlier During the past few decades the government has provided

lot of job opportunities to female in different department Hence they are competing

neck to neck with their male counterparts 27 male students and 10 female students

opted engineerlsquo as their favorite career This showed that there are gender differences

between the vocational aspirations of students Therefore different career

opportunities for male and female should be planned and provided to the students by

the government

Gender differences were also calculated on the highest summary codes The

results showed that the male students aspired more Realistic Enterprising and

Conventional codes as compared to female students On the other hand female

students aspired more Artistic and Social codes as compared to male students

205

Previous researches also supported these conclusions (Betz et al 1996 Betz amp Klein

1996 Murray amp Hall 2001 Proyer amp Hausler 2007) These findings partially

supported the hypotheses no 1 and 2

The effects of prospective vocational choices of students on personality were

determined by comparing the mean differences between the five groups based on

vocational aspirations There were non-significant mean differences between

vocational aspirations of the students and personality The differences of five groups

of vocational aspirations on the vocational interests were computed by counting the

first second and third highest summary codes of each group The vocational

aspirations and the highest summary code should correspond with each other The

consistency in score may help the individual to choose the career of his choice and

has highest level of person-environment congruency or fit On the other hand

disparity between the prospective vocational choice and the highest summary code

may develop into incongruent situation

The findings reflected (see Table 45) the summary scale of students whose

prospective vocational choice is doctor have conventional (score of 54 students) as the

highest summary code Almost the same pattern is observed for 2nd

highest summary

code and 3rd

highest summary codes Since Conventional type is the choice of

majority of the students therefore it has the maximum score According to Holland

occupational classification (HOC) Investigative should be the highest summary code

for doctors In Pakistan there are occupations which depend on the classification of

science and arts group subjects For a doctor science subjects are compulsory Hence

investigative type has been the right choice as it entails scientific abilities This

showed the degree of agreement to some extent between the vocational aspiration of

doctor and their vocational interests

206

The highest summary code of students whose prospective vocational choice

was Army have conventional as the highest summary code of majority of the students

followed by Investigative Social and Enterprising Generally the same pattern is

observed for the 2nd

and 3rd

highest summary codes According to Holland

classification booklet the Realistic code represented the occupation of Army The

results showed the disparity between the vocational aspirations of the students and

their highest summary codes determined by SDS This indicated that their vocational

interests (activities competencies etc) did not correspond with the vocational

aspirations This incongruence need to be addressed as early as possible for the better

future of students

There are some occupations which do not depend on the classification of

science and arts subject Like occupation of army both science and arts students can

apply for enrolment in regular Army however in PAF and Navy the candidates

should have science subjects Even in Army specialized courses require science as

their major subjects The results showed index of incongruence between the

vocational aspiration and vocational interests of students whose choice is Army The

summary scales of students whose vocational aspiration was teacher showed that 21

students have social as their highest code while 16 students have Artistic as their

highest summary code Same pattern was observed for the 2nd

and 3rd

highest

summary code According to HOC booklet teachers should have Social as their

highest summary code This showed the moderate index of agreement between the

vocational aspirations of teacher and highest summary code

The summary scales of students whose prospective vocational choice was

Lawyer showed that 24 students highest summary code was Social while 10 students

highest code was Artistic According to classification booklet the ESA is the summary

207

code for a lawyer Only 2 students highest summary code was Enterprising whereas

majority of the students have S and A as their highest summary code This showed

incongruence for the highest code but showed congruence for the 2nd

and 3rd

highest

codes The summary scale of students whose prospective vocational choice was

engineer showed that Conventional was the highest summary code of 13 students

followed by Artistic of 9 students According to HOC booklet the first highest code

of engineer is Investigative while mechanical engineering has Realistic as the first

summary code The results showed that 5 studentslsquo highest summary code is

investigative This showed the incongruence between the vocational aspiration as

engineer and their vocational interests

Gender differences were computed for the five groups of students based on

vocational aspirations and their scores on vocational interests by employing

hexagonal model According to hexagon model if the first choice of a vocational

aspiration occupational code and first choice of SDS summary scale match then the

individual gets 4 marks If the vocational aspiration occupational code and SDS

summary code are adjacent to each other the individual get 3 marks If they are on

alternate position on the hexagon then it will get 2 marks and If on opposite to each

other then it will get 1 mark The frequencies of scores of five group of vocational

aspirations based on hexagon model were plotted (see Table 50)

The frequencies of scores for doctors showed that only 17 male and 31 female

studentslsquo highest summary code and occupational code match with each other The

frequencies of scores for the army group showed that only 6 male and 1 female

student highest summary code and occupational code match with each other For

teacher none of the male students and 21 female studentslsquo highest summary code and

occupational code matched with each other For lawyer none of male and 2 female

208

studentslsquo highest summary code and occupational code matched with each other For

engineer only 3 male students and 2 female studentslsquo highest summary code and

occupational code matched This showed the degree of agreement between their

prospective vocational choices and highest SDS codes

Overall the results got partial support for the hypotheses no 3 to 7 that

vocational aspirations of students is likely to have high degree of agreement between

their vocational interests There were reasonably good degree of agreement between

vocational aspirations of doctors and teachers with their vocational interests among

students There was a moderate degree of agreement between vocational aspiration of

lawyer and their vocational interests However there was a state of incongruence

between the vocational aspirations of army and engineer with their vocational

interests among students

In government high school there is no mechanism where career guidance is

provided to the students Some teachers tried to guide the students according to their

knowledge but there is no institutional support to the students in this regard The

choices of vocational interest by students generally depend on the wishes and whims

of students Students either interact with their role model or they listen about it from

their parents teachers and peer The other problem is the availability of limited job

opportunities in Pakistan therefore the students aspiration are also limited In

government schools majority of the students are not able to achieve their vocational

aspiration because there is lot of competition for limited vacancies in a particular job

More over there is no proper guidance available to students at schools or

governmental level therefore their vocational aspirations of different occupations at

times did not correspond with their interest and competencies

209

Present results of the study may be of value to those career counselors who

assist students in the process of making career choices Based on the five most

preferred vocational aspirations of the students a study was designed to seek expert

opinion about personality and vocational interests The results attained based on

studentslsquo scores were validated with the opinion of experts of selected occupations to

add cultural relevance for the concepts used in the study

210

Chapter VII

Part 6 EXPERT OPINIONS ABOUT PERSONALITY AND

VOCATIONAL INTERESTS

This part of the study was designed to enhance the cultural relevance of

concepts used in the previous part of the research It was carried out to evaluate the

results about personality and vocational interests in view of expertslsquo opinion The

study endeavored to explore the personality patterns related to different occupations

by the experts It also investigated the identification of personality types defined by

Holland RIASEC model in Pakistani context which meaningfully correspond with

their respective profession by the experts An evaluation sheet was designed (see

Appendix Flsquo) to measure the personality profile related to different occupations by

the experts and find out the relevance of personality types with respective occupations

of experts Followings are the objectives of the study

Objectives

1 To determine the psychometric properties of the evaluation sheet

2 To evaluate the personality profiles about different occupations by the

professionals

3 To find out the relevance of personality types with the different occupations

by the professionals

No formal hypotheses were formulated in this part of the research The study

has been conducted in two phases

211

Phase 1

In this part of the study 5 most preferred vocations described by the students

were selected based on the information gathered from the previous part of the study

The selected preferred vocations sample and procedure are explained below

Selection of Preferred Vocations

During the administration of future possibilities questionnaire the students

were asked to write the vocational aspirations which they are going to adopt or select

in future Frequencies of the prospective vocational choices were calculated and the

first 5 most preferred vocational aspirations mentioned by the students were selected

for the study purposes The selected preferred occupations are listed below

a Doctor

b Army

c Teacher

d Advocate

e Engineer

Sample

Five professionals from each preferred career were selected There are 25

professionals from five different occupations (doctor army teacher lawyer and

engineer) A convenient sampling technique was used Experts having at least 20

212

years of service in particular fields were selected They were taken from both genders

where possible

Procedure

Prior appointments were made by the professionals Rapport was established

and the purpose of the study was explained to them The experts were given following

instructions

ldquoAs a student of National Institute of Psychology Quaid-i-Azam University

Islamabad I am conducting a research on the topic of ldquoPersonality and

Vocational interestsrdquo You being the expert in your field are requested to

describe the personality traits which in your own personal view should be

possessed by a professional _________________ on the following 30 traits of

personality Definitions of each trait of personality are also given below You

are requested to complete the evaluation sheet by rating the personality of

professional _______________ on a seven point rating scale (1 to 7) ranging

from bdquoleast required‟ to bdquomost required‟ You are also requested to choose one

of the six personality types which meaningfully correspond with your

profession The detailed definitions of each personality types are also printed

at the end of evaluation sheet Your cooperation in this regard will be highly

appreciatedrdquo

For the respondent who has to write the attributes of the doctors the word

doctor was written in the blank space Similarly for each expert of hisher field the

name of profession of that particular field was written in the instructions A total of 25

213

professionals (from both gender) were administered evaluation sheet A demographic

sheet was also attached with the evaluation sheet

Phase II

The statistical analysis was carried out to establish reliability and validity of

evaluation sheet Further analysis was carried out to evaluate the personality profiles

deliberated by the experts Personality types mentioned by experts for each vocation

were also noted down Mean differences were also computed between the experts of

five vocations

Results

The results related to reliability and validity of evaluation sheet evaluation of

personality traits and personality types by the experts are computed in the following

tables

ReliabilityValidity of Evaluation Sheet

The Alpha reliability coefficients of five main domains scales of personality in

Evaluation sheet were computed The item-total correlation between each item and

respective main scales were also computed The results are shown below

214

Table 51

Alpha reliability coefficient of five domains of Personality of Evaluation sheet (N=25)

Scales Number of items Alpha coefficients

Neuroticism 6 66

Extraversion 6 64

Openness 6 31

Agreeableness 6 58

Conscientiousness 6 78

Table 51 showed the Alpha reliability coefficients of 5 scales of Evaluation

sheet The 5 main scales showed moderate Alpha reliability coefficients ranging from

31 (Openness) to 78 (Conscientiousness) The low alpha reliability coefficients

were due to less number of items in each scale Low internal consistency of Openness

domain was also observed on the sample of students as well (see Table 12) The

results showed moderate internal consistency of the instrument

Table 52

Item-total correlation of five domains of Evaluation sheet (N=25) Neuroticism

(Items = 6)

r Extraversion

(Items = 6)

r Openness

(Items = 6)

r Agreeable

ness

(Items = 6)

r Conscientious

ness

(Items = 6)

r

q1 76 q7 44 q13 22 q19 19 q25 78

q2 33 q8 56 q14 76 q20 61 q26 78

q3 73 q9 66 q15 47 q21 47 q27 13

q4 49 q10 75 q16 30 q22 66 q28 61

q5 64 q11 66 q17 40 q23 44 q29 88

q6 73 q12 53 q18 69 q24 63 q30 79

Note q1 to q30 represent each item of Evaluation sheet

p lt 05 p lt 01 p lt 001

215

The findings in Table 52 showed the item-total correlations of each subscale

of Evaluation sheet The results displayed that almost all the items significantly

positively correlated with the total of their respective subscale except q2

(Neuroticism) q13 and q16 (Openness) q19 (Agreeableness) and q27

(Conscientiousness) This shows the construct validity of each subscale of Evaluation

sheet

Table 53

Inter-correlation of main scales of Evaluation sheet (N = 25)

Scale I II III IV V

I Neuroticism (N) -

II Extraversion (E) -41 -

III Openness (O) -07 60 -

IV Agreeableness (A) -24 23 19 -

V Conscientiousness (C) -49 48 31 57 -

p lt 05 P lt 01

Table 53 showed the inter-correlation of five main domains of Evaluation

sheet The results revealed that the 5 main scales are significantly correlated with each

other except Openness (O) and Agreeableness (A) domains Neuroticism (N) domain

is negatively correlated with all other domains The same pattern of inter-correlation

of five domains was observed on the sample of students (see Table 8 and 19) This

inter correlations matrix showed the construct validity of the five domains of

Evaluation sheet

216

In this part of the study repeated measure one way analysis of variance was

computed on five groups of expert on five domains of evaluation sheet The

frequencies of experts mentioning the personality types corresponding to their careers

were also calculated The results are shown below

Table 54

Mean and standard deviation between five groups of experts based on their scores on

five domains of Evaluation sheet (N = 25)

Domains of

personality

Experts of Selected Careers

Doctor

(N = 5)

Army

(N = 5)

Teacher

(N = 5)

Lawyer

(N = 5)

Engineer

(N = 5)

M SD M SD M SD M SD M S SD

Neuroticism 980 466 1060 207 1500 367 1620 11 521 1500 158

Extraversion 3160 385 3660 56 3600 200 3220 11 327 2920 327

Openness 2860 297 2980 249 3140 219 2940 11 573 2820 549

Agreeable-

ness

3500 283 3520 217 3320 487 3140 11 321 3140 288

Conscientiou

sness

3620 402 4040 140 3580 587 3440 11 541 3460 152

Note M = Mean scores SD = Standard deviation

Table 54 indicated the mean and standard deviation of five groups of experts

of five different careers on the five domain of evaluation sheet The lawyers group has

the highest mean scores on Neuroticism followed by teacher and engineers Army

group has the highest mean on Extraversion followed by teacher Teachers group has

the highest mean scores on Openness followed by Army and lawyers group Army

217

and doctors group have the highest mean on Agreeableness domain Army group have

the highest mean on Conscientiousness followed by the doctors

Repeated measure ANOVA

Repeated measure ANOVA is used to separates between-subject variability

from within-subject variability

Table 55

Repeated Measure Analysis of variance (ANOVA) between five groups of experts

based on their scores on five domains of Evaluation sheet (N = 25)

Effects MS df F Greenhouse-Geisser

Five domains of Evaluation

sheet

208753 4 17765 p lt 001

Five domains of Evaluation

sheet x Vocations of Experts

2644 16 225 p lt 024

Error 1175 80

p lt 001 p lt 05 Male = 243 Female = 239 Five main domains of Evaluation sheet (neuroticism

extraversion openness agreeableness and conscientiousness) Five groups of experts based on five vocations

(Doctor Army Teacher Lawyer and Engineer)Mauchly‟s Test W = 37 χ 2 (9) = 1816 p lt 05

Wilks‟ Lambda = 027 F (4 16) =1 75 p gt 05

In order to test sphericity Mauchlylsquos Test was inspected which was

significant W = 37 χ 2 (9) = 1816 p lt 05 suggesting that the assumption of

sphericity had been violated A one-way within subjects (or repeated measures)

ANOVA was conducted to compare the effect of five group of vocations on five main

domains of evaluation sheet However results in Table 55 suggested that five domains

of evaluation sheet have significant differences within subjects however there are

non-significant effects of five groups of expert on five domains of evaluation sheet

218

(Wilkslsquo Lambda = 027 F (4 16) =1 75 p gt 050 These results suggested that

different vocations do not have an effect on five domains of evaluation sheet

Table 56

Frequencies of expert opinions about personality types corresponding with their

careers (N = 25)

Career

expert

N Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

Doctor 5 - 4 - 1 - -

Army 5 - - - - 5 -

Teacher 5 - - - 5 - -

Lawyer 5 - - - 1 4 -

Engineer 5 1 4 - - - -

The frequencies mentioned in Table 56 showed the expert opinion about the

personality types which correspond with their profession The results demonstrated

that doctors picked Investigative type which corresponds with their profession

According to Holland occupational title classification (HOC) doctors have the

investigative as their highest summary code This showed the degree of agreement

between expert opinion and Holland summary codes The experts belonging to Army

group selected Enterprising personality type which corresponds with their profession

According to HOC army occupation has the Realistic as their highest summary code

This showed disparity between expert opinion and highest summary code for army

occupation The experts from teachers group preferred Social personality type as the

most suitable type which corresponds with their profession According to HOC

219

teachers should have Social as their highest summary code This showed degree of

agreement between expert opinion of group of teacher and corresponding Holland

summary code

The lawyers group of experts picked Enterprising as their suitable type which

also corresponds with Holland summary code The engineer group selected

Investigative as the most suitable personality type which also corresponds with the

Holland summary code Overall the results showed that there is a correspondence

between expert opinion and Holland classification of occupation except the

occupation of Army which is one of the most preferred careers of students in

Pakistan

Discussion

The study was conducted on the five groups of experts which were selected on

the basis of five favorite vocational aspirations of students In total 25 experts were

selected to determine the expert opinion about personality and vocational interests in

Pakistani context The Alpha reliabilities coefficients of five domains measured by

evaluation sheet also show moderate Alpha value except Openness domain (α = 31)

This also showed that the relevance of Openness domain to the Pakistani culture need

to be deliberated with more validity studies on different samples

One way repeated measure analysis of variance was calculated for the five

groups of experts on five domains of evaluation sheets The results showed that mean

differences between the five groups of experts Lawyer have the highest mean on

220

Neuroticism (M = 1620 SD = 521) as compared to other groups Similar finding

were observed when one way repeated measure analysis of variance was conducted

on five groups of students based on vocational aspirations on five domains of NEO

PI-R (see Table 44) There were non-significant differences on five domains however

lawyer have the highest mean on Neuroticism as compared to other groups On

Extraversion domain significant mean differences were also observed on five groups

of experts The mean scores of army and teacher groups have the highest mean value

as compared to other groups

The five groups of experts were also given the conceptual definitions of six

personality types of vocational interests They were requested to choose the one

personality type out of six which correspond with your profession The result showed

that 4 doctors picked investigative type while 1 picked social type According to

Holland occupational classification (HOC) physicians have investigative as their first

summary code The results corresponded for the group of doctors

All five experts from regular Army picked enterprising as their most

corresponding personality type According to HOC Army has Realistic type as their

highest summary code This showed a disparity between the HOC classification and

expert opinion The Enterprising types show preference for activities that involve

manipulation of others to achieve organizational goals or economic gain perceive

themselves as aggressive self-confident and sociable and value political and

economic achievement The enterprising type like enterprising jobs and has leadership

and speaking abilities but often lacks scientific ability They are energetic extraverted

adventurous and domineering etc While Realistic types are predisposed to activities

221

that entail working with objects perceive themselves as having mechanical and

athletic abilities and value the tangibles They prefer activities involving the

systematic manipulation of machinery tools or animals The Realistic type like

realistic jobs and has mechanical abilities but may lack social skills They are asocial

practical conforming uninsightful uninvolved and hardheaded

For teachers all the expert rated Social type as their most suitable type The

HOC classification also reported Social as their highest summary code for teacher

For Lawyer and Engineer the expert opinion and HOC classification are almost the

same

Overall the findings of the this part of the study are supportive of the

conclusions drawn from the previous parts of present study except for the relevance of

occupation of army when compared with the Holland occupational classification The

results revealed that cultural relevance of some of the occupations mentioned in the

HOC classification need to be established in Pakistan

222

Chapter VIII

GENERAL DISCUSSION

The study was designed to find out the personality and vocational interests

among students from government high schools in Pakistan It also explored the

vocational aspirations of the students Based on the vocational aspirations of the

students five most favorite career choices were selected The differences between

Personality profiles for these careers deliberated by the experts belonging to these five

selected vocations were also investigated The personality types corresponding to

different careers in the opinion of experts of selected career were also determined

The differences with respect to demographic variables (gender sciencearts

urbanrural 9th

10th

class and parentslsquo education) on personality and vocational

interests were also explored

In Pakistan there are different types of schools Some of the schools are from

public sector and other belongs to private sector In private sector there are different

categories of schools Some of the schools systems are well established and their

branches are situated all over Pakistan Whereas some private schools are established

with different names and are present in every nook and corner of the urbanized

localities of Pakistan In government schools again there are different categories

Some of the schools are public schools some are cadet colleges and some are under

the administrative control of provinces The government schools are present in urban

223

areas as well as in rural areas of Pakistan In rural areas of Pakistan there are very

few private schools available for students whereas the bulk of the students belonging

to rural areas are bound to study in government schools The government schools

have nominal fee structure as compared to private schools Moreover people from low

socio-economic status can only afford to send their children in government schools

The government schools in a province generally have a common syllabus In

Punjab these schools are also called as Urdu medium schools In Pakistan about 70

of the population lives in rural areas Therefore these schools cater for the students

belonging to large segment of society The results of focus groups and interviews

showed that there are no school psychologistslsquo or career counselorslsquo posted to these

schools After passing middle standard examinations the students are to choose

between two main categories of science subjects and Arts subjects (humanities

group) The science and arts groups of students have not only different subjects to

study but there are many careers which depend on these categories Hence the present

study focused students in their schools years to understand the dynamics of

personality and vocational interests

Two most widely used models to measure personality and vocational interests

are FFM and Hollandlsquos typology respectively Costa and McCrae (1992a) developed

the measure NEO PI-R based on five factor model Holland has proposed a

comprehensive model of vocational interests which is another expression of

personality Holland (1994) has developed a comprehensive measure of vocational

interests ie Self Directed Search (SDS) Vocational aspirations of the participants

are also explored which is considered as the part of SDS Keeping in view the sample

224

characteristics it was decided that Urdu translated version of NEO PI-R and SDS

would be used to measure personality and vocational interests The sample of the

study consisted of students from Urdu medium government schools from Rawalpindi

Urdu being the national language is being taught and spoken customarily in these

schools On the other hand in English medium schools the focus is more in written as

well as spoken English Urdu is being neglected in these categories of schools

During interviews and focus groups from principal and teachers of Urdu

medium government schools (see chapter II for details) it was revealed that Urdu as a

language can be easily read and comprehended by the students of Urdu medium

schools The test contents of Urdu version of NEO PI-R and SDS were discussed in

detail with the experts and even with the principal of schools It was decided that

comprehensive Urdu translated versions are available and can be used to determine

the relevance of these two widely used model of personality and vocational interests

on the high school students

The relationship between personality and vocational interests of the high

school students proved that substantial relationship existed between the two models

(for details see chapter IV pages 144 to 150) Extraversion is significantly correlated

with Social and Enterprising interests Openness domain is significantly correlated

with all the six personality types (see Table 23) The findings are supported by the

other studies like Nauta (2004) and Rottinghaus Lindley Green amp Borgen (2002)

Hartman and Betz (2007) also found that Conscientiousness is related to Investigative

Social Enterprising and Conventional confidence Neuroticism is negatively related

225

to all but artistic interests and Extraversion related to Artistic Social and

Enterprising domains

Agreeableness domain is significantly correlated with all the personality types

except Realistic and Social types Conscientiousness domain is significantly

positively correlated with all the six personality types The results showed moderate

strong relationship between Conscientiousness and Conventional type (see Table 23)

The meta-analytic results of Larson et al (2002) study were especially helpful in

identifying modest but positive relationships between the big dimensions of interests

and personality Thus three correlations range from 22 to 28 investigative is

correlated with openness correlated conventional is correlated with

conscientiousness and enterprising is correlated with conscientiousness The

implications of these meta-analytic results suggested new conceptualizations of

understanding of both personality and interest

Personality and vocational interests are strongly related starting with the early

study by Costa et al (1984) and to the most recent studies (Barrett 2009 Barrick et

al 2003 Bullock amp Reardon 2008 Ehrhart amp Makransky 2007 Hartman amp Betz

2007 Harris et al 2006 Larson et al 2002 Logue et al 2007 Staggs et al 2007

Zhang 2008)

Gottfredson (1999) suggested that future genetic analysis will help to identify

the common causal factors between interests and personality Costa et al (1995) have

introduced a vocational-like measure intended to mimic the Big Five labeled the

NEO Job Profiler a tool that quantify the match between the person and a specific

226

position Therefore the integration of personality and vocational interest will provide a

more holistic and accurate picture of the person

Thus the conclusion from two meta-analyses (Barrick et al 2003 Larson et

al 2002) is that there is modest relationship between personality and vocational

interest types and in some cases the correlations are very nominal The same is the

case with the present study One of the limitations was that the openness dimension

showed low reliability coefficient among the study participants However the

meaningful significant and consistent results regarding the relation of openness to

interests supported the measurelsquos validity within this sample However the facet

scales Fantasy Actions and Values of Openness domain need to be deliberated

thoroughly for their relevance in Pakistani culture

The existing theoretical reviews provided the information for counseling

applications in the areas of vocational and educational outcomes For instance the

extraversion and enterprising overlap can provide information which can be helpful

for the vocational counselor (Staggs et al 2007) The client who is extraverted and

has enterprising interests is likely to be successful at jobs which are related to

extraverted and enterprising characteristics as compared to the individual who does

not possess extraverted and enterprising personality disposition This information is

useful for general direction but more specific input is required for more complex

career counseling Many psychologists have moved forward from this general

information toward more precise and complex Personality-Interest convergence

(Blake amp Sackett 1999 Waller et al 1995)

227

It has been observed in the literature review that Conscientiousness and

Emotional Stability are consistently related to job performance (Barrick et al 2001

Hurtz amp Donovan 2000 Salgado 1997) Judge and Ilies (2002) were of the opinion

that conscientiousness and emotional stability are related to motivation coupled with

performance orientation These two traits are also related with goal setting and self-

efficacy Conscientiousness is coupled with limited problem in work behaviors and is

associated with suitable behaviors in the job in hand (Barrick et al 2001 Salgado

1997) Conscientiousness individual are generally easily fit into the jobs which

require conventional interests They generally prefer organizational cultures that are

outcome and detail oriented (Hofstee et al 1992 Judge amp Cable 1997)

Agreeableness traits are associated with motivation only when cooperative

demands and teamwork are required in the jobs Agreeableness was non-significantly

correlated with Hollandlsquos social interests and other interpersonal variables (Betz amp

Borgen 2010) This finding has been supported in the present research as there is

non-significant relationship between agreeableness personality domain and Hollandlsquos

social interests

On the other hand Extraversion traits are related to motivation only when

competitive environment and systematic advancement in the job are required Those

individuals will be more motivated who are in a state of congruence with the job

When personality and interests are related to the job then higher job performance can

be achieved Extraversion has characteristics like assertiveness and ambitious and are

generally found fit with jobs that are enterprising as well as social types (Hofstee et

al 1992 Tokar amp Swanson 1995)

228

Many researches and meta-analyses of the relationships of the Big Five to job

performance have consistently supported the strength of Conscientiousness as a

positive predictor of job performance across performance criteria in occupations

(Barrick amp Mount 1991 Barrick et al 2001 Dunn Mount Barrick amp Ones 1995

Tokar et al 1998) Extraversion has often been shown to be a strong predictor for

those jobs involving social interaction such as management and sales (Barrick amp

Mount 1991 Tokar et al 1998) Openness and Extraversion were found to predict

success in job training programs (Barrick amp Mount 1991) Mount et al (1998) found

that Conscientiousness and Emotional Stability (the inverse of Neuroticism) were

related to performance in jobs involving working with others whether those are

colleagues customers or patients In the prediction of overall job satisfaction

Neuroticism (negatively) Conscientiousness and Extraversion were the strongest

predictors across occupations (Judge amp Ilies 2002) A meta-analysis by Judge

Thoresen Bono and Patton (2001) concluded that people tend to be high performers

when they like their jobs They would be more satisfied with the job performance

There is ongoing debate that Big Five are predictive of vocational interests or

facet traits also add to the prediction (Paunonen 1998 Paunonen amp Jackson 2000

Schneider Hough amp Dunnette 1996) Addition of facet traits of personality along

with five big traits support Sullivan and Hansenlsquos (2004) finding that Aesthetics facet

is associated with the Artistic interests Similar findings were reported by Waller et al

(1995) who found that Assertiveness was related to the enterprising interests In the

present study the relationship between facets traits and vocational interests provided

insight into the study for more precise prediction of future careers

229

Costa et al (2001) suggested that gender differences on personality replicated

across cultures both on college and adult samples Women are generally found higher

in neuroticism agreeableness warmth and openness to feelings whereas men were

higher in assertiveness and openness to ideas (McCrae et al 2002a)

Openness to Experience in Pakistani Context

It was found that among the five widely examined personality factors of the

FFM Openness to Experience is the most controversial (McCrae amp John 1992)

McCrae and Costa (1997) acknowledged that ―the concept of Openness appears to be

unusually difficult to grasp (p 826) The relatively weak psychometric properties of

the Openness factor in non-Western cultures was another area of concern as compared

to the other four domains of the FFM (Cheung et al 2008) Individuals high on

openness to experience generally found best fit when the jobs are related to artistic

and social types Previous researches have also found that such individuals are

attracted to environment in organization that are innovative creative and detail

oriented (Hofstee et al 1992 Judge amp Cable 1997) However openness has been

replicated across cultures along with other four personality factors of FFM (McCrae

amp Costa 1997 McCrae amp John 1992)

During the process of translation of NEO PI-R the items of openness domain

were difficult to translate into Urdu (Chishti 2002) Each item was analyzed

extensively and some items were rephrased and modified according to the Pakistani

culture During the process of Urdu translation efforts were made to translate the

feeling connotation of the statement rather than literal meanings of the original words

230

The alpha reliability of openness domain of Urdu version were 57 74 17 13 67

15 and English version were 47 57 21 12 43 and 22 for six facet scales

fantasy Aesthetics feelings actions ideas and values respectively After dropping 8

items for the final analysis the openness facets has Urdu version alpha reliability are

51 72 30 20 72 and 20 for respective facets which is still not at the desirable

level

Five factors have been found similar to that of the American norms in cross-

cultural comparisons in 36 cultures (McCrae amp Allik 2002 McCrae Costa Del-

Pilar Rolland amp Parker 1998) However normative structure was not replicated in

Malaysia Nigeria and Zimbabwe These discrepancies have been pointed out by

McCrae and Terracciano (2005) and reason is probably the low internal consistency

of the Openness factor

McCrae Costa and Yik (1996) reported the alpha coefficient of the Values

facet was only 32 in Hong Kong university students The alpha coefficient of the

Openness factor was 53 in Chinese university students (Cheung et al 2001) The

facet scales Actions and Values have alpha coefficients of 10 and 29 which show

low internal consistency of Openness domain in Chinese culture Yang et al (1999)

also reported low internal consistency of facets scale of openness ranging from 28 to

73

In other Asian cultures Openness factor have been found problematic in many

studies Katigbak Church and Guanzon-Lapena (2002) found the low alpha

coefficients for Values (22) and Feelings (44) facet scales for Filipino students

Lodhi Deo and Belhekar (2002) noted the alphas coefficients of Actions (43) and

231

Values (10) were fairly low among Indian postgraduate students Mastor Jin and

Cooper (2000) found low alpha coefficients for Actions (28) and Values (48) for

Malay students in Malaysia

In contrast openness factor have much higher alpha reliability coefficients in

Europe determined by many studies ranging from 81 to 90 (Allik Laidra Realo amp

Pullmann 2004 Aluja Garcia amp Garcia 2003 Berings et al 2004) McCrae (2002)

suggested less individual differences on Openness to Experience in traditional

cultures due to limited life options Pakistan being the developing country and having

collectivistic culture the low internal consistency of openness scale could be due to

the reasons as explained by McCrae (2002)

There may be several reasons for the weak psychometric properties of the

Openness factor in Pakistani samples One of the reasons of low internal consistencies

may be due to sampling error as suggested by McCrae et al (1996) However Caruso

(2000) in a meta-analysis found that the low internal consistency of Openness in some

studies is not caused by sampling error The other reason may be due to the problems

in distortion of concepts in the Urdu translation like in Chinese translation of NEO PI-

R (Leung Cheung Zhang Song amp Xie 1997)

In discussing the low reliability (32) of the Values facet in their study

McCrae et al (1996) suggested the concept of ―characteristic adaptation the culture-

specific manifestation of a universal underlying trait If this is the reason then it is

essential to adopt an indigenous approach The construct of openness need to be

operationalize in local context The adaptation of the manifestation of the construct

also needs to be taken up in accordance to cultural context Emic and etic approaches

232

could also be consciously initiated to see the relevance of Openness construct in

indigenously derived instruments The facets scales of Fantasy and Values of

openness domain did not emerge in the cultural concept of openness in China

(Cheung et al 2008) so this may be the case when exploring openness factor in

Pakistani context

Vocational Interests

In Pakistan having a collectivist culture there are many factors which are

influencing the vocational interests of the students It is very difficult to pinpoint the

common factors for all students However in the present study the general trends

showed that majority of the students preferred Conventional type occupations

followed by Social types The Conventional types are interested in activities that

require ordered manipulation of data and records Since there are limited career

opportunities in Pakistan for students of government school there are chances that

students are inclined towards those occupations which can be easily achieved

However the trend is slightly different when gender differences are accounted for

Male students have preference for Conventional type occupations while female have

preferences for Social and Artistic type occupations

In order to prepare the youth for changeable economic conditions the concept

career development should be practiced vigorously for this period As a result of

economic social and political changes and progress in Pakistan there is a requirement

to introduce quality of career education programs in schools The focus should be on

the enhancement of career management skills of the students Efficient career training

233

programs should be implemented for the Pakistani human resource and need to be

prepared in harmony with the studentslsquo skills and development levels

In Pakistan two main types of subjects are being taught at high school level in

government schools The science group consists of science subjects while in Arts

group the subjects are from humanities group Still some schools have limited faculty

to teach science or arts subjects therefore the allotment of subjects to students is

according to their convenience Vocational aspirations of the students are of great

significance at this very junction of student life They have to decide which career

they are intended to adopt This decision making by the students have very long

lasting effects on their future careers

The results in the present study revealed that doctor is considered as the most

favorite career choice in Pakistan Only those students can get admission in

professional medical colleges who achieved very good marks in science subjects In

Pakistan doctor is considered as the best job for female students However very few

students who achieved outstanding results in academic career can get admission in

medical colleges

Another favorite career for male students is Army In Pakistan there are

limited job opportunities getting jobs in government department on merit is

considered as very difficult However Armed forces provided sufficient opportunity to

the youth to join on merit In Armed forces recruiting process continues throughout

the year Moreover due to job security armed forces are still the best option available

for male students But unfortunately the students who aspired army as vocational

aspiration have high degree of incongruence with their vocational interests The same

234

is the case with vocational aspiration of lawyer and engineer A timely intervention

can help the students for pursuing more realistic and suitable career for them

Moreover the results obtained on students were generally the same when opinions of

expert were obtained on personality and vocational interests Therefore the relevance

of Hollandlsquos themes needs further deliberations in Pakistani context

The profession of teacher is considered as one of the best for females Female

students also wanted to be advocate in their life This showed that female are coming

out and adopting different occupations which were earlier considered nontraditional

for them

There are also many factors which started influencing the students from very

early age These factors including parents siblings peer socio economic area

schools etc need to be studied in depth for better understanding about the vocational

aspirations of the students The government has provided lot of job opportunities to

female in different departments Hence they are competing with their male

counterparts in every field Since there are gender differences between the vocational

interests of students therefore different career opportunities for male and female

should be planned and provided to the students by the government

In Pakistan majority of the students of government schools are not able to

achieve their vocational aspiration because there is lot of competition for limited

vacancies in a particular job More over there is no proper guidance available to

students at schools or governmental level therefore their vocational aspirations of

different occupations at times did not correspond with their interest and competencies

235

There is a vital requirement to employ career counselor in schools for the proper

guidance of students

Congruency refers to the compatibility of the personality and the environment

Holland suggested that congruency between personality and environment in jobs lead

to occupational satisfaction stability and achievement (Holland 1973) However in

the present study there was a state of moderate congruence between vocational

aspirations of doctor and teacher and their vocational interests On the other hand

there was a state of incongruence for the vocational aspirations of Army Advocate

and Engineer and their vocational interests These findings are also food for thought

for the policy makers and to those career counselor and human resource person who

are working in these fields

Reardon and Lenz (1998) and Holland Gottfredson and Nafziger (1975)

indicated that persons with poor diagnostic signs on the Self-Directed Search were

likely candidates for more intensive interventions They suggested that these

interventions may be provided by highly trained professional Lack of congruence

between vocational aspirations and vocational summary codes low coherence among

aspirations and a high point code in the Realistic or Conventional area are the

problematic areas which require immediate attention The findings of the present

study revealed that there is an immediate requirement for timely intervention at the

high school level to guide and counsel the Pakistani youth for the future productive

workforce

The mismatch between policy and practice is similar to that of many other

countries In Pakistan there are limited published researches (Ansari 1981 Aziz

236

2001 Riaz 1995 Zaidi 1979) on occupational aspirations and expectations of

Pakistani adolescents Therefore understanding the dynamics of vocational aspirations

can play an important role in attainment of educational and career choices The

information about vocational aspirations can also provide important clues about career

development

This research attempted to address some of the gaps in the broader literature

about adolescent as it is also identified by Rojewski (2005) While it is acknowledged

that vocational interests and goals emerge in childhood (Hartung Porfeli amp

Vondracek 2005) adolescence seems to be a crucial period for the study of their

development Research showed that during adolescence interests crystallize and

stabilize and career goals and aspirations become more realistic in terms of

adaptation to personal and environmental characteristics (Larson Wei Wu Borgen

amp Bailey 2007 Low amp Rounds 2007 Walls 2000)

Cultural Perspective

The wide use of NEO PI-R in several cross cultural investigations attested its

broad based applicability and practical validity which has resultantly earned a status

of cross cultural instrument (Yung 1999) Allik and McCrae (2004) conducted

secondary analyses with FFM data from 36 cultures and found differences between

European and American cultures with Asian and African cultures It was found that

European and American cultures were higher in Extraversion and Openness to

Experience and lower in Agreeableness

237

Costa et al (2001) reported smallest gender differences in personality among

Asian and African cultures and largest gender differences were found in Europe

These studies demonstrated comparison between mean levels of personality across

cultures This is a useful approach for understanding the important links between

culture and personality (Schmitt Allik McCrae amp Benet-Martinez 2007)

Emmerik et al (2010) suggested that there is a sort of ―national character (see

Allik amp McCrae 2004 Schmitt et al 2007) that may interact with culture to shape

the manifestation of acquired needs in work settings Furthermore many studies

provided controversial and inconsistent findings on Hollandlsquos vocational structure

across different cultures (Rounds 1995 Rounds amp Tracey 1996 Ryan et al 1996)

In traditional Asian cultures an individuallsquos occupation is equally important to his

significant others

Economic development and radical changes in the society as well as in the

labor market in Pakistan for the last two decades provided both challenges and

opportunities for career counseling Unemployment has increased manifold and

graduates are no longer guaranteed a job Students have to hunt for jobs for successful

living Consequently importance of vocational guidance has recently become

critically important However vocational guidance in Pakistan is still a dream and

lacks institutional support in government schools

In the present study some of the high school students could not understand

some of the concepts used in the SDS (see Appendix Mlsquo) So there is a requirement

when career counselors apply the SDS to Pakistani clients they should be very careful

to make sure that their clients fully understand the entire concepts One of the

238

common limitations is the application of Western career instruments to other cultures

without proper adaptation Thus there is a requirement of developing instruments in

the local language and for the local culture Furthermore there is a requirement of

updating the list the indigenous vocations according to cultural relevance

Gender Differences

The findings of the present study regarding the vocational interests of the

students have been supported by the studies on other cultures Tak (2004) examined

the Hollandlsquos vocational structure of Korean college students and found male students

had significantly higher scores in realistic enterprising and conventional interests

Female students had found to be significantly higher in artistic and social interests

These results were supported from other researches on Americans (Hansen amp

Campbell 1985) and the Chinese cultures (Tang 2001) Swanson (1992) reported that

the conventional scores were significantly higher for male students as compared to

female African American college students These results were also reported by Tang

(2001) in Chinese male college students

The findings in the present study regarding gender differences on vocational

interests were partially supported the trend found by Costa et al (1984) Gottfredson

et al (1993) and Holland et al (1994) Kirkcaldy (1988) also found higher interest in

technical-scientific professions for men Women preferred design-related and social-

educational occupations interests

Holland et al (1997) found that Realistic and Social types on SDS are related

to gender in high school student Females have lesser interests on realistic and

239

investigative types than the other personality types (Holland et al 1997 Jones amp

Ward 2002 Spokane Luchetta amp Richwine 2002) Women are found to be more

related to high Social and low Realistic The same results were also supported by

Fouad and Mohlerlsquos (2004) They reported higher mean scores for women than men

on Social and Artistic types

In Pakistan the rural youth has to face many important challenges about their

vocational aspirations and career achievement Rural youth have to experience narrow

school curriculum especially in government schools a shortage of highly qualified

teachers and limited access to career counseling They are also not provided adequate

employment opportunities in their local communities

240

Implications of the study

The present research on the relationship between personality and vocational

interests of students and congruence between vocational aspirations and vocational

interests is important for number of reasons This is the first study exploring different

aspects of relationship between personality and vocational interests among high

school students in Pakistan The present research has many theoretical implications

for the research on personality and vocational interests The research also underlined

that there are individual differences on personality and vocational interests and also

clarified the degree of agreement between vocational aspirations and vocational

interests of the students

The research may contribute to a better understanding of different dimensions

related to students of government schools representing large segment of society in

Pakistan The findings may be valuable in the field of career counseling as well as for

policy makers in the field of education

A growing body of literature provided evidence that constructs and techniques

are being validated cross-culturally This study contributed to cross-cultural evidence

that most of the western constructs and techniques used in study have similar meaning

in our context The findings of the study suggested that five factor model of

personality and Holland typology are generally found to be relevant to our culture

The study replicated the results of relationship between higher order

dimensions (five main domains) of five factor model and Holland six personality

types in Pakistan The study also attempted to determine the relationship between

241

lower order dimensions (30 facets scales) of five factor model and its relationship

with Holland six personality types The results of the current study also indicated that

Five main domains of personality and 30 facet traits have a definite role to play in

theorizing and practice regarding career satisfaction Nevertheless counselors would

have something helpful to say to students who scored low on these traits such as

considering a suitable career or trying to change their trait levels which is still

possible for individuals in their teens (Heatherton amp Weinberger 1994)

The study also contributed in the sense that some aspects of main constructs

used in the study have not been replicated in our culture To be more specific

Openness domain and its facet scales of five factor model showed low internal

consistency and in turn have low cross cultural applicability

The findings regarding the expert opinions can be used as a strategy to

reevaluate the Holland occupational classification according to Pakistani context The

personality characteristics which describe Holland personality types may be cross

culturally validated for Pakistani occupations

The most salient feature of Hollandlsquos model as applied to high school students

is that vocational aspirations are predictive of vocational interests was not supported

in the study This aspect of the current findings raised an important question mark for

the wide ranging applicability of the Holland model to high school students The

practice implication could also be derived from the findings of this study Vocational

interests could be measured and interpreted according to social and cultural context

instead of using career structures which are derived from other culture

242

Students have to make an early decision to circumscribe their career choices

during middle schools SDS can be applied which could generate information for

students and schools so they could make informed decisions The high scores on the

Realistic and Investigative interests could be helpful for students to pursue science

track careers Whereas high scores on Artistic and Social personality types could be

used to make decisions on the assignment of Arts tracks Overall the findings of the

study have partial support for the relevance of FFM and Hollandlsquos model to Pakistani

context

Limitations of the Study

The present research has certain limitations like any other research in social

sciences One of the limitations is the use of inventories as a measure Inventories are

of course widely used instruments in social sciences but definitely with certain

limitations The element of social desirability is one of the major factors affecting the

validity of the instrument Inventories are developed keeping in view these hazards

but still the element of social desirability cannot be completely eliminated There are

few other factors like faking good or bad which can also affect the proper use of

inventories

The second limitation is the random sampling of the sample Despite of all

efforts proper random sampling could not be applied Out of willing participants

majority completed the inventories properly according to the requirements but still

243

there are lot many absentees as well as incomplete data records This disturbed the

proportion set out initially for the study (see chapter IV pages 120 to 123)

Both the instruments used in the study are Urdu translations The translated

version may not be the true substitute of original version One of the limitations may

be the length of the inventories Two inventories were used with considerable large

number of items Although the inventories were administered to the students in a

course of two days still there are chances that students may lose interests in proper

filling of inventories The sample reduced in the number of valid cases by 1485

Another important limitation of the present study is the indifferent attitude of

the participants In Pakistan research culture is not yet developed Generally people

consider it as wastage of time as no positive change is implemented based on these

researches Hence their responses lack originality and often lack seriousness In the

present study this limitation reduced the total sample because it was tried to keep

those individuals whose questionnaires were completed properly according to the

instructions

The students of 9th

and 10th

classes have minimal differences in term of age

and class hence differences are non-significant being homogenous groups The

language of NEO-PI-R may be difficult for some students to comprehend the meaning

in true sense (see Appendix Llsquo)

The sample is only restricted to Rawalpindi district it should have been from

all over the country Hence result cannot be properly generalized

244

Future Research

The results of the present study have implications for both theory and practice

The major conclusion from the present study is that personality traits and vocational

interests are only modestly related even in the best of cases Although FFM traits and

vocational interests are related clearly they are not identical constructs and are not

mere substitutes for each other The theoretical implication pertains to higher order

structures that explain relationships among FFM traits and RIASEC interests The

lower order structures also explain relationship between FFM traits and RIASEC

interests which need further deliberation The practice perspective explores the

processes of how normal personality traits and interest types are jointly related to

work outcomes

The second area for future research is how congruence between personality

traits and vocational interests is related to motivational processes and to job

performance The concept of congruence is well established and is traditionally

defined as the similarity between vocational interests and job environments The

findings of the present study showed that personality traits and vocational interests

measure largely different constructs

The moderate relationship between personality and vocational interests are the

evidence for the role of moderators Future research can also analyze in detail the role

of some demographic variables (like parents socio economic siblings peers area

schools curriculum teachers psycho-socio environment etc) on personality and

vocational interests The instruments used (NEO PI-R and SDS) are the translated

versions which are adapted culturally More validity studies may be conducted using

245

these instruments on different samples The Holland occupational classifications for

different occupations need to be evaluated in Pakistan according to the requirements

Conclusion

Notwithstanding the limitations of the current study it represented an initial

investigation into an area that is under researched in Pakistan It needs further

investigation to update theoretical development in this area and to guide student

advising and career counseling Based on the results of the current study it is believed

that the Holland vocational theory could be extended and revitalized in terms of new

research directions by incorporating Big Five personality factors and lower order 30

facet traits into the model and looking for best possible combinations of personality

traits and vocational interests to enhance validity relationshipsmdashnot only for career

counselors but also students in their career development

The study tried to establish relationship between personality and vocational

interests according to the theoretical framework The findings of the research are also

consistent with the literature in the field of personality and vocational interests The

findings of the study attempted to make both a theoretical and practical contribution

to the existing literature and also suggested some implications for future research It

enhances our understanding about the relationship between personality and vocational

interests in Pakistani students The study also explored in detail the congruence

between vocational aspirations and vocational interests of the students The findings

of the study may be helpful in better understanding for students and career counselors

and also provide a practical guide for the educational policy makers

246

REFERENCES

Ackerman P L amp Heggestad E D (1997) Intelligence personality and interests

Evidence for overlapping traits Psychological Bulletin 121 219ndash245

Ali S R amp Saunders J L (2009) The career aspirations of rural Appalachian high

school students Journal of Career Assessment 17(2) 172ndash188

Allik J Laidra K Realo A amp Pullmann H (2004) Personality development

from 12 to 18 years of age Changes in mean levels and structure of traits

European Journal of Personality 18 445ndash462

Allik J amp McCrae R R (2004) Towards geography of personality traits Patterns

of profiles across 36 cultures Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 35

13ndash28

Allport G W (1937) Personality A psychological interpretation New York Holt

Rinehart amp Winston

Allport G W amp Odbert H S (1936) Traits-name A psycho-lexical study

Princeton N J Psychological Review

Aluja F A Garcia O amp Garcia L F (2003) Relationships among extraversion

openness to experience and sensation seeking Personality and Individual

Differences 35 671ndash680

Alves Ferreira J A amp Hood A B (1995) The development and validation of a

Holland-type Portuguese Vocational Interest Inventory Journal of Vocational

Behavior 46 119ndash130

247

Alves M Joaquim A amp Hood A (1995) The development of validation of

Hollandndashtyped vocational interest inventory Journal of Vocational Behavior

46 119ndash130

Aly J H (2006) Education in Pakistan A White Paper National Education Policy

Review Team Islamabad Ministry of Education Government of Pakistan

Anis-ul-Haque M (2003) Personal Attributes and Conflict Management Styles

Unpublished PhD Dissertation University of Peshawar Pakistan

Ansari Z A (1981) Occupational Aspirations of High School Students in Peshawar

Pakistan Journal of Psychology 12 3ndash9

Argyle M Furnham A amp Graham J (1981) Social situations Cambridge

Cambridge University Press

Assouline M amp Meir E I (1987) Meta-analysis of the relationship between

congruence and vocational interests Journal of Vocational Behavior 21

288ndash298

Auger W R Blackhurst A E amp Wahl K H (2005) ―The Development Of

Elementary-Aged Childrenlsquos Career Aspirations and Expectations

Professional School Counseling retrieved 25th

April 2008 From

httpwwwfindarticlescom

Avallone V L (1974) A comparative study of the effects of two vocational guidance

systems The Self-Directed Search and a traditional vocational guidance

model (Doctoral dissertation University of Northern Colorado) Dissertation

Abstracts International 35 2670ndash2671

PERSONALITY AND VOCATIONAL INTERESTS

IN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

BY

SHOAIB KIANI

A dissertation submitted to the

Dr Muhammad Ajmal

National Institute of Psychology Centre of Excellence

Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

IN

PSYCHOLOGY

2010

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments i

Abstracts iii

List of Tables iv

List of figures viii

List of Appendixes ix

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

Personality 4

Psychological Traits 5

Historical Background of Trait Research 7

Taxonomies of Personality 8

Five Factor Model 10

Personality and Culture 12

Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) 15

Vocational Interests 21

The Concept of Fit or Congruence 22

Holland Theory of Vocational Choices 23

Self Directed Search (SDS) 29

Vocational Aspirations 33

Personality and Vocational Interests 38

Applicability of FFM to children 47

Gender differences on Personality and Vocational Interests 51

Rationale of the Study 54

CHAPTER II CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING ABOUT 60

PERSONALITY AND VOCATIONAL INTERESTS

CHAPTER III RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS 77

CHAPTER IV PERSONALITY AND VOCATIONAL INTERESTS OF 119

STUDENTS

Objectives 119

Hypotheses 120

Method 120

Psychometric properties 125

Relationship between Personality and Vocational interests 144

Discussion 163

CHAPTER V VOCATIONAL INTERESTS MEASURED BY SDS 177

SUMMARY CODES

Objectives 177

Hypotheses 178

Method 178

Results 180

Discussion 184

CHAPTER VI VOCATIONAL ASPIRATIONS OF THE STUDENTS 188

Objectives 188

Hypotheses 189

Method 189

Results 191

Discussion 202

CHAPTER VII EXPERT OPINIONS ABOUT PERSONALITY AND 210

VOCATIONAL INTERESTS

Objectives 210

Method 211

Results 213

Discussion 219

CHAPTER VIII GENERAL DISCUSSION 222

Implications of the Study 240

Limitations of the Study 242

Future Research 244

Conclusion 245

REFERENCES 246

ABSTRACT

The present study deals with the personality and vocational interests of the high school

students Relationship between personality and vocational interests and the degree of

agreement between vocational aspirations and vocational interests of the students were carried

out in the current study The differences with respect to demographical variables on personality

and vocational interests were also explored The main study was conducted on the sample of

596 students (319 male and 277 female students with a mean age of 1573 years) belonging to 7

government schools There were 303 students belonging to science group and 292 students

belonging to Arts group The different relationships between the personality and vocational

interests were assessed through a series of statistical analysis of Correlation Multiple

regression analysis t test and One Way Analysis of Variance The Alpha reliabilities of main

domains of NEO PI-R range from 36 (Openness) to 84 (Conscientiousness) The Alpha

reliabilities for scales of Self Directed Search (SDS) range from 53 to 68 for Activities 55 to

66 for Competencies 76 to 81 for Occupations and 71 to 80 for summary scales The results

established the psychometric properties of the instruments A moderate relationship was found

between FFM and Holland model The study identified the vocational preferences of students

with respect to demographical variables The results revealed significant gender differences on

personality and vocational interests The study also determined the vocational aspirations of the

students and found the degree of agreement between vocational aspirations and vocational

interests for most preferred careers The results revealed a moderate state of congruence for

careers (doctor and teacher) and a state of incongruence for some careers (army lawyer and

engineer) The findings of the study are also reinforced from the opinion of experts Some

pertinent areas were identified for future research The present research contributed both for

theory and practice The findings may be valuable in the field of career counseling as well as

for policy makers in the field of education

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Alpha reliability coefficients of 5 main scales of NEO PI-R (N=79)

102

Table 2 Item-total correlations of each item with respective subscales of

NEO PI-R (N = 79)

103

Table 3 Correlations of subscales with main scale of Neuroticism (N = 79) 105

Table 4 Correlations of subscales with main scale of Extraversion (N = 79) 106

Table 5 Correlations of subscales with main scale of Openness (N = 79) 107

Table 6 Correlations of subscales with main scale of Agreeableness (N=79) 108

Table 7 Correlations of subscales with main scale of Conscientiousness

(N = 79)

108

Table 8 Inter-correlations between five main domains of NEO PI-R (N=79) 109

Table 9 Alpha reliability coefficients of subscales of SDS (N = 79)

110

Table 10 Item-total correlations of subscales of SDS (N = 79) 112

Table 11 Inter-correlations of SDS Scales (N = 79) 116

Table 12 Alpha reliability coefficients of main scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

126

Table 13 Item-total correlations of each item with respective subscales of

NEO PI-R (N = 596)

127

Table 14 Inter-correlations between subscales and main scale of

Neuroticism (N = 596)

129

Table 15 Inter-correlations between subscales and main scale of

Extraversion (N = 596)

130

Table 16 Inter-correlations between subscales and main scale of Openness

(N = 596)

131

Table 17 Inter-correlations between subscales and main scale of

Agreeableness (N = 596)

132

Table 18 Inter-correlations between subscales and main scale of

Conscientiousness (N = 596)

133

Table 19 Inter-correlations between five domains of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

133

Table 20 Alpha reliability coefficients of subscales of SDS (N = 596)

134

Table 21 Item-total correlations of each item with respective subscales of 136

SDS (N = 596)

Table 22 Inter-correlations of SDS Scales (N = 596) 140

Table 23 Inter-correlations between 5 main scales including 30 facet scales

of NEO PI-R and 6 summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

144

Table 24 Summary of Multiple Regression Analysis for Demographic and

Five Domains of Personality on the six Personality Types

(N = 596)

148

Table 25 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of male and female

students on five domain scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

150

Table 26 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Science and

Arts group students on five domain scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

151

Table 27 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Urban and Rural

students on five domain scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

152

Table 28 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of 9th and 10th

class students on five domain scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

153

Table 29 Mean and standard deviation between three groups of students

based on parents education on the scores of five domain scales of

NEO PI-R (N = 596)

154

Table 30 One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) between three groups of

students based on parents education on the scores of five domain

scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

155

Table 31 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Lower age (14

to 16 yrs) and Upper age (17 to 19 yrs) groups of students on main

scales NEO PI-R (N = 596)

156

Table 32 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Male and

Female students on main summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

157

Table 33 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Science and

Arts group students on main summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

158

Table 34 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Urban and Rural

students on main summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

159

Table 35 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of 9th and 10th

class students on main summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

160

Table 36 Mean and standard deviation between three groups of students

based on parents education on the scores of six personality types of

SDS (N = 596)

161

Table 37 One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) between three groups of

students based on parents education on the scores of six

personality types of SDS (N = 596)

162

Table 38 Frequencies of highest summary codes of students on six

personality types of SDS (N = 596)

180

Table 39 Frequencies of highest summary codes of male (N = 319) and

female ( N = 277) students on six personality types of SDS

181

Table 40 Frequencies of highest Summary codes of Science (N = 304) and

Arts ( N = 292) group students on six personality types of SDS

182

Table 41 Vocational aspirations of the students (N = 482) 192

Table 42 The frequencies of highest summary codes of male (N = 243) and

female (N = 239) students on six personality types of SDS

192

Table 43 Mean and standard deviation between five groups of students

based on vocational aspirations on their scores on five domains of

NEO PI-R (N = 482)

193

Table 44 Repeated measure analysis of variance (ANOVA) between five

groups of students based on vocational aspirations on their scores

on five domains of NEO PI-R (N = 482)

194

Table 45 Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose vocational

aspiration is Doctor (N = 193)

195

Table 46 Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose vocational

aspiration is Army (N = 139)

196

Table 47 Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose vocational

aspiration is Teacher (N = 58)

197

Table 48 Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose vocational

aspiration is Lawyer (N = 55)

198

Table 49 Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose vocational

aspiration is Engineer (N = 37)

199

Table 50 Frequencies obtained from highest Summary code of five groups

of students (males and females) based on vocational aspirations via

hexagonal model (N = 482)

200

Table 51 Alpha reliability coefficients of five domains of personality of

Evaluation sheet (N = 25)

214

Table 52 Item-total correlations of five domains of Evaluation sheet (N =25) 214

Table 53 Inter-correlations of main scales of Evaluation sheet (N = 25) 215

Table 54 Mean and standard deviation between five groups of experts based

on their scores on five domains of Evaluation sheet (N = 25)

216

Table 55 Repeated measure Analysis of variance (ANOVA) between five

groups of experts based on their scores on five domains of

Evaluation sheet (N = 25)

217

Table 56 Frequencies of expert opinions about personality types

corresponding with their careers (N = 25)

218

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 Five Main Domains and 30 Facets of NEO PI-R 15

Figure 2 Hexagonal Structure of Hollandrsquos model 25

Figure 3

Figure 4

The Personality types (Holland 1985)

Hexagonal Representation of Inter correlations of SDS scales

(N = 596)

26

100

Figure 5 Sample Distribution in Schools 122

Figure 6 Sample Distribution within Schools 122

Figure 7 Hexagonal Representation of Inter-correlations of SDS Scales

(N = 596)

142

Figure 8 Hexagonal Representation of Inter-correlations of SDS Scales

(Naheed 1988) (N = 114)

143

LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix A Scoring Procedure for Vocational Aspirations on Hexagonal Model

Appendix B Focus Group Guidelines for Students

Appendix C Focus Group Guidelines for Teachers

Appendix D Demographical Questionnaire

Appendix E Future Possibilities Questionnaire

Appendix F Evaluation Sheet

Appendix G Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

NEO PI-R (Urdu Version)

Appendix H

Appendix I

Facets Scale of NEO PI-R (Urdu Version)

Answer Sheet NEO PI-R

Appendix J Self Directed Search SDS (Urdu Version)

Appendix K

Appendix L

List of Schools

List of difficult words generally asked by the students on

NEO PI-R

Appendix M List of difficult concepts generally asked by the students on SDS

1

Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

Personality traits and vocational interests are two major non-cognitive

domains in the field of psychology from dispositional realm These dispositional

attributes are important as they influence many outcomes related with work and life

success They both can measure individual differences The exact nature of the

association between the two domains remains vague despite hundreds of studies

(Borgen 1986 Hansen 1984)

The extensively used models are the Five Factor Model (FFM) of personality

(Costa amp McCrae 1992a) and Hollands model of vocational interests (Holland

1985a) They both contributed the common objective of predicting and explaining

individuals work behaviors FFM focus on ways of acting thinking and feeling

Whereas Hollandlsquos vocational theory focuses on individuals preferences

It is believed that the relationship between personality and vocational

interests would be very significant when individualslsquo behavioral tendencies match

their preferences The theoretical overlap between personality and vocational

interests has been consistently established by many researchers (eg Ackerman amp

Heggestad 1997 Barrett 2009 Barrick Mount amp Gupta 2003 Berings De Fruyt

amp Bouwen 2004 Bullock amp Reardon 2008 Duffy Borges amp Hartung 2009

Ehrhart amp Makransky 2007 Harris Vernon Johnson amp Jang 2006 Hartman amp

2

Betz 2007 Hogan amp Blake 1996 Larson Rottinghaus amp Borgen 2002 Logue

Lounsbury Gupta Frederick amp Leong 2007 Nauta 2004 Staggs Larson amp

Borgen 2007 Zhang 2008)

The applicability of FFM in many populations with diverse cultures has been

determined (Costa amp Widiger 1994 McCrae 1992) The relevance of the FFM to

children has been established by Digman and Takemoto-Chock (1981) This ground-

breaking work has been followed by some significant researches in youth (Digman amp

Inouye 1986 Logue et al 2007 McCrae et al 2005 Zhang 2008) as well as in

older sample (Chapman Duberstein Soumlrensen amp Lyness 2007)

The five dimensions of FFM (Neuroticism Extraversion Openness

Agreeableness and Conscientiousness) have been thoroughly extracted by means of

diverse instruments and assessment sources (Somer amp Goldberg 1999) by using

factorial techniques (Goldberg 1990) on samples of subjects of varying ages

(Costa amp McCrae 1988b De Fruyt Mervielde Hoekstra amp Rolland 2000 Digman

amp Shemelyov 1996 Mervielde amp De Fruyt 2000) and from various cultures using a

psycho-lexical approach (Anglo-American Goldberg 1990 1992 Hofstee DeRaad

amp Goldberg 1992 Saucier 1997 German Ostendorf 1990 Dutch De Raad 1992

Czech Hrebickova 1995 Polish Szarota 1996 Turkish Somer amp Goldberg 1999)

Holland (1966b) has conceptualized vocational interests as expressions of

personality (Holland 1999 Sullivan amp Hansen 2004) He termed the six vocational

3

types ie Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising and Conventional

(RIASEC) as Personality typeslsquo (see Holland 1973) Hollands assumed that

individuals will show a liking for occupations which match to their personal way of

life (Pryor 1986) Such a match will help in adjustment and eventually occupational

success on multiple levels

Personality measures explain the social skills and drive required to succeed

whereas measures of Vocational interest describe a person liking for an occupation

Thus these measures are related supplemental but not identical Some personality

traits may correspond with many vocational interests whereas other may not match

with any vocational interests

Personal occupational daydreams are good predictor of vocational choices

and are supported in the literature review (Brown amp Brooks 1991 Crabbs 1979

Sarnoff amp Remer 1982 Touchton amp Magoon 1977 Yanico 1981) Holland

Fritzsche and Powell (1994) indicated that current vocational aspirations are a

predictor of career choices (Hirschi amp Laumlge 2008 Miller Springer Tobacyk amp

Wells 2004)

Pakistan being a developing country have achieved some economical

development but yet not developed the high standard of professional skills in human

resource The professional skills are not crystallized Hence there seems to be a state

of chaos where individuals are not clear which vocations suit their interests and

abilities Hence it is of paramount importance to focus students in their school years

4

to understand their personality and vocational interests so that they can be guided to

choose suitable career in future The present study focused on the personality and

vocational interests of high school students The relationships among personality

vocational aspirations and vocational interests also require some exploration Such an

exploration needs a delineation of the concept of personality and vocational interests

Personality

Personality is a complex concept which is difficult to define Allport (1937)

and Murray (1938) defined personality but wide-ranging definitions covering all

aspects like intra psychic qualities of mind and body relations to others and

personal goals is yet to surface

According to Hogan (1991) personality refers to the social reputation the

way an individual is perceived by others The other aspect is private and must be

inferred as it refers to processes and propensities which explain why a person

behaves in a specific way

Personality traits referred to the stable characteristics which are

psychological in nature and provide reasons for persons behavior These traits

described a person and determine his emotional cognitive and behavioral

propensities Costa and McCrae (1989) defined ―personality as enduring emotional

5

interpersonal experiential attitudinal and motivational styles that explain behavior

in different situations Funder (2002) described personality as pattern of thought

emotion and behavior Larsen and Buss (2005) defined personality as ―the set of

psychological traits and mechanisms within the individual that are organized and

relatively enduring and that influence his or her interactions with and adaptations to

the intra-psychic physical and social environments (P4)

Psychological Traits

According to Larson and Buss (2005) psychological traits help to describe

people and recognize the dimensions of individual differences Second they may

facilitate to explain behavior Third traits help to predict the behavior Thus

personality helps in describing explaining and predicting individual differences

which are the hallmarks of good scientific theory

Psychological traits are fairly organized and enduring Personality is

organized because it includes decision rules and it is relatively enduring over time

and situation However some situation may be over-powering and suppress the

expression of psychological traits The person-environment interaction is a complex

personality feature and is difficult to describe The interaction with situations

included perceptions selections evocations and manipulations People interpret or

see an environment choose situations to enter and go about show reactions which

6

are produced in others and manipulate the ways to influence others All these forms

of interaction are important to understand the links between the personalities of

people and the nature of their environment

Adaptive functioning is another main feature of personality dealing with

coping adjusting and dealing with the challenges of life Generally the human

behavior is goal-directed functional and purposeful This adaptation is with

reference to physical social and intra-psychic environment The physical

environment often poses challenge for people which may be a direct threat to

survival Social environment also poses adaptive challenges The way one struggles

for belongingness love and esteem is actually coping with social environment

People have dreams needs fantasies are nevertheless real to everyone as an

important part of their psychological reality Thus social physical and intra-psychic

environment provides an important context for understanding human personality

Domains of Knowledge

The field of personality can be smartly segmented into different domains of

knowledge These consist of dispositional biological intra-psychic cognitive-

experiential social and cultural and adjustment domains as described by Larson and

Buss (2005) Dispositional domain deals with the individual differences Biological

domain assumed that human is collections of biological system and is illustrated as

the psychophysiology of personality Intra-psychic domain dealt with mental

7

mechanism of personality which generally operates at unconscious level Cognitive-

Experiential domain emphasizes on conscious thoughts feelings desires and beliefs

Adjustment domain referred to the coping adapting and adjusting in day to day

lives In the present study the dispositional domain of personality has been taken as

the theoretical base for exploring individual differences

Historical Background of Traits Research

Sir Francis Galton was the first scientist to recognize that personality

differences in peoplelsquos lives would eventually became encoded into their language

now known as the lexical hypothesis Allport and Odbert (1936) extracted 17953

adjectives and later reduced this gigantic list to 4500 personality describing words

Cattell (1943) as a starting point for his lexical analysis of personality traits reduced

the list and ended with a smaller set of 35 clusters of personality traits Fiske (1949)

later took a subset of 22 of Cattelllsquos 35 clusters and discovered five factors through

factor analysis Fiske is distinguished as the first person to determine five factor

model Tupes and Chiristal (1961) made the next major contribution to the five factor

taxonomy They studied the factor structure of 22 simplified descriptions in eight

samples and ended up with the five factor model Norman (1963) also found five

factors of personality traits Goldberg (1981) based on his lexical project found the

five factors

8

The event that led to the widespread acceptance of FFM among personality

researchers during 1980s was a symposium in Honolulu It is also followed by the

publication of the Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory Revised

(NEO PI-R) by Costa and McCrae (1992a) FFM established the common taxonomy

to understand one another

Taxonomies of Personality

Over the past century dozens of taxonomies of personality traits have been

proposed most of which are found on the intuitions of personality psychologists

Some of the taxonomies that have solid and empirical justifications are discussed

below

Eysenckrsquos Hierarchical Model of Personality

Eysenck (1981) developed a model of personality based on traits believed to

be highly heritable The three main traits were extraversion---introversion (E)

neuroticism---emotional stability (N) and psychoticism (P) and could be remembered

by an acronym PEN Eysencklsquos hierarchical model has super traits at top level and

narrow traits at the second level There is a third level of habitual acts and specific

traits are at the very lowest level

9

Extraversion included a large number of narrow traitsmdashsociable active

dominant lively etc These narrow traits co-vary significantly with each other to

load on the same large factor extraversionlsquo Eysenck and Eysenck (1975) described

extraverts as typically like to attend social parties strives for friendships and seem to

have people around them Introverts in contrast are aloof and distant prefer quiet

time and generally have predictable lifestyle (Larsen amp Kasimatis 1990) Thus

extraversion and introversion are central dimensions of human personality

Neuroticism consisted of a cluster of more specific traits like anxious lacking

self esteem tense moody irritable and guilty High scorers on neuroticism tend to

be worrier anxious and depressed The low-N scorers are more emotionally stable

balanced and calm and collected under stressful situations The third trait

Psychoticism consist of narrow traits like aggressive impulsive egocentric lacking

empathy and antisocial The high-P scorer is typically a solitary individual lacks

empathy laughs when someone gets hurt accidentally and shows insensitivity to the

pain and sufferings of others However the analyses of study by Aziz and Jackson

(2001) suggested that the five factor model was more forceful as compared to three-

factor model in the Pakistani data

Cattellrsquos Taxonomy

Cattell (1943) can be recognized with developing a strong empirical strategy

for identifying the basic dimensions of personality and with stimulating and

10

determining the entire trait approach to personality Cattelllsquos taxonomy consisted of

16 personality factors the largest in terms of the number of factors identified as basic

traits He tried to define describe explain and predict individual differences and

applied factor analysis to understand personality The 16 factors scales are

interpersonal warmth imagination boldness intelligence emotional stability

dominance impulsivity tension conformity insecurity suspiciousness shrewdness

sensitivity self-sufficiency self-discipline and radicalism

Although Cattell (1943) used factor analysis to find out common trait his

theory has not been effectively replicated Second order factor analyses of the 16

Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF Cattell Eber amp Tatsuoka 1970) pointed to

a model similar to the FFM (Cattell 1995 Krug amp Johns 1986) The numbers of

meta-analyses have confirmed the predictive value of Big Five across a wide range

of behavior

Five Factor Model (FFM)

The FFM (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) described the basic dimensions of

personality Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Agreeableness and

Conscientiousness These dimensions have been repeatedly recovered in factor

analyses in varied situations and populations (Costa amp McCrae 1985 Goldberg

1990 McCrae amp Costa 1987 Norman amp Goldberg 1966 Passini amp Norman 1966

Tupes amp Christal 1961) Similarly five factor structure have been reported and

11

evaluated by many investigators (Digman 1990 Digman amp Inouye 1986 Goldberg

1990 1992 John 1990 McCrae amp Costa 1987 McCrae amp John 1992 Wiggins amp

Pincus 1992) In many researches FFM has provided a suitable structure to interpret

and organize other personality systems (McCrae amp Costa 1985a 1989b Piedmont

McCrae amp Costa 1991)

One of the important characteristic of FFM is that the factors are dimensions

where people fall in between the extremes The five main dimensions and their facets

are heritable to some extent (Jang McCrae Angleitner Reimann amp Livesley 1998

Loehlin McCrae Costa amp John 1998) These factors are generally considered

universal recovered even in German and Chinese languages (McCrae amp Costa

1997)

Costa and McCrae used the NEO personality scales as a structure to

incorporate other measurement approaches like those developed by Eysenck (Costa

amp McCrae 1985) Jackson (Costa amp McCrae 1988a) Spielberger (Costa amp McCrae

1987) and Wiggins (McCrae amp Costa 1989b) It included scales like MMPI (Costa

Busch Zonderman amp McCrae 1986) and the MBTI (McCrae amp Costa 1989c)

These results provided commanding evidence in favor of the FFM in

subsuming other trait models of human personality During the last two decades

FFM received the most consideration and support from personality researchers

(Costa amp McCrae 1995a Goldberg 1981 McCrae amp John 1992 Saucier amp

12

Goldberg 1996 Wiggins 1996) as well as strong critics (Block 1995a 2001 Brand

1995 Briggs 1992 Cattell 1996 Costa amp McCrae 1992b 1995b Eysenck 1992

Goldberg amp Saucier 1995 Loevinger 1994 McAdam 1992 Pervin 1994)

FFM got tremendous support from personality psychologists (Digman amp

Shmelyov 1996 Kallasmaa Allik Realo amp McCrae 2000 Rolland Parker amp

Stumpf 1998 Somer amp Goldberg 1999 Tsuji et al 1997) in cross cultural studies

The FFM is claimed to be empirically rooted and theoretically sound model of

personality (as cited in Gill amp Hodgkinson 2007)

Personality and Culture

Recent years have seen an interest in studies of personality and culture

(Church 2001 Church amp Lonner 1998 Lee McCauley amp Draguns 1999 McCrae

2000) McCrae Yik Trapnell Bond and Paulhus (1998) determined the cross

cultural generalization of FFM using Chinese translations and American English of

NEO PI-R on samples in Germany Italy and South Korea The results showed that

the differences between Hong Kong and North American undergraduates and

between undergraduates of European and Chinese living in Canada were cultural in

origin

A significant criterion of the validity of a model of personality is its cross

cultural validity that is independent of culture (John Goldberg amp Angleitner 1984)

13

Berry (1969) suggested classic distinction about research which can be divided into

two categories The emic approach aimed at discovering the constructs specific to

each culture by gathering specific linguistic material in each culture and the etic

approach on the contrary aimed at verifying whether the constructs identified in a

given culture can be found in another context thereby attempting to distinguish

universals In short studies based on the psycho-lexical approach often integrated an

emic approach where as studies using lexical markers or standardized inventories

used an etic approach Some research combined both approaches that are called an

integrated method thus enabling both cross cultural universals and specific

dimensions to be recognized (Katigbak Church amp Akamine 1996 Yang amp Bond

1990 Yik amp Bond 1993) In the present study etic approach was overwhelmingly

used along with emic approach to explore the culture specific aspects related to

personality and vocational interests

During the review of literature there seems to be some dispute on the topic of

personality and culture This controversy is also identified by Knyazev Zupančič

and Slobodskaya (2008) and Triandis and Suh (2002) McCrae and Costa (2003)

claimed that personality traits are enduring tendencies while Shweder (1991) argued

against it and argued that global traits do not exist Applicability of FFM across

Pakistani culture needs to be explored in order to analyze the existing available

literature

14

McCrae and Costa (1997) claimed that personality traits are human universal

and can be found in all cultures Nevertheless the way in which these characteristics

are expressed is shaped by culture and experience (McCrae 2001 2002 McCrae amp

Costa 2008) Allik and McCrae (2004) showed similar personality profiles by

conducting secondary analyses with FFM data from 36 cultures They observed that

European and American cultures were higher in Extraversion and Openness to

Experience and lower in Agreeableness as compared to Asian cultures

Costa Terracciano and McCrae (2001) mentioned smallest gender

differences in personality among Asian and African cultures as compared to Europe

cultures Such studies demonstrated that comparing personality across cultures could

be helpful for understanding the dynamics associated with culture and personality

(Schmitt Allik McCrae amp Benet-Martinez 2007) Finally there is a sort of national

character (see Allik amp McCrae 2004 Schmitt et al 2007) that may interact with

culture to shape the manifestation of acquired needs in work settings

The majority of cross-cultural studies on personality have been conducted

with adults or late adolescents However there are few studies conducting on children

with reference to FFM (Gartstein Knyazev amp Slobodskaya 2005) Few studies

incorporated parentslsquo view of children which may be different in different cultures

These problems can be overcome by comparing cross-cultural differences through

self-reports and opinion from the experts These procedures have been being adopted

in the present study in order to examine the personality and vocational interests of

15

high school students and evaluate the findings with the opinion of the experts A

comprehensive measure of personality has been developed based on FFM by Costa

and McCrae (1992a)

Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO PI-R)

The NEO PI-R (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) is a measure of the five main

domains of personality as well as the 6 facets representing each domain The 5

domain scales and 30 facet scales of the NEO PI-R are

Five Domains Facets

Neuroticism (N)

Anxiety Angry Hostility Depression Self-

Consciousness Impulsiveness Vulnerability

Extraversion (E)

Warmth Gregariousness Assertiveness Activity

Excitement-Seeking Positive Emotions

Openness (O) Fantasy Aesthetics Feelings Actions Ideas

Values

Agreeableness (A)

Trust Straightforwardness Altruism Compliance

Modesty Tender-Mindedness

Conscientiousness (C)

Competence Order Dutifulness Achievement

Striving Self-Discipline Deliberation

Figure 1 Five main Domains and 30 Facets of NEO PI-R

16

NEO PI-R is a well designed instrument The instructions are quite clear and

self-explanatory It has proven its value in personality research and provides

comprehensive assessment of personality and facet traits It is quite useful in any

research on personality correlates like moral development (Lonky Kaus amp Roodin

1984) ego identity status (Tesch amp Cameron 1987) response to psychotherapy

(Miller 1991) and coping with military basic training (Vickers Kolar amp Hervig

1989)

The wide use of NEO PI-R in several cross cultural investigations attested its

broad based applicability and practical validity which has earned a status of cross

cultural instrument (Yang et al 1999) The use of NEO PI-R as an inventory in

English language may be limited to English literate population in Pakistan so the

need was felt to use the already translated version of NEO PI-R in Urdu language

(Chishti 2002) which is a national and widely understood language of Pakistan

NEO PI-R items can be administered orally by an interviewer without loss of

validity (Costa amp McCrae 1992b) It is a useful instrument which can be applied on

different populations It has also been used successfully in college students (Wiggins

amp Pincus 1989) and also on individuals having only high school education One of

the greatest strength of the instrument is its comprehensiveness If some scales are

omitted important relations with other criteria may be missed There is no time limit

for completing NEO PI-R however change can be introduced in the procedures to

17

facilitates individuals with poor reading skills The shorter version of the instrument

is also available

The NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI)

This is a shortened version with only 60 items measuring 5-factors of

personality It is a self-report and can be administered to adults with a 6th grade

reading level The time for administration is 10-15 minutes It correlated with the

NEO PI-R domain scales at 77 to 92 and has a 68 to 86 internal consistency

values However NEOndashFFI (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) measures only the broad five

domains and is not a comprehensive inventory like NEO PI-R which also measures

facets scales representing each main domain Hence NEO PI-R has been used in the

present study to measure the higher and lower order personality pattern of students

Urdu Version of NEO PI-R

The adaptation translation and cross validation of NEO PI-R in Urdu

language has been conducted in Pakistan by Chishti (2002) The back translation

method was used and 4 culture specific items ie 52 68 105 and 157 were adapted

in accordance with Pakistani culture The Urdu version and original English version

of NEO PI-R were administered on sample of Pakistan Air Force cadets The

reliability and validity of the Urdu version of NEO PI-R was established The Alpha

reliability coefficient for Urdu version ranged from 73 (Openness) to 89

18

(Conscientiousness) whereas the Alpha coefficients of English version ranged from

37 (Openness) to 80 (Neuroticism) This research demonstrated that Pakistani

version of Revised NEO Personality Inventory is a reliable and valid instrument for

the Pakistani subjects

Critical Analysis of Five Factor Model of Personality

Block (1995a) and Rounds and Zevon (1983) claimed researchers may group

words together to bias the results of a lexical hypothesis with personality adjectives

to reduce the number of redundant synonyms Block (1995a) identified

developmental issues and limited work experience related to researches conducted on

college students especially when occupational interests were examined In the scope

of the present study these limitations will not matter as Hollandlsquos model was

originally developed with high school and college students

Although validation studies on FFM of personality are well constructed

plentiful and impressive (Juni 1995) however confusion in wording statement and

use of compound sentences may pose validity problems Overall this inventory can

be used in both theory and practice contexts A demographically representative

normative group would help in generalizing the instrument to various populations

Miller (1991) noted that the FFM can be used in treatment plans of patient in a

systematic way without loss of compassion for the patient

19

It has been established that the FFM is quite attuned with well known

psychological theories Although Eysenck (1991) supported the PEN model as more

appropriate but majority of psychologists are in favor of factor-analytic FFM models

in the background of current psychological research (Ewen 1998) The FFMlsquos

compatibility with other models showed that this model is compatible with other

factor-analytical models McMartin (1995) favored the structure of personality

consisting of five big traits rather than Eysencklsquos model

The Five main dimensions have shown convergent and discriminant validity

across different instruments (McCrae amp Costa 1990) Nonetheless shortcomings of

the FFM have been discussed by many researchers (Eysenck 1991 John amp Robins

1993 McAdams 1992 Waller amp Ben-Porath 1987) McCrae and John (1992) have

described there are disputes among five-factorists about the best interpretation of

the factors there are certainly important distinctions to be made at the level of the

more molecular traits that define the factors and it is possible that there are other

basic dimensions of personality (p 177)

McAdams (1992) stated that FFM cannot achieve the title of the unified

psychological theory being just a list of five variables to identify and classify

personality traits Digman (1990) stated that five dimensions of personality can be

measured with high reliability and validity providing support to the personality

structure It appeared that the FFM holds well across cultural context

20

A five-factor outcome was clearly evident in studies conducted in Japan

Philippines and Germany (Digman 1990) One of the limitations of the FFM is that

it failed to anticipate behavior in many situations However FFM was complementary

and combatable to other theories including Freuds highly subjective theory of

psychoanalysis The stumbling block for the greatness of FFM is the criticism that

the model was not a theory rather just an idea for means of classification

The FFM have been well established as predictors of success in many

occupations involving managerial and semi-skilled roles (Barrick amp Mount 1991

Barrick et al 2001 Hurtz amp Donovan 2000 Mount Barrick amp Stewart 1998

Salgado 1998 2003 Tett Jackson amp Rothstein 1991) NEO PI-R offered

information that may be valuable to the counselor or clinician in many ways (Miller

1991 Muten 1991) Two of the NEO PI-R domains Openness and

Conscientiousness are promise to be of particular interest in the area of educational

psychology Vocational interests are strongly related to personality particularly to

Extraversion and Openness (Costa McCrae amp Holland 1984) NEO PI-R scales can

form a useful complement for vocational interests (McCrae amp Costa 1991a)

21

Vocational Interests

Vocational interests have been defined by many researchers (Dawis 1991

Savickas 1999) Interests as activities that are collection of likes and dislikes (Cole

amp Hanson 1978 Strong 1960 Kuder 1977) Bingham (1937) viewed interests as a

dispositional tendency and Carter (1944) described interests as attitudes that reflect

stable personality traits Holland (1973) stated that vocational interests are simply

another aspect of personality hellip If vocational interests are expressions of personality

then it follows that interest inventories are personality inventories (p7)

To be more precise vocational psychology is concerned an individuals

choice of a particular occupation and is related to satisfaction and productivity in it

Strong (1927) published the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) for Men for the

assessment of vocational interests Kuder (1934) introduced the Kuder Preference

Record (Walsh amp Osipow 1986) Holland (1957) published his prolific theory of

vocational choice and developed Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) and Self-

Directed Search to measure interest and personality types In the present study

vocational interests of the students are measured by the Self-Directed Search

22

The Concept of Fit or Congruence

The concept of fit or congruencelsquo between the person and the environment

attracted attention of many psychologists (Edwards 1991 Kristof 1996 Schneider

1987) People choose jobsworking settings which depend on many different factors

like pay and security (Argyle Furnham amp Graham 1981 Furnham amp Koritsas

1990) People have some choices to choose the vocational environment however

vocational choices or preferences are not free from restraints due to personality

influences demographic and economic constraints

Vocational interests reflect individual choices in engaging in tasks and

activities of their choice They liked to be in environments where they are attracted

by the people like them Congruency is the basic concept (French Rogers amp Cobb

1974) of compatibility between personality and the environment For example a

social personality in a social environment would prove to be highly satisfied with

opportunities and rewards

Due to rapid developments in technology the nature of jobs evolves and

changes quickly People can adapt himself to new job and even develop striking

changes in attitudes and work-related behavior Most organizations attempt through

various techniques to motivate individualslsquo behavior by giving remarkable incentives

(Furnham 1994) Even then the individual may quickly develop a misfit while other

23

negotiates for special privileges despite certain constraints (Argyle Furnham amp

Graham 1981)

In Pakistani job market where it is not easy to choose an appropriate career

that suits onelsquos personality and vocational interests thus despite having all the

motivation and suitable skills people may be unable to attain their desired careers

The economic state and policies are reflective of availability of jobs in the region

Moreover some factors like sex culture education social class may hinder people to

choose particular careers which they like most especially in developing countries

There are chances that people may continue to be in the job despite a mismatch

between interests and environment

Hollands typology advocated that congruence between interests and

environment is associated with greater satisfaction and is supported by many others

(Assouline amp Meir 1987 Mount amp Muchinsky 1978 Spokane 1985) There is a

dearth of literature in the field of vocational interests and the work environment in

Pakistani context Hence there is a requirement to investigate the level of congruence

between interests and environment of Pakistani potential workforce

Holland Theory of Vocational Choices

The work of Holland (1973 1985a and 1997) in the domain of vocational

interests stands out like a colossus He introduced an occupational classification

24

system (1958 1959 1966a 1966b) and a theory of vocational interests which

attracted substantial attention (Campbell amp Borgen 1999 McDaniel amp Snell 1999

Tracey amp Rounds 1993 1997)

Holland explicitly recognized the role of personality (1959 1966a 1973

1997) in his theory of vocational personalities and work environments He is of the

view that individuallsquos satisfaction depends on the match between hisher personality

and occupational environment

Although there was a criticism on Hollandlsquos typology (eg Gati 1991) yet

it has been widely studied in the vocational literature It has been emerged repeatedly

in cross-cultural analyses (Day amp Rounds 1998) and its generalizability has been

supported in large samples (Rounds amp Tracey 1993 Tracey amp Rounds 1993)

Holland (19731985a) theorized that personality traits self-knowledge and

occupational knowledge reflect career choices In making career choices

environmental factors like family school and social environment have a large role to

play Despite these constraints individuals searched for the type of environment

that suitscongruent with their personality type The theory specified a hexagonal

structure wherein each of the six RIASEC types appears on one point of the hexagon

It is assumed that adjacent types are most similar than types positioned opposite of

one another on the hexagon The types placed on alternate positions have a moderate

level of similarity Hollandlsquos career theory is based on concepts like match between

25

interest and work environment (congruence) difference between the highest and

lowest interest (differentiation) and similarity between the top few interests

(consistency) as mentioned by Leong and Gupta (2006) The hexagonal structural of

Holland model is represented below

Figure 2 Hexagonal structure of Holland Model (1985a)

Note R = Realistic I = Investigative A = Artistic S = Social E = Enterprising C = Conventional

Thus R-I relationship would be more consistentcongruent then R-A which is

on alternate type R-S relationship would be least consistent which are placed

opposite to each other The six personality types and their personality description are

shown below

I

E S

C A

R

26

The Realistic type like realistic jobs Has

mechanical abilities but may lack social

skills Is described as

Asocial Inflexible Practical

Conforming Materialistic Self-Effacing

Frank Natural Thrifty

Genuine Normal Uninsightful

Hardheaded Persistent Uninvolved

The Investigative type likes

investigative jobs Has mathematical and

scientific ability but often lacks

leadership ability Is described as

Analytical Independent Rational

Cautious Intellectual Reserved

Critical Introspective Retiring

Complex Pessimistic Unassuming

Curious Precise Unpopular

The Artistic type likes artistic jobs Has

writing musical or artistic abilities but

often lacks clerical skills Is described as

Complicated Imaginative Intuitive

Disorderly Impractical Nonconforming

Emotional Impulsive Open

Expressive Independent Original

Idealistic Introspective Sensitive

The Social type like social jobs Has

social skills and talents but often lack

mechanical and scientific ability Is

described as

Ascendant Helpful Responsible

Cooperative Idealistic Sociable

Empathic Kind Tactful

Friendly Patient Understanding

Generous Persuasive Warm

The Enterprising type like enterprising

jobs Has leadership and speaking

abilities but often lacks scientific ability

Is described as

Acquisitive Energetic Flirtatious

Adventurous Excitement- Optimistic

Agreeable seeking Self-Confident

Ambitious exhibitionistic Sociable

Domineering Extroverted Talkative

The Conventional type like conventional

jobs Has clerical and arithmetic abilities

but often lacks artistic ability Is

described as

Careful Inflexible Persistent

Conforming Inhibited Practical

Conscientious Methodical Prudish

Defensive Obedient Thrifty

Efficient Orderly Unimaginative

Figure 3 The personality types (Holland 1985a)

27

Hollandlsquos hexagon typically has been measured comprehensively with the

Self-Directed Search (SDS) (Holland 1985a) The other measures are the Strong

Interest Inventory (SII) (Hansen 1984 Hansen amp Campbell 1985 Harmon Hansen

Borgen amp Hammer 1994) and the Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) (Holland

1985c)

Hollands measure has been applied in many settings like in managerial work

(Maurer amp Tarulli 1997) It has also been applied to the situations like career change

(Oleski amp Subich 1996) and academic comfort (Mullis Mullis amp Brailsford 1997)

Career development over the life span has been studied by Richards (1993)

Concurrent validity studies have been conducted using Hollands measures in many

studies (Bikos Krieshok amp OBrien 1998 Harmon Borgen Berreth King Schauer

amp Ward 1996 Zachar amp Leong 1997)

Hollands personality types have been related with other personality measures

like the MBTI (Nordvik 1996) and the NEO-PI (Holland Johnston amp Asama

1994) It has also been related with the EPQ (Goh amp Leong 1993) Bem Sex Role

Inventory (Miller Knippers Burley amp Tobacyk 1993) and Attachment styles

(Randolph amp Waldrop 1995)

Various cross-cultural validations studies have been conducted on Hollands

theory in countries like Hong Kong (Farh Leong amp Law 1998) Britain (Furnham

Toop Lewis amp Fisher 1995) and Portugal (Alves Joaquim amp Hood 1995) A

study conducted by Haverkamp Collins and Hansen (1994) and Ryan Tracey and

Rounds (1996) found mixed support for the theory in Asian-American employees

28

and in African-American and white high school students However cross cultural

validation of Holland theory in Pakistan conducted by Naheed (1988) provided some

support for the theory

In the existing literature congruence satisfaction relationship has got mixed

support Young Tokar and Subich (1998) found that the congruence--satisfaction

relation as a function of personality type while Furnham (1994) noted that

extroversion and neuroticism may be associated with job satisfaction Carson and

Mowsesian (1993) found little support for the congruence--satisfaction relationships

The present study would help in identifying the level of congruence between the

interests and aspirations of students

In Pakistan the Holland theory was applied but with some adaptation there

are few occupations which are totally uncalled for Pakistani population and they even

do not know about them Therefore there was a requirement to adapt this model to

the Pakistani population The adaptation and translation of SDS was carried out by

Naheed (1988) in accordance to the cultural relevance of Pakistani population and is

used in the present study to measure the vocational interests

Cross cultural studies revealed mix support for the Holland model A meta-

analysis by Rounds and Tracey (1996) is supportive of Hollandlsquos model from

samples in the United States Rounds and Day (1999) suggested cross cultures

representations of work might exist emphasizing the importance of structure of

vocational interest across diverse cultures (Fouad 1999) There might be different

clustering of interests as proposed by Holland due to idiosyncratic aspects of

29

occupational perceptions within a cultural context (eg Law Wong amp Leong

2001) Hence applicability of Hollandlsquo model on high school students in Pakistani

culture need to be explored in order to add to the existing cross cultural literature on

vocational interests

Self Directed Search (SDS)

The Self Directed Search (Holland 1985a) is a self-administered and self

interpreted vocation counseling tool It consists of two booklets an assessment

booklet and an occupational classification booklet The SDS was developed with

purpose to provide a vocational counseling to those who do not wish to have access

to vocational counselors The SDS and its underlying typology have also proved to

be helpful research tools in education business and social science

The SDS increases self understanding satisfaction with current vocational

aspirations and interests In three experiments (Avallone 1974 Krivatsy amp Magoon

1976 Nolan 1974) the beneficial effects of the SDS have proved equal to those of

professional counselors The use of SDS is controlled by its user it stimulates

initiative and learning It eliminates the need for separate answer sheets proctors

special testing dates mailing delays scoring-service costs scoring stencils and

elaborate and complex score reports Norms are incorporated in the three letter

occupational codes

30

The SDS is an outgrowth of a theory of vocational interests (Holland 1959

1966b 1973 1985a) which has undergone extensive investigation and won wide

acceptance The relations between personal characteristics and the occupations in the

occupations finder are easily understood because they are grouped by the same code

letters used to summarize a personlsquos characteristics The personal assessment is

carried out on SDS by scoring the scales activities competencies occupations and

self estimates each representing six RIASEC personality types Scores are added

against RIASEC personality types The first three highest scores are the three-letter

summary codes A person compares all the three summary codes with the

occupations in the occupation finder For instance a person has the highest three

summary codes as ESA which match with the occupation lawyerlsquo in the occupation

finder

The first edition of SDS was published in 1971 The 1977 edition closely

resembled 1971 edition however many inconspicuous changes were also made In

1985lsquos edition 59 of the 228 items were revised The most obvious change was the

doubling of the occupational finder from 500 occupations to more than 1100

occupations The Form Easy (E) was developed for adolescents and adults with

limited reading skills The booklet ―you and your career (Holland 1985b) was

developed to make the SDS a more complete and self-directed experience explaining

the typology and dealing with some common interpretive problems The dictionary

of Holland occupational codes is a translation of the Dictionary of occupational titles

(DOT US Department of Labor 1977) into the Holland (1985a) classification

31

system The computer version was developed in 1985 and computer assisted

assessments became common later on (Chauvin amp Miller 2009)

The ease with which the typology and the SDS can be used understood and

communicated has lead to numerous unanticipated adaptations and revisions

Research on the SDS or its adaptations has been conducted in Australia Canada

Japan Netherlands New Zealand Switzerland Italy Israel Nigeria and Guyana

The SDS was found valid and reliable in many countries including China South

Africa and Slovenia (Holland 1995) The same is the case in Pakistan where SDS

has been translated and adapted into Urdu language (Naheed 1988) and was found

valid and reliable The vocational interests of the high school students were measured

in the present study by Urdu translated version of SDS

The SDS is most effective in private settings but the device has also been

used successfully in small groups of 15 to 25 If larger groups must be used monitors

familiar with the SDS are needed for every 25 to 30 persons The SDS is clearly

suitable for persons aged 15 and older but the upper and lower limits have not been

well investigated The reading level is estimated to be at the seventh and eighth grade

levels according to the Dale and Chall (1948) readability formula The SDS with

minor changes has been used successfully with young children males and females

high schoolers college students employed adults Spanish-American and American

Indians

32

Gender Differences

The inconsistent results on gender differences may be due to the different

samples used and to some extent due to cultural differences Holland Fritzsche and

Powell (1997) found that Realistic and Social types are related to gender in high

school students There were significant gender differences in a sample of African

American college students (Swanson 1992) male students had significant higher

scores on realistic investigate enterprising and conventional Holland codes as

compared to female Similar findings were also reported by Hines (1983) on a

sample of black college students Leong Austin Sekaran and Komarraju (1998)

found female workers had higher scores on realistic investigative artistic social

and enterprising than male workers in India

Tang (2001) stated that female students had higher scores on Artistic Social

and Conventional as compared to male students in China Tak (2004) examined

significantly higher scores in realistic enterprising and conventional for male

students and higher scores in artistic and social types for female students The same

findings were reported by Robertu Fox and Tunick (2003)

Mau and Bikos (2000) viewed adolescentslsquo occupational aspirations as

significant determinant of both short-term educational and long-term career choices

and career self-concept (Rojewski 1999) The more the adolescents get mature it is

easier to tap their abilities interests and values in forming their occupational

aspirations (Super 1990)

33

Vocational Aspirations

According to Holland (1962) while testing the predictive validity of a

personlsquos stated vocational aspiration it was discovered that such aspirations

predicted the category of the subsequent aspiration more efficiently than the high-

point code of the VPI or selected scales from the old SVIB Holland (1968)

explained that the most recent preferences are good estimates of what heshe will

choose or do next Consequently it seemed a good idea to have an aspirations section

in the SDS The inclusion of this list of vocational aspirations has proved valuable in

several ways (1) Coding the vocational aspirations leads to efficient predictions of

future aspirations and jobs (2) Discrepancies between the code of the current

aspiration and the SDS code can be used to promote self-understanding and

discussion (3) Assessing a personlsquos expressed aspirations emphasizes the importance

of a personlsquos self-direction and initiative

Daydream Codes

A personlsquos past and current aspirations are elicited in the daydreams section

of SDS The construct and predictive validity of these aspirations is usually as useful

as test information Counselors should notice the first letter code of the three most

recent vocational aspirations If they are the same (eg teacher social worker

recreation directormdashall Slsquos as per occupational finder book) then the likelihood of

the person maintaining a social aspiration is high If the first two of the three

34

aspirations have the same first letter code the predictive validity of the first

aspiration is moderate If the first three aspirations listed belong to different

occupational categories the predictive validity of the current aspiration is low

(Touchton amp Magoon 1977 Olsquo Neil amp Magoon 1977)

Daydream Code vs SDS Code

Several understandings are necessary for the skillful use of the occupational

classification First the codes are approximate not precise Consequently the degree

of discrepancy between SDS codes and occupational codes is rough not precise

Second the first letter of the occupational code is most important most descriptive

and more reliable Although codes shift slightly from sample to sample changes in

the first letter of the code are infrequent Changes in the second and third letters of

codes occur more frequently Third the distribution of occupational codes among

and within the six main categories is extremely uneven The data suggested that

people with flat profiles contradictory profiles or profiles with rare summary codes

present a variety of questions and problems These people have the greatest need of

professional assistance constructive work experience and information (Holland

1985a)

The relation between the code of the current vocational aspiration and the

SDS summary code is very significant When the first letter code of the current

aspiration and the SDS are the same the likelihood of a person maintaining that

aspiration is very high Three studies (Holland amp Lutz 1968 Holland amp Gottfredson

35

1975 Borgen amp Seling 1978) indicated that when interest inventories and reported

aspirations are in disagreement the predictive validity of the vocational aspiration

exceeds that of the interest inventory although the efficiency of this prediction is

much less than when inventory and aspiration are in agreement Hence there is a

requirement to investigate the level of congruence between vocational interests and

vocational aspirations of students within the purview of present study

In evaluating degree of agreement between SDS codes aspirations or

occupational choice the Zener-Schnuelle index (Zener amp Schnuelle 1976) can be

used Iachan (1984) has provided a mathematically more satisfying solution for

determining the agreement between any pair of three-letter codes in a six-variable

system A simpler index of agreement between any two codes can also be obtained

by employing the hexagonal model This simple procedure correlates about 75 with

the Zener-Schnuelle Index The scoring procedure entailed comparing the first letter

codes for the current vocational aspiration and the SDS The higher the score the

closer the agreement In the present study the state of congruence between the

vocational aspirations and vocational interests were determined by employing the

hexagonal model The detailed instructions and the scoring procedure for the

hexagonal model are described in Appendix ―A

Martin et al (2009) with reference to German Vocational Training System

argued that vibrant adjustments of aspirations play a decisive role for a successful

outcome from school to work transition Ali and Saunders (2009) explored the career

aspirations of rural Appalachian high school students and found adolescentslsquo

36

educational aspirations were strongly linked to future occupational aspirations and

career choices Numerous studies supported that occupational aspirations lead to

future career choices (Aziz 2001 Bandura 1986 Bandura Barbaranelli Capara amp

Pastorelli 1996 Eccles Wigfield amp Schiefele 1998 Lent Brown amp Hackett 1994

Rojewski 1999)

Career Development in Childhood

The different stages of childhood and adolescence are regarded as the years of

preparation for adulthood which covers primary school and junior high school

children They make certain decisions about their future careers It has been found

that career conscience develops in primary school students hence they can aspire

their careers in a more realistic way (Auger Blackhurst and Wahl 2005 Magnuson

and Starr 2000 Nazlı 2007 Trice and King 1991 Walls 2000)

Tokar Fischer amp Subich (1998) determined junior high school students can

associate their own characteristics with careers in Turkey Hirschi (2010) examined

the development and reciprocal interaction of vocational interests and career goals

and the relation of their development to basic personality traits in middle

adolescence According to Gottfredson (2002) career aspirationsgoals begin

developing in early childhood by eliminating occupational alternatives that conflict

with onelsquos self-concept Patton and Creed (2007) surveyed Australian high school

students on measures of occupational aspirationsexpectations and career status

aspirationsexpectations

37

The occupational interests and individual personality traits are related have

been found in the literature review (Betz amp Borgen 2000 Costa McCrae amp

Holland 1984 De-Fruyt amp Mervielde 1997 Goh amp Leong 1994 Gottfredson

Jones amp Holland 1993 Hogan amp Blake 1999 Holland Johnston amp Asama 1994

Ozone 1998)

Costa et al (1984) investigated the relationship between personality styles

and vocational interest and indicated gender differences did exist on scales of the

SDS Women scored higher in Artistic Social and Conventional interests and lower

in Realistic Investigative and Enterprising interests Furthermore significant

correlations existed between Investigative and Artistic vocational interests and

Openness and between Social and Enterprising vocational interests and Extraversion

across genders Gottfredson et al (1993) found similar results with the exception of

considerably smaller coefficients than Costa et al (1984)

Interest in examining relationships between personality and vocational

interests has long been examined so there is a requirement to deliberate on the

relationship between personality and vocational interests in Pakistani context

38

Personality and Vocational Interests

Terman (1931) stated ―For understanding an individuallsquos total personality it

is absolutely necessary to know something about the kinds and intensity of his

interests (p xvii) Darley (1941) said that interest development is an outgrowth of

personality development Berdie (1944) said that studies of interests are actually

studies of motivation and understanding the determinants of interests will solve the

riddles of personality origins Berdie hinted that interests and personality share

similar structures because they arise from similar causal determinants Darley and

Hagenah (1955) reviewed this topic extensively placing vocational interest within

personality theory Savickas (1999) masterfully surveyed the history of thought about

the theoretical meaning of interests and personality

Hollandlsquos hexagon model is the icon for an integrative theory describing

persons and environments and their interaction Several articles supported a more

unified view (eg Ackerman amp Heggestad 1997 Blake amp Sackett 1999 Borgen

1986 1999 Costa et al 1984 Holland 1997 1999 Prediger 1999) Spokane and

Decker (1999) stated ―It is increasingly apparent that interests personality self-

efficacy and other variants of personality and vocational self-concept may be facets

of a unified set of complex underlying traits (p 230)

Dawis (1991) clarified that interests are specific activities to attain values and

meet needs and personality traits are ways of acting to meet needs The relationship

39

between personality and interests would be greatest when there is a match between

individuallsquos behavioral tendencies and preferences Ackerman and Heggestad (1997)

found substantial relationship between personality and vocational interests

Hollandlsquos theory (1973 1985a) postulated that vocational interests are an

expression of personality which explicitly ―infers the structure of personality from

the clustering of vocational interests (Costa et al 1984 p 391) Therefore

Hollandlsquos model and the FFM should correspond meaningfully Goldberg (1990)

recommended further evaluation of the modellsquos comprehensiveness by testing its

capacity to encompass individual differences originating from different domains a

reasonable alternative is the structure of vocational interests Gottfredson Jones and

Holland (1993) have empirically assessed the relationship between the big five and

Hollandlsquos structural models

Personality-interest overlap by many researchers using SII (Harmon Hansen

Borgen amp Hammer 1994) and NEO-Personality Inventory-Revised (Carless 1999

Costa amp McCrae 1992a Gottfredson et al 1993 Tokar amp Swanson 1995) have

been explored The meta-analyses between personality and vocational interest have

empirically synthesized this relationship (Barrick et al 2003 Larson et al 2002)

The meta-analysis of Big Three and the Big Six have also been conducted (Staggs

2004) The present study found out the relationship between FFM including its facet

scales with six personality types

40

It is empirically well established that vocational interests show meaningful

relations to basic traits (Barrick et al 2003 Larson et al 2002) although not many

studies with adolescents are available (Hirschi amp Laumlge 2008 Larson amp Borgen

2006) The strongest and most consistent relations across studies are reported

Artistic interests relate moderately (r around 40 to 50) to the openness to experience

domain enterprising interests relate 20 to 50 with the extraversion domain social

interests relate moderately to the extraversion domain (r around 30 to 40)

investigative interests overlap 20 to 60 with the openness to experience domain

(Costa McCrae amp Holland 1984 De Fruyt amp Mervielde 1997 Gottfredson et al

1993 Holland et al 1994 Tokar amp Swanson 1995 Tokar Vaux amp Swanson

1995) and finally social interests correspond modestly (rs around 20) with the

agreeableness domain (De Fruyt amp Mervielde 1997 Tokar et al 1995) Realistic

interests and neuroticism domains were generally non-significantly correlated to

personality trait or interest type respectively

Sullivan and Hansen (2004) viewed interests as activities that are enjoyable

and motivating for individuals whereas personality are behavioral tendencies help in

motivation and determining success in particular activities They suggested the

importance of examining personality traits at facet levels and found that

extraversionlsquos underlying facets (warmth vs assertiveness) related differentially to

enterprising and social interests This distinction cannot be understood by simply

examining the main domain of extraversion Thus individual who is interested in

sales career would be happy and successful if heshe possesses assertivenesssocial

41

dominance disposition which is related to enterprising interests Heshe may not be

very successful if primarily possesses the warmthsociability disposition that is

related to social interests Logue et al (2007) investigated the five main domains

along with narrow personality facet traits He also investigated the vocational interest

linkage to satisfaction with major for college students

Tokar et al (1998) examining the five main domains reported the consistent

linkage between personality and vocational interests They found extraversion

domain correspond with enterprising and social vocational interests whereas

Openness domain has moderate relationship with artistic and investigative interests

Conscientiousness was linked to conventional interests while Agreeableness was

related with social vocational interests Neuroticism domain was generally not found

to be correlated with any vocational interests Similar findings were reported by

Ackerman and Heggestad (1997) and by Carless (1999)

This showed that consistent patterns of relationships between personality and

vocational interests have been established The meta-analysis conducted by Larson et

al (2002) found openness to be related to artistic (r =48) and investigative interests

(28) Extraversion was related to enterprising (r =41) and social interests (r =31)

Realistic interests and Neuroticism domains were not found related personality and

vocational interests respectively These findings suggested that vocational interests

may not be considered as part of individuallsquos personality disposition (Bordin 1943

Holland 1997 Tokar amp Swanson 1995 Tussing 1942)

42

In another meta-analysis examined by Barrick et al (2003) substantial

relationships between enterprising and artistic interests with extraversion and

openness to experience personality domain were obtained On the other hand the

realistic interests were not related to any personality traits RIASEC types were

regressed on the FFM scores showed a multiple R of 11 for realistic 26 for

investigative 42 for artistic 31 for social -47 for enterprising and 27 for

conventional types This meta-analysis concluded that there is relationship between

personality traits and vocational interests yet they are not identical and substitutes

for each other

Ackerman and Heggestad (1997) reviewed the relationship between

Hollands vocational interests and the FFM and found agreeableness is not related to

any vocational interests The same conclusion was reported for Neuroticism

However conscientiousness was related to conventional interests whereas

extraversion was related to enterprising and social interest Openness domain was

related with investigative artistic and social interest types They reported their

results based on three studies (Goh amp Leong 1993 Gottfredson et al 1993 Kanfer

Ackerman amp Heggestad 1996)

Empirical differences also emerged while comparing results from a study

conducted by De Fruyt and Mervielde (1999) with those of Ackerman and Heggestad

(1997) De Fruyt and Mervielde (1999) found a non significant relationship between

Investigative and Openness but found enterprising types to be significantly related to

43

conscientiousness Agreeableness was significantly related to the social and the

enterprising type Emotional stability is associated with the enterprising type and

conventional type whereas Ackerman and Heggestad (1997) did not However

consistent relationship existed between some of the personality traits and some of the

vocational interests The present study is designed to further authenticate this

consistent relationship in Pakistani context

Holland (1996) suggested that the six RIASEC types have ―strong to weak

relationships with four of the Big Five factors (p 400) Similarly a moderately

strong correlation was found between extraversion and openness personality traits by

Digman (1997)

The renaissance of interest and research in personality-interests relationship

suggested that FFM of personality traits as it relates to the Hollandlsquos model be

examined especially in the scope of present study Extraverts are very keen to obtain

organizational goals (Costa amp McCrae 1992a Goldberg 1992) Thus desire to

influence others and achieve economic gains is basic traits of extraverts (Gray

1987) Thus it can be concluded that those who are extraverted are more likely to

have preferences for enterprising and social jobs (Ackerman amp Heggestad 1997

Barrick amp Gupta 1997 De Fruyt amp Mervielde 1999 Gottfredson et al 1993)

Agreeableness domain is mainly related to social relations between each

others Those who are philanthropic gracious and eager to help others (Costa amp

McCrae 1992a) are high scorer on agreeableness domains Goldberg (1992) also

44

found that kindness generosity and fairness are related to high scorer on

agreeableness and they usually strive for cooperation rather than competition (Costa

amp McCrae 1992a) This suggested that agreeableness is likely to be related to social

vocational interests Previous Researches also supported significant relation

relationship between agreeableness and social interests (Barrick amp Gupta 1997 De

Fruyt amp Mervielde 1999)

Those who are high scorer on Openness to Experience are generally

imaginative possess intellectual curiosity and have originality On the other hand

artistic and investigative types are related to characteristics like abstraction insight

nonconformity and originality This suggested that there is a conceptual overlap

between openness to experience and artistic and investigative interests The same has

also been suggested by Barrick and Gupta (1997) and is supported by some more

studies (Ackerman amp Heggestad 1997 Gottfredson et al 1993)

Individuals who are high on neuroticism are especially attracted to jobs that

are relatively stressed free However stress is part and parcel of day to day routines

in organizational setup suggesting misfit for high scorer on neuroticism Emotional

stability and characteristics associated with Holland type are not found to be related

Therefore it is believed that scores on emotional stability will not be related to any

of the RIASEC types (Barrick amp Gupta 1997) Similar findings were reported by

Ackerman and Heggestad (1997) between any Holland type and emotional stability

45

Consequently a weak relationship is expected between emotional stability and any of

the six Holland personality types

The realistic type is non-significantly related to any personality dimension as

suggested by some studies (Ackerman amp Heggestad 1997 Barrick amp Gupta 1997

Costa et al 1984 De Fruyt amp Mervielde 1999 Tokar amp Swanson 1995) Since no

FFM personality trait are associated with preferences for aggressive action physical

activities and motor skill therefore personality traits are least expected to correspond

with realistic interests

People who scored high on conscientiousness are dependable orderly and

hardworking Thus conscientiousness is related to achievement striving (Digman

1990 Watson Clark amp Harkness 1994) These traits are essential for the success

and are related to the performance in all jobs (Barrick amp Mount 1991 Barrick et al

2001) It is expected that conscientiousness and conventional interests are more

relevant to each other Several studies have rendered support for conscientiousness

being positively related to conventional types (Ackerman amp Heggestad 1997

Barrick amp Gupta 1997 De Fruyt amp Mervielde 1999 Gottfredson et al 1993)

Costa et al (1984) found neuroticism correlated weakly with the artistic type

extraversion was strongly positively correlated with the enterprising type Openness

was strongly positively correlated with the artistic type Tokar and Swanson (1995)

concluded that openness and extraversion are particularly related to Holland model

The findings presented partial support to the existing body of literature about five-

46

factor model which claimed that it can assimilate organize and interpret other

structural model of personality

Similar conclusions were also reported by Schinka Dye and Curtiss (1997)

They reported fairly high correlations between extraversion openness and

agreeableness traits with the enterprising artistic and social personality interests

However the relationship between personality and RIASEC types are modest as 16 of

the 30 being less than r = 20 They were of the view that the FFM ―may not provide

powerful predictors of other aspects of global personalities including occupational

interests and possibly extending to other area of personal values preferences and

beliefs (p 366)

Costa McCrae and Kay (1995) have considered how NEO personality

inventory may be used in career assessment They acknowledged that ―personality

inventories should supplement rather than replace vocational interest inventories

(p 130) They were strongly supportive of three sorts of data in career assessment

ability trait and vocational interest They suggested that extraversion openness and

agreeableness of FFM are mostly relevant to vocational interests About neuroticism

they assumed neurotics are ―likely to be unhappy in whatever job they have (p

130) More importantly they distinguished between big five and facet scales Thus

they were of the view that individuals may have identical conscientiousness scores

but one is high in some facet traits and other could have the opposite pattern yet they

would be best suitable to quite different jobs This is apparent that 30 NEO

47

personality inventory facets are very vital and helpful to the expert which facets are

desirable or undesirable for different jobs

Waller Lykken and Tellegen (1995) initially conceptualized the

interrelatedness of personality and interests at a facet level in both domains One of

the limitation found in the literature review is that in most of the studies big five

traits and big six vocational interests were examined while very few studies looked at

the lower order facet level traits In the present study five personality traits were

studied along with the lower order facets in order to obtain detailed view of

personality and vocational interest relationship

Applicability of FFM to Children

The vast majority of studies have been conducted with samples of college

students and adults Whereas the FFM model has been examined and applied to

many populations cultures and domains of behavior (Costa amp Widiger 1994

McCrae 1992) Digman and Takemoto-Chock (1981) and Digman and Inouye

(1986) were the first who demonstrated the possible applicability of the FFM to

children Kohnstamm Slotboom and Elphick (1994) concluded that children of

school age demonstrated the presence of a factor similar to conscientiousness in

adults both in self-descriptions as well as in teacher and parent ratings

48

Farsides and Woodfield (2003) provided mixed empirical support about the

role five traits played in determining academic success Neuroticism was found to be

positively related to academic achievement in middle school but negatively at college

level Similarly extraversion predicted higher grades in middle school but lower

grades at the college level (De Raad amp Schouwenburg 1996 Eysenck 1996) They

proposed several reasons for this discrepancy These are due to small sample sizes

and the use of different personality measures Different criteria for academic success

varying time lapses between the collection of data and age specificity issued may

have jeopardized the results

Laidra Pullmann and Allik (2007) studied two large samples of school

children from 7 to 19 years of age and found the relationship between intelligence

and personality with respect to academic achievement in Estonian schools

Conscientiousness and openness traits have been found relevant to achievement

(Paunonen amp Ashton 2001)

Similarly Hair and Graziano (2003) analyzed five factor traits in middle

school and found correlations with high school GPA Heaven Mak Barry and

Ciarrochi (2002) and Maqsood (1993) examined the relationship between personality

variables and adjective scales for agreeableness and conscientiousness to self-rated

academic performance in adolescents of 14ndash16 years of age None of the three

Eysencklsquos PEN model correlated significantly with GPA in a sample of Russian

adolescents (Slobodskaya Safronova amp Windle 2005)

49

A somewhat different approach was taken by Parker and Stumpf (1998) to

assess personality dimensions according to five factor model on academically

talented youth (mean age = 1377) from the USA They used four different

instruments NEO-FFI ACL MBTI and CCQ The findings largely supported the

conception about FFM that data derived from adults is applicable to academically

talented youth

Chung (1983) administered 120 occupation titles which were derived from

the General Occupational Themes (GOT) of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank

(Campbell 1974) and Hollands Vocational Preference Inventory (1965) In factor

analysis it was clearly seen that Realistic and Investigative correlated more with

Factor II while Artistic Social Enterprising correlated more with Factor I

Conventional was a bi-factor variable It can be said that Factor I is Arts subjects and

Factor II is Science subjects

It is obvious from the above study that according to students choices of

academic subjects the secondary school pupils in Hong Kong are of two main types

arts students and science students Science students preferred occupations of realistic

or investigative types and arts students preferred occupations of artistic social or

enterprising types all of which were their personality types Both science students

and arts students would prefer occupations of conventional type

Larson and Borgen (2006) studied the overlap of the Strong Basic Interest

scales with the facet scales of the NEO-PI-R They found that specific Basic Interest

50

scales could be predicted best from specific facet scales of the NEO-PI-R Public

speaking interests were most related to the assertiveness facet of the extraversion

domain science interests were most related to the ideas facet of the openness

domain and office practices interests were most related to the order facet of the

conscientiousness domain

More studies of this kind need to be done to explicate the links between

interests and personality The present study examining the relationship between

lower order personality facets and vocational interests in high school students may

well locate important interest-personality linkages that are obscured in the more

general big six and big five models

McCrae et al (2002a) were of the opinion that the NEO PI-R could be

significantly used for measuring personality in adolescents Adolescentslsquo self-ratings

have also displayed a structure similar to adults (Allik Laidra Realo amp Pullman

2004 Scholte van Aken amp van Lieshout 1997) Markey Markey Ericksen and

Tinsley (2002) have suggested that preadolescent can also reliably rate themselves

using a standard measure of adult personality (NEO-Five Factor Inventory)

On the other hand many studies have linked personality traits to career

choice and interests among adolescents (Feather amp Said 1983 Hartman Fuqua amp

Blum 1985 Hartman Fuqua amp Hartman 1988 Lokan amp Biggs 1982 Medina amp

Drummond 1993) There has been little research on career decidedness and

personality traits among ―middle adolescents (ie about 14 to 17 years) Even

51

though adolescence is characterized by marked personality change and development

(Piaget 1952) it is also a time when relatively stable personality traits emerge

(McCrae et al 2002b)

Gender Differences on Personality and Vocational Interests

Previous research suggested that there are considerable differences in

vocational interests due to gender (Benbow 1988 Hansen Collins Swanson amp

Fouad 1993 Lubinski amp Benbow 1992) The literature also suggested the

differences between traits and interests on sample of college students when compared

with sample of working adults Goh and Leong (1993) found low to moderate

correlations between personality and RIASEC personality types may be because of

sample of college students They assumed that older adults could be expected to have

more highly differentiated vocational interests

Existing literature showed that differences in personality factors can be

expected for high achiever students (Dauber amp Benbow 1990 Goff amp Ackerman

1992) Same is the case about differences in vocational choices for intelligent

students as compared to average students (Lubinski amp Benbow 1992) Intelligent

students have been found to be high on realistic and investigative categories

(Benbow amp Stanley 1982 Dauber amp Benbow 1990)

52

In supporting the applicability of the FFM in Chinese adolescents Wu

Lindsted Tsai and Lee (2008) used NEO personality inventory revised (NEO-PI-R)

in Taiwanese adolescents Women found to be higher in neuroticism extraversion

and agreeableness scores as opposed to males The gender differences reported in the

study are supportive of the results from other cultures This suggested that the

Chinese NEO-PI-R retains the psychometric properties of other language versions

In a study related to gender differences and personality Costa Terracciano

and McCrae (2001) based on the analyses of NEO PI-R data from 26 cultures (N =

23031) suggested that gender differences replicated across cultures for college age

and adult samples They found that the differences are broadly consistent with

gender stereotypes Personality factors were reasonably unchangeable across ages

Schmitt Realo Voracek and Allik (2009) suggested that sex differences in

personality traits are larger in countries whose cultures are prosperous healthy and

egalitarian Women have more opportunities in such cultures which are equal with

those of men They reported the findings in which women reported higher levels of

neuroticism extraversion agreeableness and conscientiousness than did men across

most nations

Women scored higher scores on social types measured by SDS as these are

related to people and service oriented occupations (Holland et al 1994) Men scored

significantly higher scores on Realistic scales which are related to technical skilled

trades engineering occupations Hansen et al (1993) found different career structure

53

for men and women He assessed sex differences in Hollands hexagon ordering of

career interests as measured by the SII They found that women scores on

Investigative and Realistic scales were highly correlated supporting significant

gender differences on Hollandlsquos model

The literature is rich in studies investigating gender differences in personality

traits (Feingold 1994 Jorm 1987) These differences are replicated regardless of

culture period and instruments used to measure these traits These differences

appeared to be a universal phenomenon (Colom amp Jayme-Zaro 2004) and have been

found among adults children and young people in almost all countries (Barrett amp

Eysenck 1984 Delgado 1995 Francis 1993)

The present study was designed to find out the personality vocational

interests and vocational aspirations of the high school students The differences with

respect to demographic variables on personality and vocational interests were also

determined

54

Rationale of the Study

One of the long held goals of psychology has been to establish a model that

can conveniently describe human personality and can be used in the remedying of

personality disorders and improving general understanding of personality One of the

prominent models in contemporary psychology is what is known as the five-factor

model of personality (Digman 1990) This model incorporated five different

variables into a conceptual model for describing personality Neuroticism

Extraversion Openness Agreeableness and Conscientiousness are five mains

domains of personality which are measured by NEO PI-R (Costa amp McCrae 1992a)

The five factors are sometime referred to as the ―Big Five (Ewen 1998) The FFM

is among the newest models and showed promise to be among the practical and

applicable models available in the field of personality psychology (Digman 1990)

Hollandlsquos model explicitly recognized the role of personality in fact

Hollandlsquos taxonomy is personality taxonomy Holland (1985a) clearly outlined the

domain of personality traits believed to correspond with each of the six personality

types If Holland taxonomy is personality taxonomy then five factor model and

Holland taxonomy should correspond with each other Hollands RIASEC typology

has shown that congruence between interests and environment is associated with

greater satisfaction (Assouline amp Meir 1987 Mount amp Muchinsky 1978 Spokane

1985) ―Congruency is the primary concept (French et al 1974) and refers to the

55

compatibility of the personality and the environment Vocational interests are

multifaceted orientations associated with behaviors that reflected an individuals

choice to engage in tasks and activities they like and to be in environments where

they are surrounded by people who are similar to them

Five factor model of personality and Hollandlsquos model of vocational interests

are most widely accepted and used models in the research literature on personality

and vocational interests Recent trends in literature review showed that there is

consistent pattern of relationship between personality and vocational interests

(Barrett 2009 Barrick et al 2003 Bullock amp Reardon 2008 Ehrhart amp

Makransky 2007 Harris et al (2006) Larson et al 2002 Logue et al 2007

Staggs et al 2007 Zhang 2008) Lot of studies and meta-analyses were conducted

to determine this relationship between personality and vocational interests This

relationship has been described in studies in diverse population and samples

Majority of the studies were conducted on the sample of college students or adults

However few studies were also conducted on the school students The results showed

that general relationship pattern between personality and other variables have been

replicated on the sample of school students (Hair amp Graziano 2003 Laidra et al

2007 Parker amp Stumpf 1998 Wu et al 2008)

In Pakistan there are few studies conducted on the five factor model of

personality (Akhtar 2004 Anis-ul-Haque 2003 Chishti 2002 Safdar 2002

Shaheen 2007 Taj 2003) In these studies Urdu translated versions of NEO PI-R to

56

measure personality were used on Pakistani population Similarly translation and

adaptation of SDS measuring vocational interests on Pakistani High school students

was conducted by Naheed (1988) However the relationship between personality and

vocational interests has not been explored earlier within the context of Pakistani

society

The present study is an endeavor to find out the relationship between

personality and vocational interests among high school students There are many

types and categories of schools in Pakistan There are private schools as well as

government schools The general trend in Pakistan is that parents send their children

to private schools which are also popularly known as English medium schools

However majority of English medium schools are located in the urban localities

Whereas in rural areas there are very few English medium schools in the near

vicinity and therefore the government schools generally cater for the majority of rural

students Another reason for sending the children to government schools is the socio-

economic status of parents The fee structure of government schools is affordable to

commoners in Pakistan

The government schools from both urban and rural areas belonging to

Rawalpindi district are taken in the study In Punjab the biggest province of

Pakistan the government schools have almost the same syllabus and same facilities

in all schools Hence the sample was taken from Rawalpindi district and it was

assumed that the results of the study could be generalized to the population of

57

students of government schools in Punjab Although there are limited facilities in

government school (Memon 2007) the students from these schools are contributing

in the development of Pakistan in different capacities However still there are large

numbers of students who could not complete their studies and might not have

achieved suitable careers Therefore this appears to be a neglected area which

requires immediate attention

The present study also explored the differences in demographical variables on

personality and vocational interests The participation rates of women in occupations

traditionally held by men have increased dramatically in the past few decades Many

more women are becoming doctors bankers human resource managers lawyers and

are working on many executive and managerial positions Overall men and women

still show somewhat different participation rates in the occupations and these

differences seem to be related to differences in values

In Pakistan the students after passing 8th

class have to choose two different

categories of subjects ie the science group and humanities group There are many

career opportunities which are based on these categories of subjects Therefore

students of 9th

and 10th

classes were taken in the study Since there are no career

counselor in the schools to guide the students about suitable career matching their

personality and vocational interests the present study also endeavored to explore the

vocational interest preferences and vocational aspirations of the students Whether

the degree of agreement between vocational aspirations and vocational interests of

58

the students exist To authenticate the results and add in cultural relevance to the

concepts used in the study the opinion of experts about personality and vocational

interests are also incorporated These were the issues which were addressed in the

study

The current study would be helpful in further refinement of the theoretical

framework and explore relationship that exists between personality and vocational

interests Whether the consistent relationship between personality and vocational

interests would replicate in Pakistani context The work values nature of jobs career

opportunities pay structure etc are quite different from western culture Therefore

this study endeavored to explore the relationship between personality and vocational

interest in Pakistani context It further explored the differences of various

demographical variables on personality and vocational interest The current study

will help in generalizing the results and application of two widely used models in

Pakistani context These models have been empirically supported by previous studies

and thus are taken as theoretical framework for the present study The study will also

add to the understanding of career counselors and policy makers about the vocational

aspirations of the students their preferences and level of congruence between

vocational interests and vocational aspirations

The study has been designed into six parts The part 1 of the study was

designed to develop insight and conceptual understanding about the personality and

vocational interests in high school students Part 2 of the study is regarding the

59

development of research instruments Part 3 of the study is designed to find out the

relationship between personality and vocational interests of the students In Part 4

the vocational interests and general pattern for the preferences for occupational types

by the students was studied Part 5 is associated with the degree of agreement

between vocational aspirations and vocational interests of the students Part 6 is

about the evaluation of personality profile by the experts and finally the results were

discussed along with the implications of the study

60

Chapter II

PART 1 - EXPLORATION OF CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING ABOUT

PERSONALITY AND VOCATIONAL INTERESTS OF THE STUDENTS

Majority of the previous researches were conducted on the relationship

between personality and vocational interests among college students and adults

(Ackerman amp Heggestad 1997 Barrick et al 2003 Larson et al 2002) However

the relationship between personality and vocational interests among high school

students is not very prevalent in the reported literature This study was designed to

develop insight and conceptual understanding about the personality and vocational

interests of high school students in Pakistan

The sample selected for the study was consisted of students of government

schools under the administrative control of Punjab (the biggest province in Pakistan)

A large segment of society has low socio-economic status and lives in the urban as

well as rural areas of Pakistan (World Bank 2000) Government schools generally

catered for the students belonging to this segment of society Hence there is a

requirement to understand the dynamics of personality and vocational interests in

students of government schools

The vocational aspirations are also considered as part of Self Directed Search

(SDS) in which participants were asked to give the list of vocational preferences

Since there are no proper mechanisms in Pakistani school where students can be

guided and counseled hence exploring their vocational aspirations is of great

61

importance Vocational aspirations of the students depend on many factors Due to

limited availability of research literature in Pakistan about vocational aspirations

there is a requirement to explore and understand the vocational aspirations of the

students and find out the degree of agreement with vocational interests Gender

differences between the personality vocational interest and vocational aspirations of

the students were also explored The information gathered in this study was quite

helpful in designing the subsequent parts of the research study

Objectives

To develop insight about the personality and vocational interests of high

school students

Method

In this part series of focus groups and interviews were conducted to develop

insight into the study Focus group is a carefully planned discussion designed to

obtain perceptions feelings and manner of thinking about subject under

investigation It provides a fast easy and practical way of getting in touch with the

target population This part of the research consisted of following steps

Step 1 Focus groups with the students

Step 2 Focus groups with the teachers

Step 3 Interviews with the Principals

62

In this study 6 focus groups were conducted 4 with students and 2 with

teachers of different schools The willingness of the participants was taken before

hand and a convenient sampling technique was used in this part of the study Few

guidelines (attached at Appendix ―B) with the help of experts (one PhD scholar and

one MPhil scholar) in the field of psychology were prepared before the focus group

with students in order to get maximum information about the personality development

and vocational choices of the students

Two focus groups were conducted one with male and the other with female

teachers independently The topic guide was prepared with the help of experts (one

PhD scholar and one MPhil scholar) in the field of psychology and attached at

Appendix Clsquo The researcher acted as moderator assisted by one co-moderator

(MPhil in Psychology) Before starting each focus group a brief introduction about

the purpose of the study was provided to the participants The participants in groups

were asked to introduce themselves with each other They were explained the general

rules and discussion guidelines They were given assurance about the confidentiality

of their opinions and comments

According to guidelines prepared for the focus groups participants were asked

open and neutral questions Participants were asked to talk freely with each other and

pay respect to the opinions of others There is no concept of right and wrong answers

in this discussion Separate focus groups were conducted with male and female

students as well as teachers The logic for conducting separate focus groups for male

and female students and teacher was that female students as well as teachers were

reluctant to conduct focus groups with male counterparts All the focus group

63

discussion was transcribed with notes The samples procedures and findings of the

focus groups and interviews are described below

Step 1 Focus groups with students

Total 4 focus groups were conducted with students The details are shown below

Sample

Two focus groups were conducted with the male students Two focus groups

were conducted with female students Two focus groups were conducted with the

students of urban areas (one each with male and female students) and similarly two

focus groups were conducted with the students of rural areas In each focus group 8

participants were selected 4 students from 9th

class (2 each from Science and Arts

group) and 4 students from 10th

classes (2 each from Science and Arts groups) were

selected All the students were from government schools located in Rawalpindi The

age range was from 14 years to 19 years (mean age = 165 years)

Procedure

The participants were approached in the schools with the help of school

administration After getting their consent 8 students were selected for each focus

group They were given oral instructions and general purpose of the study was

explained to them Participants were encouraged to give frank and honest opinion

The session took about 60 to 80 minutes for each focus group The discussion was

64

noted down and at the end participants were acknowledged for their cooperation and

participation

Findings of the Focus Groups with Students

Following information was obtained from the focus groups conducted with the

students

1 Most of the students responded that they were studying because they wanted

to achieve good career and some of them responded to become good human

beings

2 Majority of the male student wanted to become doctor engineer army officers

etc These seem to be the favorite careers for male students in Pakistan While

most of the female students wanted to become doctor teacher lawyer nurse

etc They agreed that there were many factors which influenced them to

choose particular choices as future careers However they were of the opinion

that whatever they had selected best matched with their temperaments

3 Some of the students responded that the idea to adopt their desired career has

not been from the childhood They further responded that with the passage of

time they had changed the profession of their choices This showed that

initially they have choices at fantasy level but with the passage of time they

changed it realistically With regard to future choices majority of the students

were inspired either by the influence of media or by their interactions with

any of the successful close relative

65

4 Most of the students were aware of the basic criteria for the attainment of

choice of profession up to some extent Although they did not have the

complete details about the basic selection criteria about the profession of their

choices however they have working knowledge Students were aware of the

fact that they have to work hard in studies in order to achieve the desired

careers They were also taking interest in games and activities related to their

career choice

5 Students were asked to narrate the benefits which they will have to get after

adopting the particular profession Most of them responded that it would be

interesting and they will get a good job and will be financially better off

They also said that they would get respect in the society and will improve

their personality Once they were asked about the demerits of choosing

particular profession they responded that they may have to go far away from

home and some said that there is a continuous struggle and study in life

6 The students did not have clear second and third choices Some of the

students responded that their second choice would be business while some

were sure to achieve their first career choice Most of the students narrated

that they did not receive any formal guidancecounseling in order to adopt

any career Some of the students said that teachers informally discussed about

their choice of careers This showed that at school level there is no proper

counselingguidance program

7 Most of the students narrated that their fathers had asked to adopt a particular

profession This showed that parents have tried to influence their children for

66

adopting a particular career Most of the students were of the view that their

personality suited to the vocations of their choices and their activities and

interests also matched with the desired careers

8 Science students were interested to become doctors engineers and scientists

etc Majority of the students had opted science group in 9th

class While very

few opted Arts group rather their teachers had put them in Arts groups due to

less marks Science students were of the opinion that if they did not succeed

to achieve the desired careers that depend on science subjects then they could

shift to other many options Arts group students narrated that if they did not

succeed to achieve the career of their choice then they have many other

options including army civil superior services lawyer teacher and even any

government job etc

9 Students were aware of the facts that very few students achieved good marks

to get admission in professional colleges However they said that they are

trying hard to achieve their targets Majority of the students mentioned that

they are not very good in English as a subject They said that they have

problems in spoken English Majority of the students mentioned that they are

very good in Urdu language as compared to English language

Step 2 Focus Groups with Teachers

Two focus groups were conducted with teachers One focus group was

conducted with male teachers and one focus group was conducted with female

teachers The details are shown below

67

Sample

The composition of the focus group included teachers having at least 10 years

of teaching experience Teachers having a minimum stay of 3 years in a school

where science and arts subjects are being taught to students were selected Focus

groups were conducted with teachers selected from six different schools The most

senior teachers teaching Science and Arts subjects were selected Five of them were

vice-principals and 3 were senior teachers There were 8 participants in the focus

group for male teachers 4 teachers were science teachers and 4 teachers were

teaching Arts subjects The age range for male teachers was from 32-48 years and

mean age was (M = 38 years)There were 6 participants in the focus group for female

teachers 3 teachers were science teachers and 3 were teaching Arts subjects The age

range for female teachers was from 30-45 years and mean age was (M = 35 years)

Procedure

The participants were approached in the schools with the help of school

administration After getting their consent the selected participants were briefed

about the purpose of the discussion They were encouraged to give frank and honest

opinion The session started with the introduction of all the participants Initially the

discussion was on general topics but later on it was moved to more specific topics It

was made sure for each participant to get a chance to speak The session took about

60 to 70 minutes for each focus group The discussion was generated focusing on the

individual differences between the students vocational choices of the students

factors affecting them and the procedures adopted in the schools for allotting Science

68

and Arts group The educational policy and curriculum (Aly 2006) and their effects

on helping and guiding the students were also discussed The discussion was noted

down and at the end participants were acknowledged for their cooperation and

participation

Findings of the Focus Groups with Teachers

Followings information was obtained from the focus group conducted with

the teachers

1 According to the teachers there are no significant things in curriculum which

could be helpful for the students to set direction for their future adjustments

Similarly the educational policy was also not very lucid (Zaman 2008) in this

regard

2 Schools have their own method of allotting Science and Arts groups to

students however generally the criteria to allot Science group and Arts group

are based on marks Students who get more marks are placed in Science

group while those who scored less marks are placed in Arts group However

sometimes preference is given to the choices of students as well It was also

observed that students after passing grade 8th have to choose between two

major groups ie Science group and Arts group The subjects and the

curriculum taught at the schools are not much helpful in choosing suitable

careers Majority of the schools in Rawalpindi city have science group in

Matriculations While very few offered both Science and Arts group In some

of the schools the strength of student either in science or in arts groups was

69

very low There are differences between science and arts students regarding

choice of careers

3 There are lot many private English medium schools in urban areas whereas

very limited such opportunity are available in rural areas Only government

schools catered for the majority of rural population Generally speaking due

to low socio economic status of parents children are being sent to

government schools There are separate schools for boys and girls hence no

coeducation in government high schools Teachers are of the opinion that the

fee structure of government schools is very reasonable and people with less

income can afford to send their children in government schools

4 In some schools even the shortage of teaching staff lack of adequate funds

and facilities were also mentioned by the teachers According to them proper

facilities should be provided to the government schools They considered

teachers as low paid employees They admitted that teachers sometimes

behaved harshly with the students According to teachers students have

limited career choices due to non availability of job opportunities for them

They said that most of the students are interested to join jobs in public sector

Female students have even more limited careers choices due to socio-cultural

scenario and non availability of job opportunities for them However they are

very eager to join even the non-traditional careers which were not encouraged

earlier for females

5 Teachers are of the opinion that some of the students are very hard working

and achieved outstanding results while majority of the students are just

70

mediocre They said that there are many factors which influence the

vocational aspirations of the students

6 They said that well trained career counselor should be appointed in the

schools to help students identifying their true potentials It will also be helpful

in guiding the students to achieve suitable careers Teachers said that they

tried to guide the students about their career choices They said that students

are very keen to choose desired profession and are well aware about the basic

requirement of achieving the desired profession

Step 3 Interviews with the Principals of Schools

Few interviews were also conducted with the principals from both Boys and

Girls government Schools These were unstructured interviews however the focus

was on the guidelines prepared for the focus groups Principals from 4 boy and 3 girl

government schools were interviewed The schools were both from urban and rural

areas All the principals had at least 20 years of service It took about 30 to 45

minutes for each interview The researcher was accompanied by one well trained

assistant All the details and information were transcribed by taking short notes All

the principals were briefed about the purpose of the study They were assured about

the confidentiality of the interviews Initially general discussion was started followed

by asking specific questions based on the guidelines prepared for the focus groups

for teachers and students Detail information was collected which were given below

71

Findings of the Interviews with Principals of Schools

Maximum information was collected from interviews Followings were the

observations based on the content analysis and feedback received from the

interviews

1 All the principals were highly qualified and experienced teachers Majority of

the principals were satisfied by the performance of their students It was felt

that there are lack of proper facilities shortage of teachers and limited

allocation of funds for the government schools

2 They said that there are some highly qualified teachers in the schools

Principals are of the strong opinion that career counselors should immediately

be posted to each school

3 They said that students had different attractive vocational aspirations however

very few able to achieve them There are gender differences between students

about vocational interests Science and arts students also differed with each

other about the vocational interests They were of the opinion that limited

career opportunities are available for the students in public sector Students

belonging to rural areas should be given some incentives in terms of marks

and scholarships to compete with the students of urban areas

4 Well paid and highly qualified teachers should be posted to these categories

of schools Rural areas schools catered for large number of students hence

their standard should be enhanced by providing latest audio-visual and

electronic equipments Principals were of the opinion that the government

should enhance educational budget for government schools A large number

72

of talents can be polished to become good citizen by providing proper

facilities and guidance to the students of government schools

5 It would be of great significance if the vocational aspirations of the students

are based on their related interests and competencies Moreover they should

be provided opportunities to join the occupations of their interests They are

very likely to excel in the field of their interests

Discussion

The present study was planned to get insight about the personality and

vocational interests of high school students With the help of literature review

researcher was able to identify certain issues related to personality and vocational

interests of different samples However issues related to personality and vocational

interests of Pakistani school students are of great importance In Pakistan the students

of high schools have to decide two major categories of science and arts (humanities)

group These distinctions are of paramount importance because many careers depend

on the distinctions of these subjects For instance doctors and engineers are the

profession which can only be achieved by science students Therefore this stage is very

important for students in decision making about future career

The findings of this part of the study revealed that there are gender differences

between the vocational interests of the students Male students have preferences for

different occupations while females have preferences for some other occupations

Similarly these differences were also observed for science and arts group students

73

There were many factors which influenced the choices of the students Since

this study dealt with the personality and vocational interests of the students who are

yet not admitted in any professional college so the vocational aspirations of the

students were of great concern Although vocational aspirations are part of

vocational interests measured by SDS but the findings of focus groups and interviews

suggested that some in depth analysis on vocational interests of the students need to

be carried out

According to Hollandlsquos model (Holland 1994) when there is congruence

between vocational aspirations and vocational interests there are more chances for

the individual to succeed in their desired career The findings of this part of the study

also observed that there are gender differences about the vocational aspirations of the

students It was also noticed that science and arts group students have different

vocational aspirations depending on the subjects which they are studying The

present study also endeavored to explore the vocational aspirations of the students

and find out the degree of agreement between vocational aspirations and vocational

interests measured by Hollandlsquos model Gender differences about the vocational

aspirations of the students were also explored

The sample selected for the study was from government schools which are

located in urban as well as rural areas Majority of the students were of same socio-

economic background In rural areas there are very few private schools while

majority of the students are being catered for by the government schools Another

reason for choosing government schools in the study was that majority of the

population lives in rural areas therefore students from these areas are being

74

accommodated by these schools Neglecting these government schools in term of

facilities meant that government is neglecting the educational rights of majority of

the rural population Hence there is a requirement to deeply analyze the personality

and vocational interests of the students of government schools Another point of

concern was that there are no career counselors in the schools to guide and counsel

the students according to their vocational interests Hence the vocational aspirations

as well as vocational interests of the students also need to be explored in depth

The main study exploring conceptual understanding related to personality and

vocational interests was conducted on 9th

and 10th

class students The effects of

demographical variables were also observed both on personality and vocational

interests independently The sample selected may not be mature enough and the

findings of the study need to be validated for cultural relevance by the experts of

different fields Although the findings obtained by conducting focus groups and

interviews showed that students were well aware about their vocational aspirations

have matching personality and interests with the desired careers and are striving hard

to achieve them However it was felt that opinion of experts of different fields may

be obtained about the personality profiles related to their occupations Experts were

also requested to categorize the matching personality types mentioned by Holland

model (Holland 1985a) with their respective occupations in Pakistani context

The consistent relationship between FFM and vocational interests was found

in the literature review (Barrick et al 2003 Larson et al 2002 Staggs et al 2007)

Extraversion is consistently related to social and enterprising interests openness is

related to investigative and artistic interests agreeableness is related to social

75

interests and conscientiousness is related to conventional interests The present study

will further help in exploring personality-interest relationships

The findings of the present study are also supported by the literature on

gender differences (Costa et al 1984 Gottfredson et al 1993 Holland et al 1994)

Bullock and Reardon (2008) illustrated male college students showed an interest in

Realistic and Enterprising vocations whereas women showed an interest in Social

Artistic and Enterprising vocations Hence it is assumed that Male will prefer

Realistic Investigative and Enterprising interests and Female will prefer Artistic and

Social interests

According to Holland occupational classification Doctor as a vocational

aspiration of students should have Investigative interests Army should have Realistic

interests Teacher should have Social interests Lawyer should have Enterprising and

Engineer should have Realistic and Investigative interests Thus it is expected that

studentslsquo vocational aspirations should match with their interests to attain the state of

congruence

The findings of the present study about preferences of Science and Arts

students are also supported by the research conducted in Hong Kong by Chang

(1981) Science students will prefer Realistic and Investigative occupations and Arts

students will prefer occupations of Artistic Social and Enterprising types Both

Science and Arts students will prefer occupations of Conventional types The results

are supported by the existing literature (Leung amp Hua 2005 Staggs et al 2007) The

findings of the study supplemented the existing body of literature about differences

between gender and science and Arts students

76

In the present study the Urdu translated version of NEO PI-R (Chishti 2002)

and SDS (Naheed 1988) to measure personality and vocational interests respectively

were used on the high school students It was decided that pretesting of both the

instruments on the sample of high school students may be carried out Overall this

part of the research was of great help in designing subsequent studies related to

personality and vocational interests of the Pakistani students

77

Chapter III

PART 2 - RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS

This part of the study was designed to finalize the research instruments

comprehendible to the target population The study pertained to the measurement of

personality and vocational interests of the high school students Five factor model of

personality (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) and Hollandlsquos model (Holland 1985a) of

vocational interests provided the theoretical framework for the present study

Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) measures the

personality domains and Self Directed Search (SDS) measures the vocational interests

Demographic Sheet Future Possibilities Questionnaire and Evaluation Sheet were also

designed to obtain the required information Pretesting of the research instruments were

also carried out on a small sample

Objectives

1 To carry out pretesting of the research instruments

Method

The study was conducted to finalize the followings instruments

Step 1 Demographic Sheet

Step 2 Future Possibilities Questionnaire

Step 3 Evaluation sheet

78

Step 4 NEO PI-R

Step 5 SDS

Step 6 Pretesting of the Research Instruments

Step 1 Demographic Sheet

Based on the information gathered in previous part (see chapter II) of the study

a demographic sheet was constructed with the help of experts (two PhD students and

one MPhil psychologist) from National Institute of Psychology Quaid-i-Azam

University Islamabad The demographic sheet consisted of detailed information about

the participants including variables like name gender age class sciencearts group

urbanrural fatherlsquos income fatherlsquos education and name of school etc The

demographic sheet is attached at Appendix Dlsquo

Step 2 Future Possibilities Questionnaire

Future possibilities questionnaire asked two questions about the vocational

aspirations of the students The first question was ―What career do you intend to adopt

in futurelsquolsquo The second question was ―If you have more than one career choice please

write in order of preference Some of the information about the demographical

variables was also obtained The future possibilities questionnaire is attached at

Appendix Elsquo

Step 3 Evaluation Sheet

An evaluation sheet was constructed to evaluate the personality profile of

selected vocations by the experts An evaluation sheet was developed with the help of

experts (one PhD psychologist one PhD scholar and One MPhil in psychology)

79

Evaluation sheet consisted of rating of 30 facets of personality (NEO PI-R) on a seven

point scale (1 to 7) ranging from least desiredlsquo to most desiredlsquo The conceptual

definitions of 30 facets of personality (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) are printed on the

evaluation sheet Experts of different fields were administered evaluation sheet to get

personality profiles related to their occupations Experts were also given the detailed

definitions of six personality types as described in Hollandlsquos typology Experts in each

field are required to choose one out of six personality types which meaningfully

correspond with their respective profession Detailed instructions were written on the

evaluation sheet Personal information like name profession designation and

experience were also mentioned The evaluation sheet along with detailed instructions

is attached at Appendix Flsquo

Step 4 NEO Personality Inventory Revised (NEO PI-R)

The NEO PI-R is self-administered and available in two parallel versions Form

S is designed for self-reports and Form R is the rating version of the instrument

Research has been conducted on this instrument and it has been translated into many

languages The NEO PI-R is a systematic assessment of emotional interpersonal

experimental attitudinal and motivational styles The inventory gives a detailed

assessment of normal personality can be used in human resource development

industrialorganizational psychology as well as vocational counseling and clinical

practice It consisted of 240 items and 3 validity items with the administration time of

35-45 minutes It can be administered to students and adults and the reading level

should be at least 6th grade The scoring options include hand scoring and software

scoring

80

Development and Validation

The NEO PI-R began in 1978 as the NEO inventory with three domains and 18

facets relating to N E and O In 1983 18 items domain scales measuring A and C were

added In 1985 the instrument was published as NEO personality inventory In 1990

facets scales for A and C were completed and some minor modifications were made in

original N E and O items which lead to the development of NEO PI-R The revised

inventory differed in the addition of facet scales for the A and C domains and also in

minor changes in some of the items comprising the N E and O scales These changes

were made to improve upon the internal consistency and validity of several facet scales

Correlation between the original scales and the revised scales ranged from (r = 93 to

95) The five-factor model has emerged as being an important development in the

study of individual differences These constructs have been shown to be quite robust

empirically and have impressive validity The field of personality assessment is moving

rapidly towards the five-factor model as the conceptual framework for most assessment

needs

Scoring of the Instrument

The NEO PI-R has a 5-point self-rating response format (strongly agree to

strongly disagree) The scoring options include hand scoring and software scoring

The scoring of NEO PI-R is quite easy The scorer examined the answer sheet and

check that a response has been given for each item The respondents should be

encouraged to complete the missing responses If the respondent is unsure of the

meaning of an item or is unsure of how to respond he or she may be told to use the

neutral response option The NEO PI-R should not be scored if 41 responses are

missing If three responses are missing from a facet scale it should be interpreted with

81

caution If the respondent has 150 or more agree and strongly agree responses or 50 or

fewer items as agree and strongly agree the NEO PI-R should be interpreted with

caution 106 items are negatively scored

The scales of NEO PI-R and NEO-FFI measure traits that approximate normal

distributions Majority of the individuals score near average while few lie on the

extremes Scales are most conveniently explained by describing characteristics of

extremely high or extremely low scores It may also be useful to consider pairs of

domain scores in terms of two-dimensional planes which correspond in many cases to

particular areas of life The affective plane defined by N and E which represents the

individuallsquos basic emotional styles (Costa amp McCrae 1980 Watson amp Tellegen 1985)

and the interpersonal plane or circumplex defined by E and A (McCrae amp Costa

1989c) have been extensively researched E and O together are important both for

vocational interests (Costa et al 1984) and for the selection of optimal forms of

therapy (Miller 1991) E and C jointly determine patterns of activity O and A are

relevant to attitudes O and C are important to academic performance and A and C

represent the basic dimensions of character

Reliability

Internal consistency coefficients for both forms (ie form S and form R) range

from 86 to 95 for domain scales and from 56 to 90 for facet scales Alphas for the

domain range from 86 to 92 for Form S and from 89 to 95 for Form R Internal

consistency estimates for the facets Form S range from 56 to 81 For the Form R

facets these values range from 60 to 90 (Costa amp McCrae 1992b) Six-year retest

reliabilities for the Neuroticism Extraversion and Openness domains ranged from 68

to 83 in both self-reports and observer ratings Three-year retest coefficients between

82

63 and 79 were found for the domains of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness (Costa

amp McCrae 1992b) The reliability and validity of the Urdu version of NEO PI-R

(Chishti 2002) was established in Pakistan The alpha reliability coefficient for Urdu

version of NEO PI-R ranged from 73 (Openness) to 89 (Conscientiousness) whereas

the Alpha coefficients of English version ranged from 37 (Openness) to 80

(Neuroticism) This demonstrated that Urdu version of Revised NEO Personality

Inventory is a reliable and valid instrument for the Pakistani subjects

Validity

Many studies have been conducted on the external validity (eg Golberg 1989

John 1989 McCrae amp Costa 1985a 1987 Ostendorf 1990 Trapnell amp Wiggin

1990) Details about different types of validity (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) are given

below

Content Validity Content validity means that the test samples appropriately

from the range of characteristics it is intended to represent In the NEO PI-R content

validity is addressed by identifying six distinct facets to sample each domain and by

selecting non-redundant items to measure each facet (Costa amp McCrae 1992a)

Criterion Validity It means that identifiable groups of individuals differ in their

mean scores in theoretically predictable ways The findings that patients in

psychotherapy score high on Neuroticism (Miller 1991) and that drug abusers score

low on Agreeableness and Conscientiousness (Brooner King Kidorf Schmidt amp

Bigelow 1997) provided some evidence of criterion validity for NEO-PI scales

83

Construct Validity The value of a scale lies in its ability to show meaningful

relations to external criteria that allow making valid inferences about scale scores while

interpreting individual cases Data on construct validity show that the scales of NEO

PI-R are generally successful in measuring the intended constructs The dimensions of

the NEO PI-R have been found to emerge over different types of factoring methods and

types of samples (Costa 1996 McCrae Zonderman Costa Bond amp Paunonen 1996)

over self-reports and observer ratings (McCrae 1994 Peidmont 1994) and even cross-

culturally (eg Spanish Korean Hebrew Chinese and German see McCrae and

Costa 1997 for a review of cross-cultural data) Several studies that demonstrated the

theoretically appropriate predictive power of NEO PI-R scales with respect to a variety

of external criteria including psychological well-being coping and defenses needs and

motivation Jungian types interpersonal traits and creativity and divergent thinking

provided evidence of construct validity for both forms

Convergent and Discriminant Validity Convergent and discriminant validity of

the facet scales have been established as well (eg Costa McCrae amp Holland 1984

Costa amp McCrae 1986 Lorr 1986) Sufficient data exists documenting the convergent

and discriminant validity of the facets themselves documenting their utility as useful

and non redundant measures of personality (Costa 1996 Costa McCrae amp Dye 1991

Peidmont amp Weinstein 1993) The clinical value of NEO PI-R has also been

documented Information from this instrument has been shown relevant to anticipating

psychotherapeutic outcome (Miller 1991) and for understanding the Axis 11

personality disorders (Trull 1992)

84

Costa and McCrae (1992b) outlined several strategies for using the NEO in a

clinical context Convergent validity is seen in the fact that NEO PI-R facet scales are

correlated with alternative measures of similar constructs For example N1 Anxiety is

related to Anxiety as measured by the State-Trait Personality Inventory (Spielberger et

al 1979) and Tension as measured by the Profile of Mood States (McNair Lorr amp

Droppleman 1971) A1 Trust is positively correlated with the Trusting scale of the

Interpersonal Style Inventory (Lorr 1986) and negatively correlated with the Suspicion

scale of the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory (Buss amp Durkee 1957) All 30 scales

show substantial correlations with appropriate criteria

Discriminant validity is seen by contrasting the correlates of different facets

particularly from different domain The Personality Research Form (PRF Jackson

1984) is considered as correlates of the E facet scales PRF Affiliation is related to E1

Warmth and E2 Gregariousness PRF Dominance is related to E3 Assertiveness PRF

harm avoidance is negatively related to E5 Excitement ndashSeeking and PRF Play is

related to E6 Positive Emotion A study examined the 300 items of the Adjective

Check List (ACL Gough amp Heilbrun 1983) and the seven largest correlates were

identified for each of the 30 NEO PI-R facets These correlates showed an appropriate

and distinctive pattern that testifies to the discriminant validity of the facet scales

Norms Normative information for Form S is based on a sample of 500 men and

500 women screened from a larger pool of 2273 individuals These 1000 individuals

were selected demographically in order to match US Census projections for 1995 Form

R norms were obtained from 143 ratings of 73 men and 134 ratings of 69 women

These ratings were obtained from both spouses and multiple peer ratings (McCrae amp

Costa 1991a)

85

Judgesrsquo Evaluation of NEO PI-R

The NEO PI-R Form S was translated in Urdu at National Institute of

Psychology Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad by Chishti (2002) The Urdu version

of NEO PI-R is used in this study The Urdu version was given to four experts (two

PhD psychologists and two were MPhil in psychology) to evaluate the possibility of

administering the inventory to grade 9th

and 10th

students It was evaluated by the

expert that the translated version is quite easy to understand however few words and

concepts may be difficult to understand by some of the students It was also suggested

that any queries raised by the students must be addressed and meaning of words may be

explained in a standardized way NEO PI-R Urdu version along with detailed

instructions is attached at Appendix Glsquo The facet scales of NEO PI-R (Urdu version)

are attached at Appendix Hlsquo The answer sheet is attached at Appendix Ilsquo

Conceptual Definitions of the Personality

The dispositional domain of Personality was measured by NEO PI-R which was

developed to operationalize the five factor model of personality The five factors

represent the most basic dimensions underlying the traits identified in both natural

language and psychological questionnaire Factors are defined by groups of inter-

correlated traits called facets Each cluster of facets determined the domain The basic

definitions (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) as well as crucial distinctions of 5 domains and

30 facets are described below

Neuroticism (N) The most pervasive domain of personality scales contrasts

adjustment or emotional stability with maladjustment or neuroticism The general

tendency to experience negative effects such as sadness embarrassment anger guilt

86

and disgust is the core of neuroticism domain People who score high on such

dimension tend to experience greater level of stress In contrast people who score low

tend to be generally calm relaxed hardy relatively unemotional self-satisfied High

scorer may be at risk for some kinds of psychiatric problems but the N scale should not

be viewed as a measure of psychopathology

Extraversion (E) The high score in this domain indicates that extraverts like

people prefer large group and gathering They are assertive active and talkative like

excitement and stimulation and tend to be cheerful in disposition They are upbeat

energetic and optimistic The introverts are reserved rather than unfriendly

independent rather than followers even paced rather than sluggish Introverts may be

shy but they do not necessarily suffer from social anxiety and are not unhappy or

pessimistic

Openness (O) Individuals who are high on Openness (O) have been described

as imaginative aesthetic sensitivity creative intellectual curiosity independent

analytical traditional artistic liberal and having broad interests Open individuals are

curious about both inner and outer worlds and their lives are experientially richer They

are willing to entertain novel ideas and experience both positive and negative emotions

more keenly than do closed individuals In contrast individuals who are low in (O)

have been described as conventional down to the earth uncreative simple not

curious non adventurous conforming non analytical traditional conservative and as

having narrow interests Alternative formulations of FFM often label this factor as

Intellect and (O) scores are modestly associated with both education and measured

intelligence

87

Agreeableness (A) Agreeableness is primarily a dimension of interpersonal

tendencies The agreeable person is fundamentally altruistic He or she is sympathetic

to others and eager to help them and believe that other will be equally helpful in return

By contrast the disagreeable or antagonistic person is egocentric impractical of otherslsquo

intensions and competitive rather than cooperative Low (A) is associated with

narcissistic antisocial and paranoid personality disorders whereas high (A) is

associated with the dependent personality disorders (Costa amp McCrae 1990)

Conscientiousness (C) Conscientious individuals are purposeful strong-willed

determined scrupulous punctual reliable consistent and is associated with academic

and occupational achievement Low scorers are not necessarily lacking in moral

principles but they are less exacting in applying them just as they are attention

seeking low assertiveness low orderliness and more lackadaisical in working toward

their goals

Neuroticism Facets

Anxiety (N1) Anxious individuals are apprehensive fearful prone to worry

nervous tense and jittery High scorers are more likely to have such fears as well as

free-floating anxiety Low scorers are calm and relaxed They do not dwell on things

that might go wrong

Angry Hostility (N2) Angry hostility represents the tendency to experience

anger and related states such as frustration and bitterness This scale measures the

individuallsquos readiness to experience anger Low scorers are easygoing and slow to

anger

88

Depression (N3) It measures normal individual differences in the tendency to

experience depressive affect High scorers are prone to feelings of guilt sadness

hopelessness and loneliness They are easily discouraged and often dejected Low

scorers rarely experience such emotions

Self-Consciousness (N4) Self conscious individuals are uncomfortable around

others sensitive to ridicule and prone to feeling of inferiority Low scorers do not

necessarily have poise or good social skills they are simply less disturbed by awkward

social situations

Impulsiveness (N5) It refers to the inability to control cravings and urges

Desires (for food cigarettes possessions etc) are perceived as being so strong that the

individual cannot resist them although he or she may later regret the behavior Low

scorers find it easier to resist such temptations having a high tolerance for frustration

Vulnerability (N6) Individuals who score high on this scale feel unable to cope

with stress becoming dependent hopeless or panicked when facing emergency

situations Low scorers perceive themselves as capable of handling themselves in

difficult situations

Extraversion Facets

Warmth (E1) Warm people are affectionate and friendly They genuinely like

people and easily form close attachments to others Low scorers are neither hostile nor

necessarily lacking in compassion but they are more formal reserved and distant in

manner than high scorers

Gregariousness (E2) Gregariousness is the preference for other peoplelsquos

company Gregarious people enjoy the company of others and the more the merrier

89

Low scorers tend to be loners who do not seek- or who even actively avoid ndash social

stimulation

Assertiveness (E3) High scorers on this scale are dominant forceful and

socially ascendant They speak without hesitation and often become group leaders Low

scorers prefer to keep in the background and let others do the talking

Activity (E4) A high Activity score is seen in rapid tempo and vigorous

movement in a sense of energy and in a need to keep busy Active people lead fast-

paced lives Low scorers are more leisurely and relaxed in tempo although they are not

necessarily sluggish or lazy

Excitement-seeking (E5) High scorers crave excitement and stimulation

They like bright colors and noisy environments Low scorers feel little need for thrills

and prefer a life that high scorers might find boring

Positive emotion (E6) It assesses the tendency to experience positive emotions

such as joy happiness love and excitement High scorers laugh easily and often They

are cheerful and optimistic Low scorers are not necessarily unhappy they are merely

less exuberant and high-spirited

Openness Facets

Fantasy (O1) Individuals who are open to fantasy have a vivid imagination

and an active fantasy life They daydream not simply as an escape but as a way of

creating for themselves an interesting inner world They elaborate and develop their

fantasies and believe that imagination contributes to a rich and creative life Low

scorers are more prosaic and prefer to keep their minds on the task at hand

Aesthetics (O2) High scorers have a deep appreciation for art and beauty

They are moved by poetry absorbed in music and intrigued by art They need not have

90

artistic talent nor even necessarily what most people would consider good taste but for

many of them their interest in the arts will lead them to develop a wider knowledge and

appreciation than that of the average individual Low scorers are relatively insensitive

to and uninterested in art and beauty

Feelings (O3) Openness to feelings implies receptivity to onelsquos own

inner feelings and emotions and the evaluation of emotion as an important part of life

High scorers experience deeper and more differentiated emotional states and feel both

happiness and unhappiness more intensely than others Low scorers have somewhat

blunted affects and do not believe that feeling states are of much importance

Actions (O4) Openness is seen behaviorally in the willingness to try different

activities go new places or eat unusual foods High scorers prefer novelty and variety

to familiarity and routine Over time they may engage in a series of different hobbies

Low scorers find change difficult and prefer to stick with the tried-and-true

Ideas (O5) This trait is seen not only in an active pursuit of intellectual

interests for their own sake but also in open-mindedness and a willingness to consider

new perhaps unconventional ideas High scorers enjoy both philosophical arguments

and brain-teasers Openness to ideas does not necessarily imply high intelligence Low

scorers on the scale have limited curiosity and if highly intelligent narrowly focus

their resources on limited topics

Values (O6) Openness to Values means the readiness to re-examine social

political and religious values Closed individuals tend to accept authority and honor

tradition and as a consequence are generally conservative regardless of political party

affiliation

91

Agreeableness Facets

Trust (A1) High scorers have a disposition to believe that others are honest

and well-intentioned Low scorers tend to be cynical and skeptical and to assume that

others may be dishonest or dangerous

Straightforwardness (A2) The individuals with high scores on this scale are

frank sincere and ingenuous Low scorers are more willing to manipulate others

through flattery craftiness or deception They view these tactics as necessary social

skills and may regard more straightforward people as naive

Altruism (A3) High scorers have an active concern for otherslsquo welfare as

shown in generosity consideration of others and a willingness to assist others in need

to help Low scorers are somewhat self-centered and are reluctant to get involved in the

problems of others

Compliance (A4) This facet concerns characteristic reactions to interpersonal

conflict The high scorer tends to defer to others to inhibit aggression and to forgive

and forget Compliant people are meek and mild The low scorer is aggressive prefers

to compete rather than cooperate and has no reluctance to express anger when

necessary

Modesty (A5) High scorers are humble and self-effacing although they are not

necessarily lacking in self-confidence or self-esteem Low scorers believe they are

superior people and may be considered conceited or arrogant by others A pathological

lack of modesty is part of the clinical conception of narcissism

Tender-Mindedness (A6) This facet scale measures attitudes of sympathy

and concern for others High scorers are moved by otherslsquo needs and emphasize the

92

human side of social policies Low scorers are more hardheaded and less moved by

appeals to pity They would consider themselves realists who make rational decisions

based on cold logic

Conscientiousness Facets

Competence (C1) Competence refers to the sense that one is capable

sensible prudent and effective High scorers feel well prepared to deal with life Low

scorers have a lower opinion of their abilities and admit that they are often unprepared

and inept

Order (C2) High scorers are neat tidy and well organized They keep

things in their proper places Low scorers are unable to get organized and describe

themselves as unmethodical Carried to an extreme high order might contribute to a

compulsive personality disorder

Dutifulness (C3) In one sense conscientious means ―governed by

conscience and that aspect of conscientiousness is assessed as dutifulness High

scorers adhere strictly to their ethical principles and scrupulously fulfill their moral

obligations Low scorers are more casual about such matters and may be somewhat

undependable or unreliable

Achievement Striving (C4) Individuals who score high on this facet have high

aspiration levels and work hard to achieve their goals They are diligent and purposeful

and have a sense of direction in life Very high scorers however may invest too much

in their careers and become workaholics Low scorers are lackadaisical and perhaps

even lazy They are not driven to succeed They lack ambition and may seem aimless

but they are often perfectly content with their low levels of achievement

93

Self-Discipline (C5) It is the ability to begin tasks and carry them through to

completion despite boredom and other distractions High scorers have the ability to

motivate themselves to get the job done Low scorers procrastinate in beginning chores

and are easily discouraged and eager to quit People low in self-discipline cannot force

them to do what they want themselves to do

Deliberation (C6) Deliberation is the tendency to think carefully before

acting High scorers are cautious and deliberate Low scorers are hasty and often speak

or act without considering the consequences At best low scorers are spontaneous and

able to make snap decisions when necessary

Step 5 Self-Directed Search (SDS)

The SDS is an outgrowth of a theory of vocational choices (Holland 1959

1966b 1973 1985a) which has undergone extensive investigation and won wide

acceptance The SDS Form R (SDS Holland 1994) is one of the most widely used

interest inventories (Spokane amp Holland 1995) and is available in multiple formats

eg paper-pencil personal computer internet mail-in scoring (Professional Report

Service) and kit (Vocational Exploration and Insight Kit) (Reardon amp Lenz 1998) The

SDS is a self-administered self-scored and self interpreted vocation counseling tool It

included two booklets an assessment booklet and an occupational classification

booklet To use the SDS a person fills out the assessment booklet and obtained three

letter occupational codes The code is then used to locate suitable occupations in the

occupational classification booklet the occupation finder Most people can complete

the SDS in 40 to 50 minutes The SDS is used in high school colleges adult centers

correctional institutions women centers and employment offices for career education

94

vocational guidance and placement The SDS is not helpful for people who are grossly

disturbed uneducated or illiterate The scale and rating in the SDS assessment booklet

include

Activities (six scales of eleven items each)

Competencies (six scales of eleven items each)

Occupations (six scales of fourteen items each)

Self estimate (two sets of six ratings each rating corresponding to a type)

Total items = 228

The SDS is clearly suitable for persons aged 15 and older but the upper and

lower limits have not been well investigated The SDS in its published form or with

minor changes has been used successfully with males and females college students

young children employee adults etc

Reliability and Validity of SDS

The SDS (Holland 1985a) is an extension of Hollands work on the study of

personality types Holland contended that each individual to some extent resembles

one of six basic personality types realistic investigative artistic social enterprising

or conventional The SDS consisted of an assessment workbook which is scored by the

client and a reusable booklet The Occupations Finder The workbook begins with a

section on Occupational Daydreams The sections that follow deal with Activities

Competencies Occupations (attitudes toward specific occupations) and Self-Estimates

(of abilities) Raw scores are converted into a three-letter summary code which

95

reflected a preferred style The order of the three letters in the summary code is

hierarchical the first letter representing the strongest preference for a particular type

Hollandlsquos six personality types are unique This is not to suggest that other

researchers have not proposed six major personality factors (Brand 1995) but none are

described in the same terminology as has been done by Holland Over the past decade

there has been a renewed interest in the topic of personality at work (Hough 1998)

There have been meta-reviews in the area (Barrick amp Mount 1991 Salgado 1997) as

well as studies looking at personality trait correlates of specific work outcomes like

absenteeism (Judge Martocchio amp Thoresen 1997) and job satisfaction tension and

propensity to leave (Van der Berg amp Feij 1993) Numerous studies have been

conducted to establish the reliability and validity of SDS The cross cultural researches

also provided evidence that SDS is a reliable and valid instrument

Reliability Internal consistency coefficient for the assessment scales range from

84 to 92 for males and 86 to 91 for females (age range 14 to 18) In general the 1985

revision is slightly more reliable than the 1977 revision 69 of the summary scales are

more reliable 17 show no difference and 14 is less reliable The standard error of

the difference score at the 5 level range from 78 to 98 for the 14 to 18 years old

sample from 78 to 94 for the 19 to 25 years old sample and from 84 to 97 for the 26

to 74 years old sample Internal consistency coefficients on the summary scale

coefficients on the paper version of the SDS ranged from 90 to 94 Test-retest

reliability correlations for the summary scales ranged from 76 to 89 (Holland et al

1994)

96

Validity In general the concurrent or predictive validity of the SDS summary

scales or occupations scales are comparable with and sometimes exceed the

concurrent or predictive validities of other interest inventories (Dolliver 1975

Gottfredson amp Holland 1975 Hanson Noeth amp Prediger 1977 Holland amp

Gottfredson 1975 Hughes 1972 OlsquoNeil Magoon amp Tracey 1978 Touchton amp

Moggon 1977 Wiggins amp Westlander 1977) Kappa (k) is an index of agreement that

takes into account the marginal in the 6 x 6 tables that were used to obtain the

percentage of hits so that it is an accurate index of agreement The value of k is 27 and

36 for females and males respectively for 14 to 18 years old The value of k is 44 and

36 for females and males respectively for 19 to 25 years old

The validity of Hollandlsquos (1973 1985b) trait characterizations of the types

generally has been supported by empirical studies relating scores on type measures

(eg SDS VPI) to a wide range of personality inventories including Cattelllsquos 16PF

(Holland 1962 Ward Cunningham amp Wakefield 1976) the Edwards Personal

Preference Schedule (Utz amp Korben 1976 Wakefield amp Cunningham 1975) the

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (Martin amp Bartol 1986) and the NEO Inventory (Costa

et al 1984) In addition Holland group membership has been related to scores on the

16PF (Bolton 1985 Peraino amp Willerman 1983) Jacksonlsquos (1967) Personality

Research Form (Beysner Bodden amp Winer 1978) the California Psychological

Inventory (Taylor amp Kelso 1973) and the Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey

(Turner amp Horn 1975) among others Various studies have looked at the cross-cultural

validity of Hollands theory such as Khan Alvi Shaukat Hussain and Baig (1990) and

Siddiqa (1999) who performed their study in Pakistan They revised many items

because of cultural differences and not being able to confirm statistics yet they

97

concluded that the model promises to be useful in a non-western culture (p 132)

Judgesrsquo Evaluation of the SDS

The SDS was translated in Urdu at National Institute of Psychology Quaid-i-

Azam University Islamabad by Naheed (1988) The procedures used in translation were

direct translation team or committee approach and back translation Field probe

techniques were used for cultural adaptation and modification After thorough

deliberation 18 items were discarded from the inventory The final version has 210

items Activities have six scales of eleven items each Competencies have six scales of

ten items each Occupations have six scales of twelve items each and Self ratings have

two sets of six ratings each rating corresponding to a type The Urdu version of SDS is

used in the present study

The Urdu version was given to four experts (two PhD and two MPhil scholars)

in the field of psychology to evaluate the possibility of administering the inventory to

grade 9th

and 10th

students It was evaluated by the expert that the translated version is

quite easy to understand however few words and concepts may be difficult to

understand by some of the students It was also suggested that any queries raised by the

students must be addressed and meaning of words may be explained in a standardized

way The Urdu version of SDS is attached at appendix Jlsquo

Conceptual Definitions of Vocational Interests

The dispositional aspects of vocational interests are conceptualized by the

Holland typology of vocational interests Vocational interests are measured by Self

98

Directed Search (Holland 1985a) The SDS measures six types of vocational interests

known as personality types The definitions are described below

Personality Types

According to Holland (1985a) most people can be described as one of six

personality types realistic investigative artistic social enterprising and conventional

The description of each type is shown below

Realistic type The realistic types are predisposed to activities that entail

working with objects perceive themselves as having mechanical and athletic abilities

and value the tangibles They prefer activities involving the systematic manipulation of

machinery tools or animals

Investigative type The investigative types prefer to engage in activities

involving observational symbolic and creative inquiry see themselves as being

scholarly and intellectual and value science They tend to be analytical curious

methodical and precise

Artistic type The artistic types like ambiguous free and unsystematic

activities perceived themselves as expressive original intuitive introspective

nonconforming and value aesthetic qualities

Social type The social type like working with others to inform train cure

and enlighten see themselves as liking to help others understanding others and having

teaching ability and value social and ethical concerns and activities

Enterprising type The enterprising types show preference for activities that

involve manipulation of others to achieve organizational goals or economic gain

perceive themselves as aggressive self-confident and sociable and value political and

economic achievement

99

Conventional type The conventional types tend to like activities that entail

ordered manipulation of data and records perceive themselves as conforming and

orderly and value business and economic achievement

Step 6 Pretesting of Research Instruments

This part of the study dealt with the pretesting of research instrumentsNEO PI-

R and SDS along with the demographic sheet were administered to the small sample of

students The results showed the reliabilityvalidity of main domains of NEO PI-R and

main scales of SDS The sample procedures and results of the study are discussed

below

Sample

In this part of the study 100 students were taken from one boy school for the

study purpose All the students were taken from a school situated near Rawalpindi

After getting their consent 100 willing students were randomly selected 50 students

were taken from 9th

class and 50 students were taken from 10th

class 50 Science and 50

Arts students were randomly selected Convenient sampling technique was used as far

as selection of school is concerned One Government school where arts and science

subjects are being taught was taken for the study Within the school the sample is

divided into two main categories 9th

class students and 10th

class students Then in each

class (9th

or 10th

class) sample is distributed into science and arts groups students In

each science or arts group 25 students were selected using the systematic random

sampling techniques Depending on the number of students available in each category

the interval k was calculated by dividing the total available students by 25 Once k is

computed then any number between 1 and computed k has been randomly selected for

100

each category Using the nominal roll of students for each category every student

falling on the selected number in the sequence was selected for the study The

distribution of sample is described below

Distribution of Students in a School

Figure 4 Sample distribution in a school

All the tests were administered to 100 students and after scrutinizing the data

and eliminating the absentees the sample was left with only 79 students The age

range is from 14 years to 19 years The mean age is 1615 years There are 43 science

students and 36 arts students 45 students were from 9th

class and 34 students were

from 10th

class

Procedure

The tests were administered to the students in the course of two days The

students were administered demographic sheet NEO PI-R and SDS as per the

convenience of school administration On the first day demographic sheet and SDS

One School

(100 Students)

50 Students

from 10th

Class

50 Students

from 9th

Class

25 Students

(Science Group)

25 Students

(Arts Group)

25 Students

(Science Group)

25 Students

(Arts Group)

101

were administered to the students On the second day NEO PI-R was administered on

the same students The testing was carried out in-groups of 50 students Detail

instructions were printed on the cover pages of inventories however students were

also briefed about the instructions verbally as well Questions and queries were also

addressed The tests were personally administered by the researcher assisted by two

well trained individuals The consent of the students and the school administration

were sought prior to test administration The students were briefed about the purpose

of the study They were also requested to inform or write down any problem they

face while completing these inventories There were no significant observations

pointed out by the sample during this phase

Results

The data was analyzed by computer using SPSS 13 Alpha reliability

coefficients of all the main scales of NEO PI-R were computed Item total

correlations of all the items with their respective subscales were also computed

Correlations of subscales of NEO PI-R and inter-correlation between the five main

domains were calculated The results showed the reliability and validity of NEO PI-R

and are shown in Table 1 to Table 8 Alpha reliability coefficients of subscales of

SDS are shown in Table 9 Item-total correlations of each item with respective

subscales and the inter-correlations matrix between the subscales and summary

scales are shown in Table 10 to 11 The result demonstrated the reliability and

validity of the SDS

102

ReliabilityValidity of NEO PI-R

The reliabilityvalidity of NEO PI-R was calculated The alpha reliability

coefficients of five main scales of NEO PI-R illustrated the internal consistency of

the instrument and are shown in Table 1

Table 1

Alpha reliability coefficients of 5 main scales of NEO PI-R

Scales No of items Alpha coefficients Alpha coefficients

(N = 79) (N = 60)

Neuroticism 48 76 77

Extraversion 48 62 80

Openness 48 34 73

Agreeableness 48 68 76

Conscientiousness 48 81 89

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

source of alpha coefficients (N =60) (Chishti 2002)

Five main scales of NEO PI-R (Neuroticism Extraversion Openness

Agreeableness Conscientiousness) showed moderate Alpha reliability coefficients

ranging from 34 (Openness) to 81 (Conscientiousness) Overall the results

demonstrated high internal consistency of the instrument as reflected by alpha

coefficients except Openness domain An alpha value of 5 or 6 or more was deemed

sufficient for the purpose of estimating the reliability of scale However subscale

Openness showed weak internal consistency as compared to other four scales

Whereas Alpha coefficient determined by Chishti (2002) showed high internal

consistency of five domains including (73) Openness domain This showed low

internal consistency of openness domain However item-total correlations of each

scale have been calculated to find out the construct validity of each subscale

103

Table 2

Item-total correlation of each item with respective subscales of NEO PI-R (N = 79)

Anxiety (N1)

(Items = 8)

r Warmth

(E1)

(Items = 8)

r Fantasy

(O1)

(Items = 8)

r Trust

(A1)

(Items = 8)

r Competence

(C1)

(Items = 8)

r

n1 55 n2 34 n3 03 n4 31 n5 53

n31 42 n32 53 n33 59 n34 52 n35 45

n61 53 n62 47 n63 07 n64 41 n65 35

n91 42 n92 42 n93 56 n94 34 n95 22

n121 38 n122 53 n123 25 n124 60 n125 35

n151 51 n152 40 n153 42 n154 52 n155 46

n181 44 n182 48 n183 34 n184 55 n185 37

n211 42 n212 46 n213 34 n214 44 n215 42

Hostility

(N2)

(Items = 8)

r Gregarious

(E2)

(Items = 8)

r Aesthetics

(O2)

(Items = 8)

r Straight

Forward

(A2) (Items = 8)

r Order

(C2)

(Items = 8)

r

n6 46 n7 30 n8 27 n9 38 n10 41

n36 45 n37 65 n38 44 n39 58 n40 41

n66 48 n67 43 n68 40 n69 41 n70 38

n96 30 n97 54 n98 38 n99 33 n100 35

n126 44 n127 26 n128 47 n129 58 n130 52

n156 34 n157 33 n158 45 n159 52 n160 31

n186 37 n187 53 n188 39 n189 53 n190 53

n216 66 n217 53 n218 47 n219 33 n220 30

Depression

(N3)

(Items = 8)

r Assertive-

ness

(E3)

(Items = 8)

r Feelings

(O3)

(Items = 8)

r Altruism

(A3)

(Items = 8)

r Dutifulness

(C3)

(Items = 8)

r

n11 12 n12 44 n13 34 n14 55 n15 42

n41 59 n42 17 n43 57 n44 21 n45 40

n71 25 n72 60 n73 41 n74 57 n75 40

n101 37 n102 28 n103 35 n104 50 n105 49

n131 33 n132 49 n133 55 n134 50 n135 60

n161 37 n162 22 n163 44 n164 65 n165 52

n191 32 n192 41 n193 47 n194 51 n195 47

n221 39 n222 13 n223 41 n224 38 n225 50

Continuedhellip

104

Self-

Conscious

(N4) (Items = 8)

r Activity

(E4)

(Items = 8)

r Actions

(O4)

(Items = 8)

r Compliance

(A4)

(Items = 8)

r Achievement

Striving

(C4) (Items = 8)

r

n16 44 n17 46 n18 35 n19 39 n20 55

n46 03 n47 30 n48 12 n49 53 n50 49

n76 72 n77 33 n78 46 n79 35 n80 50

n106 46 n107 56 n108 32 n109 50 n110 51

n136 42 n137 52 n138 30 n139 60 n140 51

n166 39 n167 25 n168 22 n169 38 n170 54

n196 54 n197 39 n198 36 n199 51 n200 51

n226 38 n227 40 n228 49 n229 33 n230 59

Impulsive-

ness (N5) (Items = 8)

r Excitement

seeking (E5)

(Items = 8)

r Ideas

(O5) (Items = 8)

r Modesty

(A5) (Items = 8)

r Self Discipline

(C5) (Items = 8)

r

n21 23 n22 19 n23 25 n24 39 n25 40

n51 57 n52 34 n53 26 n54 33 n55 71

n81 34 n82 46 n83 41 n84 49 n85 58

n111 35 n112 36 n113 53 n114 16 n115 63

n141 39 n142 35 n143 23 n144 50 n145 52

n171 40 n172 42 n173 52 n174 49 n175 38

n201 46 n202 45 n203 48 n204 41 n205 47

n231 39 n232 55 n233 50 n234 55 n235 53

Vulnerability

(N6)

(Items = 8)

r Positive

Emotion

(E6) (Items = 8)

r Values

(O6)

(Items = 8)

r Tender

Mindedness

(A6) (Items = 8)

r Deliberation

(C6)

(Items = 8)

r

n26 50 n27 44 n28 39 n29 39 n30 34

n56 39 n57 49 n58 45 n59 39 n60 66

n86 49 n87 46 n88 39 n89 30 n90 42

n116 53 n117 32 n118 50 n119 53 n120 65

n146 48 n147 48 n148 42 n149 41 n150 37

Continuedhellip

105

Vulnerability

(N6)

(Items = 8)

r Positive

Emotion

(E6) (Items = 8)

r Values

(O6)

(Items = 8)

r Tender

Mindedness

(A6) (Items = 8)

r Deliberation

(C6)

(Items = 8)

r

n176 61 n177 56 n178 24 n179 44 n180 19

n206 56 n207 29 n208 28 n209 48 n210 52

n236 29 n237 40 n238 32 n239 40 n240 56

Note n1 to n240 represent each item of Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R)

Neuroticism domain includes subscales N1 N2 N3 N4 N5 N6 Extraversion domain includes subscales

E1E2E3E4E5E6 Openness domain includes subscales O1O2O3O4O5O6 Agreeableness domain

includes subscalesA1A2A3A4A5A6 Conscientiousness domain includes subscales C1C2C3C4C5C6

P lt 05 P lt 01 P lt 001

The findings in Table 2 illustrated the item-total correlations of each subscale

of NEO PI-R Items of each subscale are positively correlated with the total score of

respective subscale The results showed that almost all the items significantly

correlated with the total of their respective subscale However 11 items (3 11 22

42 44 46 48 63 114 180 and 222) from subscales fantasy depression excitement

seeking assertiveness altruism self-conscious actions fantasy modesty

deliberation and assertiveness have non-significant correlations with their respective

subscales Overall the results showed the construct validity of 30 subscales of NEO

PI-R

Table 3

Correlations of subscales with main scale of Neuroticism (N=79)

Subscale r

Anxiety (N1) 76

Angry Hostility (N2) 61

Depression (N3) 55

Self-Consciousness (N4) 71

Impulsiveness (N5)

Vulnerability (N6)

67

68

p lt 001

106

In Table 3 the correlations of six subscales with the main scale of Neuroticism

domain were computed The results showed that all the six subscales i-e Anxiety

(N1) Angry hostility (N2) Depression (N3) Self-Consciousness (N4) Impulsiveness

(N5) and Vulnerability (N6) are highly significantly correlated with the main scale of

Neuroticism domain The range of magnitude of correlations is from a minimum

(r = 55 p lt 001) of subscale (N3) to a maximum (r = 76 p lt 001) of subscale (N1)

This showed the construct validity of subscales of Neuroticism domain of NEO PI-R

Table 4

Correlations of subscales with main scale of Extraversion (N=79)

Subscale r

Warmth (E1) 68

Gregariousness (E2) 58

Assertiveness (E3) 36

Activity (E4) 47

Excitement-seeking (E5)

Positive Emotion (E6)

61

63

p lt 001

The finding in Table 4 showed that all the six subscales i-e Warmth (E1)

Gregariousness (E2) Assertiveness (E3) Activity (E4) Excitement seeking (E5)

and Positive Emotion (E6) are highly significantly correlated with the main scale of

Extraversion domain The range of magnitude of correlations is from a (r = 36 p lt

107

001) of subscale (E3) to a maximum (r = 68 p lt 001) of subscale (E1) This

showed the construct validity of facet scales of Extraversion domain of NEO PI-R

Table 5

Correlations of subscales with main scale of Openness (N=79)

Subscale r

Fantasy (O1) 42

Aesthetics (O2) 55

Feelings (O3) 54

Actions (O4) 45

Ideas (O5)

Values (O6)

52

24

p lt 05 p lt 001

The correlations of six subscales with the main scale of Openness domain

shown in Table 5 revealed that all subscales are significantly correlated with the

main scale of Openness domain The range of magnitude of correlations is from a

minimum (r = 24 p lt 05) of subscale (O6) to a maximum (r = 55 p lt 001) of

subscale (O2) The subscale of Values has moderate correlation with the openness

domain scale Overall this showed the construct validity of facet scales of Openness

domain of NEO PI-R

108

Table 6

Correlations of subscales with main scale of Agreeableness (N=79)

Subscale r

Trust (A1) 46

Straight forwardness (A2) 65

Altruism (A3) 60

Compliance (A4) 67

Modesty (A5)

Tender mindedness (A6)

29

64

p lt 01 p lt 001

In Table 6 the correlations of six subscales with the main scale of

Agreeableness domain were computed All the six subscales i-e Trust (A1) Straight

forwardness (A2) Altruism (A3) Compliance (A4) Modesty (A5) and Tender

mindedness (A6) are highly significantly correlated with the main scale of

Agreeableness domain The range of magnitude of correlations is from (r = 29 p lt

01) of subscale (A5) to a maximum (r = 67 p lt 001) of subscale (A4) This showed

the construct validity of facet scales of Agreeableness domain of NEO PI-R

Table 7

Correlations of subscales with main scale of Conscientiousness (N=79)

Subscale r

Competence (C1) 51

Order (C2) 50

Dutifulness (C3) 69

Achievement striving (C4) 72

Self discipline (C5)

Deliberation (C6)

81

77

p lt 001

109

The findings in Table 7 showed that all the six facets subscales are highly

significantly correlated with the main scale of Conscientiousness domain The range

of magnitude of correlations is from a minimum (r = 50 p lt 001) of subscale (C2)

to a maximum (r = 81 p lt 001) of subscale (C5) This displayed the construct

validity of subscales of Conscientiousness domain of NEO PI-R

Table 8

Inter-correlations between five main domains of NEO PI-R (N=79)

Scale I II III IV V

I Neuroticism (N) -

II Extraversion (E) -11 -

III Openness (O) -15 26 -

IV Agreeableness (A) -13 11 05 -

V Conscientiousness (C) -43 33 27 54 -

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

p lt 05 p lt 01 p lt 001

Table 8 indicated the inter-correlations of five main domains of NEO PI-R The

result showed that the 5 main domains (Neuroticism Extraversion Openness

Agreeableness and Conscientiousness) are significantly correlated with each other

Neuroticism (N) domain is negatively correlated with all other domain however

significantly negatively correlated with Conscientiousness (r = -43 p lt 001)

Extraversion (E) is significantly correlated with Openness (r = 26 p lt 05) and

Conscientiousness (r = 33 p lt 01) Conscientiousness (C) is significantly correlated

with all other domains This inter correlation matrix showed the construct validity of

the five domains of NEO PI-R

110

ReliabilityValidity of SDS

Table 9 showed the alpha reliability coefficients of summary scales and

subscales of activities competencies occupations and self-estimates of SDS on the

basis of six personality types ie Realistic (R) Investigative (I) Artistic (A) Social

(S) Enterprising (E) and Conventional (C) Item-total correlations of each item with

their respective subscales were calculated Inter-correlation of subscales activities

competencies occupations self-estimate1 self-estimate2 and main summary scales

were also computed to establish the reliabilityvalidity of SDS

Table 9

Alpha reliability coefficients of subscales of SDS (N=79)

Scales No of items Alpha coefficients

(N = 79)

Alpha coefficients

(N = 120)

Activities

Activities (R) 11 48 57

Activities (I) 11 48 65

Activities (A) 11 57 60

Activities (S) 11 51 65

Activities (E) 11 58 60

Activities (C) 11 52 66

Continuedhellip

111

Scales No of items Alpha coefficient

(N = 79)

Alpha coefficient

(N = 120)

Competencies

Competencies (R)

10

63

57

Competencies (I) 10 69 60

Competencies (A) 10 65 59

Competencies (S) 10 61 70

Competencies (E) 10 61 61

Competencies (C)

Occupations

10

52

62

Occupations (R) 12 72 55

Occupations (I)

Occupations (A)

Occupations (S)

Occupations (E)

Occupations (C)

Summary

Realistic

Investigative

Artistic

Social

Enterprising

Conventional

12

12

12

12

12

33

33

33

33

33

33

77

70

77

77

78

76

77

75

71

75

74

56

65

63

55

50

-

-

-

-

-

-

Note SDS = Self Directed Search

Source of alpha coefficients Urdu version SDS (N = 120) (Siddiqa 1999)

112

Table 9 showed the Alpha reliability coefficients of main summary scales

ranging from 71 (Social) to 77 (Investigative) This showed very high internal

consistency of the instrument Alpha reliability coefficients of Activities subscales

range from 48 (Activities R amp Activities I) to 58 (Activities E) whereas the alpha

reliability coefficient computed by Siddiqa (1999) on working women also range

from 57 (Activities R) to 66 (Activities C) The alpha reliability coefficients of 6

subscales of Competencies range from 52 (Competencies C) to 69 (Competencies

I) while alpha coefficient computed by Siddiqa (1999) were ranging from 57

(Competencies R) to 70 (Competencies S) The Alpha reliability coefficients of 6

subscales of Occupations range from 70 (Occupations A) to 78 (Occupations C)

whereas alpha coefficient computed by Siddiqa (1999) ranging from 55

(Occupations R) to 65 (Occupation A) This showed that alpha coefficients of SDS

have same values as compared to alpha coefficients determined by Siddiqa (1999)

Overall the results revealed that all subscales of SDS have moderate to high internal

consistency

Table 10

Item-total correlation of subscales of SDS (N=79)

Activities

(R)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(R)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(R)

(Items=12)

r Self-

estimates 1

(Items =6)

r

v1 51 V67 48 V127 36 S1 59

V2 37 V68 58 V128 54 S2 37

V3 23 V69 32 V129 47 S3 50

V4 50 V70 48 V130 46 S4 52

V5 46 V71 45 V131 61 S5 63

V6 52 V72 29 V132 50 S6 61

V7 42 V73 56 V133 46

Continuedhellip

113

Activities

(R)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(R)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(R)

(Items=12)

r Self-

estimates 2

(Items =6)

r

V8 44 V74 62 V134 44 S7 65

V9 39 V75 36 V135 51 S8 58

V10 21 V76 66 V136 49 S9 58

V11 31 V137 51 S10 60

V138 59 S11 54

S12 35

Activities (I)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(I)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(I)

(Items=12)

r

V12 41 V77 41 V139 56

V13 40 V78 64 V140 46

V14 42 V79 65 V141 50

V15 32 V80 41 V142 46

v16 33 V81 52 V143 61

V17 21 V82 46 V144 62

V18 52 V83 60 V145 51

v19 43 V84 42 V146 61

V20 50 V85 41 V147 45

V21 68 V86 59 V148 47

V22 11 V149 61

V150 50

Activities

(A)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(A)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(A)

(Items=12)

r

V23 36 V87 41 V151 54

V24 25 V88 36 V152 48

V25 49 V89 45 V153 48

V26 52 V90 59 V154 55

V27 45 V91 63 V155 55

Continuedhellip

114

Activities

(A)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(A)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(A)

(Items=12)

r

V28 34 V92 41 V156 37

V29 39 V93 47 V157 48

V30 39 V94 48 V158 50

V31 64 V95 59 V159 53

V32 41 V96 51 V160 52

V33 49 V161 43

V162 37

Activities

(S)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(S)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(S)

(Items=12)

r

V34 48 V97 50 V163 41

V35 46 V98 53 V164 41

V36 44 V99 46 V165 58

V37 20 V100 36 V166 57

V38 34 V101 47 V167 63

V39 56 V102 40 V168 50

V40 12 V103 37 V169 67

V41 41 V104 61 V170 49

V42 47 V105 43 V171 34

V43 56 V106 54 V172 50

V44 33 V173 60

V174 69

Activities

(E)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(E)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(E)

(Items=12)

r

V45 56 V107 66 V175 50

V46 47 V108 41 V176 52

V47 47 V109 48 V177 53

V48 52 V110 28 V178 52

Continuedhellip

115

Activities

(E)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(E)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(E)

(Items=12)

r

V49 32 V111 63 V179 55

V50 32 V112 56 V180 66

V51 34 V113 34 V181 52

V52 50 V114 44 V182 61

V53 41 V115 51 V183 65

V54 51 V116 40 V184 47

V55 37 V185 56

V186 33

Activities

(C)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(C)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(C)

(Items=12)

r

V56 37 V117 49 V187 60

V57 40 V118 49 V188 49

V58 42 V119 44 V189 61

V59 50 V120 58 V190 56

V60 35 V121 48 V191 57

V61 33 V122 23 V192 56

V62 49 V123 20 V193 40

V63 42 V124 50 V194 59

V64 44 V125 31 V195 51

V65 39 V126 55 V196 51

V66 51 V197 58

V198 52

Note SDS = Self Directed Search V1 to V198 and S1 to S12 represent each item of Self Directed Search (SDS)

Activities Competencies and Occupations each comprising RIASEC subscales

p lt 05 p lt 01 p lt 001

Table 10 showed the item-total correlation of subscales of SDS Almost all

the items significantly correlated with the total of each subscale (activities

competencies occupations and self-estimates) except items no 10 17 22 37 40

and 123 The results showed the construct validity of each subscale of SDS

116

Table 11

Intercorrelation of SDS Scales (N=79) Activities Competencies Occupation Self Rating 1 Self Rating 2 Summary

Ra Ia Aa Sa Ea Ca Rc Ic Ac Sc Ec Cc Ro Io Ao So Eo Co R1 I1 A1 S1 E1 C1 R2 I2 A2 S2 E2 C2 Rs Is As Ss Es Cs

Ra -

Ia 23 -

Aa 31 14 -

Sa 30 27 27 -

Ea 34 14 58 32 -

Ca 24 35 36 45 47 -

Rc 51 22 48 26 40 18 -

Ic 31 39 31 24 49 37 50 -

Ac 43 16 65 32 47 22 63 42 -

Sc 34 24 42 27 49 17 47 46 62 -

Ec 40 33 47 46 59 33 57 48 60 64 -

Cc 30 29 36 19 48 38 52 56 49 50 55 -

Ro 58 16 39 23 38 10 63 31 57 54 52 47 -

Io 43 17 38 21 59 27 40 54 51 59 50 54 62 -

Ao 41 09 59 26 34 03 40 10 60 47 42 27 61 59 -

So 32 21 29 26 40 21 40 48 41 51 51 52 42 72 51 -

Eo 30 02 36 22 42 26 40 29 34 35 42 42 43 45 40 53 -

Co 33 10 30 26 36 37 36 33 30 39 43 56 46 59 44 62 78 -

R1 22 13 30 08 15 03 17 13 16 35 28 20 21 25 24 30 20 25 -

I1 18 18 31 16 48 15 33 31 32 18 40 30 25 16 21 23 22 11 19 -

A1 00 06 04 09 06 01 -02 14 08 25 23 08 05 22 -05 24 -07 04 20 -06 -

S1 -05 -04 33 -12 08 -01 -08 03 14 13 03 08 05 07 24 11 10 11 26 17 -07 -

E1 09 08 04 -02 02 02 -06 36 18 25 02 19 10 38 14 28 19 26 24 -14 32 19 -

C1 13 -11 08 04 18 -04 00 28 17 07 04 12 02 21 11 16 11 14 07 19 20 12 36 -

R2 05 05 39 13 27 10 03 12 22 22 23 22 26 34 33 34 23 21 52 17 16 27 36 12 -

I2 11 04 23 19 34 24 20 29 15 23 29 26 18 27 19 33 15 30 21 31 19 00 24 21 28 -

A2 10 -06 13 -06 27 -03 19 20 26 35 27 07 15 29 34 23 03 01 28 40 11 08 07 17 20 38 -

S2 03 -02 36 -12 19 -03 08 09 28 24 16 13 12 24 35 22 11 14 29 14 04 77 26 15 31 00 17 -

E2 26 28 23 12 15 24 14 51 26 34 33 25 20 50 18 38 11 27 31 -02 46 01 53 29 25 22 13 18 -

C2 13 -07 20 19 29 -01 21 05 16 14 10 24 15 21 26 17 23 36 01 17 05 10 19 24 04 12 -01 22 -01 -

Rs 71 23 53 30 47 19 73 41 62 58 61 52 84 62 61 53 48 49 57 34 11 12 20 09 51 28 26 23 32 17 -

Is 42 51 44 33 62 43 53 82 52 58 63 63 52 77 39 67 39 50 29 51 19 07 33 25 31 54 37 16 51 16 62 -

As 41 10 74 29 53 18 54 35 82 65 61 40 58 63 79 53 36 36 36 36 31 24 22 21 38 33 54 38 37 22 67 59 -

Ss 31 21 53 38 48 24 38 44 56 69 58 48 45 63 60 75 45 53 42 28 19 58 33 18 42 26 26 67 36 24 58 61 68 -

Es 44 24 53 35 69 41 48 64 57 64 73 60 53 72 48 66 72 70 36 31 26 13 46 28 41 37 23 27 59 26 65 75 64 68 -

Cs 37 18 41 34 55 56 42 51 42 42 48 74 42 61 38 58 64 84 20 27 11 13 33 44 23 37 06 18 35 52 49 64 44 57 75 -

Note SDS = Self Directed Search Please read Ra as Realistic Activities Ia as Investigative Activities Aa as Artistic Activities Sa as Social Activities Ea as Enterprising Activities Ca as Conventional

Activities Rc as Realistic Competencies Ic as Investigative Competencies Ac as Artistic Competencies Sc as Social Competencies Ec as Enterprising Competencies Cc as Conventional Competencies Ro as

Realistic Occupations Io as Investigative Occupations Ao as Artistic Occupations So as Social Occupations Eo as Enterprising Occupations Co as Conventional Occupations R1and R2 as Realistic self estimateI1 and I2 as Investigative self estimate A1 and A2 as Artistic self estimate S1 and S2 as Social self estimate E1 and E2 as Enterprising self estimate C1 and C2 as Conventional self estimate Rs as

Realistic Summary Is as Investigative Summary As as Artistic Summary Ss as Social Summary Es as Enterprising Summary Cs as Conventional Summary r ge 22 is significant at 05 to 001 level

117

Table 11 showed the inter-correlations of SDS scales (Activities

Competencies Occupations Self-estimates and Summary scores) on six personality

types The substantial relationship existed between the subscales of SDS The results

indicated that the inter-correlations of six subscales of Activities are significantly

correlated with each other

All Competencies scales have significant positive correlations ranging from (r

= 42 p lt 001) to (r = 64 p lt 001) with each other The inter-correlation of six

subscales of Occupations showed that all the 6 subscales are significantly correlated

ranging from (r = 40 p lt 001) to (r = 78 p lt 001) with each other All the 6

summary scales are significantly correlated with each other ranging from (r = 44 p lt

001) to (r = 75 p lt 001) This inter-correlation matrix showed the construct validity

of the six subscales of SDS

Discussion

This part of the study dealt with the pretesting of measures of personality and

vocational interests on small scale Pretesting of both the instruments (NEO PI-R and

SDS) and reliability and validity of the instruments were established in this part of the

study The pretesting of Urdu versions of the instruments was decided on a sample of

randomly selected 100 high school students from government school of Rawalpindi

district After scrutinizing the data and eliminating the absentees the analysis was

carried out on a sample of 79 students The aim in this part of the study was to find

out the reliabilityvalidity of both the instruments and get acquainted with the

practical problems which can come across during the research Overall the results

showed that both the instrument NEO PI-R and SDS have significant reliability and

118

validity The results demonstrated moderate alpha reliability coefficients of subscales

of both the instruments and were highly internally consistent The inter-correlations

between the main and subscales of both the instruments showed the construct validity

of all the scales The alpha coefficients of Urdu translated versions of NEO PI-R and

SDS were compared with alpha coefficients computed by Chishti (2002) and Siddiqa

(1999) The results revealed moderate internal consistency of the scales of NEO PI-R

and SDS except for Openness domain Burki (2009) reported alpha value of 35 for

openness domain in organizational setup Fayyaz (2008) reported alpha value of 38

for openness domain in pilot study and 58 for main study after adding synonyms for

difficult words Safdar (2002) reported alpha coefficient of 59 for openness domain

on MSc students The low internal consistency of openness scale may be due cultural

effect

Since the sample was quite less as compared to the numbers of items in the

inventories however no major decisions like discarding and changing the items

based on the statistical analysis was done The analyses provided the researcher a

confidence about the reliabilityvalidity of the instruments It was decided to conduct

the pretesting on the sample which has to be selected for the main study However

during the pretesting stage researcher faced some problems regarding the willingness

of few individuals to participate in the study on second day of testing Few minor

questions and queries were raised by the students like time of the tests meaning of

few words use of pencil or pen etc Overall the results of the study showed that Urdu

versions of both the scales (NEO PI-R and SDS) can be administered being the

reliable and valid instruments on the main sample of high school students

119

Chapter IV

PART 3 PERSONALITY AND VOCATIONAL INTERESTS

OF THE STUDENTS

This part of the study was designed to find out the relationship between

personality based on five factor model (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) and vocational

interests based on RIASEC model (Holland 1985a) of high school students NEO PI-

R is used to measure personality profiles of students and SDS is used to establish the

vocational interests During literature review the consistent pattern of relationship

between personality and vocational interests was observed (Barrick et al 2003

Larson et al 2002 Staggs et al 2007) The relevance of these two heuristic models

in Pakistani culture has been explored The psychometric properties of NEO PI-R and

SDS were established on the main sample The mean differences on personality and

vocational interests with respect to demographic variables were also computed All

theoretically derived hypotheses on the personality-interests relationship and gender

differences were also empirically verified The objectives hypotheses sample

sample characteristics procedures and results are discussed below

Objectives

1 To study the relationship between personality (five factor model) and

vocational interests (Hollandlsquos typology) among high school students

120

2 To find out the mean differences with respect to demographic variables

(gender sciencearts urbanrural 9th

10th

classes parentslsquo education) on

personality and vocational interests of the students

3 To establish psychometric properties of the research instruments

Hypotheses

Followings hypotheses were formulated to study the above mentioned

objectives

1 Extroversion will be positively correlated with the Enterprising and Social

types

2 Openness to Experience will be positively correlated with Artistic and

Investigative types

3 Agreeableness will be positively correlated with the Social type

4 Conscientiousness will be positively correlated with Conventional type

5 Female tend to score higher on Neuroticism Extraversion Agreeableness and

Conscientiousness as compared to male

6 Male tend to score higher on Realistic interests as compared to female

7 Female tend to score higher on Artistic and Social interests as compared to

male

Sample

Initially the researcher got the list of all government schools situated in

Rawalpindi Tehsil and District by the Directorate of education where Science and

121

Arts classes are being taught The schools were contacted on telephone Only seven

schools could be traced which have sufficient numbers of Science and Arts students

Thus convenient sampling technique was used as far as selection of school is

concerned The main study was conducted on the 700 students of 7 different schools

of Rawalpindi The list of boysgirls and urbanrural areas schools is attached at

Appendix Klsquo

The sample has been taken randomly within the school Among the list of

willing students 100 students from each school were selected In each school 50

students 25 science students and 25 Arts students were randomly selected from grade

10th

and similarly 50 students 25 science students and 25 Arts students from grade 9th

were randomly selected In each science or arts group 25 students were selected using

the systematic random sampling techniques Depending on the number of students

available in each category the interval k was calculated by dividing the total available

students by 25 Once k is computed then any number between 1 and computed k has

been randomly selected for each category Using the nominal roll of students for each

category every student falling on the selected number in the sequence was selected for

the study 4 boy schools and 3 girl schools were selected 2 boy schools and 2 girl

schools were selected from urban areas of Rawalpindi while 1 boy and 1 girl school

was selected from rural areas of Rawalpindi 1 boy school which was selected for the

pretesting of research instrument contained majority of the students from rural areas

The sample of the main study included the data from the study conducted in Chapter

III (pages 99 to 101) regarding pretesting of research instruments Overall 400 boys

and 300 girls were selected The distribution of schools and the students in each

school are shown in the following figures

122

Distribution of Sample in Schools

Figure 5 Sample Distribution in Schools

Distribution of Students in each School

Figure 6 Sample Distribution within Schools

4 Boys

Schools (400

Students)

3 Girls

Schools (300

Students)

2 Schools from

Rural Areas

(200 students)

2 Schools

from Urban

Areas

(200 students)

1 School from

Rural Areas

(100 students)

2 Schools

from Urban

Areas

(200 students)

(200

Seven Schools

(700 Students)

One School

(100 Students)

50 Students

from 10th

Class

50 Students

from 9th

Class

25 Students

(Science Group)

25 Students

(Arts Group)

25 Students

(Science Group)

25 Students

(Arts Group)

123

Sample Characteristics

All the tests were administered on the 700 students in a course of two days

Some of the individuals did not correctly fill the questions of the inventories

according to the instructions and few of them were absent on the second day of

testing After scrutinizing the data and eliminating the absentees the sample is left

with a total of 596 students Cases with incomplete data were excluded from further

analyses which led to a decrease in the number of valid cases by 1485 There are

319 male and 277 female students Their age range is from 14 years to 19 years with

a mean age of 1573 years The average fatherslsquo income for 494 students is Rs 7634-

approximately (102 cases are missing) ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 50000 There are

only 14 cases having father income greater than 20000 There are 382 students

belonging to urban areas and 214 students were from rural areas Among them 328

students from 9th

class and 268 students are from 10th

class There are 304 students

belonging to science group and 292 students belonging to Arts group

Instruments

Following instruments were used in the study

1 NEO PI-R

2 SDS

3 Demographic sheet

(See details about instruments in chapter III pages 78 to 99)

Procedure

The booklets were prepared for two inventories (NEO PI-R amp SDS) The

inventories were administered to the participants in group settings The consent of the

124

students and school administrations were taken before administration of tests Data

were collected during the second half of the school year (from January to March) The

measures were administered in a group in classrooms during school hours All the

participants from different schools were divided into groups of 50 Two groups one

from 9th

class including 50 students were administered tests separately and the second

group including 50 students from 10th

class were administered the same tests on the

same day The testing procedures were carried over the course of two days

The group of 50 students from each class was administered SDS and

Demographic sheet on the first day of testing and NEO PI-R was administered on the

same group on second day Two well trained invigilators assisted the researcher in

conduct of tests The timings of administering the tests were also adjusted according

to the convenience of school administration The participants were given written

instructions printed on the first page of each inventory Before the start of the

inventories some sentences were written in order to explain the response format and

specific instructions regarding the inventory Subjects were also briefed about the

approximate time required to complete the inventory The average time to complete

one inventory is 40 minutes List of some difficult words asked by students for

explanation from NEO PI-R are attached at Appendix Llsquo and that of SDS are at

Appendix Mlsquo Once the data is completed then it is subjected to statistical analysis

OperationalConceptual Definitions of the Variables

Personality (details are in chapter III pages 85 to 93)

Vocational interests (details are in chap III pages 97 to 99)

125

Science group students The science group students are those who studied

science subjects (Physics Chemistry Mathematics and Biology) along with

compulsory subjects (English Urdu Pakistan Studies Islamiat)

Arts group students (Humanities group) The arts group students are those

who studies humanities subjects which are non-scientific and non-technical subjects at

school (For instance Social studies Arabic Islamiat (elective) Home economics etc)

along with compulsory subjects (English Urdu Pakistan Studies Islamiat)

Urban students The school students who are resident of urban area and are

studying in schools which are located in the urban localities of Rawalpindi city

Rural students The school students who are resident of rural area and are

studying in schools which are located in the rural areas of Rawalpindi city

Parentsrsquo education Three groups of students were formulated based on the

education of parents Father Mother educated grouplsquo have at least matriculation

education for both father and mother father educated grouplsquo father have at least

matriculation education but mothers are not matriculates father mother uneducated

grouplsquo have none of father or mother have matriculation education

The results of the study are computed and are mentioned in the following

Psychometric Properties of the Research Instruments

The psychometric properties of research instruments (NEO PI-R and SDS)

were established on the main sample of the study The Alpha reliabilities item-total

correlations and inter-correlations between the subscales and main scales of all the

126

three research instruments were computed A hexagonal arrangement of vocational

interests for the main sample was also calculated

ReliabilityValidity of NEO PI-R

Table 12 showed the Alpha reliability coefficient of main scales and subscales

of NEO PI-R

Table 12

Alpha reliability coefficients of main scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Scales No of items Alpha coefficients

Neuroticism 48 67

Extraversion 48 65

Openness 48 36

Agreeableness 48 71

Conscientiousness 48 84

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

The results showed the Alpha reliability coefficients of 5 main scales of NEO

PI-R The 5 main scales revealed moderate Alpha reliability coefficients ranging from

36 (Openness) to 84 (Conscientiousness) The highest alpha value is of scale

Conscientiousness and lowest value is of scale Openness The same findings were

observed during the pretesting stage (see Table 1) Overall the results showed

moderate to high internal consistency of the NEO PI-R except Openness domain

127

Table 13

Item-total correlation of each item with respective subscales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Anxiety

(N1)

(Items = 8)

r Warmth

(E1)

(Items = 8)

r Fantasy

(O1)

(Items = 8)

r Trust

(A1)

(Items = 8)

r Competence

(C1)

(Items = 8)

r

n1 49 n2 44 n3 18 n4 38 n5 46

n31 51 n32 55 n33 50 n34 49 n35 47

n61 27 n62 41 n63 26 n64 38 n65 48

n91 47 n92 34 n93 57 n94 47 n95 20

n121 29 n122 51 n123 37 n124 54 n125 51

n151 50 n152 46 n153 51 n154 46 n155 46

n181 40 n182 46 n183 34 n184 49 n185 43

n211 47 n212 40 n213 32 n214 41 n215 51

Hostility

(N2)

(Items = 8)

r Gregarious-

ness

(E2)

(Items = 8)

r Aesthetic

(O2)

(Items = 8)

r Straight

Forward

(A2)

(Items = 8)

r Order

(C2)

(Items = 8)

r

n6 52 n7 52 n8 40 n9 42 n10 27

n36 30 n37 55 n38 45 n39 47 n40 40

n66 50 n67 43 n68 41 n69 39 n70 49

n96 21 n97 49 n98 35 n99 47 n100 40

n126 40 n127 38 n128 47 n129 44 n130 50

n156 30 n157 40 n158 53 n159 51 n160 38

n186 35 n187 42 n188 52 n189 56 n190 42

n216 44 n217 57 n218 49 n219 34 n220 45

Depression

(N3)

(Items = 8)

r Assertive-

ness

(E3)

(Items = 8)

r Feelings

(O3)

(Items = 8)

r Altruism

(A3)

(Items = 8)

r Dutifulness

(C3)

(Items = 8)

r

n11 35 n12 49 n13 46 n14 49 n15 41

n41 59 n42 30 n43 35 n44 32 n45 41

n71 27 n72 56 n73 36 n74 56 n75 44

n101 46 n102 26 n103 36 n104 49 n105 50

n131 42 n132 40 n133 49 n134 45 n135 53

Continuedhellip

128

Depression

(N3)

(Items = 8)

r Assertive-

ness

(E3)

(Items = 8)

r Feelings

(O3)

(Items = 8)

r Altruism

(A3)

(Items = 8)

r Dutifulness

(C3)

(Items = 8)

r

n161 48 n162 38 n163 39 n164 50 n165 50

n191 46 n192 41 n193 42 n194 47 n195 52

n221 42 n222 40 n223 41 n224 45 n225 52

Self-

Conscious

(N4)

(Items = 8)

r Activities

(E4)

(Items = 8)

r Actions

(O4)

(Items = 8)

r Compliance

(A4)

(Items = 8)

r Achievement

Striving

(C4)

(Items = 8)

r

n16 45 n17 35 n18 40 n19 34 n20 50

n46 24 n47 29 n48 21 n49 51 n50 54

n76 59 n77 18 n78 33 n79 49 n80 43

n106 45 n107 44 n108 39 n109 34 n110 57

n136 49 n137 46 n138 37 n139 50 n140 53

n166 23 n167 41 n168 34 n169 46 n170 60

n196 50 n197 50 n198 43 n199 50 n200 50

n226 35 n227 46 n228 46 n229 44 n230 53

Impulsive

(N5)

(Items = 8)

r Excitement

Seeking

(E5)

(Items = 8)

r Ideas

(O5)

(Items = 8)

r Modesty

(A5)

(Items = 8)

r Self

Discipline

(C5)

(Items = 8)

r

n21 31 n22 44 n23 38 n24 39 n25 34

n51 51 n52 34 n53 31 n54 44 n55 63

n81 38 n82 41 n83 47 n84 49 n85 51

n111 34 n112 47 n113 48 n114 21 n115 51

n141 38 n142 47 n143 43 n144 46 n145 50

n171 40 n172 44 n173 46 n174 48 n175 56

n201 40 n202 43 n203 44 n204 32 n205 53

n231 45 n232 50 n233 48 n234 50 n235 50

Vulnerability

(N6)

(Items = 8)

r Positive

emotion

(E6)

(Items = 8)

r Values

(O6)

(Items = 8)

r Tender

Minded

(A6)

(Items = 8)

r Deliberation

(C6)

(Items = 8)

r

n26 49 n27 55 n28 44 n29 38 n30 47

n56 38 n57 46 n58 36 n59 44 n60 56

Continuedhellip

129

Vulnerability

(N6)

(Items = 8)

r Positive

emotion

(E6)

(Items = 8)

r Values

(O6)

(Items = 8)

r Tender

Minded

(A6)

(Items = 8)

r Deliberation

(C6)

(Items = 8)

r

rn86 42 n87 47 n88 31 n89 45 n90 42

n116 51 n117 38 n118 30 n119 50 n120 54

n146 50 n147 55 n148 30 n149 37 n150 45

n176 45 n177 54 n178 26 n179 49 n180 37

n206 45 n207 15 n208 36 n209 50 n210 46

n236 39 n237 46 n238 38 n239 47 n240 56

Note n1 to n240 represent each item of Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R)

Neuroticism domain includes subscales N1 N2 N3 N4 N5 N6 Extraversion domain includes subscales

E1E2E3E4E5E6 Openness domain includes subscales O1O2O3O4O5O6 Agreeableness domain includes

subscalesA1A2A3A4A5A6 Conscientiousness domain includes subscales C1C2C3C4C5C6

p lt 001

The item-total correlations of each subscale of NEO PI-R are mentioned in

Table 13 All the items are significantly positively correlated with their respective

subscale Whereas during pretesting stage 11 items were not significantly correlated

with their respective subscale (see Table 2) The results displayed the construct

validity of each subscale of NEO PI-R

Table 14

Inter-correlation between subscales and main scale of Neuroticism (N = 596)

Scales I II III IV V VI VII

I Anxiety (N1) -

II Hostility (N2) 32 -

III Depression (N3) 22 21 -

IV Self Conscious (N4) 27 20 27 -

V Impulsiveness (N5) 15 26 20 11 -

VI Vulnerability (N6) 29 31 17 19 35 -

VII Neuroticism (N) 64 62 57 56 57 65 -

p lt 01 p lt 001

130

In Table 14 the inter-correlation of six subscales of Neuroticism domains of

NEO PI-R are shown The result showed that all the 6 subscales are significantly

correlated with each other The range of magnitude of correlations between subscales

and main domain scale is from a minimum (r = 56 p lt 001) of subscale Self

Conscious (N4) to a maximum (r = 65 p lt 001) of subscale Vulnerability (N6) The

similar findings for correlations between subscale and main scale of neuroticism were

found during pretesting stage (see Table 3) This inter-correlation matrix showed the

construct validity of the six subscales of Neuroticism domains of NEO PI-R

Table 15

Inter-correlation between subscales and main scale of Extraversion (N = 596)

Scales I II III IV V VI VII

I Warmth (E1) -

II Gregariousness (E2) 34 -

III Assertiveness (E3) 14 05 -

IV Activities (E4) 22 05 16 -

V Excitement Seeking(E5) 27 15 08 20 -

VI Positive Emotion (E6) 37 24 01 20 12 -

VII Extraversion (E) 70 59 40 51 56 59 -

p lt 01 p lt 001

Table 15 showed the inter-correlation of six subscales of Extraversion

domains of NEO PI-R The 6 subscales are significantly correlated with each other

and are highly significantly correlated with the main scale of Extraversion domain as

131

were observed in Table 4 The range of magnitude of correlations between subscale

and main domain scale is from a minimum (r = 40 p lt 001) of subscale (E3) to a

maximum (r = 70 p lt 001) of subscale (E1) This inter-correlation matrix showed

the construct validity of the six subscales of Extraversion domains of NEO PI-R

Table 16

Inter-correlation between subscales and main scale of Openness (N = 596)

Scales I II III IV V VI VII

I Fantasy (O1) -

II Aesthetics (O2) 03 -

III Feelings (O3) -07 25 -

IV Actions (O4) 02 02 -03 -

V Ideas (O5) -02 19 27 -01 -

VI Values (O6) 05 -10 -08 05 -04 -

VII Openness (O) 32 62 54 33 57 24 -

p lt 01 p lt 001

The findings in Table 16 showed the inter-correlation of six subscales of

Openness domains of NEO PI-R The result showed that Fantasy (O1) and Actions

(O4) have non-significant correlation with all other subscales Values (O6) is

significantly negatively correlated with Aesthetic (O2) and Feelings (O3) The results

revealed that six subscales are significantly correlated with the main scale of

Openness domain The magnitude of correlations for Fantasy Actions and Values

with main domain of Openness is fairly low as compared to other scales This may

have effect on the overall low internal consistency of the Openness domain (see Table

132

1 5 and 12) This inter-correlation matrix showed the moderate construct validity of

the six subscales of Openness domains of NEO PI-R

Table 17

Inter-correlation between subscales and main scale of Agreeableness (N = 596)

Scales I II III IV V VI VII

I Trust (A1) -

II Straight Forwardness (A2) 12 -

III Altruism (A3) 39 19 -

IV Compliance (A4) 24 15 29 -

V Modesty (A5) -05 20 -09 16 -

VI Tender mindedness (A6) 28 17 30 28 05 -

VII Agreeableness (A) 60 54 62 65 35 60 -

p lt 05 p lt 001

The result mentioned in Table 17 revealed that all the 6 subscales are

significantly correlated with each other However Altruism (A3) is significantly

negatively correlated with Modesty (A5) All the six subscales are significantly

correlated with the main scale of Agreeableness domain The range of magnitude of

correlations is from a minimum (r = 35 p lt 001) of subscale (A5) to a maximum (r

= 65 p lt 001) of subscale (A4) Similar correlations between subscales and main

scales of agreeableness were observed in Table 6 This showed the construct validity

of the six subscales of Agreeableness domains of NEO PI-R

133

Table 18

Inter-correlation between subscales and main scale of Conscientiousness (N=596)

Scales I II III IV V VI VII

I Compliance (C1) -

II Order (C2) 34 -

III Duty (C3) 40 40 -

IV Achievement striving (C4) 44 46 56 -

V Self discipline (C5) 43 41 56 50 -

VI Deliberation (C6) 40 37 47 49 50 -

VII Conscientiousness (C) 68 65 77 79 79 73 -

p lt 001

The results shown in Table 18 revealed that all the 6 subscales are

significantly correlated with each other and also with the main scale of

Conscientiousness domain (also see Table 7) The range of magnitude of correlations

is from a minimum (r = 65 p lt 001) of subscale (C2) to a maximum (r = 79 p lt

001) of subscale (C4 and C5) This inter-correlation matrix showed the construct

validity of the six subscales of Conscientiousness domains of NEO PI-R

Table 19

Inter-correlations between five main domains of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Scale I II III IV V

I Neuroticism (N) -

II Extraversion (E) -17 -

III Openness (O) -09 34 -

IV Agreeableness (A) -25 14 10 -

V Conscientiousness (C) -49 27 22 55 -

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

p lt 05 p lt 001

134

The findings in Table 19 showed that all the 5 main scales are significantly

correlated with each other Neuroticism (N) domain is significantly negatively

correlated with all other domains The inter correlation matrix provided well defined

evidence of construct validity of the five domains of NEO PI-R as compared to inter

correlations matrix during pretesting stage (see Table 8)

ReliabilityValidity of SDS

Following tables showed the alpha reliability coefficients of summary scales

and subscales of Activities Competencies and Occupations of SDS on the basis of

six personality types ie Realistic (R) Investigative (I) Artistic (A) Social (S)

Enterprising (E) and Conventional (C) Item-total correlations of each item with their

respective subscales were also calculated Inter-correlations of subscales and main

summary scales were also computed to establish the validity of SDS

Table 20

Alpha reliability coefficients of subscales of SDS (N = 596)

Scale No of items Alpha coefficients

Activities

Activities (R) 11 54

Activities (I) 11 65

Activities (A) 11 62

Activities (S) 11 53

Activities (E) 11 62

Activities (C) 11 68

Continuedhellip

135

Scale No of items Alpha coefficients

Competencies

Competencies (R)

10

63

Competencies (I) 10 66

Competencies (A) 10 63

Competencies (S) 10 55

Competencies (E) 10 58

Competencies (C)

Occupations

10

65

Occupations (R) 12 76

Occupations (I)

Occupations (A)

Occupations (S)

Occupations (E)

Occupations (C)

Summary

Realistic

Investigative

Artistic

Social

Enterprising

Conventional

12

12

12

12

12

33

33

33

33

33

33

80

77

77

81

81

78

76

80

71

77

80

Note SDS = Self Directed Search

136

The Alpha reliability coefficients of each subscale based on six personality

types of SDS are shown in Table 20 The Alpha coefficient of summary scales ranged

from 71 (Social) to 80 (Artistic and Conventional) This displayed very high

internal consistency of the SDS The alpha coefficient value of Activities subscales

ranged from 53 (Activities S) to 68 (Activities C) Competencies subscales ranged

from 55 (Competencies S) to 66 (Competencies I) and Occupations subscales

ranged from 76 (Occupations R) to 81 (Occupations E and C) This showed that

alpha coefficients of all subscales of SDS are better than the alpha coefficients

determined at pretesting stage of SDS (see Table 9) This revealed construct validity

of subscales of SDS

Table 21

Item-total correlation of each item with respective subscale of SDS (N = 596)

Activities

(R)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(R)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(R)

(Items=12)

r Self-

estimates 1

(Items =6)

r

V1 57 V67 32 V127 37 S1 56

V2 40 V68 57 V128 58 S2 53

V3 31 V69 34 V129 58 S3 40

V4 20 V70 50 V130 59 S4 49

V5 58 V71 56 V131 58 S5 57

V6 52 V72 39 V132 47 S6 60

V7 43 V73 57 V133 55 Self-

estimates 2

(Items = 6)

r

V8 45 V74 56 V134 41 S7 65

V9 45 V75 48 V135 46 S8 62

V10 24 V76 54 V136 54 S9 60

V11 44 V137 53 S10 55

V138 61 S11 52

S12 50

Continuedhellip

137

Activities

(I)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(I)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(I)

(Items=12)

r

V12 55 V77 43 V139 60

V13 45 V78 49 V140 54

V14 41 V79 38 V141 63

V15 52 V80 40 V142 60

v16 35 V81 42 V143 64

V17 30 V82 57 V144 54

V18 65 V83 50 V145 56

v19 62 V84 44 V146 55

V20 62 V85 30 V147 47

V21 44 V86 53 V148 44

V22 12 V149 56

V150 55

Activities

(A)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(A)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(A)

(Items=12)

r

V23 45 V87 51 V151 55

V24 32 V88 50 V152 49

V25 52 V89 42 V153 62

V26 49 V90 50 V154 58

V27 52 V91 54 V155 59

V28 47 V92 48 V156 50

V29 35 V93 49 V157 49

V30 37 V94 41 V158 52

V31 52 V95 43 V159 50

V32 54 V96 52 V160 52

V33 45 V161 54

V162 50

Continuedhellip

138

Activities

(S)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(S)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(S)

(Items=12)

r

V34 44 V97 40 V163 47

V35 35 V98 57 V164 50

V36 42 V99 45 V165 59

V37 45 V100 29 V166 58

V38 44 V101 42 V167 59

V39 50 V102 44 V168 48

V40 30 V103 35 V169 52

V41 37 V104 44 V170 53

V42 46 V105 49 V171 48

V43 49 V106 52 V172 52

V44 44 V173 52

V174 56

Activities

(E)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(E)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(E)

(Items=12)

r

V45 51 V107 49 V175 59

V46 42 V108 50 V176 55

V47 44 V109 45 V177 62

V48 43 V110 40 V178 53

V49 44 V111 45 V179 48

V50 45 V112 43 V180 62

V51 49 V113 43 V181 53

V52 35 V114 48 V182 58

V53 42 V115 47 V183 58

V54 58 V116 46 V184 62

V55 49 V185 54

V186 52

Continuedhellip

139

Activities

(C)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(C)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(C)

(Items=12)

r

V56 36 V117 55 V187 59

V57 58 V118 50 V188 61

V58 37 V119 43 V189 64

V59 57 V120 53 V190 61

V60 34 V121 49 V191 60

V61 51 V122 33 V192 55

V62 52 V123 39 V193 47

V63 50 V124 59 V194 57

V64 55 V125 49 V195 57

V65 45 V126 59 V196 44

V66 55 V197 56

V198 61

Note V1 to V198 and S1 to S12 represent each item of Self Directed Search (SDS)

p lt 01 p lt 001

The results shown in Table 21 are related to the item-total correlations of

subscales (Activities Competencies Occupations and Self-estimates) based on six

personality types (Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising and

Conventional) of SDS The results showed that all the items significantly correlated

with the total of their respective subscale whereas 6 items were non-significantly

correlated with their subscales during pretesting stage (see Table 10) The results

displayed the construct validity of each subscale of SDS

140

Table 22

Inter-correlations of SDS Scales (N = 596) Activities Competencies Occupations Self Rating 1 Self Rating 2 Summary

Ra Ia Aa Sa Ea Ca Rc Ic Ac Sc Ec Cc Ro Io Ao So Eo Co R1 I1 A1 S1 E1 C1 R2 I2 A2 S2 E2 C2 Rs Is As Ss Es Cs

Ra -

Ia 26 -

Aa 38 26 -

Sa 19 35 29 -

Ea 39 33 53 37 -

Ca 39 40 48 37 66 -

Rc 57 28 28 19 32 33 -

Ic 26 54 27 22 38 38 38 -

Ac 30 24 63 30 43 36 40 39 -

Sc 22 30 35 31 40 32 29 40 47 -

Ec 38 31 41 35 54 46 44 41 50 53 -

Cc 35 34 36 29 46 53 43 50 46 39 58 -

Ro 54 23 32 15 35 36 53 31 37 29 41 42 -

Io 38 38 35 19 36 41 35 51 39 32 40 45 61 -

Ao 33 24 55 25 42 39 26 27 56 37 40 39 55 61 -

So 31 32 32 32 42 43 28 41 37 35 43 48 48 67 57 -

Eo 38 22 39 25 49 50 36 28 38 28 48 45 57 57 62 64 -

Co 36 26 34 29 45 52 34 31 37 24 44 53 53 55 53 62 75 -

R1 21 13 11 10 16 09 22 10 12 12 21 16 23 18 15 20 20 25 -

I1 22 03 10 08 26 18 23 08 06 11 27 12 20 08 11 09 27 24 26 -

A1 -04 17 08 19 09 09 -07 17 12 15 07 09 00 15 11 22 04 11 09 -02 -

S1 03 03 38 11 19 15 02 09 33 24 20 18 07 13 32 15 18 14 09 13 04 -

E1 12 34 10 09 11 18 16 41 19 12 17 18 14 36 17 25 12 20 13 02 28 13 -

C1 27 11 05 07 17 12 28 17 11 11 20 15 27 23 12 17 22 23 26 26 01 07 29 -

R2 15 19 22 18 26 25 13 23 21 15 28 31 23 27 23 31 30 29 31 14 16 21 25 17 -

I2 18 15 21 13 21 21 22 19 19 21 29 28 20 18 19 22 22 29 25 25 15 18 24 23 40 -

A2 05 13 19 15 18 11 08 22 27 29 24 18 09 23 24 22 14 17 08 13 25 17 17 12 24 29 -

S2 -01 01 32 03 14 08 -01 07 31 20 16 11 04 12 30 13 13 11 11 13 07 69 13 11 20 16 19 -

E2 12 26 05 10 12 17 12 36 18 19 19 19 08 21 07 17 05 13 12 06 21 08 33 17 21 12 18 11 -

C2 12 19 08 14 14 14 16 15 14 13 17 12 15 17 16 16 09 17 06 19 21 03 23 18 17 18 24 06 23 -

Rs 75 33 40 23 44 43 75 39 43 33 52 50 81 56 48 48 56 54 53 30 03 11 23 37 49 35 15 09 19 20 -

Is 43 68 39 31 49 51 47 76 43 43 54 55 53 78 50 59 53 55 28 40 20 17 44 31 38 49 31 15 32 27 63 -

As 34 31 77 36 51 46 31 39 80 49 50 46 45 55 82 54 52 49 17 12 38 39 26 12 31 29 51 37 18 23 48 56 -

Ss 24 32 52 51 48 43 25 39 56 62 52 47 35 50 60 69 51 48 20 17 22 68 25 17 35 29 32 64 21 16 41 54 69 -

Es 46 44 49 37 73 64 45 54 53 47 75 60 53 62 58 64 77 68 26 29 18 24 47 32 41 33 27 21 44 25 63 73 64 63 -

Cs 47 40 43 37 60 74 48 46 45 37 58 73 56 59 52 61 68 83 26 30 15 18 31 47 37 36 24 14 26 41 64 69 56 55 79 -

Note SDS = Self Directed Search Please read Ra as Realistic Activities Ia as Investigative Activities Aa as Artistic Activities Sa as Social Activities Ea as Enterprising Activities Ca

as Conventional Activities Rc as Realistic Competencies Ic as Investigative Competencies Ac as Artistic Competencies Sc as Social Competencies Ec as Enterprising Competencies

Cc as Conventional Competencies Ro as Realistic Occupations Io as Investigative Occupations Ao as Artistic Occupations So as Social Occupations Eo as Enterprising Occupations

Co as Conventional Occupations R1and R2 as Realistic self estimateI1 and I2 as Investigative self estimate A1 and A2 as Artistic self estimate S1 and S2 as Social self estimate E1

and E2 as Enterprising self estimate C1 and C2 as Conventional self estimate Rs as Realistic Summary Is as Investigative Summary As as Artistic Summary Ss as Social Summary Es

as Enterprising Summary Cs as Conventional Summary r ge 08 is significant at 05 to 001 level

141

Table 22 showed the inter correlations matrix of all the scales of Activities

Competencies Occupation Self-estimates and Summary scales of SDS All the 6

subscales of Activities are significantly correlated with each other and have moderate

internal consistency The range of magnitude of inter-correlations is from a minimum

(r = 19 p lt 001) to a maximum (r = 66 p lt 001) The range of magnitude of inter-

correlations for Competencies subscales is from a minimum (r = 29 p lt 001) to a

maximum (r = 58 p lt 001) The results also displayed the inter-correlation of six

subscales of Occupations and range of magnitude is from a minimum (r = 48 p lt

001) to a maximum (r = 75 p lt 001) which provided evidence of construct validity

of SDS subscales

The inter-correlations of six main summary scales of SDS showed that all the

6 summary scales ie Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising and

Conventional are significantly correlated with each other and have moderate internal

consistency The range of magnitude of inter-correlations is from a minimum (r = 41

p lt 001) to a maximum (r = 79 p lt 001) This inter-correlation matrix

demonstrated the construct validity of all the subscales of SDS

The inter correlation matrix was plotted to find out the correlational pattern

among the scales of the SDS The relationships among the major categories can be

ordered according to a hexagon in which distances between occupational classes are

inversely proportional to the size of the correlations between them The spatial

arrangement facilitates the interpretation of the degrees of similarity and difference

among the categories

142

Hexagonal Representation of Inter-correlations of SDS Scales

Figure 7 Hexagonal Representation of Inter-correlations of SDS Scales (N = 596)

Note SDS = Self Directed Search read R as Realistic I as Investigative A as Artistic S as Social E as

Enterprising and C as Conventional

Figure 7 presented the representation of averages of all the inter-correlations

between the subscales and summary scales of SDS Any relationship between two

types is the average of 36 correlations in 6 x 6 matrixes Data from Table 22 are

arranged in this hexagon for each of the 6x6 matrices (activities competencies

occupations self-estimates and summary scores) The evidence for the hexagonal

arrangement of vocational interests is substantial According to a hexagon the

distances between the occupational classes depend on the size of correlations Closer

the distances between occupational classes better the size of correlation The results

showed that the relationship between RI is better than RA and similarly the

relationship between RA is better than RS Similarly in almost all the cases the

relationships between occupational classes are determined according to Hollandlsquos

33 24

26

33

29

37

32

33

34

A

S E

C

24

25

30

27

20

32

25

I R 30

143

assumptions However the relationship between IE which are placed opposite on the

hexagon have stronger relationship of (r = 34) which is even better than the IS and IC

which are adjacent types In Figure 7 the magnitude of average correlations ranged

from (20 to 37) However arrangements of occupational classes on the hexagon are

supportive of Holland assumption The hexagonal representation of inter-correlations

computed by Naheed (1988) on high school students (Figure 8) showed almost the

same pattern This displayed the validity of Holland model on high school students

Hexagonal Representation of Inter-correlations of SDS Scales (Naheed 1988)

Figure 8 Hexagonal Representation of Inter-correlations of SDS Scales (N = 114)

Note SDS = Self Directed Search read R as Realistic I as Investigative A as Artistic S as Social E as

Enterprising and C as Conventional

Source Naheed (1988)

33 24

23

33

35

40

32

27

39

A

S E

C

27

29

23

33

23

33

27

I R 26

144

Relationship between Personality and Vocational Interests

The results in this section demonstrated the relationship of five main domains

of personality and six personality types of vocational interests according to the main

objective of the study The 30 facets of five domains of personality are also correlated

with the six personality types The mean differences with respect to demographic

variables (gender sciencearts group urbanrural 9th

10th

classes and parentslsquo

education) on personality and vocational interests were also computed The results are

shown below

Table 23

Inter-correlations between 5 main scales including 30 facet scales of NEO PI-R and 6

summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

Scaletypes Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

Neuroticism (N) -12 -06 -03 01 -10 -11

Anxiety (N1) -10 -05 02 -02 -10 -06

Hostility (N2) -07 02 07 08 01 -02

Depression (N3) -05 -02 -05 01 -01 01

Self Conscious (N4) 04 03 03 05 01 -02

Impulsiveness (N5) -07 -03 -05 -01 -05 -09

Vulnerability (N6) -18 -15 -10 -06 -20 -22

Extraversion (E) 08 16 27 25 22 13

Warmth (E1) 02 15 21 23 18 12

Gregariousness (E2) -01 01 02 04 05 -02

Assertiveness (E3) 08 07 19 15 12 07

Activities (E4) 08 13 17 13 14 08

Excitement (E5) 08 07 19 20 13 09

Positive Emotion (E6) 03 13 18 13 14 11

Continuedhellip

145

Scaletypes Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

Openness (O) 09 13 24 22 15 10

Fantasy (O1) -07 -11 -11 -07 -11 -11

Aesthetics (O2) 06 12 25 23 10 07

Feelings (O3) 01 12 17 16 14 07

Actions (O4) 01 -02 06 01 -04 -02

Ideas (O5) 20 21 20 18 25 22

Values (O6) -03 -07 -03 -03 -01 -04

Agreeableness (A) 05 12 10 04 14 15

Trust (A1) 11 14 13 12 19 18

Straight Forwardness (A2) 01 08 06 -01 04 05

Altruism (A3) 02 10 06 05 11 10

Compliance (A4) 03 01 04 -01 04 07

Modesty (A5) -04 -06 -15 -18 -11 -06

Tender mindedness (A6) 05 15 20 14 20 15

Conscientiousness (C) 18 21 14 13 25 27

Compliance (C1) 21 22 15 17 21 26

Order (C2) 08 06 -01 01 05 10

Duty (C3) 07 16 12 08 18 16

Achievement striving (C4) 14 25 15 12 29 27

Self discipline (C5) 15 10 08 08 16 18

Deliberation (C6) 12 13 12 13 17 21

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory SDS = Self Directed Search

p lt 05 p lt 01 p lt 001

The results shown in Table 23 are related to the correlations between five

main domains including 30 facets of NEO PI-R and six personality types of SDS The

results showed substantial relationship exists between personality and vocational

interests both at higher and lower order facet scales The Neuroticism domain is

significantly negatively correlated with Realistic Enterprising and Conventional

146

personality types The six subscales of Neuroticism domain generally have non-

significant correlation with all six personality types except Vulnerability subscale

which is significantly negatively correlated with five personality types Extraversion

domain is significantly positively correlated with all six personality types except

Realistic type Extraversion have the magnitude of relationships with Enterprising

type is (r = 22 p lt 001) with Social type is (r = 25 p lt 001) and (r = 27 p lt

001) The facets scales of Extraversion domain generally significantly correlated with

all the six personality types except Gregariousness which is non-significantly

correlated with any of the six personality types The findings supported the hypothesis

no1 of the study which stated that Extraversion is correlated to Social and

Enterprising types

Openness domain is significantly positively correlated with all the six

personality types The magnitude of relationship is (r = 09 p lt 05) with Realistic

types (r = 22 p lt 001) with Social type (r = 24 p lt 001) with Artistic type and (r

= 13 p lt 01) with Investigative type All the subscale of Openness domain generally

significantly correlated with all the six personality types except facet scale Fantasy

which is negatively significantly correlated with four personality types Facet scales

Values and Actions have non-significant correlation with all the six types The facet

scales of Fantasy Actions and Values also have non-significant correlation with

other facet scales of Openness domain (see Table 16) Overall the findings supported

the hypothesis no 2 that openness to experience will be positively correlated with

Artistic and Investigative types

Agreeableness domain is significantly positively correlated with Investigative

(r = 12 p lt 01) Artistic (r = 10 p lt 05) Enterprising (r = 14 p lt 001) and

147

Conventional types (r = 15 p lt 001) This domain is non-significantly correlated

with Social and Realistic types The subscale Trust of Agreeableness domain

significantly correlated with all the six types while facet scale Modesty is negatively

correlated with all six types The findings did not support the hypothesis no 3 which

stated that agreeableness will be positively related to social personality types

However Trust and Tender-mindedness facet scales are positively significantly related

to Social interests

Conscientiousness domain is significantly positively correlated with all six

personality types The magnitude of relationship range from (r = 13 p lt 001) with

Social type and (r = 25 p lt 001) with Enterprising type and (r = 27 p lt 001) with

Conventional type All the six facets scale of Conscientiousness domain generally

significantly correlated with all the six personality types except facet scale Order

which is non-significantly correlated with five personality types The findings that

Conscientiousness is positively correlated to Conventional interests supported the

hypothesis no 4 Overall it is obvious from the results that considerable relationship

existed between Five Factor Model and Hollandlsquos typology

In Table 24 multiple regression analysis was conducted to find out specific

contribution of various variables on six personality types (realistic investigative

artistic social enterprising and conventional) The predictor variables included

gender 9th

10 classes urbanrural scienceArts group parents education neuroticism

extraversion openness agreeableness and conscientiousness Variables were entered

simultaneously in the block Six RIASEC types were entered one by one as criterion

variable

148

Table 24

Summary of Multiple Regression Analysis for Demographic and Five Domains of

Personality on the six Personality Types

Dependent Variables

Independent

Variables

b SE β t

REALISTIC INTERESTS

R = 370 R

2 = 137

Adj R2

= 124

Constant 4291 7993

9th

10th

class -1825 622 -116 -2936

Gender

UrbanRural

-3271

1765

653

653

-228

108

-5445

2703

Conscientiousness 073 022 179 3374

INVESTIGATIVE INTERESTS

R = 401 R

2 = 161

Adj R2

= 148

Constant 8384 7666

9th

10th

class -1405 596 -092 -2356

SceinceArts

Conscientiousness

-4459

079

599

021

-297

199

-7442

3814

ARTISTIC INTERESTS

R = 460 R

2 = 212

Adj R2

= 199

Constant -21365 7708

9th

10th

class -2054 600 -130 -3423

Gender

Openness

4566

128

632

031

290

166

7230

4136

Extraversion 108 023 194 4757

Continuedhellip

149

Dependent Variables

Independent

Variables

b SE β t

SOCIAL INTERESTS

R = 391 R

2 = 153

Adj R2

= 139

Constant -10357 7133

9th

10th

class -1860 556 -132 -3347

Conscientiousness

Openness

053

101

019

029

144

147

2754

3541

Extraversion 042 021 089 1986

ENTERPRISING INTERESTS

R = 381 R

2 = 145

Adj R2

= 132

Constant -3502 7643

9th

10th

class -1817 595 -121 -3052

ScienceArts

Conscientiousness

-2294

085

598

021

-154

216

3836

4104

Extraversion 079 022 150 3532

CONVENTIONAL INTERESTS

R = 345 R

2 = 119

Adj R2

= 105

Constant -1025 8543

9th

10th

class -1800 627 -115 -2873

Gender

Conscientiousness

-1677

108

660

022

-108

264

-2541

4921 p lt 05 p lt 01 p lt 001

150

The results showed that Urbanrural (β = 108 p lt 01) and Conscientious (β

= 179 p lt 001) have some impact on Realistic interests Conscientious (β = 199 p

lt 001) have some impact on Investigative interest Gender (β = 290 p lt 001)

Openness (β = 166 p lt 001) and Extraversion (β = 194 p lt 001) have an impact

on Artistic interests Conscientiousness (β = 144 p lt 001) Openness (β = 147 p lt

001) and Extraversion (β = 191 p lt 001) have some impact on Social interests

Conscientiousness (β = 216 p lt 001) and Extraversion (β = 150 p lt 001) have

some impact on Enterprising interests Conscientiousness (β = 264 p lt 001) have

an impact on Conventional interests Gender contributed considerably to predict

Artistic interests Extraversion contributed substantially to predict the Enterprising

and Social interests Openness contributed significantly in predicting the Artistic

interests Conscientiousness contributed substantially in predicting the Conventional

interests Hence the results demonstrated support to the hypotheses no 1 2 and 4

Table 25

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of male and female students on five

main domain scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Scales Gender Total No

of cases

M SD t

Neuroticism Male 319 13714 1477

178 Female 277 13931 1498

Extraversion Male 319 14954 1211

240 Female 277 15226 1555

Openness Male 319 13537 955

186 Female 277 13685 988

Agreeableness Male 319 16169 1444

484 Female 277 16736 1403

Conscientiousness Male 319 16958 1963

104 Female 277 17121 1777

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

p lt 05 p lt 001 df = 594

151

Table 25 showed the mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of male

and female students on the five domains of NEO PI-R There are significant mean

differences between male and female scores on Extraversion and Agreeableness

domains Although there are non-significant mean differences between male and

female students on Neuroticism Openness and Conscientiousness domains yet the

female students mean scores are higher than male studentslsquo scores on all the five main

domain scales These findings supported the hypothesis no 5 of the study

Table 26

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Science and Arts group students on

five main domain scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Scale Group Total No

of cases

M SD t

Neuroticism Science 303 13949 1584

224 Arts 293 13677 1376

Extraversion Science 303 15155 1420

135 Arts 293 15001 1352

Openness Science 303 13655 977

120 Arts 293 13560 962

Agreeableness Science 303 16559 1420

218 Arts 293 16300 1478

Conscientiousness Science 303 17112 2009

103 Arts 293 16952 1736

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

p lt 05 df = 594

The finding in Table 26 displayed that there are significant mean differences

between scores of Science and Arts students on Neuroticism and Agreeableness

domains The science students mean scores are higher than Arts students score

152

Overall there are non-significant mean differences between science and Arts students

on Extraversion Openness and Conscientiousness domains This showed that science

or arts students have non-significant differences with respect to personality profiles

Table 27

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Urban and Rural group students

on five main domains of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Scale Group Total No

of cases

M SD t

Neuroticism Urban 382 13827 1453

27 Rural 214 13793 1556

Extraversion Urban 382 15221 1385

335 Rural 214 14828 1357

Openness Urban 382 13622 977

55 Rural 214 13576 962

Agreeableness Urban 382 16478 1439

102 Rural 214 16351 1476

Conscientiousness Urban 382 17087 1878

92 Rural 214 16939 1879

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

p lt 001 df = 594

The results mentioned in Table 27 showed the mean standard deviation and t-

value of scores of students belonging to Urban and Rural areas on five main domains

of NEO PI-R There are significant mean differences between scores of students of

urban and rural areas on Extraversion domain The mean scores of urban students are

higher than rural students This showed that students from urban areas are high on

Extraversion domains due to better exposure as compared to rural areas students

153

Overall there are non-significant mean differences between scores of students

belonging to urban and rural areas on other domains of NEO PI-R

Table 28

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of 9th and 10th class students on five

main domains of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Scale Class Total No

of cases

M SD t

Neuroticism 9

th 328 13824 1453

498 10

th 268 13804 1556

Extraversion 9

th 328 15022 1385

129 10

th 268 15151 1357

Openness 9

th 328 13570 977

14 10

th 268 13649 962

Agreeableness 9

th 328 16215 1439

63 10

th 268 16698 1476

Conscientiousness 9

th 328 16831 1878

96 10

th 268 17281 1879

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

p lt 05 df = 594

The results mentioned in Table 28 showed that there are non-significant mean

differences between the scores of 9th

and 10th

class students on main domains of NEO

PI-R except on Neuroticism domain

154

Table 29

Mean and standard deviation between three groups of students based on parents

education on the scores of five domain scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Domains

of personality

Father

mother

educated

(N = 150)

Father

educated

(N = 214)

Father

mother

uneducated

(N = 232)

M SD M SD M SD

Neuroticism 13922 1512 13805 1585 13754 1382

Extraversion 15391 1526 14979 1405 14971 1244

Openness 13689 919 13571 1035 13582 945

Agreeableness 16643 1378 16451 1544 16278 1397

Conscientiousness 17072 1909 17048 1860 16994 1882

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory Father mother educated

group (both the parents have at least matriculation education) father educated group (only fathers have at least

matriculation education) father and mother uneducated group (none of the parents have matriculation)

Table 29 indicated the mean and standard deviation of three groups of students

based on parent education on the five domains of NEO PI-R The group of students

having the father mother educated has the highest mean scores on all the five main

domains of personality

155

Table 30

One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) between three groups of students based on

parents education on the scores of five domains of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Domains Sum of

squares

df Mean

square

F

Neuroticism Between group 25805 2 12902

58

Within group 13178765 593 22223

Total 13204571 595

Extraversion Between group 194335 2 97167

512

Within group 11254588 593 18979

Total 11448924 595

Openness Between group 14148 2 7074

74

Within group 5611657 593 9463

Total 5625806 595

Agreeableness Between group 122115 2 61057

291

Within group 12427334 593 20956

Total 12549450 595

Conscientiousness Between group 6336 2 3168

08

Within group 20995752 593 35406

Total 21002088 595 Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

p lt 01

Table 30 showed one way analysis of variance between 3 groups of students

based on parentslsquo education The results showed that there are non-significant mean

differences between the 3 groups of students based on parentslsquo education except

Extraversion domain of NEO PI-R The results showed that group of students whose

parents are educated have highest mean (M = 153 91 SD = 1526) and F (2 593) =

512 p lt 01) Overall findings revealed that parents education have non-significant

effects on the personality patterns of students

156

Table 31

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Lower age (14 to 16 yrs) and

Upper age (17 to 19 yrs) groups on main scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Scale Group Total No

of cases

M SD t

Neuroticism Lower age 460 13816 1483

75 Upper age 136 13811 1517

Extraversion Lower age 460 15101 1406

01 Upper age 136 15007 1325

Openness Lower age 460 13611 979

01 Upper age 136 13587 953

Agreeableness Lower age 460 16481 1457

03 Upper age 136 16267 1430

Conscientiousness Lower age 460 17065 1850

166 Upper age 136 16928 1977

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

In Table 31 the result showed mean differences of two age groups on NEO PI-

R The sample was divided into two groups students of lower age group consisted of

ages (14 to 16 years) while students of upper age group consisted of ages (17 years to

19 years) There are non-significant mean differences between the two groups This

showed that age differences have no significant effects on the scores of NEO PI-R

Gender differences on scores of SDS

The mean differences on the scores of male and female students were

computed on main summary scales of SDS The results are shown below

157

Table 32

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Male and Female students on main

summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

Personality

Types

Gender Total No

of cases

M SD t

Realistic Male 319 2572 740

648 Female 277 2170 773

Investigative Male 319 2864 756

02 Female 277 2866 754

Artistic Male 319 2615 752

809 Female 277 3110 735

Social Male 319 2832 724

486 Female 277 3106 644

Enterprising Male 319 2863 749

46 Female 277 2835 754

Conventional Male 319 3139 756

208 Female 277 3007 794

Note SDS = Self Directed Search

p lt 05 p lt 001 df = 594

The results mentioned in Table 32 showed the mean standard deviation and t-

value of scores of male and female students on the six personality types of SDS

There are significant mean differences between the scores of male and female

students on Realistic Artistic Social and Conventional personality types Mean

scores of male is higher than scores of females on Realistic personality type This

showed that males have a preference for Realistic jobs as compared to females and

thus hypothesis no 6 is supported

There are significant mean differences on the scores of students on artistic and

social personality types The mean scores of female students are higher than scores of

male students This proved that females have a preference for Artistic and Social jobs

158

as compared to male students These findings supported the hypothesis no 7 of the

study Mean scores of males are higher than scores of females on Conventional

personality type This showed that male students have preference for Conventional

type jobs as compared to females

Table 33

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Science and Arts group students on

main summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

Personality

Types

Gender Total No

of cases

M SD t

Realistic Science 303 2454 789

220 Arts 293 2313 769

Investigative Science 303 3091 690

784 Arts 293 2629 749

Artistic Science 303 2799 826

140 Arts 293 2891 736

Social Science 303 2959 719

06 Arts 293 2955 681

Enterprising Science 303 2978 743

431 Arts 293 2716 737

Conventional Science 303 3137 784

192 Arts 293 3015 765

Note SDS = Self Directed Search

p lt 05 p lt 001 df = 594

The findings in Table 33 showed that there are significant mean differences

between Science and Arts students on Realistic Investigative and Enterprising

personality types The scores of science students are slightly better than arts students

159

on Realistic Investigative and Enterprising types This revealed that science students

have preference for Realistic Investigative and Enterprising personality types

Table 34

Mean Standard deviation and t-value of scores of Urban and Rural group students

on main summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

Personality

Types

Group Total No

of cases

M SD t

Realistic Urban 382 2303 811

348 Rural 214 2533 702

Investigative Urban 382 2897 766

140 Rural 214 2807 732

Artistic Urban 382 2892 779

195 Rural 214 2762 787

Social Urban 382 3001 717

195 Rural 214 2885 668

Enterprising Urban 382 2884 770

148 Rural 214 2789 712

Conventional Urban 382 3101 793

97 Rural 214 3036 747

Note SDS = Self Directed Search

p lt 001 df = 594

The results in Table 34 showed that there are non-significant mean differences

between students of urban and rural areas on personality types of SDS except

Realistic type The mean scores of rural students are slightly higher than urban area

students on Realistic personality types This showed that students from rural areas

prefer more Realistic jobs

160

Table 35

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of 9th and 10th class students on

main summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

Personality

Types

Group Total No

of cases

M SD t

Realistic 9

th 328 2468 734

198 10

th 268 2284 825

Investigative 9

th 328 2889 713

557 10

th 268 2835 803

Artistic 9

th 328 2892 788

03 10

th 268 2788 775

Social 9

th 328 3015 705

03 10

th 268 2891 692

Enterprising 9

th 328 2900 729

116 10

th 268 2788 773

Conventional 9

th 328 3137 758

124 10

th 268 3004 794

Note SDS = Self Directed Search

p lt 05

The results mentioned in Table 35 showed that there are non-significant mean

differences between students of 9th

class and 10th

class on personality types of SDS

except on Investigative type The mean scores of 9th

class students are slightly higher

than 10th

class students on Investigative personality types

161

Table 36

Mean and standard deviation between three groups of students based on parents

education on the scores of six personality types of SDS (N = 596)

Personality

Types

Father

mother

educated

(N = 150)

Father

educated

(N = 214)

Father

mother

uneducated

(N = 232)

M SD M SD M SD

Realistic 2236 827 2403 749 2465 768

Investigative 2905 731 2921 723 2787 792

Artistic 2988 829 2873 762 2726 757

Social 3027 704 2985 685 2891 710

Enterprising 2886 740 2899 751 2781 754

Conventional 3096 724 3111 793 3034 794

Note SDS = Self Directed Search Father mother educated group (both the parents have at least matriculation

education) father educated group (only fathers have at least matriculation education) father and mother

uneducated group (none of the parents have matriculation)

Table 36 indicated the mean and standard deviation of three groups of students

based on parentslsquo education on the five domains of NEO PI-R The group having the

father mother uneducated have the highest mean scores on Realistic (M = 2465 SD =

768) The group having the father educated have the highest mean scores on

Investigative (M = 2921 SD = 723) Enterprising (M = 2899 SD = 751) and

Conventional types (M = 3111 SD = 793) The group having the father mother

educated have the highest mean scores on Artistic (M = 2988 SD = 829) and Social

(M = 3027 SD = 704)

162

Table 37

One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) between three groups of students based on

parents education on the scores of six personality types of SDS (N = 596)

Personality

Types

Sum of

squares

df Mean square F

Realistic

Between group

48932

2

24466

405

Within group 3581898 593 6040

Total 3630830 595

Investigative

Between group

23247

2

11623

204

Within group 3364123 593 5673

Total 3387371 595

Artistic

Between group

65136

2

32568

538

Within group 3588032 593 6050

Total 3653168 595

Social

Between group

19116

2

9558

194

Within group 2908057 593 4904

Total 2927173 595

Enterprising

Between group

18301

2

9150

162

Within group 3333998 593 5622

Total 3352299 595

Conventional

Between group

7363

2

3681

61

Within group 3579824 593 6036

Total 3587187 595 Note SDS = Self Directed Search

p lt 05 p lt 01

Table 37 showed the analysis of variance between 3 groups based on parentslsquo

education of students and their effects on the six personality types The results showed

that there are significant mean differences between the 3 groups of students based on

parentslsquo education on the scores of Realistic and Artistic personality types The group

having father mother uneducated have higher mean on Realistic type as compared to

other groups The group having father mother educated have the highest mean on

163

Artistic type as compared to other groups There are non-significant mean differences

between three groups on other personality types

Discussion

Two most widely used models to measure personality and vocational interests

from dispositional domain are Five factor model and Hollandlsquos typology respectively

Costa and McCrae (1992a) designed the NEO PI-R based on Five factor model

Numerous reliability and validity studies were conducted over the years in different

countries as well as in Pakistan (Anis-ul-Haque 2003 Chishti 2002 Safdar 2002

Shaheen 2007 Taj 2003) Hence it is expected that NEO PI-R has cross cultural

efficacy and can be confidently administered on Pakistani population

Holland has proposed a comprehensive model of vocational interests based on

dispositional domains Holland has developed a comprehensive measure of vocational

interests ie Self Directed Search (SDS) SDS was translated comprehensively by

(Naheed 1988) in Pakistan and during the adaptation process few items were

changed and modified and thus the measure is left with 210 items Numerous

reliability and validity studies were conducted over the years in different countries as

well as in Pakistan (Khan et al 1990 Naheed 1988 Siddiqa 1999) Hence it is

expected that SDS has cross cultural efficacy and can be administered on Pakistani

students

The main study was conducted to determine the relationship between

personality and vocational interests The mean differences of different demographic

variables (gender ScienceArts groups urbanrural 9th

10th

classes and parentslsquo

education) on the personality and vocational interests were also explored Despite

164

researcher best efforts random sampling could not be employed properly for the

selection of schools in the study Initially it was decided that 10 schools (5 each from

urban and rural areas) would be selected randomly However finally 7 school (both

from rural and urban areas) with ample students from science and arts groups could be

located by the researcher In each school 100 students (50 science students and 50

Arts students) were randomly selected in the study Thus total of 700 students were

administered the tests After scrutinizing the data and doing away with the absentees

the final data was left with 596 students

The results of the study showed the reliabilityvalidity of NEO PI-R and SDS

Alpha reliability coefficients (see Table 12) of main domains scores and subscales of

NEO PI-R showed the internal consistency of the instrument The range of Alpha

coefficients vary from 36 (Openness) to 84 (Conscientiousness) Openness domain

has low Alpha reliability coefficient of (36) This reflected that this domain has low

internal consistency This may be due to the cultural effect The subscale of Openness

domain consisted of facet scales including Fantasy Aesthetics Feelings Actions

Ideas and Values This low internal consistency of Openness scale was also observed

in other cultures as Laidra et al (2007) showed low internal consistency of Openness

domain (42) in Estonian school students

In a context where Islam being the most widely accepted and practiced

religion the scales Values Fantasy and Actions need to be deliberated thoroughly for

their relevance in Pakistani culture (see conceptual definitions Openness facets scales

in chap III pages 89 to 90) The applicability of Openness Domain in Pakistani

students also needs to be further explored Openness is related to experience novel

things and is generally described by characteristics like imaginative curious and

165

aesthetically sensitive (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) It required education which is based

on the principle of openness and broadness coupled with economic prosperity Some

of the statement in Openness scales are of abstract nature and Pakistani understand

behavior example more easily than the abstract (see for example Mirza 1975)

Moreover in Pakistani culture which is a collectivistic culture (Hofstede

2001) a person who fantasizes and build castle in air is not encouraged or socially

approved Whereas in western culture the word fantasy have different connotations as

compared to Pakistani context Similarly facet scales Ideas and Values of openness

domains have different connotation in Pakistan as compared to western culture In

Pakistan people follow the norms of the society and tribes hence itlsquos difficult for

them to challenge these norms In certain part of the country people feel pride to stick

to their traditions and values These cultural differences have effects on the results of

facets scales of Openness domain

Low internal consistency of Openness domain also indicated that high school

student may not be able to provide reliable information about their personality traits

John Caspi Robins Moffitt and Loeber (1994) mentioned coefficient alpha

reliabilities of four scales exceeded α = 7 except α = 53 for Openness scale The

finding that alpha was lowest for the Openness scale is consistent with the adult Big

Five literature showing that the Openness factor is the least homogeneous of the Big

Five domains (eg Goldberg 1990 Norman 1963) Parker and Stumpf (1998) stated

that Openness showed the smallest degree of convergence across the self report a

finding that confirms earlier observations on the model in general (Ostendorf 1990)

Given its relatively low reliability the usefulness of the Openness scale may be

established through demonstration of more validity studies

166

The inter correlation matrix between subscales and Openness domain (see

Table 16) showed that subscales Fantasy Actions are non-significantly correlated

with other subscales Subscale Values significantly negatively correlated with

Aesthetic and Feelings This showed that Fantasy Actions and Values of Openness

domain have not only low internal consistency but also affected the construct validity

of the Openness domain The results needed to be interpreted with caution for

Openness domain

Safdar (2002) used Urdu version of NEO PI-R on university students and

reported Alpha value of 59 for Openness domain and 41 for Agreeableness domain

Taj (2003) reported alpha coefficient of 37 for Agreeableness for a sample of

working and non working women Chishti (2002) reported low alpha coefficient of

Fantasy (51) Feelings (30) Actions (20) and Values (20) facets scales of

Openness domain on Urdu version of NEO PI-R

The Alpha reliability coefficients (see Table 20) of the subscales (Activities

Competencies Occupations and Self-ratings) of SDS showed high internal

consistency of the instrument The alpha coefficient of summary scales range from (α

= 71) for Social to (α = 80) for Artistic and Conventional All subscales of SDS have

high reliability coefficients Intercorrelations between the Activities Competencies

Occupations Self-ratings and Summary scales (see Table 22) showed the construct

validity of the SDS These correlations were plotted in the hexagon (see Figure 7) for

the three levels adjacent types alternate types and opposite types The relationship

between adjacent types was better than alternate types and similarly the relationship

between alternate types was better than opposite type The results proved the

relevance of Holland model on high school students

167

Relationship of personality and vocational interests

The main objective of the final study was to determine the relationship

between personality and vocational interests of the high school students To achieve

this objective few hypotheses on the relationship between personality and vocational

interest were formulated Inter-correlation (see Table 23) between the 5 main domains

of personality including its 30 facet scales and the six personality types were

calculated The results showed that substantial relationship existed between the two

models Extraversion domain is significantly positively correlated with all six

personality types except Realistic type The magnitude of relationship range from (r =

22 p lt 001) with Enterprising type and (r = 25 p lt 001) with Social type

The hypothesis No 1 was ―Extroversion will be positively correlated with the

Social and Enterprising types The results showed that Extraversion is positively

correlated with Social and Enterprising types This means that Extraversion domain

overlapped with the Enterprising interests and Social interests These findings are

supported in the literature (Costa et al 1984 De Fruyt amp Mervielde 1997 Holland et

al 1994 Tokar amp Swanson 1995 Tokar et al 1995) Previous studies also

supported the positive correlation of Extraversion with social interests (Carless 1999

Costa Fozard amp McCrae 1977 Costa et al 1984 Peraino amp Willerman 1983) and

with Enterprising interests (Carless 1999 Costa et al 1984 Peraino amp Willerman

1983 Waller et al 1995) The results also revealed that Extraversion is non-

significantly correlated with Realistic type The present finding of a non-significant

relationship between Extraversion and Realistic interests are supported by Peraino and

Willerman (1983)

168

The results also mentioned that the facet scales of Extraversion domain

generally significantly correlated with all the six personality types except

Gregariousness which is non-significantly correlated with any of the six personality

types Sullivan and Hansen (2004) found that associations between personality traits

and vocational interests can be accounted for by associations between lower-order

personality traits and interests

A study on 934 Flemish-speaking students by De Fruyt and Mervielde (1997)

analyzed their data in terms of the 30 facet scores as well as the total big five scores

The pattern of correlations showed clearly that few of the big five facets were related

to the realistic and investigative type while many were related to the social and

enterprising type

The findings in Table 23 displayed that strongest relationship is between

extraversion and artistic social and enterprising types The strongest correlations

between Extraversion and Enterprising and Social types of Hollands model have been

supported in the literature (Blake amp Sackett 1993 Bolton 1985 Costa et al 1984

Dillon amp Weissman 1987 Goh amp Leong 1993 Gottfredson et al 1993 Hogan

1986 Peraino amp Willerman 1983) However negative correlations between

Extraversion and Realistic and Investigative types have been reported in the literature

(Blake amp Sackett 1993 Bolton 1985 Costa et al 1984 Peraino amp Willerman

1983) Overall the results of the study supported the hypothesis that Extraversion is

positively correlated with Social and Enterprising interests

Openness domain is significantly correlated with all the six personality types

(see Table 23) The six facet scales of Openness are generally significantly correlated

with the six personality types However facet scales Actions and Values have non-

169

significant correlation with any of the personality types Fantasy is negatively

correlated with most of the personality types

The hypothesis 2 was ―Openness will be positively correlated with

Investigative and Artistic types The results showed that Openness is positively

significantly correlated with all the six personality types however Openness has

moderate strong correlation with Artistic type (r = 24 p lt 001) with Social type (r =

22 p lt 001) and with Investigative type (r = 13 p lt 01) It appeared that people

who express Investigative and Artistic interests also tend to be more open to new

experiences The curiosity and inquisitiveness of the Investigative type described by

Holland (1985a) as intellectual scholarly and curious represented that Investigative

interests overlap 20 to 60 with the Openness to Experience domain (Costa et al

1984 Gottfredson et al 1993 Holland et al 1994 Tokar amp Swanson 1995 Tokar

et al 1995) Artistic interests related moderately (r around 40 to 50) to the Openness

to Experience domain (Costa et al 1984 De Fruyt amp Mervielde 1997 Gottfredson et

al 1993 Holland et al 1994 Tokar amp Swanson 1995 Tokar et al 1995)

Individuals scoring high on Artistic and Enterprising interest scales are more

likely to demonstrate characteristics of those high in Openness and Extraversion

respectively Caldwell and Burger (1998) showed that high levels of Extraversion and

Openness (in addition to Agreeableness and Emotional Stability) are predictive of the

number of job offers received in a job search Tokar et al (1998) reported that

―greater extraversion is also linked to higher frequency and quality of job search

activities (p 144) as well as job satisfaction and change

The Big Six and the Big Five are indeed related to one another in important

ways applicable to counseling but not universally There are substantial linkages

found by (Larson et al 2002) and (Barrack et al 2003) between Artistic and

170

Openness Investigative and Openness Social and Extraversion and between

Enterprising and Extraversion Aesthetics (a facet of Openness to Experience) largely

accounted for the association between Artistic interests and Openness The results

showed that Openness was found to have moderately strong positive correlations with

the Investigative Realistic and Artistic vocational interests a finding consistent with

those reported by others (Carless 1999 Costa et al 1977 Costa et al 1984 Duffy amp

Crissy 1940 see also review by Tokar et al 1998 and meta-analysis by Staggs

2004) Overall the results supported the hypothesis that Openness is positively

correlated with Artistic and Enterprising types

Agreeableness domain is significantly correlated with all the personality types

except Realistic and Social types (see Table 23) The results showed that facets scales

of Trust and Tender mindedness significantly correlated with all the personality types

Facet scale Compliance has non-significant correlation with any of the six personality

types Modesty is negatively correlated with all the personality types Modesty has

different connotation in Pakistani culture as compared to western culture The most

people in Pakistani society are modest and show sympathies and personal interest

with respect to other people However the socio-economic situation in Pakistan

pressurized the individual to think of his improvement of economic condition and thus

has more concern about self at times instead of concern of others

The findings of previous research suggested that Social interests corresponded

modestly (r s around 20) with the Agreeableness domain (De Fruyt amp Mervielde

1997 Tokar amp Swanson 1995 Tokar et al 1995) The personality factor score of

aggression was also found to be negatively related to the social vocational interest

factor This finding is similar to the results reviewed by Tokar et al (1998) who

found a positive relationship between agreeableness (low aggressiveness) and Social

interests

171

The result of the present study showed that Agreeableness is significantly

correlated with Artistic types The Artistic types like ambiguous free and

unsystematic activities perceived themselves as expressive original intuitive

introspective nonconforming and value aesthetic qualities Some aspects of Social

types and Artistic types are related with each other in Pakistani culture This may be

the reason that Agreeableness is significantly correlated with Artistic interests This

overlap between Social interests and Agreeableness is the weakest of the five

correlations but is consistent across the interest measures (Ackerman amp Heggestad

1997) However this showed that the hypothesis Agreeableness will be positively

correlated with the Social typelsquo is not supported by the results

Conscientiousness domain is significantly correlated with all the six

personality types All the facet scales significantly correlated with the six personality

types except facet scale Order However Order scale is significantly correlated with

Conventional type The results showed moderate strong relationship between

Conscientiousness and Conventional type Conscientiousness has strong moderate

correlation with Conventional type (r = 27 p lt 001) Enterprising type (r = 25 p lt

001) and Investigative type (r = 21 p lt 001) The results of meta analysis

conducted by Larson et al (2002) showed that the correlation of Conventional

interests and the Conscientiousness domain was moderately positive when the SDS

was the measure used (r = 29) but dropped to only slightly positively related when

the SII was the measure used (r =13) On the opposite end of the dimension it is

shown that the Conventional type has been correlated with control (Gottfredson et al

1993) judging (Dillon amp Weissman 1987) and conscientiousness (Blake amp Sackett

1993) The findings in the present study showed that hypothesis ―Conscientiousness

will be positively related with Enterprising interests is supported by the results

172

The findings in the present study regarding the consistent overlap between

personality and vocational interests were also confirmed by the multiple regression

analysis (see Table 24) which supported that some of the personality variables have

considerably contributed in predicting the vocational interests

Tokar Fischer and Subich (1998) reported that in general consistent

relationships appear across many correlational studies They stated that the

personality factor of Extraversion was consistently linked to Enterprising and Social

vocational interests Openness was found to be moderately related to Artistic and

Investigative interests Conscientiousness was related to Conventional interests

Agreeableness was linked with Social vocational interests and Neuroticism was not

found to consistently correlate with vocational interests Similar results were reported

by Ackerman and Heggestad (1997) and by Carless (1999) In the relationship

between personality and vocational interests sizable independent variance is also

present Considering the overlap among certain relationships can improve the

knowledge of the connection between these individual differences and vocational

behavior Additional research is needed to strengthen the understanding of potential

implications for practitioners

Mean Differences on Demographical Variables

The mean differences with respect to demographical variables (gender

science-arts urban-rural 9th

- 10th

classes and parentslsquo education) on personality and

vocational interests were also explored Gender differences were explored on five

factor model and were also consistent with findings using other personality

inventories (eg Eysenck amp Eysenck 1975) The results showed (see Table 25) that

there are significant mean differences between male and female students on

173

Extraversion and Agreeableness of the NEO PI-R The mean scores of female are

higher as compared to male students In a male dominated Pakistani society it may be

the case that male will score higher on Extraversion domain However with changing

societal scenario where girls are also quite active and taking part in all aspects of life

the results showed that female are slightly better on extraversion domain which

consist of subscales like warmth gregariousness assertiveness activity excitement

and positive emotion On the other hand female scores are slightly better on

Agreeableness domain Although there are non-significant gender differences on

Neuroticism domain but the mean scores of female students are slightly better than

male students The findings are supported in the existing literature (eg Chapman et

al 2007 Costa et al 1984 Costa et al 2001) The hypothesis that ―female tend to

score higher on neuroticism extraversion agreeableness and conscientiousness as

compared to male students is supported by the results

The mean scores differences between science and arts students on five

domains of personality showed that there are significant differences on neuroticism

and agreeableness domain of five factor model (see Table 26) The scores of science

students are slightly higher on both the domains as compared to arts students The

mean differences between urban and rural areas students showed that there are

significant differences on extraversion domain while non-significant differences were

observed on other domains of personality (see Table 27) This may be due to the

reason that urban students have better opportunities in the urbanized localities and

they take part in different types of social activities While in rural areas there are

limited opportunities and students generally involved in routine activities

174

The mean differences between 9th

and 10th

class students were also explored

The results showed significant mean differences on neuroticism domains while non-

significant differences were observed on other domains of personality The mean

scores of groups of students based on educations of parents on personality were

explored The ANOVA was computed and the results showed that there are only

significant mean differences on extraversion domains (see Tables 29 to 30) The mean

scores of those students whose father and mother are educated are slightly better than

other two groups Overall the results showed that parentslsquo education have no effects

on personality of high school students The mean score differences between lower age

group (up to 16 years) and upper age group (17 years and above) on score of NEO PI-

R are also calculated The results showed that there are non-significant differences on

all the five personality domains This showed that age of the students has no effects

on the scores of NEO PI-R in this study (see Table 31) The use of NEO PI-R on

schools students showed that results can be replicated in adolescents reading in

schools as it is observed on adults Overall the results showed that there are no

significant effects of demographical variables on personality Hence no further

analysis has been carried out to explore the differences of demographical variables on

personality

Gender differences on vocational interest showed that there are significant

differences on Realistic Artistic Social and Conventional interests (see Table 32)

The mean scores of male students are higher as compared to female students on

Realistic and Conventional types On Social and Artistic types the mean scores of

female students are higher than male students In Pakistani culture Female have more

interests in Artistic and Social activities hence their scores are higher on both these

scales The findings are supported by the research literature (eg Betz Harmon amp

175

Borgen 1996 Betz amp Klein 1996 Costa et al 1984 Gianakos amp Subich 1988

Henry amp Bardo 1987 Murray amp Hall 2001 Smart 1989 Stonewater 1987 Varca

amp Shaffer 1982 Walsh Bingham amp Sheffey 1986 Walsh amp Huston 1988) The

results supported the hypotheses that male will score higher on Realistic interests and

female will score higher on Social and artistic interests

Mean differences of science and arts students on the scores of SDS were also

explored (see Table 33) The result showed that there are significant differences on

Realistic Investigative and Enterprising types among science and arts students The

means scores of science students were higher as compared to Arts students There

were non-significant differences on Artistic type however mean score of Arts

students were slightly higher as compared to science students In Pakistan the schools

have two groups of students one is science group and the other one is Arts group

Science students prefer occupations which are related to science subjects Hence

science students should adopt Realistic and Investigative types occupations as

compared to Arts students Whereas Arts students have keen interests in activities

related to Artistic and Social types These findings are supported by the study

conducted on Hong Kong students (Chang 1981)

The results showed that there are non-significant mean differences between

students of 9th

and 10th

classes on personality types except Investigative type The

mean scores of urban and rural areas on six personality types were also explored

There are significant mean differences between urban and rural area students on

realistic vocational interests There are significant mean differences on Realistic and

Artistic interests between groups of students based on parentslsquo education The means

176

scores of group whose parents are educated are slightly higher as compared to other

groups on Artistic vocational interests

Overall the result showed significant gender differences on personality (only

on Extraversion and Agreeableness) and vocational interests (Realistic Artistic

Social and Conventional) There were also significant differences between science

and arts students on vocational interests However urbanrural and 9th

and 10th

class

students have non-significant differences on personality and vocational interests

Parentslsquo education also has significant effects on personality (Extraversion) and

vocational interests (Realistic and Artistic) of students Overall parentslsquo education has

non-significant effects on personality and vocational interests Hence no further

analysis of demographical variables on personality has been carried out Similarly no

further analysis on urbanrural 9th

10th

classes and parentslsquo education on vocational

interests have been carried out However further analysis on gender differences and

sciencearts students on vocational interests have been carried out in the subsequent

study

177

Chapter V

PART 4 VOCATIONAL INTERESTS MEASURED BY

SDS SUMMARY CODES

This study was designed to determine the preferences of vocational interests of

the students by scoring the SDS summary codes The first three highest summary

codes (Holland 1985a) are of great significance and can be interpreted in term of

degree of consistency by employing the hexagonal model The general pattern for the

preferences for occupational types by the students was studied Differences between

male and female students as well as science and Arts students were also determined

The objectives and hypotheses of the study are mentioned below

Objectives

1 To find out the preferences of students on occupational types based on SDS

summary codes

2 To find out the preferences of male and female students on occupational types

based on SDS summary codes

3 To find out the preferences of science and arts students on occupational types

based on SDS summary codes

178

Hypotheses

1 Male students will prefer Realistic Investigative and Enterprising interests as

compared to female students

2 Female students will prefer Artistic and Social interests as compared to male

students

3 Science students will prefer occupations of Realistic and Investigative types as

compared to Arts students

4 Arts students will prefer occupations of Artistic Social and Enterprising types

as compared to Science students

5 Both Science and Arts students will prefer occupations of Conventional types

Operational Definitions of the Concepts

Summary codes The SDS measures the six personality types (Realistic

Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising and Conventional) from the subscales

Activities Competencies Occupations and Self-ratings In each subscales scores are

calculated on each six RIASEC types SDS has YesNolsquo response format In

activities subscale there are 11 items in each six RIASEC categories By adding all

the Yeslsquo scores for R type give the score for activities R Similarly scores for

activities IASEC are calculated The same scoring procedure is used for other

subscales of competencies occupations and self-ratings Summary scores are the

cumulative scores obtained by adding the scores of each subscale on six personality

types For instance the score for R types will be the cumulative scores obtained by

179

adding the R scores of subscales activities competencies occupations and self

estimates Therefore six score representing six RIASEC are obtained for each student

The first three highest scores are arranged in descending order and assigned codes

according to type which they represented Summary codes are the first three highest

codes measured by SDS The person used the summary codes (RIASEC) to locate the

suitable occupations from the occupational finder

PersonalityOccupational types The conceptual definitions of personality

types are mentioned in chapter III pages 97 to 99

Science group and Arts group The operational definitions of science and

Arts group students are mentioned above in chapter IV pages 125

Sample

The sample of the study was the same as used in chapter IV (for details see

pages 120 to 123) of the study The study was conducted on 596 high school students

There are 319 male and 277 female students Their age range is from 14 years to 19

years with a mean age of 1573 years There are 304 students belonging to Science

group and 292 students belonging to Arts group

Instruments

Demographic sheet and Self Directed Search (SDS) was used in this part of

the study (details are in chapter III for demographic sheet (see page 78) and for SDS

(see pages 93 to 99)

180

Frequencies of Highest Summary Codes of Students

The frequencies of highest summary codes achieved by students were

computed Gender differences and highest summary codes of science and arts students

have also been calculated The results are shown below

Table 38

Frequencies of highest Summary codes of students on six personality types of SDS

(N = 596)

Highest

summary

codes

SDS Summary Codes

Realistic

R

Investigati

ve

I

Artisti

c

A

Socia

l

S

Enterprisi

ng

E

Conventional

C

1st

summary

code

35 123 120 155 66 234

2nd

summary

code

58 120 124 141 151 138

3rd

summary

code

65 125 128 131 174 120

Note 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary code as second highest summary SDS code

3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

The findings in Table 38 showed the overall frequencies of highest summary

SDS codes of students Summary codes having equal scores are also included in the

scoring The results showed that C is the highest summary codes achieved by the

majority of the students followed by S and A The frequencies of 2nd

and 3rd

summary

codes depict E as the highest summary code achieved by the students followed by S

and C These results revealed that majority of the Pakistani students have preferences

for conventional vocational interests

181

Table 39

Frequencies of highest Summary codes of male (N = 319) and female (N = 277)

students on six personality types of SDS

Highest Summary

Codes

Summary Codes

Realistic

R

Investigative

I

Artistic

A

Social

S

Enterprising

E

Conventional

C

M F M F M F M F M F M F

1st summary code 31 4 66 57 31 89 57 98 40 26 152 82

2nd

summary code 46 12 66 54 41 83 65 76 85 66 82 66

3rd

summary code 50 15 61 64 63 65 78 53 93 81 44 76

Note M = Male F = Female read 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary code as second

highest summary SDS code 3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

Table 39 showed the overall summary code distribution of male and female

students on six personality types The first three highest summary codes were

computed for each student Summary codes having equal scores are also included in

the scoring The results showed the highest summary codes for both males and

females For male high school students the highest summary codes of C have the

highest frequency 152 studentslsquo highest summary code was C followed by I as 66

studentslsquo highest summary code 57 male students highest summary code was S

followed by 40 studentslsquo highest code as E and 31 students have R and A as highest

summary code Majority of the students have E and C as the 2nd

highest summary

codes for the male students E and S codes are the 3rd highest summary code

preferences for majority of the male students

Female high school studentslsquo highest summary codes of S have the highest

frequency 98 students achieved S as highest summary code followed by 89 studentslsquo

182

highest summary code of A 82 highest summary codes are C and 57 highest

summary codes are I A and S codes are the 2nd

highest summary codes achieved by

the majority of the female students followed by E and C as 2nd

highest summary

codes E and C codes are the 3rd

highest summary codes achieved by the female

students

Overall the results showed that male students have strong preferences for

Conventional interests followed by Investigative interests while females have

preferences for Social and Artistic interests Males preferred more Realistic

Investigative Enterprising and Conventional interests as compared to females

Realistic is the least preferred choice for females These findings supported the

hypothesis no 1 On the other hand female students have strong preferences for

artistic and social interest as compared to male students These findings are supportive

of hypothesis no 2

Table 40

Frequencies of highest Summary codes of Science (N = 304) and Arts (N = 292)

students on six personality types of SDS

Highest Summary

Codes

Summary Codes

Realistic

R

Investigative

I

Artistic

A

Social

S

Enterprising

E

Conventional

C

S A S A S A S A S A S A

1st summary code 16 19 92 28 52 63 50 95 38 26 112 113

2nd

summary code 30 23 72 49 39 83 63 71 81 58 78 69

3rd

summary code 37 28 53 63 60 60 80 55 81 82 49 58

Note S = Science students A = Arts students 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary

code as second highest summary SDS code 3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

183

Table 40 showed the overall summary code distribution of Science and Arts

students on six personality types The first three highest summary codes were

computed for each student Summary codes having equal scores are also included in

the scoring The results showed the highest summary codes for both Science and Arts

students For Science studentslsquo highest summary codes of C have the highest

frequency 112 studentslsquo highest summary code was C followed by I as 92 studentslsquo

highest summary code 52 Science students highest summary code was A followed by

50 studentslsquo highest code as S 38 students have E and 16 students have R as highest

summary codes E and C are the 2nd

highest summary codes for the majority of

Science students E and S codes are the 3rd

highest summary code preferences of

majority of Science students

Arts studentslsquo highest summary codes of C have the highest frequency 113

students achieved C as highest summary code followed by 95 studentslsquo highest

summary code of S 63 highest summary codes are A and 28 highest summary codes

are I A and S are the 2nd

highest summary codes achieved by the majority of Arts

students followed by C and E E and I are the 3rd

highest summary codes achieved by

the majority of Arts students Overall the results showed that Science students have

preferences for Conventional and Investigative type occupations These findings have

partially supported the hypothesis no 3 Arts studentslsquo preferences are for

Conventional Social and Artistic type occupations as compared to science students

Thus findings supported the hypothesis no 4 The results also displayed that both

Science and Arts students have preference for Conventional type occupations Hence

the results supported hypothesis no 5

184

Discussion

The highest summary codes of students were demonstrated to find out the

general trends of students In Pakistani culture which is a collectivist culture there

are many factors which are influencing the choices of the students In a diverse

culture of Pakistan where there are many educational system imparting knowledge to

the students it is very difficult to pinpoint the common factors for all students

However in government school belonging to Punjab province (the biggest populous

province of Pakistan) the general trends showed that majority of the students

preferred Conventional type occupations followed by Social types The Conventional

types tend to like activities that entail ordered manipulation of data and records

perceive themselves as conforming and orderly and value business and economic

achievement They have clerical and arithmetic abilities but often lack artistic ability

Since there are limited career opportunities in Pakistan for students of government

school there are chances that system may be producing certain types of interests and

abilities in students However the trend is slightly different when gender differences

are accounted for the present study Male students have preference for Conventional

type occupations followed by Investigative types while female have preferences for

Social and Artistic type occupations

Since Pakistan is still a male dominated society females are preferably

allowed to adopt the profession like teacher doctor and nursing etc these profession

entail social interests Male students outnumbered their female counterparts in hard

sciences (eg mathematics physics and engineering) Kirkcaldy (1988) reported

women to have significantly lower interests level than men for technical and scientific

jobs While male have low interests for design and socio-educational jobs In addition

185

women preferred less structured more creative less task-oriented and more

permissive types of jobs a description that fits well with artistically or emotionally

involving jobs (Furnham 2005) This suggested that vocational interests may be the

cause of gender differences in educational and occupational choices One cannot be

sure whether gender differences in vocational interests are influenced by culture

personality or ability factors eg whether women prefer certain jobs because they

suit their abilities their personalities or simply conform to social expectations

(Gottfredson 2005)

Gender differences in Holland personality types have been widely researched

using a variety of measurement criteria including academic majors (Gianakos amp

Subich 1988) occupational choices (Smart 1989) and leisure activities (Varca amp

Shaffer 1982) as well as scores on vocational self-efficacy questionnaires (Betz et

al 1996 Betz amp Klein 1996) and interest inventories (Costa et al 1984 Henry amp

Bardo 1987 Stonewater 1987 Walsh et al 1986 Walsh amp Huston 1988)

In general researchers have found greater manifestations of Realistic

Investigative and Enterprising traits among men than among women In contrast

Social and Artistic qualities have generally been found to be more prevalent among

women (Betz et al 1996 Betz amp Klein 1996 Costa et al 1984 Gianakos amp Subich

1988 Henry amp Bardo 1987 Smart 1989 Stonewater 1987 Varca amp Shaffer 1982

Walsh et al 1986 Walsh amp Huston 1988) Results have been mixed in regard to the

Conventional personality type with some researchers finding stronger propensities in

men (Betz et al 1996 Betz amp Klein 1996 Gianakos amp Subich 1988) and others in

women (Costa et al 1984 Stonewater 1987) A detailed study need to be conducted

to look into the reason of preferring Conventional interests in male students in the

present study Overall the results partially supported the hypothesis that male prefer

186

Realistic Investigative and Enterprising interests while female prefer Social and

Artistic interests

In Pakistan two main types of subjects are being taught at high school level in

government schools The science group consists of science subjects while in Arts

group the subjects are from humanities group After passing the middle classes the

students were allotted science and arts group to carry on study in 9th

class The criteria

of allotting science and arts groups to students differ from school to school Some of

the schools allot science group to those students who scored better in middle class

examination and arts group to those who have less mark In some school the allotment

depends on the number of seats and capacity in the class Still some schools have

limited faculty to teach science or arts subject therefore the allotment is according to

their convenience However it was observed that in some school the student interest

and his preferences for the choice is taken as the criterion for allotment Overall there

is no set criterion of allotment of science and Arts subjects to the students of high

schools

The result showed (see Table 40) that the summary codes choices of Science

and Arts group students also differ from each other The science and Arts group

students have Conventional as the most preferred summary code The second highest

score of science students is of Investigative type This showed that science students

have some preferences for Investigative type occupations which entail scientific

abilities The Investigative type likes investigative jobs and has mathematical and

scientific ability The students of Arts group have Social and Artistic type preferences

This also showed that Arts students have some preferences for Social and Artistic

type occupations The summary scores of 2nd

summary code and 3rd

summary code

showed the scattered pattern for the science students Overall science students have a

187

well defined vocational pattern to some extent in accordance with the Holland

typology The Arts students study arts or humanities subject in their curriculum The

first summary code score of Arts students showed that 113 students highest code is

Conventional followed by 95 students have Social and 63 students have Artistic

codes as their highest scores The results showed that Arts students also have well

defined summary code scores to some extent according to Holland typology

The findings partially supported the hypothesis that Science students preferred

Realistic and Investigative types as compared to Arts group The findings also

partially supported the hypothesis that Arts students preferred Artistic Social and

Enterprising types as compared to science students The results also supported the

hypothesis that both science and arts students preferred Conventional types and is

supported by the existing literature (Leung amp Hua 2005 Staggs et al 2007) The

findings of the study about Science and Arts students are also supported by the

research conducted in Hong Kong by Chang (1981) and supplemented the existing

body of literature about differences between gender and science and Arts students

However the findings also drew attention to the ever changing nature of phenomena

and suggested ongoing research pertaining to this important topic

Vocational interests are associated with behaviors that reflect an individuals

choice to engage in tasks and activities they like Congruency is the primary concept

in which realistic personality in a realistic environment would prove to be highly

consistent to fulfill the interests and skills of the person The relation between the

vocational aspirations and vocational interests is very significant Hence there is a

requirement to investigate the level of congruence between vocational interests and

vocational aspirations of students

188

Chapter VI

Part 5 VOCATIONAL ASPIRATIONS OF THE STUDENTS

This part of the research was designed to explore in detail the vocational

aspirations of the students Vocational aspirations are measured as part of SDS and

are considered as the validity check on the SDS summary codes In Pakistan there is

no concept of employing career counselors in the school The students are left on the

mercy of different moderators which influence them to choose certain occupations as

their future choices The job opportunities available in the market where students

have easy access and are open to all students on merit and job security are some of

the main reasons of selecting particular occupations as future choices Therefore the

present study explored in detail the vocational aspirations of the students Majority of

the students mentioned doctor army teacher lawyer and engineer as their vocational

aspirations The gender differences were also studied in this part of the research The

degree of agreement between vocational aspirations and vocational interests of the

students were also determined The objectives of the study are

Objectives

1 To compare gender differences on vocational aspirations of the students

2 To find out the differences on personality and vocational interests with respect

to vocational aspirations

3 To determine the degree of agreement between vocational aspirations and

vocational interests of the students

189

Hypotheses

1 Female students are likely to aspire more Social Artistic and Conventional

codes as compared to male students

2 Male students are likely to aspire more Investigative Realistic and

Enterprising codes as compared to female students

3 Doctor as a vocational aspiration of students is likely to have high degree of

agreement with their Investigative SDS summary code

4 Army as a vocational aspiration of students is likely to have high degree of

agreement with their Realistic SDS summary code

5 Teacher as a vocational aspiration of students is likely to have high degree of

agreement with their Social SDS summary code

6 Lawyer as a vocational aspiration of students is likely to have high degree of

agreement with their Enterprising SDS summary code

7 Engineer as a vocational aspiration of students is likely to have high degree of

agreement with their Realistic and Investigative SDS summary codes

OperationalConceptual Definitions

Vocational aspirations Vocational aspirations of the students are the

prospective vocational choices of the student which they intended to adopt in future

Vocational aspirations and matching occupational codes According to Hollandlsquos

(1997) coding system as RIASEC using the Dictionary of Holland Occupational

Codes (Gottfredson amp Holland 1996) the profession Doctor should have the

Investigative (I) as highest occupational code the profession Army should have the

Realistic (R) as highest occupational code the profession Teacher should have the

190

Social (S) as highest occupational code the profession Lawyer should have the

Enterprising (E) as highest occupational code and the profession Engineer should

have the Realistic (R) and Investigative (I) as highest occupational code

Degree of agreement The relationship between the code of the current

vocational aspiration and the SDS summary code represent degree of agreement

When the first letter code of the current aspiration and the SDS are the same the

likelihood of a person maintaining that aspiration is very high A simpler index of

agreement between any two codes can also be obtained by employing the hexagonal

model The scoring procedure entailed comparing the first letter codes for the current

vocational aspiration and the highest summary SDS codes The higher the score the

closer the agreement Detailed scoring procedure is attached at Appendix Alsquo

Personality The conceptual definitions of personality and main domains of

personality are mentioned above in chapter III pages 85 to 93

Vocational interests The conceptual definitions of vocational interests

including personality types are mentioned above in chapter III pages 97 to 99

Summary codes The operational definition of summary codes is mentioned

above in chapter V pages 178 to 179

Instruments

Following instruments were used in the study

4 NEO PI-R

5 SDS

6 Demographic Sheet

7 Future Possibilities Questionnaire

(See details about instruments in chap III pages 78 to 99)

191

Sample

The sample of the study consisted of 482 students selected from the main

sample of the study (see chapter IV pages 120 to 123) The sample has been taken

randomly within the school The sample was selected based on the five most preferred

vocational aspirations of the students (doctor army teacher lawyer and engineer)

There are 4 boys and 3 girlslsquo schools 2 boy schools and 2 girl schools were selected

from urban areas of Rawalpindi while 2 boys and 1 girl school were selected from

rural area of Rawalpindi There are 243 male students and 239 female students 271

are in 9th

class and 211 in 10th

class students 254 are Science students and 228 are

Arts students Urban students are 321 and rural students are 161 Their age range is

from 14 years to 19 years with a mean age of 1566 years The average fatherslsquo

income is Rs 7669- approximately

Procedure

(Details are given in chapter IV pages 123 to 124)

Results

In this study gender differences on vocational aspirations of the students were

computed Highest summary codes of students based on vocational aspirations were

determined The degree of agreement between vocational aspiration and SDS

summary codes were also explored The results are shown below

192

Table 41

Vocational aspirations of students (N = 482)

Vocational aspirations

Gender

Doctor Army Teacher lawyer Engineer

Male students

(N = 243)

75 124 7 10 27

Female students

(N = 239)

118 15 51 45 10

Total 193 139 58 55 37

The finding in Table 41 showed the frequencies of vocational aspirations of

both male and female students Doctor seems to be favorite career for both boys and

girls Male preferred Army predominantly while very few female opted for this

choice Teaching is the profession which the girls liked most Very few boys opted for

the teaching profession Lawyer as a profession is the favorite for the female as

compared to the male Engineering is more liked by boys as compared to girls The

results showed gender differences between the vocational aspirations of the students

Table 42

The frequencies of highest summary codes of male (N = 243) and female (N = 239)

students on six personality types measured by SDS

Gender

SDS Summary Codes

Realistic

R

Investigative

I

Artistic

A

Social

S

Enterprising

E

Conventional

C

Male students 21 50 24 43 32 114

Female students 4 49 63 83 20 60

Note SDS = Self Directed Search

The findings in Table 42 indicated the gender differences between male and

female students on the highest summary codes on six personality types Summary

codes having equal scores are also included in the scoring Highest summary codes of

193

243 male students who aspired about different vocations were calculated on six

personality types The results showed that male students have preference for

Conventional type followed by Investigative and Social types Highest summary

codes of 239 female students were computed on six personality types The results

showed that female students have preference for Social code followed by Artistic and

Conventional codes Overall the results proved that male students aspired more

Realistic Enterprising and Conventional codes as compared to female students

While female students aspired more Social Artistic codes as compared to male

students The results supported hypotheses no 1 and 2

Table 43

Mean and standard deviation between five groups based on vocational aspirations of

students on their scores on five domains of NEO PI-R (N = 482)

Domains of

personality

Vocational Aspirations

Doctor

(N = 193)

Army

(N = 139)

Teacher

(N = 58)

Lawyer

(N = 55)

Engineer

(N = 37)

M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD

Neuroticism 13815 1392 13565 1667 13905 1426 14131 11 1426 13946 1248

Extraversion 15057 1400 15084 1269 14879 1353 15534 11 1410 15008 1343

Openness 13693 987 13507 930 13455 888 13736 11 1033 13435 968

Agreeable-

ness

16484 1543 16485 1412 16490 1404 16536 11 1407 16832 1180

Conscientiou

sness

17034 1792 17296 1978 16740 1489 17278 11 1619 17251 2072

Note M = means scores SD = standard deviation NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Openness Extraversion

Personality Inventory

Table 43 indicated the mean and standard deviation of five groups of students

on the five domain of NEO PI-R The group having the vocational aspiration of

194

lawyers have the highest mean scores on Neuroticism (M = 14131) followed by

engineers (M = 13946) and teachers (M = 13904) The group of students whose

vocational aspirations are lawyer have the highest mean on Extraversion (M =

15534) and Openness (M = 13736) The group of students having the vocational

aspiration of engineer have the highest mean scores (M = 16832) on Agreeableness

The group of students having the vocational aspiration of Army have the highest

mean scores (M = 17296) on Conscientiousness

Repeated measure ANOVA

Repeated measure ANOVA is a technique used to test the quality of means

The repeated measures test is more powerful because it separates between-subject

variability from within-subject variability

Table 44

Repeated Measure Analysis of variance (ANOVA) for five groups based on vocational

aspirations of students on their scores on five main domains of personality (N = 482)

Effects MS df F Greenhouse-Geisser

Personality 46927511 4 23910 p lt 001

Personality x

Vocational Aspirations

212801 16 1084 p lt 371

Personality x Gender 371554 4 1893 p lt 137

Personality x

Vocational Aspirations x

Gender

124512 16 634 p lt 792

Error 196270 1888

p lt 001 Male = 243 Female = 239 Personality means five main domains of personality (neuroticism

extraversion openness agreeableness and conscientiousness) Vocational aspirations means five groups of

students based on five vocational aspiration (Doctor Army Teacher Lawyer and Engineer)

Mauchly‟s Test W = 40 χ 2 (9) = 42794 p lt 001 Wilks‟ Lambda = 096 F (4 16) =0 97 p gt 05

195

In order to test sphericity Mauchlylsquos Test was inspected which tests for the

equivalence of the hypothesized and the observed variancecovariance patterns The

test was highly significant W = 40 χ 2 (9) = 42794 p lt 001 suggesting that the

assumption of sphericity had been violated A one-way within subjects (or repeated

measures) ANOVA was conducted to compare the effect of five group based on

vocational aspirations on five main domains of personality However results in Table

44 suggested that only personality has significant differences within subjects however

there is no significant effects of personality vocational aspirations and gender There

is no significant effect of the vocational aspirations Wilkslsquo Lambda = 96 F (4 16) =

97 p gt 05 These results suggested that vocational aspirations really do not have an

effect on five domains of personality

Table 45

Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose vocational aspiration is

Doctor (N = 193)

Summary codes

Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

1stsummary code 5 48 24 47 15 54

2nd

summary code 7 38 32 40 30 46

3rd

summary code 13 25 35 33 58 29

Note SDS = Self Directed Search 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary code as second

highest summary SDS code 3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

Table 45 showed the frequencies of first three SDS summary codes for

students whose prospective vocational choice is doctor The three highest SDS

summary codes for each student were computed The dominant summary code is

Conventional as 54 studentslsquo highest code followed by Investigative as 48 studentslsquo

196

highest summary code 47 students highest summary code is Social while 24 studentslsquo

highest summary code is Artistic According to Holland an Investigative type likes

Investigative jobs has mathematical and scientific ability but often lacks leadership

ability They are described as analytical curious intellectual reserved and precise

According to Holland classification the vocational choice doctor should have an

Investigative type as their first summary code However 48 students scored

Investigative type as their highest summary code This showed that those opted for

doctor has some parity with the prospective vocational choice and thus partially

supported the hypothesis no 3

Table 46

Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose vocational aspiration is Army

(N = 139)

Summary codes

Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

1st summary code 7 27 14 24 20 47

2nd

summary code 12 24 15 21 31 36

3rd

summary code 19 19 10 38 32 21

Note SDS = Self Directed Search 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary code as second

highest summary SDS code 3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

Table 46 showed the frequencies of first three SDS summary codes for

students whose prospective vocational choice is Army The three highest SDS

summary codes for each student were computed The dominant summary code is

Conventional as 47 studentslsquo highest code followed by Investigative as 27 studentslsquo

first choice 24 students highest summary code is Social while 20 studentslsquo highest

summary code is Enterprising According to Holland Conventional types has clerical

and arithmetic ability They are conforming conscientious orderly persistent and

197

practical For Army the Realistic should be predominant choice while only 7 studentslsquo

highest summary score is Realistic This showed the degree of incongruence between

vocational aspiration of Army and SDS summary code Thus hypothesis no 4 is not

supported by the results

Table 47

Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose prospective vocational choice

is Teacher (N = 58)

Summary codes

Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

1st summary code 0 4 16 21 3 16

2nd

summary code 4 5 14 15 9 11

3rd

summary code 3 15 11 8 11 11

Note SDS = Self Directed Search 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary code as second

highest summary SDS code 3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

The results in Table 47 displayed the overall frequencies of first three

summary codes computed from SDS for the students whose prospective vocational

choice is teacher The dominant summary code is Social as 21 studentslsquo highest code

followed by each Artistic and Conventional as 16 studentslsquo highest summary code

According to Holland classification the vocational choice of teacher should have

Social as their first summary code Social type like social jobs has social skills and

talents but often lacks mechanical and scientific ability They are described as

cooperative friendly kind persuasive tactful and warm However 21 students

attained social as their highest summary code This showed that those opted for

teachers have some degree of congruence between the vocational aspirations of

198

teacher and original summary codes Hence hypothesis no 5 is partially supported by

the results

Table 48

Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose prospective vocational choice

is Lawyer (N = 55)

Summary codes

Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

1st summary code 2 5 10 24 2 11

2nd

summary code 2 15 18 9 3 8

3rd

summary code 1 8 11 4 17 15

Note SDS = Self Directed Search 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary code as second

highest summary SDS code 3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

Table 48 showed the frequencies of first three SDS summary codes for

students whose prospective vocational choice is lawyer The dominant summary code

is Social as 24 studentslsquo highest code followed by Conventional and Artistic as 11 and

10 studentslsquo highest summary code respectively 2 students highest summary code is

Enterprising According to Holland classification the vocational choice of lawyer

should have Enterprising as their first summary code The Enterprising types show

preference for activities that involve manipulation of others to achieve organizational

goals or economic gain perceive themselves as aggressive self-confident and

sociable and value political and economic achievement They liked enterprising jobs

and have leadership and speaking abilities but often lacks scientific ability However

24 students attained social as their highest summary code which is adjacent to

enterprising type This showed that those opted for lawyers have degree of

199

incongruence between the vocational aspirations and their vocational interests Thus

hypothesis no 6 is not supported by the results

Table 49

Frequencies of SDS Summary scales of students whose prospective choice is Engineer

(N = 37)

Summary codes

Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

1st summary code 4 5 9 5 3 13

2nd

summary code 2 6 3 5 11 11

3rd

summary code 7 8 2 9 7 5

Note SDS = Self Directed Search 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary code as second

highest summary SDS code 3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

The results indicated in Table 49 displayed the overall frequencies of first

three summary codes computed from SDS for students whose prospective vocational

choice is engineer The dominant summary code is Conventional as 13 studentslsquo

highest code followed by Artistic as 9 studentslsquo highest summary code 5 students

highest summary code is Investigative and the same number ie 5 studentslsquo highest

summary code is Social According to Holland classification most of the engineering

discipline has Investigative as their highest code and some have Realistic also

However 5 students attained investigative type as their highest summary code This

shows that those opted for engineering have high degree of incongruence between the

vocational aspiration of engineer and original summary codes Thus hypothesis no 7

is not supported by the results

200

Table 50

Frequencies of scores obtained from highest Summary code of students (Males and

females) based on five groups of vocational aspirations of students via hexagonal

model (N = 482)

Vocational

aspirations of

students

Highest

summary code

from

classification

booklet

Frequencies of scores obtained from highest summary

codes based on hexagonal model

1 2 3 4

M F M F M F M F

Doctor

(N = 193

I 6 6 44 53 8 28 17 31

Army

(N = 139)

R 15 3 23 4 79 7 6 1

Teacher

(N = 58)

S 0 0 4 16 3 14 0 21

Lawyer

(N = 55)

E 0 3 4 9 6 31 0 2

Engineer

(N = 37)

IR 3 0 14 1 7 7 3 2

Note M = Male F = Female I = Investigative R = Realistic S = Social E = Enterprising 4 score means that

highest summary code and Holland classification code correspond with each other 3 means that highest summary

codes and Holland classification codes are adjacent on the hexagon 2 means that the highest summary codes and

Holland classification codes are on alternate on the hexagon and 1 means that the highest summary codes and

Holland classification codes are on the opposite side on the hexagon

Table 50 showed the relationship between vocational aspirations of the

students and highest summary scale based on hexagonal model 193 students opted

doctor as their vocational aspirations and their highest summary code from

classification booklet is Investigative Highest summary code of 17 male students

matched with their highest prospective code while 8 studentslsquo score were adjacent and

44 studentslsquo score were on the alternate position on hexagon Similarly 31 female

studentslsquo highest summary code matched with their highest vocational aspirations

201

code 28 studentslsquo score are on adjacent types while 53 studentslsquo scores are on the

alternate types on hexagon These results also partially supported hypothesis no 3

139 students opted for army as their vocational aspiration their choices and

highest summary scale on SDS were compared based on hexagonal model The

results showed that only 6 male students vocational aspirations matched with their

highest summary code ie Realistic 79 studentslsquo summary scales were adjacent to

Realistic type 23 male students have alternate matching with the summary scale

while 15 students have opposite summary scale Similarly 1 female student vocational

aspiration and highest summary code matched with each other while 7 students

summary code are adjacent to their prospective choice highest code The results

obtained from hexagonal model did not support hypothesis no 4

58 students opted for teacher as their vocational aspiration and the highest

summary code for teacher is Social 7 male students were on the adjacent or alternate

type 21 female student highest summary codes matched with their highest

prospective vocational choice code 14 students summary code were on adjacent types

while 16 students were on alternate type Thus the results supported hypothesis no 5

for female students

55 students opted for lawyer as their vocational aspiration while the code for

the choice lawyer is Enterprising 6 male students highest summary codes were on

adjacent types and 4 students codes were on alternate types 2 female students highest

code matched with highest vocational aspirations code while 31 female studentslsquo

highest summary codes were on adjacent types The results also did not support

hypothesis no 6

37 students opted engineer as their vocational aspirations whereas the highest

summary code for the engineer choice is Investigative 3 male students highest

202

summary code matched with their highest prospective choice code7 students highest

summary codes were on adjacent types while 7 studentslsquo summary codes were on

alternate types 2 female students highest summary code matched with their

vocational aspiration highest code while 7 female students summary scale were on the

adjacent types on the hexagon This also not supported the hypothesis no 7 Overall

the results provided partial support for doctor and teacher vocational aspirations while

there is a state of incongruence between the vocational aspirations of army lawyer

and engineer and their SDS summary codes

Discussion

The study was designed to explore the vocational aspirations of the students

and determine their differences on personality and vocational interests Miller et al

(2004) studied the relationship of expressed occupational daydreams and scores on

the Self-Directed Search (SDS) and found results consistent with Hollands theory of

careers It has long been recognized that personal daydreams about ourselves have

relevance for career planning and are a relatively good predictor of vocational choice

(Brown amp Brooks 1991 Touchton amp Magoon 1977 Yanico 1981)

In the existing theoretical and empirical literature vocational interests and

career goalsaspirations are frequently referred to as measured versus expressed

interests (Spokane amp Decker 1999) The first referred to interests as they are assessed

with standardized interest inventories representing a central part of a personlsquos

personality (Holland 1999) The latter referred to stated vocational aspirations which

are considered an expression of a personlsquos self-concept (Super 1990)

203

Literature supported the facilitative role of the use of occupational daydreams

within the context of career counseling (Crabbs 1979 Sarnoff amp Remer 1982)

Holland et al (1994) indicated that current vocational daydreams are a moderate to

good predictor of later career behaviors The evidence for relying on a personlsquos

occupational aspirations for the prediction of occupational field are presented by

Holland and Lutz (1968) Holland and Whitney (1968) Dolliver (1969) Whitney

(1969) Holland Gottfredson amp Nafziger (1973) Holland (1985b) Holland and

Gottfredson (1975) McLaughlin and Tiedeman (1974) Touchton and magoon

(1977) OlsquoNeil and Magoon (1977) Borgen and Seling (1978) and Gottfredson and

Holland (1975) These studies indicated that the category of peoplelsquos current

vocational aspirations or the history of their aspirations is a moderate to efficient

predictor of the category of their current aspiration major field vocational plan or

current occupation over one three four and eleven-year intervals People whose

aspirations belong to the same category are more predictable than people whose

aspirations belong to different categories Holland (1968) showed that a personlsquos

history of occupational preferences and especially the most recent preferences are

good estimates of what will choose or do next The same findings are also supportive

of studies (Ansari 1981 Aziz 2001 Riaz 1995 Zaidi 1979) conducted on

occupational aspirations in Pakistani context

In the present study the five most reported or preferred career of students of

government schools were doctor army teacher advocate and engineer 482 students

opted for the five types of vocational aspirations 118 female students and 75 male

students opted doctorlsquo as their first choice Doctor is considered as the most favorite

career in Pakistan Only those students can get admission in professional medical

colleges who achieved very good marks in science subjects In Pakistan doctor is

204

considered as the best job for female students 124 male students opted Army as their

favorite choice while only 15 female opted Armylsquo as their daydream choice This

showed that male have preference to join Army In Pakistan where there are limited

job opportunities getting jobs in government department on merit is considered as

very difficult therefore armed forces provide sufficient opportunities to the youth to

join on merit Moreover due to job security armed forces are still the best option

available for male students

51 female students wanted to be teacher while only 7 male opted teacher as

their favorite career Again the profession of teacher is considered as one of the best

for females There are some moderating factors which start influencing the students

from very early age These effects needed to be studied in depth for better

understanding about the vocational aspirations of the students 45 female wanted to be

advocate in their life while only 10 male studentslsquo favorite career was advocate This

showed that female are coming out and adopting different occupations which were not

considered suitable earlier During the past few decades the government has provided

lot of job opportunities to female in different department Hence they are competing

neck to neck with their male counterparts 27 male students and 10 female students

opted engineerlsquo as their favorite career This showed that there are gender differences

between the vocational aspirations of students Therefore different career

opportunities for male and female should be planned and provided to the students by

the government

Gender differences were also calculated on the highest summary codes The

results showed that the male students aspired more Realistic Enterprising and

Conventional codes as compared to female students On the other hand female

students aspired more Artistic and Social codes as compared to male students

205

Previous researches also supported these conclusions (Betz et al 1996 Betz amp Klein

1996 Murray amp Hall 2001 Proyer amp Hausler 2007) These findings partially

supported the hypotheses no 1 and 2

The effects of prospective vocational choices of students on personality were

determined by comparing the mean differences between the five groups based on

vocational aspirations There were non-significant mean differences between

vocational aspirations of the students and personality The differences of five groups

of vocational aspirations on the vocational interests were computed by counting the

first second and third highest summary codes of each group The vocational

aspirations and the highest summary code should correspond with each other The

consistency in score may help the individual to choose the career of his choice and

has highest level of person-environment congruency or fit On the other hand

disparity between the prospective vocational choice and the highest summary code

may develop into incongruent situation

The findings reflected (see Table 45) the summary scale of students whose

prospective vocational choice is doctor have conventional (score of 54 students) as the

highest summary code Almost the same pattern is observed for 2nd

highest summary

code and 3rd

highest summary codes Since Conventional type is the choice of

majority of the students therefore it has the maximum score According to Holland

occupational classification (HOC) Investigative should be the highest summary code

for doctors In Pakistan there are occupations which depend on the classification of

science and arts group subjects For a doctor science subjects are compulsory Hence

investigative type has been the right choice as it entails scientific abilities This

showed the degree of agreement to some extent between the vocational aspiration of

doctor and their vocational interests

206

The highest summary code of students whose prospective vocational choice

was Army have conventional as the highest summary code of majority of the students

followed by Investigative Social and Enterprising Generally the same pattern is

observed for the 2nd

and 3rd

highest summary codes According to Holland

classification booklet the Realistic code represented the occupation of Army The

results showed the disparity between the vocational aspirations of the students and

their highest summary codes determined by SDS This indicated that their vocational

interests (activities competencies etc) did not correspond with the vocational

aspirations This incongruence need to be addressed as early as possible for the better

future of students

There are some occupations which do not depend on the classification of

science and arts subject Like occupation of army both science and arts students can

apply for enrolment in regular Army however in PAF and Navy the candidates

should have science subjects Even in Army specialized courses require science as

their major subjects The results showed index of incongruence between the

vocational aspiration and vocational interests of students whose choice is Army The

summary scales of students whose vocational aspiration was teacher showed that 21

students have social as their highest code while 16 students have Artistic as their

highest summary code Same pattern was observed for the 2nd

and 3rd

highest

summary code According to HOC booklet teachers should have Social as their

highest summary code This showed the moderate index of agreement between the

vocational aspirations of teacher and highest summary code

The summary scales of students whose prospective vocational choice was

Lawyer showed that 24 students highest summary code was Social while 10 students

highest code was Artistic According to classification booklet the ESA is the summary

207

code for a lawyer Only 2 students highest summary code was Enterprising whereas

majority of the students have S and A as their highest summary code This showed

incongruence for the highest code but showed congruence for the 2nd

and 3rd

highest

codes The summary scale of students whose prospective vocational choice was

engineer showed that Conventional was the highest summary code of 13 students

followed by Artistic of 9 students According to HOC booklet the first highest code

of engineer is Investigative while mechanical engineering has Realistic as the first

summary code The results showed that 5 studentslsquo highest summary code is

investigative This showed the incongruence between the vocational aspiration as

engineer and their vocational interests

Gender differences were computed for the five groups of students based on

vocational aspirations and their scores on vocational interests by employing

hexagonal model According to hexagon model if the first choice of a vocational

aspiration occupational code and first choice of SDS summary scale match then the

individual gets 4 marks If the vocational aspiration occupational code and SDS

summary code are adjacent to each other the individual get 3 marks If they are on

alternate position on the hexagon then it will get 2 marks and If on opposite to each

other then it will get 1 mark The frequencies of scores of five group of vocational

aspirations based on hexagon model were plotted (see Table 50)

The frequencies of scores for doctors showed that only 17 male and 31 female

studentslsquo highest summary code and occupational code match with each other The

frequencies of scores for the army group showed that only 6 male and 1 female

student highest summary code and occupational code match with each other For

teacher none of the male students and 21 female studentslsquo highest summary code and

occupational code matched with each other For lawyer none of male and 2 female

208

studentslsquo highest summary code and occupational code matched with each other For

engineer only 3 male students and 2 female studentslsquo highest summary code and

occupational code matched This showed the degree of agreement between their

prospective vocational choices and highest SDS codes

Overall the results got partial support for the hypotheses no 3 to 7 that

vocational aspirations of students is likely to have high degree of agreement between

their vocational interests There were reasonably good degree of agreement between

vocational aspirations of doctors and teachers with their vocational interests among

students There was a moderate degree of agreement between vocational aspiration of

lawyer and their vocational interests However there was a state of incongruence

between the vocational aspirations of army and engineer with their vocational

interests among students

In government high school there is no mechanism where career guidance is

provided to the students Some teachers tried to guide the students according to their

knowledge but there is no institutional support to the students in this regard The

choices of vocational interest by students generally depend on the wishes and whims

of students Students either interact with their role model or they listen about it from

their parents teachers and peer The other problem is the availability of limited job

opportunities in Pakistan therefore the students aspiration are also limited In

government schools majority of the students are not able to achieve their vocational

aspiration because there is lot of competition for limited vacancies in a particular job

More over there is no proper guidance available to students at schools or

governmental level therefore their vocational aspirations of different occupations at

times did not correspond with their interest and competencies

209

Present results of the study may be of value to those career counselors who

assist students in the process of making career choices Based on the five most

preferred vocational aspirations of the students a study was designed to seek expert

opinion about personality and vocational interests The results attained based on

studentslsquo scores were validated with the opinion of experts of selected occupations to

add cultural relevance for the concepts used in the study

210

Chapter VII

Part 6 EXPERT OPINIONS ABOUT PERSONALITY AND

VOCATIONAL INTERESTS

This part of the study was designed to enhance the cultural relevance of

concepts used in the previous part of the research It was carried out to evaluate the

results about personality and vocational interests in view of expertslsquo opinion The

study endeavored to explore the personality patterns related to different occupations

by the experts It also investigated the identification of personality types defined by

Holland RIASEC model in Pakistani context which meaningfully correspond with

their respective profession by the experts An evaluation sheet was designed (see

Appendix Flsquo) to measure the personality profile related to different occupations by

the experts and find out the relevance of personality types with respective occupations

of experts Followings are the objectives of the study

Objectives

1 To determine the psychometric properties of the evaluation sheet

2 To evaluate the personality profiles about different occupations by the

professionals

3 To find out the relevance of personality types with the different occupations

by the professionals

No formal hypotheses were formulated in this part of the research The study

has been conducted in two phases

211

Phase 1

In this part of the study 5 most preferred vocations described by the students

were selected based on the information gathered from the previous part of the study

The selected preferred vocations sample and procedure are explained below

Selection of Preferred Vocations

During the administration of future possibilities questionnaire the students

were asked to write the vocational aspirations which they are going to adopt or select

in future Frequencies of the prospective vocational choices were calculated and the

first 5 most preferred vocational aspirations mentioned by the students were selected

for the study purposes The selected preferred occupations are listed below

a Doctor

b Army

c Teacher

d Advocate

e Engineer

Sample

Five professionals from each preferred career were selected There are 25

professionals from five different occupations (doctor army teacher lawyer and

engineer) A convenient sampling technique was used Experts having at least 20

212

years of service in particular fields were selected They were taken from both genders

where possible

Procedure

Prior appointments were made by the professionals Rapport was established

and the purpose of the study was explained to them The experts were given following

instructions

ldquoAs a student of National Institute of Psychology Quaid-i-Azam University

Islamabad I am conducting a research on the topic of ldquoPersonality and

Vocational interestsrdquo You being the expert in your field are requested to

describe the personality traits which in your own personal view should be

possessed by a professional _________________ on the following 30 traits of

personality Definitions of each trait of personality are also given below You

are requested to complete the evaluation sheet by rating the personality of

professional _______________ on a seven point rating scale (1 to 7) ranging

from bdquoleast required‟ to bdquomost required‟ You are also requested to choose one

of the six personality types which meaningfully correspond with your

profession The detailed definitions of each personality types are also printed

at the end of evaluation sheet Your cooperation in this regard will be highly

appreciatedrdquo

For the respondent who has to write the attributes of the doctors the word

doctor was written in the blank space Similarly for each expert of hisher field the

name of profession of that particular field was written in the instructions A total of 25

213

professionals (from both gender) were administered evaluation sheet A demographic

sheet was also attached with the evaluation sheet

Phase II

The statistical analysis was carried out to establish reliability and validity of

evaluation sheet Further analysis was carried out to evaluate the personality profiles

deliberated by the experts Personality types mentioned by experts for each vocation

were also noted down Mean differences were also computed between the experts of

five vocations

Results

The results related to reliability and validity of evaluation sheet evaluation of

personality traits and personality types by the experts are computed in the following

tables

ReliabilityValidity of Evaluation Sheet

The Alpha reliability coefficients of five main domains scales of personality in

Evaluation sheet were computed The item-total correlation between each item and

respective main scales were also computed The results are shown below

214

Table 51

Alpha reliability coefficient of five domains of Personality of Evaluation sheet (N=25)

Scales Number of items Alpha coefficients

Neuroticism 6 66

Extraversion 6 64

Openness 6 31

Agreeableness 6 58

Conscientiousness 6 78

Table 51 showed the Alpha reliability coefficients of 5 scales of Evaluation

sheet The 5 main scales showed moderate Alpha reliability coefficients ranging from

31 (Openness) to 78 (Conscientiousness) The low alpha reliability coefficients

were due to less number of items in each scale Low internal consistency of Openness

domain was also observed on the sample of students as well (see Table 12) The

results showed moderate internal consistency of the instrument

Table 52

Item-total correlation of five domains of Evaluation sheet (N=25) Neuroticism

(Items = 6)

r Extraversion

(Items = 6)

r Openness

(Items = 6)

r Agreeable

ness

(Items = 6)

r Conscientious

ness

(Items = 6)

r

q1 76 q7 44 q13 22 q19 19 q25 78

q2 33 q8 56 q14 76 q20 61 q26 78

q3 73 q9 66 q15 47 q21 47 q27 13

q4 49 q10 75 q16 30 q22 66 q28 61

q5 64 q11 66 q17 40 q23 44 q29 88

q6 73 q12 53 q18 69 q24 63 q30 79

Note q1 to q30 represent each item of Evaluation sheet

p lt 05 p lt 01 p lt 001

215

The findings in Table 52 showed the item-total correlations of each subscale

of Evaluation sheet The results displayed that almost all the items significantly

positively correlated with the total of their respective subscale except q2

(Neuroticism) q13 and q16 (Openness) q19 (Agreeableness) and q27

(Conscientiousness) This shows the construct validity of each subscale of Evaluation

sheet

Table 53

Inter-correlation of main scales of Evaluation sheet (N = 25)

Scale I II III IV V

I Neuroticism (N) -

II Extraversion (E) -41 -

III Openness (O) -07 60 -

IV Agreeableness (A) -24 23 19 -

V Conscientiousness (C) -49 48 31 57 -

p lt 05 P lt 01

Table 53 showed the inter-correlation of five main domains of Evaluation

sheet The results revealed that the 5 main scales are significantly correlated with each

other except Openness (O) and Agreeableness (A) domains Neuroticism (N) domain

is negatively correlated with all other domains The same pattern of inter-correlation

of five domains was observed on the sample of students (see Table 8 and 19) This

inter correlations matrix showed the construct validity of the five domains of

Evaluation sheet

216

In this part of the study repeated measure one way analysis of variance was

computed on five groups of expert on five domains of evaluation sheet The

frequencies of experts mentioning the personality types corresponding to their careers

were also calculated The results are shown below

Table 54

Mean and standard deviation between five groups of experts based on their scores on

five domains of Evaluation sheet (N = 25)

Domains of

personality

Experts of Selected Careers

Doctor

(N = 5)

Army

(N = 5)

Teacher

(N = 5)

Lawyer

(N = 5)

Engineer

(N = 5)

M SD M SD M SD M SD M S SD

Neuroticism 980 466 1060 207 1500 367 1620 11 521 1500 158

Extraversion 3160 385 3660 56 3600 200 3220 11 327 2920 327

Openness 2860 297 2980 249 3140 219 2940 11 573 2820 549

Agreeable-

ness

3500 283 3520 217 3320 487 3140 11 321 3140 288

Conscientiou

sness

3620 402 4040 140 3580 587 3440 11 541 3460 152

Note M = Mean scores SD = Standard deviation

Table 54 indicated the mean and standard deviation of five groups of experts

of five different careers on the five domain of evaluation sheet The lawyers group has

the highest mean scores on Neuroticism followed by teacher and engineers Army

group has the highest mean on Extraversion followed by teacher Teachers group has

the highest mean scores on Openness followed by Army and lawyers group Army

217

and doctors group have the highest mean on Agreeableness domain Army group have

the highest mean on Conscientiousness followed by the doctors

Repeated measure ANOVA

Repeated measure ANOVA is used to separates between-subject variability

from within-subject variability

Table 55

Repeated Measure Analysis of variance (ANOVA) between five groups of experts

based on their scores on five domains of Evaluation sheet (N = 25)

Effects MS df F Greenhouse-Geisser

Five domains of Evaluation

sheet

208753 4 17765 p lt 001

Five domains of Evaluation

sheet x Vocations of Experts

2644 16 225 p lt 024

Error 1175 80

p lt 001 p lt 05 Male = 243 Female = 239 Five main domains of Evaluation sheet (neuroticism

extraversion openness agreeableness and conscientiousness) Five groups of experts based on five vocations

(Doctor Army Teacher Lawyer and Engineer)Mauchly‟s Test W = 37 χ 2 (9) = 1816 p lt 05

Wilks‟ Lambda = 027 F (4 16) =1 75 p gt 05

In order to test sphericity Mauchlylsquos Test was inspected which was

significant W = 37 χ 2 (9) = 1816 p lt 05 suggesting that the assumption of

sphericity had been violated A one-way within subjects (or repeated measures)

ANOVA was conducted to compare the effect of five group of vocations on five main

domains of evaluation sheet However results in Table 55 suggested that five domains

of evaluation sheet have significant differences within subjects however there are

non-significant effects of five groups of expert on five domains of evaluation sheet

218

(Wilkslsquo Lambda = 027 F (4 16) =1 75 p gt 050 These results suggested that

different vocations do not have an effect on five domains of evaluation sheet

Table 56

Frequencies of expert opinions about personality types corresponding with their

careers (N = 25)

Career

expert

N Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

Doctor 5 - 4 - 1 - -

Army 5 - - - - 5 -

Teacher 5 - - - 5 - -

Lawyer 5 - - - 1 4 -

Engineer 5 1 4 - - - -

The frequencies mentioned in Table 56 showed the expert opinion about the

personality types which correspond with their profession The results demonstrated

that doctors picked Investigative type which corresponds with their profession

According to Holland occupational title classification (HOC) doctors have the

investigative as their highest summary code This showed the degree of agreement

between expert opinion and Holland summary codes The experts belonging to Army

group selected Enterprising personality type which corresponds with their profession

According to HOC army occupation has the Realistic as their highest summary code

This showed disparity between expert opinion and highest summary code for army

occupation The experts from teachers group preferred Social personality type as the

most suitable type which corresponds with their profession According to HOC

219

teachers should have Social as their highest summary code This showed degree of

agreement between expert opinion of group of teacher and corresponding Holland

summary code

The lawyers group of experts picked Enterprising as their suitable type which

also corresponds with Holland summary code The engineer group selected

Investigative as the most suitable personality type which also corresponds with the

Holland summary code Overall the results showed that there is a correspondence

between expert opinion and Holland classification of occupation except the

occupation of Army which is one of the most preferred careers of students in

Pakistan

Discussion

The study was conducted on the five groups of experts which were selected on

the basis of five favorite vocational aspirations of students In total 25 experts were

selected to determine the expert opinion about personality and vocational interests in

Pakistani context The Alpha reliabilities coefficients of five domains measured by

evaluation sheet also show moderate Alpha value except Openness domain (α = 31)

This also showed that the relevance of Openness domain to the Pakistani culture need

to be deliberated with more validity studies on different samples

One way repeated measure analysis of variance was calculated for the five

groups of experts on five domains of evaluation sheets The results showed that mean

differences between the five groups of experts Lawyer have the highest mean on

220

Neuroticism (M = 1620 SD = 521) as compared to other groups Similar finding

were observed when one way repeated measure analysis of variance was conducted

on five groups of students based on vocational aspirations on five domains of NEO

PI-R (see Table 44) There were non-significant differences on five domains however

lawyer have the highest mean on Neuroticism as compared to other groups On

Extraversion domain significant mean differences were also observed on five groups

of experts The mean scores of army and teacher groups have the highest mean value

as compared to other groups

The five groups of experts were also given the conceptual definitions of six

personality types of vocational interests They were requested to choose the one

personality type out of six which correspond with your profession The result showed

that 4 doctors picked investigative type while 1 picked social type According to

Holland occupational classification (HOC) physicians have investigative as their first

summary code The results corresponded for the group of doctors

All five experts from regular Army picked enterprising as their most

corresponding personality type According to HOC Army has Realistic type as their

highest summary code This showed a disparity between the HOC classification and

expert opinion The Enterprising types show preference for activities that involve

manipulation of others to achieve organizational goals or economic gain perceive

themselves as aggressive self-confident and sociable and value political and

economic achievement The enterprising type like enterprising jobs and has leadership

and speaking abilities but often lacks scientific ability They are energetic extraverted

adventurous and domineering etc While Realistic types are predisposed to activities

221

that entail working with objects perceive themselves as having mechanical and

athletic abilities and value the tangibles They prefer activities involving the

systematic manipulation of machinery tools or animals The Realistic type like

realistic jobs and has mechanical abilities but may lack social skills They are asocial

practical conforming uninsightful uninvolved and hardheaded

For teachers all the expert rated Social type as their most suitable type The

HOC classification also reported Social as their highest summary code for teacher

For Lawyer and Engineer the expert opinion and HOC classification are almost the

same

Overall the findings of the this part of the study are supportive of the

conclusions drawn from the previous parts of present study except for the relevance of

occupation of army when compared with the Holland occupational classification The

results revealed that cultural relevance of some of the occupations mentioned in the

HOC classification need to be established in Pakistan

222

Chapter VIII

GENERAL DISCUSSION

The study was designed to find out the personality and vocational interests

among students from government high schools in Pakistan It also explored the

vocational aspirations of the students Based on the vocational aspirations of the

students five most favorite career choices were selected The differences between

Personality profiles for these careers deliberated by the experts belonging to these five

selected vocations were also investigated The personality types corresponding to

different careers in the opinion of experts of selected career were also determined

The differences with respect to demographic variables (gender sciencearts

urbanrural 9th

10th

class and parentslsquo education) on personality and vocational

interests were also explored

In Pakistan there are different types of schools Some of the schools are from

public sector and other belongs to private sector In private sector there are different

categories of schools Some of the schools systems are well established and their

branches are situated all over Pakistan Whereas some private schools are established

with different names and are present in every nook and corner of the urbanized

localities of Pakistan In government schools again there are different categories

Some of the schools are public schools some are cadet colleges and some are under

the administrative control of provinces The government schools are present in urban

223

areas as well as in rural areas of Pakistan In rural areas of Pakistan there are very

few private schools available for students whereas the bulk of the students belonging

to rural areas are bound to study in government schools The government schools

have nominal fee structure as compared to private schools Moreover people from low

socio-economic status can only afford to send their children in government schools

The government schools in a province generally have a common syllabus In

Punjab these schools are also called as Urdu medium schools In Pakistan about 70

of the population lives in rural areas Therefore these schools cater for the students

belonging to large segment of society The results of focus groups and interviews

showed that there are no school psychologistslsquo or career counselorslsquo posted to these

schools After passing middle standard examinations the students are to choose

between two main categories of science subjects and Arts subjects (humanities

group) The science and arts groups of students have not only different subjects to

study but there are many careers which depend on these categories Hence the present

study focused students in their schools years to understand the dynamics of

personality and vocational interests

Two most widely used models to measure personality and vocational interests

are FFM and Hollandlsquos typology respectively Costa and McCrae (1992a) developed

the measure NEO PI-R based on five factor model Holland has proposed a

comprehensive model of vocational interests which is another expression of

personality Holland (1994) has developed a comprehensive measure of vocational

interests ie Self Directed Search (SDS) Vocational aspirations of the participants

are also explored which is considered as the part of SDS Keeping in view the sample

224

characteristics it was decided that Urdu translated version of NEO PI-R and SDS

would be used to measure personality and vocational interests The sample of the

study consisted of students from Urdu medium government schools from Rawalpindi

Urdu being the national language is being taught and spoken customarily in these

schools On the other hand in English medium schools the focus is more in written as

well as spoken English Urdu is being neglected in these categories of schools

During interviews and focus groups from principal and teachers of Urdu

medium government schools (see chapter II for details) it was revealed that Urdu as a

language can be easily read and comprehended by the students of Urdu medium

schools The test contents of Urdu version of NEO PI-R and SDS were discussed in

detail with the experts and even with the principal of schools It was decided that

comprehensive Urdu translated versions are available and can be used to determine

the relevance of these two widely used model of personality and vocational interests

on the high school students

The relationship between personality and vocational interests of the high

school students proved that substantial relationship existed between the two models

(for details see chapter IV pages 144 to 150) Extraversion is significantly correlated

with Social and Enterprising interests Openness domain is significantly correlated

with all the six personality types (see Table 23) The findings are supported by the

other studies like Nauta (2004) and Rottinghaus Lindley Green amp Borgen (2002)

Hartman and Betz (2007) also found that Conscientiousness is related to Investigative

Social Enterprising and Conventional confidence Neuroticism is negatively related

225

to all but artistic interests and Extraversion related to Artistic Social and

Enterprising domains

Agreeableness domain is significantly correlated with all the personality types

except Realistic and Social types Conscientiousness domain is significantly

positively correlated with all the six personality types The results showed moderate

strong relationship between Conscientiousness and Conventional type (see Table 23)

The meta-analytic results of Larson et al (2002) study were especially helpful in

identifying modest but positive relationships between the big dimensions of interests

and personality Thus three correlations range from 22 to 28 investigative is

correlated with openness correlated conventional is correlated with

conscientiousness and enterprising is correlated with conscientiousness The

implications of these meta-analytic results suggested new conceptualizations of

understanding of both personality and interest

Personality and vocational interests are strongly related starting with the early

study by Costa et al (1984) and to the most recent studies (Barrett 2009 Barrick et

al 2003 Bullock amp Reardon 2008 Ehrhart amp Makransky 2007 Hartman amp Betz

2007 Harris et al 2006 Larson et al 2002 Logue et al 2007 Staggs et al 2007

Zhang 2008)

Gottfredson (1999) suggested that future genetic analysis will help to identify

the common causal factors between interests and personality Costa et al (1995) have

introduced a vocational-like measure intended to mimic the Big Five labeled the

NEO Job Profiler a tool that quantify the match between the person and a specific

226

position Therefore the integration of personality and vocational interest will provide a

more holistic and accurate picture of the person

Thus the conclusion from two meta-analyses (Barrick et al 2003 Larson et

al 2002) is that there is modest relationship between personality and vocational

interest types and in some cases the correlations are very nominal The same is the

case with the present study One of the limitations was that the openness dimension

showed low reliability coefficient among the study participants However the

meaningful significant and consistent results regarding the relation of openness to

interests supported the measurelsquos validity within this sample However the facet

scales Fantasy Actions and Values of Openness domain need to be deliberated

thoroughly for their relevance in Pakistani culture

The existing theoretical reviews provided the information for counseling

applications in the areas of vocational and educational outcomes For instance the

extraversion and enterprising overlap can provide information which can be helpful

for the vocational counselor (Staggs et al 2007) The client who is extraverted and

has enterprising interests is likely to be successful at jobs which are related to

extraverted and enterprising characteristics as compared to the individual who does

not possess extraverted and enterprising personality disposition This information is

useful for general direction but more specific input is required for more complex

career counseling Many psychologists have moved forward from this general

information toward more precise and complex Personality-Interest convergence

(Blake amp Sackett 1999 Waller et al 1995)

227

It has been observed in the literature review that Conscientiousness and

Emotional Stability are consistently related to job performance (Barrick et al 2001

Hurtz amp Donovan 2000 Salgado 1997) Judge and Ilies (2002) were of the opinion

that conscientiousness and emotional stability are related to motivation coupled with

performance orientation These two traits are also related with goal setting and self-

efficacy Conscientiousness is coupled with limited problem in work behaviors and is

associated with suitable behaviors in the job in hand (Barrick et al 2001 Salgado

1997) Conscientiousness individual are generally easily fit into the jobs which

require conventional interests They generally prefer organizational cultures that are

outcome and detail oriented (Hofstee et al 1992 Judge amp Cable 1997)

Agreeableness traits are associated with motivation only when cooperative

demands and teamwork are required in the jobs Agreeableness was non-significantly

correlated with Hollandlsquos social interests and other interpersonal variables (Betz amp

Borgen 2010) This finding has been supported in the present research as there is

non-significant relationship between agreeableness personality domain and Hollandlsquos

social interests

On the other hand Extraversion traits are related to motivation only when

competitive environment and systematic advancement in the job are required Those

individuals will be more motivated who are in a state of congruence with the job

When personality and interests are related to the job then higher job performance can

be achieved Extraversion has characteristics like assertiveness and ambitious and are

generally found fit with jobs that are enterprising as well as social types (Hofstee et

al 1992 Tokar amp Swanson 1995)

228

Many researches and meta-analyses of the relationships of the Big Five to job

performance have consistently supported the strength of Conscientiousness as a

positive predictor of job performance across performance criteria in occupations

(Barrick amp Mount 1991 Barrick et al 2001 Dunn Mount Barrick amp Ones 1995

Tokar et al 1998) Extraversion has often been shown to be a strong predictor for

those jobs involving social interaction such as management and sales (Barrick amp

Mount 1991 Tokar et al 1998) Openness and Extraversion were found to predict

success in job training programs (Barrick amp Mount 1991) Mount et al (1998) found

that Conscientiousness and Emotional Stability (the inverse of Neuroticism) were

related to performance in jobs involving working with others whether those are

colleagues customers or patients In the prediction of overall job satisfaction

Neuroticism (negatively) Conscientiousness and Extraversion were the strongest

predictors across occupations (Judge amp Ilies 2002) A meta-analysis by Judge

Thoresen Bono and Patton (2001) concluded that people tend to be high performers

when they like their jobs They would be more satisfied with the job performance

There is ongoing debate that Big Five are predictive of vocational interests or

facet traits also add to the prediction (Paunonen 1998 Paunonen amp Jackson 2000

Schneider Hough amp Dunnette 1996) Addition of facet traits of personality along

with five big traits support Sullivan and Hansenlsquos (2004) finding that Aesthetics facet

is associated with the Artistic interests Similar findings were reported by Waller et al

(1995) who found that Assertiveness was related to the enterprising interests In the

present study the relationship between facets traits and vocational interests provided

insight into the study for more precise prediction of future careers

229

Costa et al (2001) suggested that gender differences on personality replicated

across cultures both on college and adult samples Women are generally found higher

in neuroticism agreeableness warmth and openness to feelings whereas men were

higher in assertiveness and openness to ideas (McCrae et al 2002a)

Openness to Experience in Pakistani Context

It was found that among the five widely examined personality factors of the

FFM Openness to Experience is the most controversial (McCrae amp John 1992)

McCrae and Costa (1997) acknowledged that ―the concept of Openness appears to be

unusually difficult to grasp (p 826) The relatively weak psychometric properties of

the Openness factor in non-Western cultures was another area of concern as compared

to the other four domains of the FFM (Cheung et al 2008) Individuals high on

openness to experience generally found best fit when the jobs are related to artistic

and social types Previous researches have also found that such individuals are

attracted to environment in organization that are innovative creative and detail

oriented (Hofstee et al 1992 Judge amp Cable 1997) However openness has been

replicated across cultures along with other four personality factors of FFM (McCrae

amp Costa 1997 McCrae amp John 1992)

During the process of translation of NEO PI-R the items of openness domain

were difficult to translate into Urdu (Chishti 2002) Each item was analyzed

extensively and some items were rephrased and modified according to the Pakistani

culture During the process of Urdu translation efforts were made to translate the

feeling connotation of the statement rather than literal meanings of the original words

230

The alpha reliability of openness domain of Urdu version were 57 74 17 13 67

15 and English version were 47 57 21 12 43 and 22 for six facet scales

fantasy Aesthetics feelings actions ideas and values respectively After dropping 8

items for the final analysis the openness facets has Urdu version alpha reliability are

51 72 30 20 72 and 20 for respective facets which is still not at the desirable

level

Five factors have been found similar to that of the American norms in cross-

cultural comparisons in 36 cultures (McCrae amp Allik 2002 McCrae Costa Del-

Pilar Rolland amp Parker 1998) However normative structure was not replicated in

Malaysia Nigeria and Zimbabwe These discrepancies have been pointed out by

McCrae and Terracciano (2005) and reason is probably the low internal consistency

of the Openness factor

McCrae Costa and Yik (1996) reported the alpha coefficient of the Values

facet was only 32 in Hong Kong university students The alpha coefficient of the

Openness factor was 53 in Chinese university students (Cheung et al 2001) The

facet scales Actions and Values have alpha coefficients of 10 and 29 which show

low internal consistency of Openness domain in Chinese culture Yang et al (1999)

also reported low internal consistency of facets scale of openness ranging from 28 to

73

In other Asian cultures Openness factor have been found problematic in many

studies Katigbak Church and Guanzon-Lapena (2002) found the low alpha

coefficients for Values (22) and Feelings (44) facet scales for Filipino students

Lodhi Deo and Belhekar (2002) noted the alphas coefficients of Actions (43) and

231

Values (10) were fairly low among Indian postgraduate students Mastor Jin and

Cooper (2000) found low alpha coefficients for Actions (28) and Values (48) for

Malay students in Malaysia

In contrast openness factor have much higher alpha reliability coefficients in

Europe determined by many studies ranging from 81 to 90 (Allik Laidra Realo amp

Pullmann 2004 Aluja Garcia amp Garcia 2003 Berings et al 2004) McCrae (2002)

suggested less individual differences on Openness to Experience in traditional

cultures due to limited life options Pakistan being the developing country and having

collectivistic culture the low internal consistency of openness scale could be due to

the reasons as explained by McCrae (2002)

There may be several reasons for the weak psychometric properties of the

Openness factor in Pakistani samples One of the reasons of low internal consistencies

may be due to sampling error as suggested by McCrae et al (1996) However Caruso

(2000) in a meta-analysis found that the low internal consistency of Openness in some

studies is not caused by sampling error The other reason may be due to the problems

in distortion of concepts in the Urdu translation like in Chinese translation of NEO PI-

R (Leung Cheung Zhang Song amp Xie 1997)

In discussing the low reliability (32) of the Values facet in their study

McCrae et al (1996) suggested the concept of ―characteristic adaptation the culture-

specific manifestation of a universal underlying trait If this is the reason then it is

essential to adopt an indigenous approach The construct of openness need to be

operationalize in local context The adaptation of the manifestation of the construct

also needs to be taken up in accordance to cultural context Emic and etic approaches

232

could also be consciously initiated to see the relevance of Openness construct in

indigenously derived instruments The facets scales of Fantasy and Values of

openness domain did not emerge in the cultural concept of openness in China

(Cheung et al 2008) so this may be the case when exploring openness factor in

Pakistani context

Vocational Interests

In Pakistan having a collectivist culture there are many factors which are

influencing the vocational interests of the students It is very difficult to pinpoint the

common factors for all students However in the present study the general trends

showed that majority of the students preferred Conventional type occupations

followed by Social types The Conventional types are interested in activities that

require ordered manipulation of data and records Since there are limited career

opportunities in Pakistan for students of government school there are chances that

students are inclined towards those occupations which can be easily achieved

However the trend is slightly different when gender differences are accounted for

Male students have preference for Conventional type occupations while female have

preferences for Social and Artistic type occupations

In order to prepare the youth for changeable economic conditions the concept

career development should be practiced vigorously for this period As a result of

economic social and political changes and progress in Pakistan there is a requirement

to introduce quality of career education programs in schools The focus should be on

the enhancement of career management skills of the students Efficient career training

233

programs should be implemented for the Pakistani human resource and need to be

prepared in harmony with the studentslsquo skills and development levels

In Pakistan two main types of subjects are being taught at high school level in

government schools The science group consists of science subjects while in Arts

group the subjects are from humanities group Still some schools have limited faculty

to teach science or arts subjects therefore the allotment of subjects to students is

according to their convenience Vocational aspirations of the students are of great

significance at this very junction of student life They have to decide which career

they are intended to adopt This decision making by the students have very long

lasting effects on their future careers

The results in the present study revealed that doctor is considered as the most

favorite career choice in Pakistan Only those students can get admission in

professional medical colleges who achieved very good marks in science subjects In

Pakistan doctor is considered as the best job for female students However very few

students who achieved outstanding results in academic career can get admission in

medical colleges

Another favorite career for male students is Army In Pakistan there are

limited job opportunities getting jobs in government department on merit is

considered as very difficult However Armed forces provided sufficient opportunity to

the youth to join on merit In Armed forces recruiting process continues throughout

the year Moreover due to job security armed forces are still the best option available

for male students But unfortunately the students who aspired army as vocational

aspiration have high degree of incongruence with their vocational interests The same

234

is the case with vocational aspiration of lawyer and engineer A timely intervention

can help the students for pursuing more realistic and suitable career for them

Moreover the results obtained on students were generally the same when opinions of

expert were obtained on personality and vocational interests Therefore the relevance

of Hollandlsquos themes needs further deliberations in Pakistani context

The profession of teacher is considered as one of the best for females Female

students also wanted to be advocate in their life This showed that female are coming

out and adopting different occupations which were earlier considered nontraditional

for them

There are also many factors which started influencing the students from very

early age These factors including parents siblings peer socio economic area

schools etc need to be studied in depth for better understanding about the vocational

aspirations of the students The government has provided lot of job opportunities to

female in different departments Hence they are competing with their male

counterparts in every field Since there are gender differences between the vocational

interests of students therefore different career opportunities for male and female

should be planned and provided to the students by the government

In Pakistan majority of the students of government schools are not able to

achieve their vocational aspiration because there is lot of competition for limited

vacancies in a particular job More over there is no proper guidance available to

students at schools or governmental level therefore their vocational aspirations of

different occupations at times did not correspond with their interest and competencies

235

There is a vital requirement to employ career counselor in schools for the proper

guidance of students

Congruency refers to the compatibility of the personality and the environment

Holland suggested that congruency between personality and environment in jobs lead

to occupational satisfaction stability and achievement (Holland 1973) However in

the present study there was a state of moderate congruence between vocational

aspirations of doctor and teacher and their vocational interests On the other hand

there was a state of incongruence for the vocational aspirations of Army Advocate

and Engineer and their vocational interests These findings are also food for thought

for the policy makers and to those career counselor and human resource person who

are working in these fields

Reardon and Lenz (1998) and Holland Gottfredson and Nafziger (1975)

indicated that persons with poor diagnostic signs on the Self-Directed Search were

likely candidates for more intensive interventions They suggested that these

interventions may be provided by highly trained professional Lack of congruence

between vocational aspirations and vocational summary codes low coherence among

aspirations and a high point code in the Realistic or Conventional area are the

problematic areas which require immediate attention The findings of the present

study revealed that there is an immediate requirement for timely intervention at the

high school level to guide and counsel the Pakistani youth for the future productive

workforce

The mismatch between policy and practice is similar to that of many other

countries In Pakistan there are limited published researches (Ansari 1981 Aziz

236

2001 Riaz 1995 Zaidi 1979) on occupational aspirations and expectations of

Pakistani adolescents Therefore understanding the dynamics of vocational aspirations

can play an important role in attainment of educational and career choices The

information about vocational aspirations can also provide important clues about career

development

This research attempted to address some of the gaps in the broader literature

about adolescent as it is also identified by Rojewski (2005) While it is acknowledged

that vocational interests and goals emerge in childhood (Hartung Porfeli amp

Vondracek 2005) adolescence seems to be a crucial period for the study of their

development Research showed that during adolescence interests crystallize and

stabilize and career goals and aspirations become more realistic in terms of

adaptation to personal and environmental characteristics (Larson Wei Wu Borgen

amp Bailey 2007 Low amp Rounds 2007 Walls 2000)

Cultural Perspective

The wide use of NEO PI-R in several cross cultural investigations attested its

broad based applicability and practical validity which has resultantly earned a status

of cross cultural instrument (Yung 1999) Allik and McCrae (2004) conducted

secondary analyses with FFM data from 36 cultures and found differences between

European and American cultures with Asian and African cultures It was found that

European and American cultures were higher in Extraversion and Openness to

Experience and lower in Agreeableness

237

Costa et al (2001) reported smallest gender differences in personality among

Asian and African cultures and largest gender differences were found in Europe

These studies demonstrated comparison between mean levels of personality across

cultures This is a useful approach for understanding the important links between

culture and personality (Schmitt Allik McCrae amp Benet-Martinez 2007)

Emmerik et al (2010) suggested that there is a sort of ―national character (see

Allik amp McCrae 2004 Schmitt et al 2007) that may interact with culture to shape

the manifestation of acquired needs in work settings Furthermore many studies

provided controversial and inconsistent findings on Hollandlsquos vocational structure

across different cultures (Rounds 1995 Rounds amp Tracey 1996 Ryan et al 1996)

In traditional Asian cultures an individuallsquos occupation is equally important to his

significant others

Economic development and radical changes in the society as well as in the

labor market in Pakistan for the last two decades provided both challenges and

opportunities for career counseling Unemployment has increased manifold and

graduates are no longer guaranteed a job Students have to hunt for jobs for successful

living Consequently importance of vocational guidance has recently become

critically important However vocational guidance in Pakistan is still a dream and

lacks institutional support in government schools

In the present study some of the high school students could not understand

some of the concepts used in the SDS (see Appendix Mlsquo) So there is a requirement

when career counselors apply the SDS to Pakistani clients they should be very careful

to make sure that their clients fully understand the entire concepts One of the

238

common limitations is the application of Western career instruments to other cultures

without proper adaptation Thus there is a requirement of developing instruments in

the local language and for the local culture Furthermore there is a requirement of

updating the list the indigenous vocations according to cultural relevance

Gender Differences

The findings of the present study regarding the vocational interests of the

students have been supported by the studies on other cultures Tak (2004) examined

the Hollandlsquos vocational structure of Korean college students and found male students

had significantly higher scores in realistic enterprising and conventional interests

Female students had found to be significantly higher in artistic and social interests

These results were supported from other researches on Americans (Hansen amp

Campbell 1985) and the Chinese cultures (Tang 2001) Swanson (1992) reported that

the conventional scores were significantly higher for male students as compared to

female African American college students These results were also reported by Tang

(2001) in Chinese male college students

The findings in the present study regarding gender differences on vocational

interests were partially supported the trend found by Costa et al (1984) Gottfredson

et al (1993) and Holland et al (1994) Kirkcaldy (1988) also found higher interest in

technical-scientific professions for men Women preferred design-related and social-

educational occupations interests

Holland et al (1997) found that Realistic and Social types on SDS are related

to gender in high school student Females have lesser interests on realistic and

239

investigative types than the other personality types (Holland et al 1997 Jones amp

Ward 2002 Spokane Luchetta amp Richwine 2002) Women are found to be more

related to high Social and low Realistic The same results were also supported by

Fouad and Mohlerlsquos (2004) They reported higher mean scores for women than men

on Social and Artistic types

In Pakistan the rural youth has to face many important challenges about their

vocational aspirations and career achievement Rural youth have to experience narrow

school curriculum especially in government schools a shortage of highly qualified

teachers and limited access to career counseling They are also not provided adequate

employment opportunities in their local communities

240

Implications of the study

The present research on the relationship between personality and vocational

interests of students and congruence between vocational aspirations and vocational

interests is important for number of reasons This is the first study exploring different

aspects of relationship between personality and vocational interests among high

school students in Pakistan The present research has many theoretical implications

for the research on personality and vocational interests The research also underlined

that there are individual differences on personality and vocational interests and also

clarified the degree of agreement between vocational aspirations and vocational

interests of the students

The research may contribute to a better understanding of different dimensions

related to students of government schools representing large segment of society in

Pakistan The findings may be valuable in the field of career counseling as well as for

policy makers in the field of education

A growing body of literature provided evidence that constructs and techniques

are being validated cross-culturally This study contributed to cross-cultural evidence

that most of the western constructs and techniques used in study have similar meaning

in our context The findings of the study suggested that five factor model of

personality and Holland typology are generally found to be relevant to our culture

The study replicated the results of relationship between higher order

dimensions (five main domains) of five factor model and Holland six personality

types in Pakistan The study also attempted to determine the relationship between

241

lower order dimensions (30 facets scales) of five factor model and its relationship

with Holland six personality types The results of the current study also indicated that

Five main domains of personality and 30 facet traits have a definite role to play in

theorizing and practice regarding career satisfaction Nevertheless counselors would

have something helpful to say to students who scored low on these traits such as

considering a suitable career or trying to change their trait levels which is still

possible for individuals in their teens (Heatherton amp Weinberger 1994)

The study also contributed in the sense that some aspects of main constructs

used in the study have not been replicated in our culture To be more specific

Openness domain and its facet scales of five factor model showed low internal

consistency and in turn have low cross cultural applicability

The findings regarding the expert opinions can be used as a strategy to

reevaluate the Holland occupational classification according to Pakistani context The

personality characteristics which describe Holland personality types may be cross

culturally validated for Pakistani occupations

The most salient feature of Hollandlsquos model as applied to high school students

is that vocational aspirations are predictive of vocational interests was not supported

in the study This aspect of the current findings raised an important question mark for

the wide ranging applicability of the Holland model to high school students The

practice implication could also be derived from the findings of this study Vocational

interests could be measured and interpreted according to social and cultural context

instead of using career structures which are derived from other culture

242

Students have to make an early decision to circumscribe their career choices

during middle schools SDS can be applied which could generate information for

students and schools so they could make informed decisions The high scores on the

Realistic and Investigative interests could be helpful for students to pursue science

track careers Whereas high scores on Artistic and Social personality types could be

used to make decisions on the assignment of Arts tracks Overall the findings of the

study have partial support for the relevance of FFM and Hollandlsquos model to Pakistani

context

Limitations of the Study

The present research has certain limitations like any other research in social

sciences One of the limitations is the use of inventories as a measure Inventories are

of course widely used instruments in social sciences but definitely with certain

limitations The element of social desirability is one of the major factors affecting the

validity of the instrument Inventories are developed keeping in view these hazards

but still the element of social desirability cannot be completely eliminated There are

few other factors like faking good or bad which can also affect the proper use of

inventories

The second limitation is the random sampling of the sample Despite of all

efforts proper random sampling could not be applied Out of willing participants

majority completed the inventories properly according to the requirements but still

243

there are lot many absentees as well as incomplete data records This disturbed the

proportion set out initially for the study (see chapter IV pages 120 to 123)

Both the instruments used in the study are Urdu translations The translated

version may not be the true substitute of original version One of the limitations may

be the length of the inventories Two inventories were used with considerable large

number of items Although the inventories were administered to the students in a

course of two days still there are chances that students may lose interests in proper

filling of inventories The sample reduced in the number of valid cases by 1485

Another important limitation of the present study is the indifferent attitude of

the participants In Pakistan research culture is not yet developed Generally people

consider it as wastage of time as no positive change is implemented based on these

researches Hence their responses lack originality and often lack seriousness In the

present study this limitation reduced the total sample because it was tried to keep

those individuals whose questionnaires were completed properly according to the

instructions

The students of 9th

and 10th

classes have minimal differences in term of age

and class hence differences are non-significant being homogenous groups The

language of NEO-PI-R may be difficult for some students to comprehend the meaning

in true sense (see Appendix Llsquo)

The sample is only restricted to Rawalpindi district it should have been from

all over the country Hence result cannot be properly generalized

244

Future Research

The results of the present study have implications for both theory and practice

The major conclusion from the present study is that personality traits and vocational

interests are only modestly related even in the best of cases Although FFM traits and

vocational interests are related clearly they are not identical constructs and are not

mere substitutes for each other The theoretical implication pertains to higher order

structures that explain relationships among FFM traits and RIASEC interests The

lower order structures also explain relationship between FFM traits and RIASEC

interests which need further deliberation The practice perspective explores the

processes of how normal personality traits and interest types are jointly related to

work outcomes

The second area for future research is how congruence between personality

traits and vocational interests is related to motivational processes and to job

performance The concept of congruence is well established and is traditionally

defined as the similarity between vocational interests and job environments The

findings of the present study showed that personality traits and vocational interests

measure largely different constructs

The moderate relationship between personality and vocational interests are the

evidence for the role of moderators Future research can also analyze in detail the role

of some demographic variables (like parents socio economic siblings peers area

schools curriculum teachers psycho-socio environment etc) on personality and

vocational interests The instruments used (NEO PI-R and SDS) are the translated

versions which are adapted culturally More validity studies may be conducted using

245

these instruments on different samples The Holland occupational classifications for

different occupations need to be evaluated in Pakistan according to the requirements

Conclusion

Notwithstanding the limitations of the current study it represented an initial

investigation into an area that is under researched in Pakistan It needs further

investigation to update theoretical development in this area and to guide student

advising and career counseling Based on the results of the current study it is believed

that the Holland vocational theory could be extended and revitalized in terms of new

research directions by incorporating Big Five personality factors and lower order 30

facet traits into the model and looking for best possible combinations of personality

traits and vocational interests to enhance validity relationshipsmdashnot only for career

counselors but also students in their career development

The study tried to establish relationship between personality and vocational

interests according to the theoretical framework The findings of the research are also

consistent with the literature in the field of personality and vocational interests The

findings of the study attempted to make both a theoretical and practical contribution

to the existing literature and also suggested some implications for future research It

enhances our understanding about the relationship between personality and vocational

interests in Pakistani students The study also explored in detail the congruence

between vocational aspirations and vocational interests of the students The findings

of the study may be helpful in better understanding for students and career counselors

and also provide a practical guide for the educational policy makers

246

REFERENCES

Ackerman P L amp Heggestad E D (1997) Intelligence personality and interests

Evidence for overlapping traits Psychological Bulletin 121 219ndash245

Ali S R amp Saunders J L (2009) The career aspirations of rural Appalachian high

school students Journal of Career Assessment 17(2) 172ndash188

Allik J Laidra K Realo A amp Pullmann H (2004) Personality development

from 12 to 18 years of age Changes in mean levels and structure of traits

European Journal of Personality 18 445ndash462

Allik J amp McCrae R R (2004) Towards geography of personality traits Patterns

of profiles across 36 cultures Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 35

13ndash28

Allport G W (1937) Personality A psychological interpretation New York Holt

Rinehart amp Winston

Allport G W amp Odbert H S (1936) Traits-name A psycho-lexical study

Princeton N J Psychological Review

Aluja F A Garcia O amp Garcia L F (2003) Relationships among extraversion

openness to experience and sensation seeking Personality and Individual

Differences 35 671ndash680

Alves Ferreira J A amp Hood A B (1995) The development and validation of a

Holland-type Portuguese Vocational Interest Inventory Journal of Vocational

Behavior 46 119ndash130

247

Alves M Joaquim A amp Hood A (1995) The development of validation of

Hollandndashtyped vocational interest inventory Journal of Vocational Behavior

46 119ndash130

Aly J H (2006) Education in Pakistan A White Paper National Education Policy

Review Team Islamabad Ministry of Education Government of Pakistan

Anis-ul-Haque M (2003) Personal Attributes and Conflict Management Styles

Unpublished PhD Dissertation University of Peshawar Pakistan

Ansari Z A (1981) Occupational Aspirations of High School Students in Peshawar

Pakistan Journal of Psychology 12 3ndash9

Argyle M Furnham A amp Graham J (1981) Social situations Cambridge

Cambridge University Press

Assouline M amp Meir E I (1987) Meta-analysis of the relationship between

congruence and vocational interests Journal of Vocational Behavior 21

288ndash298

Auger W R Blackhurst A E amp Wahl K H (2005) ―The Development Of

Elementary-Aged Childrenlsquos Career Aspirations and Expectations

Professional School Counseling retrieved 25th

April 2008 From

httpwwwfindarticlescom

Avallone V L (1974) A comparative study of the effects of two vocational guidance

systems The Self-Directed Search and a traditional vocational guidance

model (Doctoral dissertation University of Northern Colorado) Dissertation

Abstracts International 35 2670ndash2671

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments i

Abstracts iii

List of Tables iv

List of figures viii

List of Appendixes ix

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

Personality 4

Psychological Traits 5

Historical Background of Trait Research 7

Taxonomies of Personality 8

Five Factor Model 10

Personality and Culture 12

Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) 15

Vocational Interests 21

The Concept of Fit or Congruence 22

Holland Theory of Vocational Choices 23

Self Directed Search (SDS) 29

Vocational Aspirations 33

Personality and Vocational Interests 38

Applicability of FFM to children 47

Gender differences on Personality and Vocational Interests 51

Rationale of the Study 54

CHAPTER II CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING ABOUT 60

PERSONALITY AND VOCATIONAL INTERESTS

CHAPTER III RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS 77

CHAPTER IV PERSONALITY AND VOCATIONAL INTERESTS OF 119

STUDENTS

Objectives 119

Hypotheses 120

Method 120

Psychometric properties 125

Relationship between Personality and Vocational interests 144

Discussion 163

CHAPTER V VOCATIONAL INTERESTS MEASURED BY SDS 177

SUMMARY CODES

Objectives 177

Hypotheses 178

Method 178

Results 180

Discussion 184

CHAPTER VI VOCATIONAL ASPIRATIONS OF THE STUDENTS 188

Objectives 188

Hypotheses 189

Method 189

Results 191

Discussion 202

CHAPTER VII EXPERT OPINIONS ABOUT PERSONALITY AND 210

VOCATIONAL INTERESTS

Objectives 210

Method 211

Results 213

Discussion 219

CHAPTER VIII GENERAL DISCUSSION 222

Implications of the Study 240

Limitations of the Study 242

Future Research 244

Conclusion 245

REFERENCES 246

ABSTRACT

The present study deals with the personality and vocational interests of the high school

students Relationship between personality and vocational interests and the degree of

agreement between vocational aspirations and vocational interests of the students were carried

out in the current study The differences with respect to demographical variables on personality

and vocational interests were also explored The main study was conducted on the sample of

596 students (319 male and 277 female students with a mean age of 1573 years) belonging to 7

government schools There were 303 students belonging to science group and 292 students

belonging to Arts group The different relationships between the personality and vocational

interests were assessed through a series of statistical analysis of Correlation Multiple

regression analysis t test and One Way Analysis of Variance The Alpha reliabilities of main

domains of NEO PI-R range from 36 (Openness) to 84 (Conscientiousness) The Alpha

reliabilities for scales of Self Directed Search (SDS) range from 53 to 68 for Activities 55 to

66 for Competencies 76 to 81 for Occupations and 71 to 80 for summary scales The results

established the psychometric properties of the instruments A moderate relationship was found

between FFM and Holland model The study identified the vocational preferences of students

with respect to demographical variables The results revealed significant gender differences on

personality and vocational interests The study also determined the vocational aspirations of the

students and found the degree of agreement between vocational aspirations and vocational

interests for most preferred careers The results revealed a moderate state of congruence for

careers (doctor and teacher) and a state of incongruence for some careers (army lawyer and

engineer) The findings of the study are also reinforced from the opinion of experts Some

pertinent areas were identified for future research The present research contributed both for

theory and practice The findings may be valuable in the field of career counseling as well as

for policy makers in the field of education

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Alpha reliability coefficients of 5 main scales of NEO PI-R (N=79)

102

Table 2 Item-total correlations of each item with respective subscales of

NEO PI-R (N = 79)

103

Table 3 Correlations of subscales with main scale of Neuroticism (N = 79) 105

Table 4 Correlations of subscales with main scale of Extraversion (N = 79) 106

Table 5 Correlations of subscales with main scale of Openness (N = 79) 107

Table 6 Correlations of subscales with main scale of Agreeableness (N=79) 108

Table 7 Correlations of subscales with main scale of Conscientiousness

(N = 79)

108

Table 8 Inter-correlations between five main domains of NEO PI-R (N=79) 109

Table 9 Alpha reliability coefficients of subscales of SDS (N = 79)

110

Table 10 Item-total correlations of subscales of SDS (N = 79) 112

Table 11 Inter-correlations of SDS Scales (N = 79) 116

Table 12 Alpha reliability coefficients of main scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

126

Table 13 Item-total correlations of each item with respective subscales of

NEO PI-R (N = 596)

127

Table 14 Inter-correlations between subscales and main scale of

Neuroticism (N = 596)

129

Table 15 Inter-correlations between subscales and main scale of

Extraversion (N = 596)

130

Table 16 Inter-correlations between subscales and main scale of Openness

(N = 596)

131

Table 17 Inter-correlations between subscales and main scale of

Agreeableness (N = 596)

132

Table 18 Inter-correlations between subscales and main scale of

Conscientiousness (N = 596)

133

Table 19 Inter-correlations between five domains of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

133

Table 20 Alpha reliability coefficients of subscales of SDS (N = 596)

134

Table 21 Item-total correlations of each item with respective subscales of 136

SDS (N = 596)

Table 22 Inter-correlations of SDS Scales (N = 596) 140

Table 23 Inter-correlations between 5 main scales including 30 facet scales

of NEO PI-R and 6 summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

144

Table 24 Summary of Multiple Regression Analysis for Demographic and

Five Domains of Personality on the six Personality Types

(N = 596)

148

Table 25 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of male and female

students on five domain scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

150

Table 26 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Science and

Arts group students on five domain scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

151

Table 27 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Urban and Rural

students on five domain scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

152

Table 28 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of 9th and 10th

class students on five domain scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

153

Table 29 Mean and standard deviation between three groups of students

based on parents education on the scores of five domain scales of

NEO PI-R (N = 596)

154

Table 30 One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) between three groups of

students based on parents education on the scores of five domain

scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

155

Table 31 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Lower age (14

to 16 yrs) and Upper age (17 to 19 yrs) groups of students on main

scales NEO PI-R (N = 596)

156

Table 32 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Male and

Female students on main summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

157

Table 33 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Science and

Arts group students on main summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

158

Table 34 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Urban and Rural

students on main summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

159

Table 35 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of 9th and 10th

class students on main summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

160

Table 36 Mean and standard deviation between three groups of students

based on parents education on the scores of six personality types of

SDS (N = 596)

161

Table 37 One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) between three groups of

students based on parents education on the scores of six

personality types of SDS (N = 596)

162

Table 38 Frequencies of highest summary codes of students on six

personality types of SDS (N = 596)

180

Table 39 Frequencies of highest summary codes of male (N = 319) and

female ( N = 277) students on six personality types of SDS

181

Table 40 Frequencies of highest Summary codes of Science (N = 304) and

Arts ( N = 292) group students on six personality types of SDS

182

Table 41 Vocational aspirations of the students (N = 482) 192

Table 42 The frequencies of highest summary codes of male (N = 243) and

female (N = 239) students on six personality types of SDS

192

Table 43 Mean and standard deviation between five groups of students

based on vocational aspirations on their scores on five domains of

NEO PI-R (N = 482)

193

Table 44 Repeated measure analysis of variance (ANOVA) between five

groups of students based on vocational aspirations on their scores

on five domains of NEO PI-R (N = 482)

194

Table 45 Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose vocational

aspiration is Doctor (N = 193)

195

Table 46 Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose vocational

aspiration is Army (N = 139)

196

Table 47 Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose vocational

aspiration is Teacher (N = 58)

197

Table 48 Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose vocational

aspiration is Lawyer (N = 55)

198

Table 49 Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose vocational

aspiration is Engineer (N = 37)

199

Table 50 Frequencies obtained from highest Summary code of five groups

of students (males and females) based on vocational aspirations via

hexagonal model (N = 482)

200

Table 51 Alpha reliability coefficients of five domains of personality of

Evaluation sheet (N = 25)

214

Table 52 Item-total correlations of five domains of Evaluation sheet (N =25) 214

Table 53 Inter-correlations of main scales of Evaluation sheet (N = 25) 215

Table 54 Mean and standard deviation between five groups of experts based

on their scores on five domains of Evaluation sheet (N = 25)

216

Table 55 Repeated measure Analysis of variance (ANOVA) between five

groups of experts based on their scores on five domains of

Evaluation sheet (N = 25)

217

Table 56 Frequencies of expert opinions about personality types

corresponding with their careers (N = 25)

218

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 Five Main Domains and 30 Facets of NEO PI-R 15

Figure 2 Hexagonal Structure of Hollandrsquos model 25

Figure 3

Figure 4

The Personality types (Holland 1985)

Hexagonal Representation of Inter correlations of SDS scales

(N = 596)

26

100

Figure 5 Sample Distribution in Schools 122

Figure 6 Sample Distribution within Schools 122

Figure 7 Hexagonal Representation of Inter-correlations of SDS Scales

(N = 596)

142

Figure 8 Hexagonal Representation of Inter-correlations of SDS Scales

(Naheed 1988) (N = 114)

143

LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix A Scoring Procedure for Vocational Aspirations on Hexagonal Model

Appendix B Focus Group Guidelines for Students

Appendix C Focus Group Guidelines for Teachers

Appendix D Demographical Questionnaire

Appendix E Future Possibilities Questionnaire

Appendix F Evaluation Sheet

Appendix G Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

NEO PI-R (Urdu Version)

Appendix H

Appendix I

Facets Scale of NEO PI-R (Urdu Version)

Answer Sheet NEO PI-R

Appendix J Self Directed Search SDS (Urdu Version)

Appendix K

Appendix L

List of Schools

List of difficult words generally asked by the students on

NEO PI-R

Appendix M List of difficult concepts generally asked by the students on SDS

1

Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

Personality traits and vocational interests are two major non-cognitive

domains in the field of psychology from dispositional realm These dispositional

attributes are important as they influence many outcomes related with work and life

success They both can measure individual differences The exact nature of the

association between the two domains remains vague despite hundreds of studies

(Borgen 1986 Hansen 1984)

The extensively used models are the Five Factor Model (FFM) of personality

(Costa amp McCrae 1992a) and Hollands model of vocational interests (Holland

1985a) They both contributed the common objective of predicting and explaining

individuals work behaviors FFM focus on ways of acting thinking and feeling

Whereas Hollandlsquos vocational theory focuses on individuals preferences

It is believed that the relationship between personality and vocational

interests would be very significant when individualslsquo behavioral tendencies match

their preferences The theoretical overlap between personality and vocational

interests has been consistently established by many researchers (eg Ackerman amp

Heggestad 1997 Barrett 2009 Barrick Mount amp Gupta 2003 Berings De Fruyt

amp Bouwen 2004 Bullock amp Reardon 2008 Duffy Borges amp Hartung 2009

Ehrhart amp Makransky 2007 Harris Vernon Johnson amp Jang 2006 Hartman amp

2

Betz 2007 Hogan amp Blake 1996 Larson Rottinghaus amp Borgen 2002 Logue

Lounsbury Gupta Frederick amp Leong 2007 Nauta 2004 Staggs Larson amp

Borgen 2007 Zhang 2008)

The applicability of FFM in many populations with diverse cultures has been

determined (Costa amp Widiger 1994 McCrae 1992) The relevance of the FFM to

children has been established by Digman and Takemoto-Chock (1981) This ground-

breaking work has been followed by some significant researches in youth (Digman amp

Inouye 1986 Logue et al 2007 McCrae et al 2005 Zhang 2008) as well as in

older sample (Chapman Duberstein Soumlrensen amp Lyness 2007)

The five dimensions of FFM (Neuroticism Extraversion Openness

Agreeableness and Conscientiousness) have been thoroughly extracted by means of

diverse instruments and assessment sources (Somer amp Goldberg 1999) by using

factorial techniques (Goldberg 1990) on samples of subjects of varying ages

(Costa amp McCrae 1988b De Fruyt Mervielde Hoekstra amp Rolland 2000 Digman

amp Shemelyov 1996 Mervielde amp De Fruyt 2000) and from various cultures using a

psycho-lexical approach (Anglo-American Goldberg 1990 1992 Hofstee DeRaad

amp Goldberg 1992 Saucier 1997 German Ostendorf 1990 Dutch De Raad 1992

Czech Hrebickova 1995 Polish Szarota 1996 Turkish Somer amp Goldberg 1999)

Holland (1966b) has conceptualized vocational interests as expressions of

personality (Holland 1999 Sullivan amp Hansen 2004) He termed the six vocational

3

types ie Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising and Conventional

(RIASEC) as Personality typeslsquo (see Holland 1973) Hollands assumed that

individuals will show a liking for occupations which match to their personal way of

life (Pryor 1986) Such a match will help in adjustment and eventually occupational

success on multiple levels

Personality measures explain the social skills and drive required to succeed

whereas measures of Vocational interest describe a person liking for an occupation

Thus these measures are related supplemental but not identical Some personality

traits may correspond with many vocational interests whereas other may not match

with any vocational interests

Personal occupational daydreams are good predictor of vocational choices

and are supported in the literature review (Brown amp Brooks 1991 Crabbs 1979

Sarnoff amp Remer 1982 Touchton amp Magoon 1977 Yanico 1981) Holland

Fritzsche and Powell (1994) indicated that current vocational aspirations are a

predictor of career choices (Hirschi amp Laumlge 2008 Miller Springer Tobacyk amp

Wells 2004)

Pakistan being a developing country have achieved some economical

development but yet not developed the high standard of professional skills in human

resource The professional skills are not crystallized Hence there seems to be a state

of chaos where individuals are not clear which vocations suit their interests and

abilities Hence it is of paramount importance to focus students in their school years

4

to understand their personality and vocational interests so that they can be guided to

choose suitable career in future The present study focused on the personality and

vocational interests of high school students The relationships among personality

vocational aspirations and vocational interests also require some exploration Such an

exploration needs a delineation of the concept of personality and vocational interests

Personality

Personality is a complex concept which is difficult to define Allport (1937)

and Murray (1938) defined personality but wide-ranging definitions covering all

aspects like intra psychic qualities of mind and body relations to others and

personal goals is yet to surface

According to Hogan (1991) personality refers to the social reputation the

way an individual is perceived by others The other aspect is private and must be

inferred as it refers to processes and propensities which explain why a person

behaves in a specific way

Personality traits referred to the stable characteristics which are

psychological in nature and provide reasons for persons behavior These traits

described a person and determine his emotional cognitive and behavioral

propensities Costa and McCrae (1989) defined ―personality as enduring emotional

5

interpersonal experiential attitudinal and motivational styles that explain behavior

in different situations Funder (2002) described personality as pattern of thought

emotion and behavior Larsen and Buss (2005) defined personality as ―the set of

psychological traits and mechanisms within the individual that are organized and

relatively enduring and that influence his or her interactions with and adaptations to

the intra-psychic physical and social environments (P4)

Psychological Traits

According to Larson and Buss (2005) psychological traits help to describe

people and recognize the dimensions of individual differences Second they may

facilitate to explain behavior Third traits help to predict the behavior Thus

personality helps in describing explaining and predicting individual differences

which are the hallmarks of good scientific theory

Psychological traits are fairly organized and enduring Personality is

organized because it includes decision rules and it is relatively enduring over time

and situation However some situation may be over-powering and suppress the

expression of psychological traits The person-environment interaction is a complex

personality feature and is difficult to describe The interaction with situations

included perceptions selections evocations and manipulations People interpret or

see an environment choose situations to enter and go about show reactions which

6

are produced in others and manipulate the ways to influence others All these forms

of interaction are important to understand the links between the personalities of

people and the nature of their environment

Adaptive functioning is another main feature of personality dealing with

coping adjusting and dealing with the challenges of life Generally the human

behavior is goal-directed functional and purposeful This adaptation is with

reference to physical social and intra-psychic environment The physical

environment often poses challenge for people which may be a direct threat to

survival Social environment also poses adaptive challenges The way one struggles

for belongingness love and esteem is actually coping with social environment

People have dreams needs fantasies are nevertheless real to everyone as an

important part of their psychological reality Thus social physical and intra-psychic

environment provides an important context for understanding human personality

Domains of Knowledge

The field of personality can be smartly segmented into different domains of

knowledge These consist of dispositional biological intra-psychic cognitive-

experiential social and cultural and adjustment domains as described by Larson and

Buss (2005) Dispositional domain deals with the individual differences Biological

domain assumed that human is collections of biological system and is illustrated as

the psychophysiology of personality Intra-psychic domain dealt with mental

7

mechanism of personality which generally operates at unconscious level Cognitive-

Experiential domain emphasizes on conscious thoughts feelings desires and beliefs

Adjustment domain referred to the coping adapting and adjusting in day to day

lives In the present study the dispositional domain of personality has been taken as

the theoretical base for exploring individual differences

Historical Background of Traits Research

Sir Francis Galton was the first scientist to recognize that personality

differences in peoplelsquos lives would eventually became encoded into their language

now known as the lexical hypothesis Allport and Odbert (1936) extracted 17953

adjectives and later reduced this gigantic list to 4500 personality describing words

Cattell (1943) as a starting point for his lexical analysis of personality traits reduced

the list and ended with a smaller set of 35 clusters of personality traits Fiske (1949)

later took a subset of 22 of Cattelllsquos 35 clusters and discovered five factors through

factor analysis Fiske is distinguished as the first person to determine five factor

model Tupes and Chiristal (1961) made the next major contribution to the five factor

taxonomy They studied the factor structure of 22 simplified descriptions in eight

samples and ended up with the five factor model Norman (1963) also found five

factors of personality traits Goldberg (1981) based on his lexical project found the

five factors

8

The event that led to the widespread acceptance of FFM among personality

researchers during 1980s was a symposium in Honolulu It is also followed by the

publication of the Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory Revised

(NEO PI-R) by Costa and McCrae (1992a) FFM established the common taxonomy

to understand one another

Taxonomies of Personality

Over the past century dozens of taxonomies of personality traits have been

proposed most of which are found on the intuitions of personality psychologists

Some of the taxonomies that have solid and empirical justifications are discussed

below

Eysenckrsquos Hierarchical Model of Personality

Eysenck (1981) developed a model of personality based on traits believed to

be highly heritable The three main traits were extraversion---introversion (E)

neuroticism---emotional stability (N) and psychoticism (P) and could be remembered

by an acronym PEN Eysencklsquos hierarchical model has super traits at top level and

narrow traits at the second level There is a third level of habitual acts and specific

traits are at the very lowest level

9

Extraversion included a large number of narrow traitsmdashsociable active

dominant lively etc These narrow traits co-vary significantly with each other to

load on the same large factor extraversionlsquo Eysenck and Eysenck (1975) described

extraverts as typically like to attend social parties strives for friendships and seem to

have people around them Introverts in contrast are aloof and distant prefer quiet

time and generally have predictable lifestyle (Larsen amp Kasimatis 1990) Thus

extraversion and introversion are central dimensions of human personality

Neuroticism consisted of a cluster of more specific traits like anxious lacking

self esteem tense moody irritable and guilty High scorers on neuroticism tend to

be worrier anxious and depressed The low-N scorers are more emotionally stable

balanced and calm and collected under stressful situations The third trait

Psychoticism consist of narrow traits like aggressive impulsive egocentric lacking

empathy and antisocial The high-P scorer is typically a solitary individual lacks

empathy laughs when someone gets hurt accidentally and shows insensitivity to the

pain and sufferings of others However the analyses of study by Aziz and Jackson

(2001) suggested that the five factor model was more forceful as compared to three-

factor model in the Pakistani data

Cattellrsquos Taxonomy

Cattell (1943) can be recognized with developing a strong empirical strategy

for identifying the basic dimensions of personality and with stimulating and

10

determining the entire trait approach to personality Cattelllsquos taxonomy consisted of

16 personality factors the largest in terms of the number of factors identified as basic

traits He tried to define describe explain and predict individual differences and

applied factor analysis to understand personality The 16 factors scales are

interpersonal warmth imagination boldness intelligence emotional stability

dominance impulsivity tension conformity insecurity suspiciousness shrewdness

sensitivity self-sufficiency self-discipline and radicalism

Although Cattell (1943) used factor analysis to find out common trait his

theory has not been effectively replicated Second order factor analyses of the 16

Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF Cattell Eber amp Tatsuoka 1970) pointed to

a model similar to the FFM (Cattell 1995 Krug amp Johns 1986) The numbers of

meta-analyses have confirmed the predictive value of Big Five across a wide range

of behavior

Five Factor Model (FFM)

The FFM (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) described the basic dimensions of

personality Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Agreeableness and

Conscientiousness These dimensions have been repeatedly recovered in factor

analyses in varied situations and populations (Costa amp McCrae 1985 Goldberg

1990 McCrae amp Costa 1987 Norman amp Goldberg 1966 Passini amp Norman 1966

Tupes amp Christal 1961) Similarly five factor structure have been reported and

11

evaluated by many investigators (Digman 1990 Digman amp Inouye 1986 Goldberg

1990 1992 John 1990 McCrae amp Costa 1987 McCrae amp John 1992 Wiggins amp

Pincus 1992) In many researches FFM has provided a suitable structure to interpret

and organize other personality systems (McCrae amp Costa 1985a 1989b Piedmont

McCrae amp Costa 1991)

One of the important characteristic of FFM is that the factors are dimensions

where people fall in between the extremes The five main dimensions and their facets

are heritable to some extent (Jang McCrae Angleitner Reimann amp Livesley 1998

Loehlin McCrae Costa amp John 1998) These factors are generally considered

universal recovered even in German and Chinese languages (McCrae amp Costa

1997)

Costa and McCrae used the NEO personality scales as a structure to

incorporate other measurement approaches like those developed by Eysenck (Costa

amp McCrae 1985) Jackson (Costa amp McCrae 1988a) Spielberger (Costa amp McCrae

1987) and Wiggins (McCrae amp Costa 1989b) It included scales like MMPI (Costa

Busch Zonderman amp McCrae 1986) and the MBTI (McCrae amp Costa 1989c)

These results provided commanding evidence in favor of the FFM in

subsuming other trait models of human personality During the last two decades

FFM received the most consideration and support from personality researchers

(Costa amp McCrae 1995a Goldberg 1981 McCrae amp John 1992 Saucier amp

12

Goldberg 1996 Wiggins 1996) as well as strong critics (Block 1995a 2001 Brand

1995 Briggs 1992 Cattell 1996 Costa amp McCrae 1992b 1995b Eysenck 1992

Goldberg amp Saucier 1995 Loevinger 1994 McAdam 1992 Pervin 1994)

FFM got tremendous support from personality psychologists (Digman amp

Shmelyov 1996 Kallasmaa Allik Realo amp McCrae 2000 Rolland Parker amp

Stumpf 1998 Somer amp Goldberg 1999 Tsuji et al 1997) in cross cultural studies

The FFM is claimed to be empirically rooted and theoretically sound model of

personality (as cited in Gill amp Hodgkinson 2007)

Personality and Culture

Recent years have seen an interest in studies of personality and culture

(Church 2001 Church amp Lonner 1998 Lee McCauley amp Draguns 1999 McCrae

2000) McCrae Yik Trapnell Bond and Paulhus (1998) determined the cross

cultural generalization of FFM using Chinese translations and American English of

NEO PI-R on samples in Germany Italy and South Korea The results showed that

the differences between Hong Kong and North American undergraduates and

between undergraduates of European and Chinese living in Canada were cultural in

origin

A significant criterion of the validity of a model of personality is its cross

cultural validity that is independent of culture (John Goldberg amp Angleitner 1984)

13

Berry (1969) suggested classic distinction about research which can be divided into

two categories The emic approach aimed at discovering the constructs specific to

each culture by gathering specific linguistic material in each culture and the etic

approach on the contrary aimed at verifying whether the constructs identified in a

given culture can be found in another context thereby attempting to distinguish

universals In short studies based on the psycho-lexical approach often integrated an

emic approach where as studies using lexical markers or standardized inventories

used an etic approach Some research combined both approaches that are called an

integrated method thus enabling both cross cultural universals and specific

dimensions to be recognized (Katigbak Church amp Akamine 1996 Yang amp Bond

1990 Yik amp Bond 1993) In the present study etic approach was overwhelmingly

used along with emic approach to explore the culture specific aspects related to

personality and vocational interests

During the review of literature there seems to be some dispute on the topic of

personality and culture This controversy is also identified by Knyazev Zupančič

and Slobodskaya (2008) and Triandis and Suh (2002) McCrae and Costa (2003)

claimed that personality traits are enduring tendencies while Shweder (1991) argued

against it and argued that global traits do not exist Applicability of FFM across

Pakistani culture needs to be explored in order to analyze the existing available

literature

14

McCrae and Costa (1997) claimed that personality traits are human universal

and can be found in all cultures Nevertheless the way in which these characteristics

are expressed is shaped by culture and experience (McCrae 2001 2002 McCrae amp

Costa 2008) Allik and McCrae (2004) showed similar personality profiles by

conducting secondary analyses with FFM data from 36 cultures They observed that

European and American cultures were higher in Extraversion and Openness to

Experience and lower in Agreeableness as compared to Asian cultures

Costa Terracciano and McCrae (2001) mentioned smallest gender

differences in personality among Asian and African cultures as compared to Europe

cultures Such studies demonstrated that comparing personality across cultures could

be helpful for understanding the dynamics associated with culture and personality

(Schmitt Allik McCrae amp Benet-Martinez 2007) Finally there is a sort of national

character (see Allik amp McCrae 2004 Schmitt et al 2007) that may interact with

culture to shape the manifestation of acquired needs in work settings

The majority of cross-cultural studies on personality have been conducted

with adults or late adolescents However there are few studies conducting on children

with reference to FFM (Gartstein Knyazev amp Slobodskaya 2005) Few studies

incorporated parentslsquo view of children which may be different in different cultures

These problems can be overcome by comparing cross-cultural differences through

self-reports and opinion from the experts These procedures have been being adopted

in the present study in order to examine the personality and vocational interests of

15

high school students and evaluate the findings with the opinion of the experts A

comprehensive measure of personality has been developed based on FFM by Costa

and McCrae (1992a)

Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO PI-R)

The NEO PI-R (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) is a measure of the five main

domains of personality as well as the 6 facets representing each domain The 5

domain scales and 30 facet scales of the NEO PI-R are

Five Domains Facets

Neuroticism (N)

Anxiety Angry Hostility Depression Self-

Consciousness Impulsiveness Vulnerability

Extraversion (E)

Warmth Gregariousness Assertiveness Activity

Excitement-Seeking Positive Emotions

Openness (O) Fantasy Aesthetics Feelings Actions Ideas

Values

Agreeableness (A)

Trust Straightforwardness Altruism Compliance

Modesty Tender-Mindedness

Conscientiousness (C)

Competence Order Dutifulness Achievement

Striving Self-Discipline Deliberation

Figure 1 Five main Domains and 30 Facets of NEO PI-R

16

NEO PI-R is a well designed instrument The instructions are quite clear and

self-explanatory It has proven its value in personality research and provides

comprehensive assessment of personality and facet traits It is quite useful in any

research on personality correlates like moral development (Lonky Kaus amp Roodin

1984) ego identity status (Tesch amp Cameron 1987) response to psychotherapy

(Miller 1991) and coping with military basic training (Vickers Kolar amp Hervig

1989)

The wide use of NEO PI-R in several cross cultural investigations attested its

broad based applicability and practical validity which has earned a status of cross

cultural instrument (Yang et al 1999) The use of NEO PI-R as an inventory in

English language may be limited to English literate population in Pakistan so the

need was felt to use the already translated version of NEO PI-R in Urdu language

(Chishti 2002) which is a national and widely understood language of Pakistan

NEO PI-R items can be administered orally by an interviewer without loss of

validity (Costa amp McCrae 1992b) It is a useful instrument which can be applied on

different populations It has also been used successfully in college students (Wiggins

amp Pincus 1989) and also on individuals having only high school education One of

the greatest strength of the instrument is its comprehensiveness If some scales are

omitted important relations with other criteria may be missed There is no time limit

for completing NEO PI-R however change can be introduced in the procedures to

17

facilitates individuals with poor reading skills The shorter version of the instrument

is also available

The NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI)

This is a shortened version with only 60 items measuring 5-factors of

personality It is a self-report and can be administered to adults with a 6th grade

reading level The time for administration is 10-15 minutes It correlated with the

NEO PI-R domain scales at 77 to 92 and has a 68 to 86 internal consistency

values However NEOndashFFI (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) measures only the broad five

domains and is not a comprehensive inventory like NEO PI-R which also measures

facets scales representing each main domain Hence NEO PI-R has been used in the

present study to measure the higher and lower order personality pattern of students

Urdu Version of NEO PI-R

The adaptation translation and cross validation of NEO PI-R in Urdu

language has been conducted in Pakistan by Chishti (2002) The back translation

method was used and 4 culture specific items ie 52 68 105 and 157 were adapted

in accordance with Pakistani culture The Urdu version and original English version

of NEO PI-R were administered on sample of Pakistan Air Force cadets The

reliability and validity of the Urdu version of NEO PI-R was established The Alpha

reliability coefficient for Urdu version ranged from 73 (Openness) to 89

18

(Conscientiousness) whereas the Alpha coefficients of English version ranged from

37 (Openness) to 80 (Neuroticism) This research demonstrated that Pakistani

version of Revised NEO Personality Inventory is a reliable and valid instrument for

the Pakistani subjects

Critical Analysis of Five Factor Model of Personality

Block (1995a) and Rounds and Zevon (1983) claimed researchers may group

words together to bias the results of a lexical hypothesis with personality adjectives

to reduce the number of redundant synonyms Block (1995a) identified

developmental issues and limited work experience related to researches conducted on

college students especially when occupational interests were examined In the scope

of the present study these limitations will not matter as Hollandlsquos model was

originally developed with high school and college students

Although validation studies on FFM of personality are well constructed

plentiful and impressive (Juni 1995) however confusion in wording statement and

use of compound sentences may pose validity problems Overall this inventory can

be used in both theory and practice contexts A demographically representative

normative group would help in generalizing the instrument to various populations

Miller (1991) noted that the FFM can be used in treatment plans of patient in a

systematic way without loss of compassion for the patient

19

It has been established that the FFM is quite attuned with well known

psychological theories Although Eysenck (1991) supported the PEN model as more

appropriate but majority of psychologists are in favor of factor-analytic FFM models

in the background of current psychological research (Ewen 1998) The FFMlsquos

compatibility with other models showed that this model is compatible with other

factor-analytical models McMartin (1995) favored the structure of personality

consisting of five big traits rather than Eysencklsquos model

The Five main dimensions have shown convergent and discriminant validity

across different instruments (McCrae amp Costa 1990) Nonetheless shortcomings of

the FFM have been discussed by many researchers (Eysenck 1991 John amp Robins

1993 McAdams 1992 Waller amp Ben-Porath 1987) McCrae and John (1992) have

described there are disputes among five-factorists about the best interpretation of

the factors there are certainly important distinctions to be made at the level of the

more molecular traits that define the factors and it is possible that there are other

basic dimensions of personality (p 177)

McAdams (1992) stated that FFM cannot achieve the title of the unified

psychological theory being just a list of five variables to identify and classify

personality traits Digman (1990) stated that five dimensions of personality can be

measured with high reliability and validity providing support to the personality

structure It appeared that the FFM holds well across cultural context

20

A five-factor outcome was clearly evident in studies conducted in Japan

Philippines and Germany (Digman 1990) One of the limitations of the FFM is that

it failed to anticipate behavior in many situations However FFM was complementary

and combatable to other theories including Freuds highly subjective theory of

psychoanalysis The stumbling block for the greatness of FFM is the criticism that

the model was not a theory rather just an idea for means of classification

The FFM have been well established as predictors of success in many

occupations involving managerial and semi-skilled roles (Barrick amp Mount 1991

Barrick et al 2001 Hurtz amp Donovan 2000 Mount Barrick amp Stewart 1998

Salgado 1998 2003 Tett Jackson amp Rothstein 1991) NEO PI-R offered

information that may be valuable to the counselor or clinician in many ways (Miller

1991 Muten 1991) Two of the NEO PI-R domains Openness and

Conscientiousness are promise to be of particular interest in the area of educational

psychology Vocational interests are strongly related to personality particularly to

Extraversion and Openness (Costa McCrae amp Holland 1984) NEO PI-R scales can

form a useful complement for vocational interests (McCrae amp Costa 1991a)

21

Vocational Interests

Vocational interests have been defined by many researchers (Dawis 1991

Savickas 1999) Interests as activities that are collection of likes and dislikes (Cole

amp Hanson 1978 Strong 1960 Kuder 1977) Bingham (1937) viewed interests as a

dispositional tendency and Carter (1944) described interests as attitudes that reflect

stable personality traits Holland (1973) stated that vocational interests are simply

another aspect of personality hellip If vocational interests are expressions of personality

then it follows that interest inventories are personality inventories (p7)

To be more precise vocational psychology is concerned an individuals

choice of a particular occupation and is related to satisfaction and productivity in it

Strong (1927) published the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) for Men for the

assessment of vocational interests Kuder (1934) introduced the Kuder Preference

Record (Walsh amp Osipow 1986) Holland (1957) published his prolific theory of

vocational choice and developed Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) and Self-

Directed Search to measure interest and personality types In the present study

vocational interests of the students are measured by the Self-Directed Search

22

The Concept of Fit or Congruence

The concept of fit or congruencelsquo between the person and the environment

attracted attention of many psychologists (Edwards 1991 Kristof 1996 Schneider

1987) People choose jobsworking settings which depend on many different factors

like pay and security (Argyle Furnham amp Graham 1981 Furnham amp Koritsas

1990) People have some choices to choose the vocational environment however

vocational choices or preferences are not free from restraints due to personality

influences demographic and economic constraints

Vocational interests reflect individual choices in engaging in tasks and

activities of their choice They liked to be in environments where they are attracted

by the people like them Congruency is the basic concept (French Rogers amp Cobb

1974) of compatibility between personality and the environment For example a

social personality in a social environment would prove to be highly satisfied with

opportunities and rewards

Due to rapid developments in technology the nature of jobs evolves and

changes quickly People can adapt himself to new job and even develop striking

changes in attitudes and work-related behavior Most organizations attempt through

various techniques to motivate individualslsquo behavior by giving remarkable incentives

(Furnham 1994) Even then the individual may quickly develop a misfit while other

23

negotiates for special privileges despite certain constraints (Argyle Furnham amp

Graham 1981)

In Pakistani job market where it is not easy to choose an appropriate career

that suits onelsquos personality and vocational interests thus despite having all the

motivation and suitable skills people may be unable to attain their desired careers

The economic state and policies are reflective of availability of jobs in the region

Moreover some factors like sex culture education social class may hinder people to

choose particular careers which they like most especially in developing countries

There are chances that people may continue to be in the job despite a mismatch

between interests and environment

Hollands typology advocated that congruence between interests and

environment is associated with greater satisfaction and is supported by many others

(Assouline amp Meir 1987 Mount amp Muchinsky 1978 Spokane 1985) There is a

dearth of literature in the field of vocational interests and the work environment in

Pakistani context Hence there is a requirement to investigate the level of congruence

between interests and environment of Pakistani potential workforce

Holland Theory of Vocational Choices

The work of Holland (1973 1985a and 1997) in the domain of vocational

interests stands out like a colossus He introduced an occupational classification

24

system (1958 1959 1966a 1966b) and a theory of vocational interests which

attracted substantial attention (Campbell amp Borgen 1999 McDaniel amp Snell 1999

Tracey amp Rounds 1993 1997)

Holland explicitly recognized the role of personality (1959 1966a 1973

1997) in his theory of vocational personalities and work environments He is of the

view that individuallsquos satisfaction depends on the match between hisher personality

and occupational environment

Although there was a criticism on Hollandlsquos typology (eg Gati 1991) yet

it has been widely studied in the vocational literature It has been emerged repeatedly

in cross-cultural analyses (Day amp Rounds 1998) and its generalizability has been

supported in large samples (Rounds amp Tracey 1993 Tracey amp Rounds 1993)

Holland (19731985a) theorized that personality traits self-knowledge and

occupational knowledge reflect career choices In making career choices

environmental factors like family school and social environment have a large role to

play Despite these constraints individuals searched for the type of environment

that suitscongruent with their personality type The theory specified a hexagonal

structure wherein each of the six RIASEC types appears on one point of the hexagon

It is assumed that adjacent types are most similar than types positioned opposite of

one another on the hexagon The types placed on alternate positions have a moderate

level of similarity Hollandlsquos career theory is based on concepts like match between

25

interest and work environment (congruence) difference between the highest and

lowest interest (differentiation) and similarity between the top few interests

(consistency) as mentioned by Leong and Gupta (2006) The hexagonal structural of

Holland model is represented below

Figure 2 Hexagonal structure of Holland Model (1985a)

Note R = Realistic I = Investigative A = Artistic S = Social E = Enterprising C = Conventional

Thus R-I relationship would be more consistentcongruent then R-A which is

on alternate type R-S relationship would be least consistent which are placed

opposite to each other The six personality types and their personality description are

shown below

I

E S

C A

R

26

The Realistic type like realistic jobs Has

mechanical abilities but may lack social

skills Is described as

Asocial Inflexible Practical

Conforming Materialistic Self-Effacing

Frank Natural Thrifty

Genuine Normal Uninsightful

Hardheaded Persistent Uninvolved

The Investigative type likes

investigative jobs Has mathematical and

scientific ability but often lacks

leadership ability Is described as

Analytical Independent Rational

Cautious Intellectual Reserved

Critical Introspective Retiring

Complex Pessimistic Unassuming

Curious Precise Unpopular

The Artistic type likes artistic jobs Has

writing musical or artistic abilities but

often lacks clerical skills Is described as

Complicated Imaginative Intuitive

Disorderly Impractical Nonconforming

Emotional Impulsive Open

Expressive Independent Original

Idealistic Introspective Sensitive

The Social type like social jobs Has

social skills and talents but often lack

mechanical and scientific ability Is

described as

Ascendant Helpful Responsible

Cooperative Idealistic Sociable

Empathic Kind Tactful

Friendly Patient Understanding

Generous Persuasive Warm

The Enterprising type like enterprising

jobs Has leadership and speaking

abilities but often lacks scientific ability

Is described as

Acquisitive Energetic Flirtatious

Adventurous Excitement- Optimistic

Agreeable seeking Self-Confident

Ambitious exhibitionistic Sociable

Domineering Extroverted Talkative

The Conventional type like conventional

jobs Has clerical and arithmetic abilities

but often lacks artistic ability Is

described as

Careful Inflexible Persistent

Conforming Inhibited Practical

Conscientious Methodical Prudish

Defensive Obedient Thrifty

Efficient Orderly Unimaginative

Figure 3 The personality types (Holland 1985a)

27

Hollandlsquos hexagon typically has been measured comprehensively with the

Self-Directed Search (SDS) (Holland 1985a) The other measures are the Strong

Interest Inventory (SII) (Hansen 1984 Hansen amp Campbell 1985 Harmon Hansen

Borgen amp Hammer 1994) and the Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) (Holland

1985c)

Hollands measure has been applied in many settings like in managerial work

(Maurer amp Tarulli 1997) It has also been applied to the situations like career change

(Oleski amp Subich 1996) and academic comfort (Mullis Mullis amp Brailsford 1997)

Career development over the life span has been studied by Richards (1993)

Concurrent validity studies have been conducted using Hollands measures in many

studies (Bikos Krieshok amp OBrien 1998 Harmon Borgen Berreth King Schauer

amp Ward 1996 Zachar amp Leong 1997)

Hollands personality types have been related with other personality measures

like the MBTI (Nordvik 1996) and the NEO-PI (Holland Johnston amp Asama

1994) It has also been related with the EPQ (Goh amp Leong 1993) Bem Sex Role

Inventory (Miller Knippers Burley amp Tobacyk 1993) and Attachment styles

(Randolph amp Waldrop 1995)

Various cross-cultural validations studies have been conducted on Hollands

theory in countries like Hong Kong (Farh Leong amp Law 1998) Britain (Furnham

Toop Lewis amp Fisher 1995) and Portugal (Alves Joaquim amp Hood 1995) A

study conducted by Haverkamp Collins and Hansen (1994) and Ryan Tracey and

Rounds (1996) found mixed support for the theory in Asian-American employees

28

and in African-American and white high school students However cross cultural

validation of Holland theory in Pakistan conducted by Naheed (1988) provided some

support for the theory

In the existing literature congruence satisfaction relationship has got mixed

support Young Tokar and Subich (1998) found that the congruence--satisfaction

relation as a function of personality type while Furnham (1994) noted that

extroversion and neuroticism may be associated with job satisfaction Carson and

Mowsesian (1993) found little support for the congruence--satisfaction relationships

The present study would help in identifying the level of congruence between the

interests and aspirations of students

In Pakistan the Holland theory was applied but with some adaptation there

are few occupations which are totally uncalled for Pakistani population and they even

do not know about them Therefore there was a requirement to adapt this model to

the Pakistani population The adaptation and translation of SDS was carried out by

Naheed (1988) in accordance to the cultural relevance of Pakistani population and is

used in the present study to measure the vocational interests

Cross cultural studies revealed mix support for the Holland model A meta-

analysis by Rounds and Tracey (1996) is supportive of Hollandlsquos model from

samples in the United States Rounds and Day (1999) suggested cross cultures

representations of work might exist emphasizing the importance of structure of

vocational interest across diverse cultures (Fouad 1999) There might be different

clustering of interests as proposed by Holland due to idiosyncratic aspects of

29

occupational perceptions within a cultural context (eg Law Wong amp Leong

2001) Hence applicability of Hollandlsquo model on high school students in Pakistani

culture need to be explored in order to add to the existing cross cultural literature on

vocational interests

Self Directed Search (SDS)

The Self Directed Search (Holland 1985a) is a self-administered and self

interpreted vocation counseling tool It consists of two booklets an assessment

booklet and an occupational classification booklet The SDS was developed with

purpose to provide a vocational counseling to those who do not wish to have access

to vocational counselors The SDS and its underlying typology have also proved to

be helpful research tools in education business and social science

The SDS increases self understanding satisfaction with current vocational

aspirations and interests In three experiments (Avallone 1974 Krivatsy amp Magoon

1976 Nolan 1974) the beneficial effects of the SDS have proved equal to those of

professional counselors The use of SDS is controlled by its user it stimulates

initiative and learning It eliminates the need for separate answer sheets proctors

special testing dates mailing delays scoring-service costs scoring stencils and

elaborate and complex score reports Norms are incorporated in the three letter

occupational codes

30

The SDS is an outgrowth of a theory of vocational interests (Holland 1959

1966b 1973 1985a) which has undergone extensive investigation and won wide

acceptance The relations between personal characteristics and the occupations in the

occupations finder are easily understood because they are grouped by the same code

letters used to summarize a personlsquos characteristics The personal assessment is

carried out on SDS by scoring the scales activities competencies occupations and

self estimates each representing six RIASEC personality types Scores are added

against RIASEC personality types The first three highest scores are the three-letter

summary codes A person compares all the three summary codes with the

occupations in the occupation finder For instance a person has the highest three

summary codes as ESA which match with the occupation lawyerlsquo in the occupation

finder

The first edition of SDS was published in 1971 The 1977 edition closely

resembled 1971 edition however many inconspicuous changes were also made In

1985lsquos edition 59 of the 228 items were revised The most obvious change was the

doubling of the occupational finder from 500 occupations to more than 1100

occupations The Form Easy (E) was developed for adolescents and adults with

limited reading skills The booklet ―you and your career (Holland 1985b) was

developed to make the SDS a more complete and self-directed experience explaining

the typology and dealing with some common interpretive problems The dictionary

of Holland occupational codes is a translation of the Dictionary of occupational titles

(DOT US Department of Labor 1977) into the Holland (1985a) classification

31

system The computer version was developed in 1985 and computer assisted

assessments became common later on (Chauvin amp Miller 2009)

The ease with which the typology and the SDS can be used understood and

communicated has lead to numerous unanticipated adaptations and revisions

Research on the SDS or its adaptations has been conducted in Australia Canada

Japan Netherlands New Zealand Switzerland Italy Israel Nigeria and Guyana

The SDS was found valid and reliable in many countries including China South

Africa and Slovenia (Holland 1995) The same is the case in Pakistan where SDS

has been translated and adapted into Urdu language (Naheed 1988) and was found

valid and reliable The vocational interests of the high school students were measured

in the present study by Urdu translated version of SDS

The SDS is most effective in private settings but the device has also been

used successfully in small groups of 15 to 25 If larger groups must be used monitors

familiar with the SDS are needed for every 25 to 30 persons The SDS is clearly

suitable for persons aged 15 and older but the upper and lower limits have not been

well investigated The reading level is estimated to be at the seventh and eighth grade

levels according to the Dale and Chall (1948) readability formula The SDS with

minor changes has been used successfully with young children males and females

high schoolers college students employed adults Spanish-American and American

Indians

32

Gender Differences

The inconsistent results on gender differences may be due to the different

samples used and to some extent due to cultural differences Holland Fritzsche and

Powell (1997) found that Realistic and Social types are related to gender in high

school students There were significant gender differences in a sample of African

American college students (Swanson 1992) male students had significant higher

scores on realistic investigate enterprising and conventional Holland codes as

compared to female Similar findings were also reported by Hines (1983) on a

sample of black college students Leong Austin Sekaran and Komarraju (1998)

found female workers had higher scores on realistic investigative artistic social

and enterprising than male workers in India

Tang (2001) stated that female students had higher scores on Artistic Social

and Conventional as compared to male students in China Tak (2004) examined

significantly higher scores in realistic enterprising and conventional for male

students and higher scores in artistic and social types for female students The same

findings were reported by Robertu Fox and Tunick (2003)

Mau and Bikos (2000) viewed adolescentslsquo occupational aspirations as

significant determinant of both short-term educational and long-term career choices

and career self-concept (Rojewski 1999) The more the adolescents get mature it is

easier to tap their abilities interests and values in forming their occupational

aspirations (Super 1990)

33

Vocational Aspirations

According to Holland (1962) while testing the predictive validity of a

personlsquos stated vocational aspiration it was discovered that such aspirations

predicted the category of the subsequent aspiration more efficiently than the high-

point code of the VPI or selected scales from the old SVIB Holland (1968)

explained that the most recent preferences are good estimates of what heshe will

choose or do next Consequently it seemed a good idea to have an aspirations section

in the SDS The inclusion of this list of vocational aspirations has proved valuable in

several ways (1) Coding the vocational aspirations leads to efficient predictions of

future aspirations and jobs (2) Discrepancies between the code of the current

aspiration and the SDS code can be used to promote self-understanding and

discussion (3) Assessing a personlsquos expressed aspirations emphasizes the importance

of a personlsquos self-direction and initiative

Daydream Codes

A personlsquos past and current aspirations are elicited in the daydreams section

of SDS The construct and predictive validity of these aspirations is usually as useful

as test information Counselors should notice the first letter code of the three most

recent vocational aspirations If they are the same (eg teacher social worker

recreation directormdashall Slsquos as per occupational finder book) then the likelihood of

the person maintaining a social aspiration is high If the first two of the three

34

aspirations have the same first letter code the predictive validity of the first

aspiration is moderate If the first three aspirations listed belong to different

occupational categories the predictive validity of the current aspiration is low

(Touchton amp Magoon 1977 Olsquo Neil amp Magoon 1977)

Daydream Code vs SDS Code

Several understandings are necessary for the skillful use of the occupational

classification First the codes are approximate not precise Consequently the degree

of discrepancy between SDS codes and occupational codes is rough not precise

Second the first letter of the occupational code is most important most descriptive

and more reliable Although codes shift slightly from sample to sample changes in

the first letter of the code are infrequent Changes in the second and third letters of

codes occur more frequently Third the distribution of occupational codes among

and within the six main categories is extremely uneven The data suggested that

people with flat profiles contradictory profiles or profiles with rare summary codes

present a variety of questions and problems These people have the greatest need of

professional assistance constructive work experience and information (Holland

1985a)

The relation between the code of the current vocational aspiration and the

SDS summary code is very significant When the first letter code of the current

aspiration and the SDS are the same the likelihood of a person maintaining that

aspiration is very high Three studies (Holland amp Lutz 1968 Holland amp Gottfredson

35

1975 Borgen amp Seling 1978) indicated that when interest inventories and reported

aspirations are in disagreement the predictive validity of the vocational aspiration

exceeds that of the interest inventory although the efficiency of this prediction is

much less than when inventory and aspiration are in agreement Hence there is a

requirement to investigate the level of congruence between vocational interests and

vocational aspirations of students within the purview of present study

In evaluating degree of agreement between SDS codes aspirations or

occupational choice the Zener-Schnuelle index (Zener amp Schnuelle 1976) can be

used Iachan (1984) has provided a mathematically more satisfying solution for

determining the agreement between any pair of three-letter codes in a six-variable

system A simpler index of agreement between any two codes can also be obtained

by employing the hexagonal model This simple procedure correlates about 75 with

the Zener-Schnuelle Index The scoring procedure entailed comparing the first letter

codes for the current vocational aspiration and the SDS The higher the score the

closer the agreement In the present study the state of congruence between the

vocational aspirations and vocational interests were determined by employing the

hexagonal model The detailed instructions and the scoring procedure for the

hexagonal model are described in Appendix ―A

Martin et al (2009) with reference to German Vocational Training System

argued that vibrant adjustments of aspirations play a decisive role for a successful

outcome from school to work transition Ali and Saunders (2009) explored the career

aspirations of rural Appalachian high school students and found adolescentslsquo

36

educational aspirations were strongly linked to future occupational aspirations and

career choices Numerous studies supported that occupational aspirations lead to

future career choices (Aziz 2001 Bandura 1986 Bandura Barbaranelli Capara amp

Pastorelli 1996 Eccles Wigfield amp Schiefele 1998 Lent Brown amp Hackett 1994

Rojewski 1999)

Career Development in Childhood

The different stages of childhood and adolescence are regarded as the years of

preparation for adulthood which covers primary school and junior high school

children They make certain decisions about their future careers It has been found

that career conscience develops in primary school students hence they can aspire

their careers in a more realistic way (Auger Blackhurst and Wahl 2005 Magnuson

and Starr 2000 Nazlı 2007 Trice and King 1991 Walls 2000)

Tokar Fischer amp Subich (1998) determined junior high school students can

associate their own characteristics with careers in Turkey Hirschi (2010) examined

the development and reciprocal interaction of vocational interests and career goals

and the relation of their development to basic personality traits in middle

adolescence According to Gottfredson (2002) career aspirationsgoals begin

developing in early childhood by eliminating occupational alternatives that conflict

with onelsquos self-concept Patton and Creed (2007) surveyed Australian high school

students on measures of occupational aspirationsexpectations and career status

aspirationsexpectations

37

The occupational interests and individual personality traits are related have

been found in the literature review (Betz amp Borgen 2000 Costa McCrae amp

Holland 1984 De-Fruyt amp Mervielde 1997 Goh amp Leong 1994 Gottfredson

Jones amp Holland 1993 Hogan amp Blake 1999 Holland Johnston amp Asama 1994

Ozone 1998)

Costa et al (1984) investigated the relationship between personality styles

and vocational interest and indicated gender differences did exist on scales of the

SDS Women scored higher in Artistic Social and Conventional interests and lower

in Realistic Investigative and Enterprising interests Furthermore significant

correlations existed between Investigative and Artistic vocational interests and

Openness and between Social and Enterprising vocational interests and Extraversion

across genders Gottfredson et al (1993) found similar results with the exception of

considerably smaller coefficients than Costa et al (1984)

Interest in examining relationships between personality and vocational

interests has long been examined so there is a requirement to deliberate on the

relationship between personality and vocational interests in Pakistani context

38

Personality and Vocational Interests

Terman (1931) stated ―For understanding an individuallsquos total personality it

is absolutely necessary to know something about the kinds and intensity of his

interests (p xvii) Darley (1941) said that interest development is an outgrowth of

personality development Berdie (1944) said that studies of interests are actually

studies of motivation and understanding the determinants of interests will solve the

riddles of personality origins Berdie hinted that interests and personality share

similar structures because they arise from similar causal determinants Darley and

Hagenah (1955) reviewed this topic extensively placing vocational interest within

personality theory Savickas (1999) masterfully surveyed the history of thought about

the theoretical meaning of interests and personality

Hollandlsquos hexagon model is the icon for an integrative theory describing

persons and environments and their interaction Several articles supported a more

unified view (eg Ackerman amp Heggestad 1997 Blake amp Sackett 1999 Borgen

1986 1999 Costa et al 1984 Holland 1997 1999 Prediger 1999) Spokane and

Decker (1999) stated ―It is increasingly apparent that interests personality self-

efficacy and other variants of personality and vocational self-concept may be facets

of a unified set of complex underlying traits (p 230)

Dawis (1991) clarified that interests are specific activities to attain values and

meet needs and personality traits are ways of acting to meet needs The relationship

39

between personality and interests would be greatest when there is a match between

individuallsquos behavioral tendencies and preferences Ackerman and Heggestad (1997)

found substantial relationship between personality and vocational interests

Hollandlsquos theory (1973 1985a) postulated that vocational interests are an

expression of personality which explicitly ―infers the structure of personality from

the clustering of vocational interests (Costa et al 1984 p 391) Therefore

Hollandlsquos model and the FFM should correspond meaningfully Goldberg (1990)

recommended further evaluation of the modellsquos comprehensiveness by testing its

capacity to encompass individual differences originating from different domains a

reasonable alternative is the structure of vocational interests Gottfredson Jones and

Holland (1993) have empirically assessed the relationship between the big five and

Hollandlsquos structural models

Personality-interest overlap by many researchers using SII (Harmon Hansen

Borgen amp Hammer 1994) and NEO-Personality Inventory-Revised (Carless 1999

Costa amp McCrae 1992a Gottfredson et al 1993 Tokar amp Swanson 1995) have

been explored The meta-analyses between personality and vocational interest have

empirically synthesized this relationship (Barrick et al 2003 Larson et al 2002)

The meta-analysis of Big Three and the Big Six have also been conducted (Staggs

2004) The present study found out the relationship between FFM including its facet

scales with six personality types

40

It is empirically well established that vocational interests show meaningful

relations to basic traits (Barrick et al 2003 Larson et al 2002) although not many

studies with adolescents are available (Hirschi amp Laumlge 2008 Larson amp Borgen

2006) The strongest and most consistent relations across studies are reported

Artistic interests relate moderately (r around 40 to 50) to the openness to experience

domain enterprising interests relate 20 to 50 with the extraversion domain social

interests relate moderately to the extraversion domain (r around 30 to 40)

investigative interests overlap 20 to 60 with the openness to experience domain

(Costa McCrae amp Holland 1984 De Fruyt amp Mervielde 1997 Gottfredson et al

1993 Holland et al 1994 Tokar amp Swanson 1995 Tokar Vaux amp Swanson

1995) and finally social interests correspond modestly (rs around 20) with the

agreeableness domain (De Fruyt amp Mervielde 1997 Tokar et al 1995) Realistic

interests and neuroticism domains were generally non-significantly correlated to

personality trait or interest type respectively

Sullivan and Hansen (2004) viewed interests as activities that are enjoyable

and motivating for individuals whereas personality are behavioral tendencies help in

motivation and determining success in particular activities They suggested the

importance of examining personality traits at facet levels and found that

extraversionlsquos underlying facets (warmth vs assertiveness) related differentially to

enterprising and social interests This distinction cannot be understood by simply

examining the main domain of extraversion Thus individual who is interested in

sales career would be happy and successful if heshe possesses assertivenesssocial

41

dominance disposition which is related to enterprising interests Heshe may not be

very successful if primarily possesses the warmthsociability disposition that is

related to social interests Logue et al (2007) investigated the five main domains

along with narrow personality facet traits He also investigated the vocational interest

linkage to satisfaction with major for college students

Tokar et al (1998) examining the five main domains reported the consistent

linkage between personality and vocational interests They found extraversion

domain correspond with enterprising and social vocational interests whereas

Openness domain has moderate relationship with artistic and investigative interests

Conscientiousness was linked to conventional interests while Agreeableness was

related with social vocational interests Neuroticism domain was generally not found

to be correlated with any vocational interests Similar findings were reported by

Ackerman and Heggestad (1997) and by Carless (1999)

This showed that consistent patterns of relationships between personality and

vocational interests have been established The meta-analysis conducted by Larson et

al (2002) found openness to be related to artistic (r =48) and investigative interests

(28) Extraversion was related to enterprising (r =41) and social interests (r =31)

Realistic interests and Neuroticism domains were not found related personality and

vocational interests respectively These findings suggested that vocational interests

may not be considered as part of individuallsquos personality disposition (Bordin 1943

Holland 1997 Tokar amp Swanson 1995 Tussing 1942)

42

In another meta-analysis examined by Barrick et al (2003) substantial

relationships between enterprising and artistic interests with extraversion and

openness to experience personality domain were obtained On the other hand the

realistic interests were not related to any personality traits RIASEC types were

regressed on the FFM scores showed a multiple R of 11 for realistic 26 for

investigative 42 for artistic 31 for social -47 for enterprising and 27 for

conventional types This meta-analysis concluded that there is relationship between

personality traits and vocational interests yet they are not identical and substitutes

for each other

Ackerman and Heggestad (1997) reviewed the relationship between

Hollands vocational interests and the FFM and found agreeableness is not related to

any vocational interests The same conclusion was reported for Neuroticism

However conscientiousness was related to conventional interests whereas

extraversion was related to enterprising and social interest Openness domain was

related with investigative artistic and social interest types They reported their

results based on three studies (Goh amp Leong 1993 Gottfredson et al 1993 Kanfer

Ackerman amp Heggestad 1996)

Empirical differences also emerged while comparing results from a study

conducted by De Fruyt and Mervielde (1999) with those of Ackerman and Heggestad

(1997) De Fruyt and Mervielde (1999) found a non significant relationship between

Investigative and Openness but found enterprising types to be significantly related to

43

conscientiousness Agreeableness was significantly related to the social and the

enterprising type Emotional stability is associated with the enterprising type and

conventional type whereas Ackerman and Heggestad (1997) did not However

consistent relationship existed between some of the personality traits and some of the

vocational interests The present study is designed to further authenticate this

consistent relationship in Pakistani context

Holland (1996) suggested that the six RIASEC types have ―strong to weak

relationships with four of the Big Five factors (p 400) Similarly a moderately

strong correlation was found between extraversion and openness personality traits by

Digman (1997)

The renaissance of interest and research in personality-interests relationship

suggested that FFM of personality traits as it relates to the Hollandlsquos model be

examined especially in the scope of present study Extraverts are very keen to obtain

organizational goals (Costa amp McCrae 1992a Goldberg 1992) Thus desire to

influence others and achieve economic gains is basic traits of extraverts (Gray

1987) Thus it can be concluded that those who are extraverted are more likely to

have preferences for enterprising and social jobs (Ackerman amp Heggestad 1997

Barrick amp Gupta 1997 De Fruyt amp Mervielde 1999 Gottfredson et al 1993)

Agreeableness domain is mainly related to social relations between each

others Those who are philanthropic gracious and eager to help others (Costa amp

McCrae 1992a) are high scorer on agreeableness domains Goldberg (1992) also

44

found that kindness generosity and fairness are related to high scorer on

agreeableness and they usually strive for cooperation rather than competition (Costa

amp McCrae 1992a) This suggested that agreeableness is likely to be related to social

vocational interests Previous Researches also supported significant relation

relationship between agreeableness and social interests (Barrick amp Gupta 1997 De

Fruyt amp Mervielde 1999)

Those who are high scorer on Openness to Experience are generally

imaginative possess intellectual curiosity and have originality On the other hand

artistic and investigative types are related to characteristics like abstraction insight

nonconformity and originality This suggested that there is a conceptual overlap

between openness to experience and artistic and investigative interests The same has

also been suggested by Barrick and Gupta (1997) and is supported by some more

studies (Ackerman amp Heggestad 1997 Gottfredson et al 1993)

Individuals who are high on neuroticism are especially attracted to jobs that

are relatively stressed free However stress is part and parcel of day to day routines

in organizational setup suggesting misfit for high scorer on neuroticism Emotional

stability and characteristics associated with Holland type are not found to be related

Therefore it is believed that scores on emotional stability will not be related to any

of the RIASEC types (Barrick amp Gupta 1997) Similar findings were reported by

Ackerman and Heggestad (1997) between any Holland type and emotional stability

45

Consequently a weak relationship is expected between emotional stability and any of

the six Holland personality types

The realistic type is non-significantly related to any personality dimension as

suggested by some studies (Ackerman amp Heggestad 1997 Barrick amp Gupta 1997

Costa et al 1984 De Fruyt amp Mervielde 1999 Tokar amp Swanson 1995) Since no

FFM personality trait are associated with preferences for aggressive action physical

activities and motor skill therefore personality traits are least expected to correspond

with realistic interests

People who scored high on conscientiousness are dependable orderly and

hardworking Thus conscientiousness is related to achievement striving (Digman

1990 Watson Clark amp Harkness 1994) These traits are essential for the success

and are related to the performance in all jobs (Barrick amp Mount 1991 Barrick et al

2001) It is expected that conscientiousness and conventional interests are more

relevant to each other Several studies have rendered support for conscientiousness

being positively related to conventional types (Ackerman amp Heggestad 1997

Barrick amp Gupta 1997 De Fruyt amp Mervielde 1999 Gottfredson et al 1993)

Costa et al (1984) found neuroticism correlated weakly with the artistic type

extraversion was strongly positively correlated with the enterprising type Openness

was strongly positively correlated with the artistic type Tokar and Swanson (1995)

concluded that openness and extraversion are particularly related to Holland model

The findings presented partial support to the existing body of literature about five-

46

factor model which claimed that it can assimilate organize and interpret other

structural model of personality

Similar conclusions were also reported by Schinka Dye and Curtiss (1997)

They reported fairly high correlations between extraversion openness and

agreeableness traits with the enterprising artistic and social personality interests

However the relationship between personality and RIASEC types are modest as 16 of

the 30 being less than r = 20 They were of the view that the FFM ―may not provide

powerful predictors of other aspects of global personalities including occupational

interests and possibly extending to other area of personal values preferences and

beliefs (p 366)

Costa McCrae and Kay (1995) have considered how NEO personality

inventory may be used in career assessment They acknowledged that ―personality

inventories should supplement rather than replace vocational interest inventories

(p 130) They were strongly supportive of three sorts of data in career assessment

ability trait and vocational interest They suggested that extraversion openness and

agreeableness of FFM are mostly relevant to vocational interests About neuroticism

they assumed neurotics are ―likely to be unhappy in whatever job they have (p

130) More importantly they distinguished between big five and facet scales Thus

they were of the view that individuals may have identical conscientiousness scores

but one is high in some facet traits and other could have the opposite pattern yet they

would be best suitable to quite different jobs This is apparent that 30 NEO

47

personality inventory facets are very vital and helpful to the expert which facets are

desirable or undesirable for different jobs

Waller Lykken and Tellegen (1995) initially conceptualized the

interrelatedness of personality and interests at a facet level in both domains One of

the limitation found in the literature review is that in most of the studies big five

traits and big six vocational interests were examined while very few studies looked at

the lower order facet level traits In the present study five personality traits were

studied along with the lower order facets in order to obtain detailed view of

personality and vocational interest relationship

Applicability of FFM to Children

The vast majority of studies have been conducted with samples of college

students and adults Whereas the FFM model has been examined and applied to

many populations cultures and domains of behavior (Costa amp Widiger 1994

McCrae 1992) Digman and Takemoto-Chock (1981) and Digman and Inouye

(1986) were the first who demonstrated the possible applicability of the FFM to

children Kohnstamm Slotboom and Elphick (1994) concluded that children of

school age demonstrated the presence of a factor similar to conscientiousness in

adults both in self-descriptions as well as in teacher and parent ratings

48

Farsides and Woodfield (2003) provided mixed empirical support about the

role five traits played in determining academic success Neuroticism was found to be

positively related to academic achievement in middle school but negatively at college

level Similarly extraversion predicted higher grades in middle school but lower

grades at the college level (De Raad amp Schouwenburg 1996 Eysenck 1996) They

proposed several reasons for this discrepancy These are due to small sample sizes

and the use of different personality measures Different criteria for academic success

varying time lapses between the collection of data and age specificity issued may

have jeopardized the results

Laidra Pullmann and Allik (2007) studied two large samples of school

children from 7 to 19 years of age and found the relationship between intelligence

and personality with respect to academic achievement in Estonian schools

Conscientiousness and openness traits have been found relevant to achievement

(Paunonen amp Ashton 2001)

Similarly Hair and Graziano (2003) analyzed five factor traits in middle

school and found correlations with high school GPA Heaven Mak Barry and

Ciarrochi (2002) and Maqsood (1993) examined the relationship between personality

variables and adjective scales for agreeableness and conscientiousness to self-rated

academic performance in adolescents of 14ndash16 years of age None of the three

Eysencklsquos PEN model correlated significantly with GPA in a sample of Russian

adolescents (Slobodskaya Safronova amp Windle 2005)

49

A somewhat different approach was taken by Parker and Stumpf (1998) to

assess personality dimensions according to five factor model on academically

talented youth (mean age = 1377) from the USA They used four different

instruments NEO-FFI ACL MBTI and CCQ The findings largely supported the

conception about FFM that data derived from adults is applicable to academically

talented youth

Chung (1983) administered 120 occupation titles which were derived from

the General Occupational Themes (GOT) of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank

(Campbell 1974) and Hollands Vocational Preference Inventory (1965) In factor

analysis it was clearly seen that Realistic and Investigative correlated more with

Factor II while Artistic Social Enterprising correlated more with Factor I

Conventional was a bi-factor variable It can be said that Factor I is Arts subjects and

Factor II is Science subjects

It is obvious from the above study that according to students choices of

academic subjects the secondary school pupils in Hong Kong are of two main types

arts students and science students Science students preferred occupations of realistic

or investigative types and arts students preferred occupations of artistic social or

enterprising types all of which were their personality types Both science students

and arts students would prefer occupations of conventional type

Larson and Borgen (2006) studied the overlap of the Strong Basic Interest

scales with the facet scales of the NEO-PI-R They found that specific Basic Interest

50

scales could be predicted best from specific facet scales of the NEO-PI-R Public

speaking interests were most related to the assertiveness facet of the extraversion

domain science interests were most related to the ideas facet of the openness

domain and office practices interests were most related to the order facet of the

conscientiousness domain

More studies of this kind need to be done to explicate the links between

interests and personality The present study examining the relationship between

lower order personality facets and vocational interests in high school students may

well locate important interest-personality linkages that are obscured in the more

general big six and big five models

McCrae et al (2002a) were of the opinion that the NEO PI-R could be

significantly used for measuring personality in adolescents Adolescentslsquo self-ratings

have also displayed a structure similar to adults (Allik Laidra Realo amp Pullman

2004 Scholte van Aken amp van Lieshout 1997) Markey Markey Ericksen and

Tinsley (2002) have suggested that preadolescent can also reliably rate themselves

using a standard measure of adult personality (NEO-Five Factor Inventory)

On the other hand many studies have linked personality traits to career

choice and interests among adolescents (Feather amp Said 1983 Hartman Fuqua amp

Blum 1985 Hartman Fuqua amp Hartman 1988 Lokan amp Biggs 1982 Medina amp

Drummond 1993) There has been little research on career decidedness and

personality traits among ―middle adolescents (ie about 14 to 17 years) Even

51

though adolescence is characterized by marked personality change and development

(Piaget 1952) it is also a time when relatively stable personality traits emerge

(McCrae et al 2002b)

Gender Differences on Personality and Vocational Interests

Previous research suggested that there are considerable differences in

vocational interests due to gender (Benbow 1988 Hansen Collins Swanson amp

Fouad 1993 Lubinski amp Benbow 1992) The literature also suggested the

differences between traits and interests on sample of college students when compared

with sample of working adults Goh and Leong (1993) found low to moderate

correlations between personality and RIASEC personality types may be because of

sample of college students They assumed that older adults could be expected to have

more highly differentiated vocational interests

Existing literature showed that differences in personality factors can be

expected for high achiever students (Dauber amp Benbow 1990 Goff amp Ackerman

1992) Same is the case about differences in vocational choices for intelligent

students as compared to average students (Lubinski amp Benbow 1992) Intelligent

students have been found to be high on realistic and investigative categories

(Benbow amp Stanley 1982 Dauber amp Benbow 1990)

52

In supporting the applicability of the FFM in Chinese adolescents Wu

Lindsted Tsai and Lee (2008) used NEO personality inventory revised (NEO-PI-R)

in Taiwanese adolescents Women found to be higher in neuroticism extraversion

and agreeableness scores as opposed to males The gender differences reported in the

study are supportive of the results from other cultures This suggested that the

Chinese NEO-PI-R retains the psychometric properties of other language versions

In a study related to gender differences and personality Costa Terracciano

and McCrae (2001) based on the analyses of NEO PI-R data from 26 cultures (N =

23031) suggested that gender differences replicated across cultures for college age

and adult samples They found that the differences are broadly consistent with

gender stereotypes Personality factors were reasonably unchangeable across ages

Schmitt Realo Voracek and Allik (2009) suggested that sex differences in

personality traits are larger in countries whose cultures are prosperous healthy and

egalitarian Women have more opportunities in such cultures which are equal with

those of men They reported the findings in which women reported higher levels of

neuroticism extraversion agreeableness and conscientiousness than did men across

most nations

Women scored higher scores on social types measured by SDS as these are

related to people and service oriented occupations (Holland et al 1994) Men scored

significantly higher scores on Realistic scales which are related to technical skilled

trades engineering occupations Hansen et al (1993) found different career structure

53

for men and women He assessed sex differences in Hollands hexagon ordering of

career interests as measured by the SII They found that women scores on

Investigative and Realistic scales were highly correlated supporting significant

gender differences on Hollandlsquos model

The literature is rich in studies investigating gender differences in personality

traits (Feingold 1994 Jorm 1987) These differences are replicated regardless of

culture period and instruments used to measure these traits These differences

appeared to be a universal phenomenon (Colom amp Jayme-Zaro 2004) and have been

found among adults children and young people in almost all countries (Barrett amp

Eysenck 1984 Delgado 1995 Francis 1993)

The present study was designed to find out the personality vocational

interests and vocational aspirations of the high school students The differences with

respect to demographic variables on personality and vocational interests were also

determined

54

Rationale of the Study

One of the long held goals of psychology has been to establish a model that

can conveniently describe human personality and can be used in the remedying of

personality disorders and improving general understanding of personality One of the

prominent models in contemporary psychology is what is known as the five-factor

model of personality (Digman 1990) This model incorporated five different

variables into a conceptual model for describing personality Neuroticism

Extraversion Openness Agreeableness and Conscientiousness are five mains

domains of personality which are measured by NEO PI-R (Costa amp McCrae 1992a)

The five factors are sometime referred to as the ―Big Five (Ewen 1998) The FFM

is among the newest models and showed promise to be among the practical and

applicable models available in the field of personality psychology (Digman 1990)

Hollandlsquos model explicitly recognized the role of personality in fact

Hollandlsquos taxonomy is personality taxonomy Holland (1985a) clearly outlined the

domain of personality traits believed to correspond with each of the six personality

types If Holland taxonomy is personality taxonomy then five factor model and

Holland taxonomy should correspond with each other Hollands RIASEC typology

has shown that congruence between interests and environment is associated with

greater satisfaction (Assouline amp Meir 1987 Mount amp Muchinsky 1978 Spokane

1985) ―Congruency is the primary concept (French et al 1974) and refers to the

55

compatibility of the personality and the environment Vocational interests are

multifaceted orientations associated with behaviors that reflected an individuals

choice to engage in tasks and activities they like and to be in environments where

they are surrounded by people who are similar to them

Five factor model of personality and Hollandlsquos model of vocational interests

are most widely accepted and used models in the research literature on personality

and vocational interests Recent trends in literature review showed that there is

consistent pattern of relationship between personality and vocational interests

(Barrett 2009 Barrick et al 2003 Bullock amp Reardon 2008 Ehrhart amp

Makransky 2007 Harris et al (2006) Larson et al 2002 Logue et al 2007

Staggs et al 2007 Zhang 2008) Lot of studies and meta-analyses were conducted

to determine this relationship between personality and vocational interests This

relationship has been described in studies in diverse population and samples

Majority of the studies were conducted on the sample of college students or adults

However few studies were also conducted on the school students The results showed

that general relationship pattern between personality and other variables have been

replicated on the sample of school students (Hair amp Graziano 2003 Laidra et al

2007 Parker amp Stumpf 1998 Wu et al 2008)

In Pakistan there are few studies conducted on the five factor model of

personality (Akhtar 2004 Anis-ul-Haque 2003 Chishti 2002 Safdar 2002

Shaheen 2007 Taj 2003) In these studies Urdu translated versions of NEO PI-R to

56

measure personality were used on Pakistani population Similarly translation and

adaptation of SDS measuring vocational interests on Pakistani High school students

was conducted by Naheed (1988) However the relationship between personality and

vocational interests has not been explored earlier within the context of Pakistani

society

The present study is an endeavor to find out the relationship between

personality and vocational interests among high school students There are many

types and categories of schools in Pakistan There are private schools as well as

government schools The general trend in Pakistan is that parents send their children

to private schools which are also popularly known as English medium schools

However majority of English medium schools are located in the urban localities

Whereas in rural areas there are very few English medium schools in the near

vicinity and therefore the government schools generally cater for the majority of rural

students Another reason for sending the children to government schools is the socio-

economic status of parents The fee structure of government schools is affordable to

commoners in Pakistan

The government schools from both urban and rural areas belonging to

Rawalpindi district are taken in the study In Punjab the biggest province of

Pakistan the government schools have almost the same syllabus and same facilities

in all schools Hence the sample was taken from Rawalpindi district and it was

assumed that the results of the study could be generalized to the population of

57

students of government schools in Punjab Although there are limited facilities in

government school (Memon 2007) the students from these schools are contributing

in the development of Pakistan in different capacities However still there are large

numbers of students who could not complete their studies and might not have

achieved suitable careers Therefore this appears to be a neglected area which

requires immediate attention

The present study also explored the differences in demographical variables on

personality and vocational interests The participation rates of women in occupations

traditionally held by men have increased dramatically in the past few decades Many

more women are becoming doctors bankers human resource managers lawyers and

are working on many executive and managerial positions Overall men and women

still show somewhat different participation rates in the occupations and these

differences seem to be related to differences in values

In Pakistan the students after passing 8th

class have to choose two different

categories of subjects ie the science group and humanities group There are many

career opportunities which are based on these categories of subjects Therefore

students of 9th

and 10th

classes were taken in the study Since there are no career

counselor in the schools to guide the students about suitable career matching their

personality and vocational interests the present study also endeavored to explore the

vocational interest preferences and vocational aspirations of the students Whether

the degree of agreement between vocational aspirations and vocational interests of

58

the students exist To authenticate the results and add in cultural relevance to the

concepts used in the study the opinion of experts about personality and vocational

interests are also incorporated These were the issues which were addressed in the

study

The current study would be helpful in further refinement of the theoretical

framework and explore relationship that exists between personality and vocational

interests Whether the consistent relationship between personality and vocational

interests would replicate in Pakistani context The work values nature of jobs career

opportunities pay structure etc are quite different from western culture Therefore

this study endeavored to explore the relationship between personality and vocational

interest in Pakistani context It further explored the differences of various

demographical variables on personality and vocational interest The current study

will help in generalizing the results and application of two widely used models in

Pakistani context These models have been empirically supported by previous studies

and thus are taken as theoretical framework for the present study The study will also

add to the understanding of career counselors and policy makers about the vocational

aspirations of the students their preferences and level of congruence between

vocational interests and vocational aspirations

The study has been designed into six parts The part 1 of the study was

designed to develop insight and conceptual understanding about the personality and

vocational interests in high school students Part 2 of the study is regarding the

59

development of research instruments Part 3 of the study is designed to find out the

relationship between personality and vocational interests of the students In Part 4

the vocational interests and general pattern for the preferences for occupational types

by the students was studied Part 5 is associated with the degree of agreement

between vocational aspirations and vocational interests of the students Part 6 is

about the evaluation of personality profile by the experts and finally the results were

discussed along with the implications of the study

60

Chapter II

PART 1 - EXPLORATION OF CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING ABOUT

PERSONALITY AND VOCATIONAL INTERESTS OF THE STUDENTS

Majority of the previous researches were conducted on the relationship

between personality and vocational interests among college students and adults

(Ackerman amp Heggestad 1997 Barrick et al 2003 Larson et al 2002) However

the relationship between personality and vocational interests among high school

students is not very prevalent in the reported literature This study was designed to

develop insight and conceptual understanding about the personality and vocational

interests of high school students in Pakistan

The sample selected for the study was consisted of students of government

schools under the administrative control of Punjab (the biggest province in Pakistan)

A large segment of society has low socio-economic status and lives in the urban as

well as rural areas of Pakistan (World Bank 2000) Government schools generally

catered for the students belonging to this segment of society Hence there is a

requirement to understand the dynamics of personality and vocational interests in

students of government schools

The vocational aspirations are also considered as part of Self Directed Search

(SDS) in which participants were asked to give the list of vocational preferences

Since there are no proper mechanisms in Pakistani school where students can be

guided and counseled hence exploring their vocational aspirations is of great

61

importance Vocational aspirations of the students depend on many factors Due to

limited availability of research literature in Pakistan about vocational aspirations

there is a requirement to explore and understand the vocational aspirations of the

students and find out the degree of agreement with vocational interests Gender

differences between the personality vocational interest and vocational aspirations of

the students were also explored The information gathered in this study was quite

helpful in designing the subsequent parts of the research study

Objectives

To develop insight about the personality and vocational interests of high

school students

Method

In this part series of focus groups and interviews were conducted to develop

insight into the study Focus group is a carefully planned discussion designed to

obtain perceptions feelings and manner of thinking about subject under

investigation It provides a fast easy and practical way of getting in touch with the

target population This part of the research consisted of following steps

Step 1 Focus groups with the students

Step 2 Focus groups with the teachers

Step 3 Interviews with the Principals

62

In this study 6 focus groups were conducted 4 with students and 2 with

teachers of different schools The willingness of the participants was taken before

hand and a convenient sampling technique was used in this part of the study Few

guidelines (attached at Appendix ―B) with the help of experts (one PhD scholar and

one MPhil scholar) in the field of psychology were prepared before the focus group

with students in order to get maximum information about the personality development

and vocational choices of the students

Two focus groups were conducted one with male and the other with female

teachers independently The topic guide was prepared with the help of experts (one

PhD scholar and one MPhil scholar) in the field of psychology and attached at

Appendix Clsquo The researcher acted as moderator assisted by one co-moderator

(MPhil in Psychology) Before starting each focus group a brief introduction about

the purpose of the study was provided to the participants The participants in groups

were asked to introduce themselves with each other They were explained the general

rules and discussion guidelines They were given assurance about the confidentiality

of their opinions and comments

According to guidelines prepared for the focus groups participants were asked

open and neutral questions Participants were asked to talk freely with each other and

pay respect to the opinions of others There is no concept of right and wrong answers

in this discussion Separate focus groups were conducted with male and female

students as well as teachers The logic for conducting separate focus groups for male

and female students and teacher was that female students as well as teachers were

reluctant to conduct focus groups with male counterparts All the focus group

63

discussion was transcribed with notes The samples procedures and findings of the

focus groups and interviews are described below

Step 1 Focus groups with students

Total 4 focus groups were conducted with students The details are shown below

Sample

Two focus groups were conducted with the male students Two focus groups

were conducted with female students Two focus groups were conducted with the

students of urban areas (one each with male and female students) and similarly two

focus groups were conducted with the students of rural areas In each focus group 8

participants were selected 4 students from 9th

class (2 each from Science and Arts

group) and 4 students from 10th

classes (2 each from Science and Arts groups) were

selected All the students were from government schools located in Rawalpindi The

age range was from 14 years to 19 years (mean age = 165 years)

Procedure

The participants were approached in the schools with the help of school

administration After getting their consent 8 students were selected for each focus

group They were given oral instructions and general purpose of the study was

explained to them Participants were encouraged to give frank and honest opinion

The session took about 60 to 80 minutes for each focus group The discussion was

64

noted down and at the end participants were acknowledged for their cooperation and

participation

Findings of the Focus Groups with Students

Following information was obtained from the focus groups conducted with the

students

1 Most of the students responded that they were studying because they wanted

to achieve good career and some of them responded to become good human

beings

2 Majority of the male student wanted to become doctor engineer army officers

etc These seem to be the favorite careers for male students in Pakistan While

most of the female students wanted to become doctor teacher lawyer nurse

etc They agreed that there were many factors which influenced them to

choose particular choices as future careers However they were of the opinion

that whatever they had selected best matched with their temperaments

3 Some of the students responded that the idea to adopt their desired career has

not been from the childhood They further responded that with the passage of

time they had changed the profession of their choices This showed that

initially they have choices at fantasy level but with the passage of time they

changed it realistically With regard to future choices majority of the students

were inspired either by the influence of media or by their interactions with

any of the successful close relative

65

4 Most of the students were aware of the basic criteria for the attainment of

choice of profession up to some extent Although they did not have the

complete details about the basic selection criteria about the profession of their

choices however they have working knowledge Students were aware of the

fact that they have to work hard in studies in order to achieve the desired

careers They were also taking interest in games and activities related to their

career choice

5 Students were asked to narrate the benefits which they will have to get after

adopting the particular profession Most of them responded that it would be

interesting and they will get a good job and will be financially better off

They also said that they would get respect in the society and will improve

their personality Once they were asked about the demerits of choosing

particular profession they responded that they may have to go far away from

home and some said that there is a continuous struggle and study in life

6 The students did not have clear second and third choices Some of the

students responded that their second choice would be business while some

were sure to achieve their first career choice Most of the students narrated

that they did not receive any formal guidancecounseling in order to adopt

any career Some of the students said that teachers informally discussed about

their choice of careers This showed that at school level there is no proper

counselingguidance program

7 Most of the students narrated that their fathers had asked to adopt a particular

profession This showed that parents have tried to influence their children for

66

adopting a particular career Most of the students were of the view that their

personality suited to the vocations of their choices and their activities and

interests also matched with the desired careers

8 Science students were interested to become doctors engineers and scientists

etc Majority of the students had opted science group in 9th

class While very

few opted Arts group rather their teachers had put them in Arts groups due to

less marks Science students were of the opinion that if they did not succeed

to achieve the desired careers that depend on science subjects then they could

shift to other many options Arts group students narrated that if they did not

succeed to achieve the career of their choice then they have many other

options including army civil superior services lawyer teacher and even any

government job etc

9 Students were aware of the facts that very few students achieved good marks

to get admission in professional colleges However they said that they are

trying hard to achieve their targets Majority of the students mentioned that

they are not very good in English as a subject They said that they have

problems in spoken English Majority of the students mentioned that they are

very good in Urdu language as compared to English language

Step 2 Focus Groups with Teachers

Two focus groups were conducted with teachers One focus group was

conducted with male teachers and one focus group was conducted with female

teachers The details are shown below

67

Sample

The composition of the focus group included teachers having at least 10 years

of teaching experience Teachers having a minimum stay of 3 years in a school

where science and arts subjects are being taught to students were selected Focus

groups were conducted with teachers selected from six different schools The most

senior teachers teaching Science and Arts subjects were selected Five of them were

vice-principals and 3 were senior teachers There were 8 participants in the focus

group for male teachers 4 teachers were science teachers and 4 teachers were

teaching Arts subjects The age range for male teachers was from 32-48 years and

mean age was (M = 38 years)There were 6 participants in the focus group for female

teachers 3 teachers were science teachers and 3 were teaching Arts subjects The age

range for female teachers was from 30-45 years and mean age was (M = 35 years)

Procedure

The participants were approached in the schools with the help of school

administration After getting their consent the selected participants were briefed

about the purpose of the discussion They were encouraged to give frank and honest

opinion The session started with the introduction of all the participants Initially the

discussion was on general topics but later on it was moved to more specific topics It

was made sure for each participant to get a chance to speak The session took about

60 to 70 minutes for each focus group The discussion was generated focusing on the

individual differences between the students vocational choices of the students

factors affecting them and the procedures adopted in the schools for allotting Science

68

and Arts group The educational policy and curriculum (Aly 2006) and their effects

on helping and guiding the students were also discussed The discussion was noted

down and at the end participants were acknowledged for their cooperation and

participation

Findings of the Focus Groups with Teachers

Followings information was obtained from the focus group conducted with

the teachers

1 According to the teachers there are no significant things in curriculum which

could be helpful for the students to set direction for their future adjustments

Similarly the educational policy was also not very lucid (Zaman 2008) in this

regard

2 Schools have their own method of allotting Science and Arts groups to

students however generally the criteria to allot Science group and Arts group

are based on marks Students who get more marks are placed in Science

group while those who scored less marks are placed in Arts group However

sometimes preference is given to the choices of students as well It was also

observed that students after passing grade 8th have to choose between two

major groups ie Science group and Arts group The subjects and the

curriculum taught at the schools are not much helpful in choosing suitable

careers Majority of the schools in Rawalpindi city have science group in

Matriculations While very few offered both Science and Arts group In some

of the schools the strength of student either in science or in arts groups was

69

very low There are differences between science and arts students regarding

choice of careers

3 There are lot many private English medium schools in urban areas whereas

very limited such opportunity are available in rural areas Only government

schools catered for the majority of rural population Generally speaking due

to low socio economic status of parents children are being sent to

government schools There are separate schools for boys and girls hence no

coeducation in government high schools Teachers are of the opinion that the

fee structure of government schools is very reasonable and people with less

income can afford to send their children in government schools

4 In some schools even the shortage of teaching staff lack of adequate funds

and facilities were also mentioned by the teachers According to them proper

facilities should be provided to the government schools They considered

teachers as low paid employees They admitted that teachers sometimes

behaved harshly with the students According to teachers students have

limited career choices due to non availability of job opportunities for them

They said that most of the students are interested to join jobs in public sector

Female students have even more limited careers choices due to socio-cultural

scenario and non availability of job opportunities for them However they are

very eager to join even the non-traditional careers which were not encouraged

earlier for females

5 Teachers are of the opinion that some of the students are very hard working

and achieved outstanding results while majority of the students are just

70

mediocre They said that there are many factors which influence the

vocational aspirations of the students

6 They said that well trained career counselor should be appointed in the

schools to help students identifying their true potentials It will also be helpful

in guiding the students to achieve suitable careers Teachers said that they

tried to guide the students about their career choices They said that students

are very keen to choose desired profession and are well aware about the basic

requirement of achieving the desired profession

Step 3 Interviews with the Principals of Schools

Few interviews were also conducted with the principals from both Boys and

Girls government Schools These were unstructured interviews however the focus

was on the guidelines prepared for the focus groups Principals from 4 boy and 3 girl

government schools were interviewed The schools were both from urban and rural

areas All the principals had at least 20 years of service It took about 30 to 45

minutes for each interview The researcher was accompanied by one well trained

assistant All the details and information were transcribed by taking short notes All

the principals were briefed about the purpose of the study They were assured about

the confidentiality of the interviews Initially general discussion was started followed

by asking specific questions based on the guidelines prepared for the focus groups

for teachers and students Detail information was collected which were given below

71

Findings of the Interviews with Principals of Schools

Maximum information was collected from interviews Followings were the

observations based on the content analysis and feedback received from the

interviews

1 All the principals were highly qualified and experienced teachers Majority of

the principals were satisfied by the performance of their students It was felt

that there are lack of proper facilities shortage of teachers and limited

allocation of funds for the government schools

2 They said that there are some highly qualified teachers in the schools

Principals are of the strong opinion that career counselors should immediately

be posted to each school

3 They said that students had different attractive vocational aspirations however

very few able to achieve them There are gender differences between students

about vocational interests Science and arts students also differed with each

other about the vocational interests They were of the opinion that limited

career opportunities are available for the students in public sector Students

belonging to rural areas should be given some incentives in terms of marks

and scholarships to compete with the students of urban areas

4 Well paid and highly qualified teachers should be posted to these categories

of schools Rural areas schools catered for large number of students hence

their standard should be enhanced by providing latest audio-visual and

electronic equipments Principals were of the opinion that the government

should enhance educational budget for government schools A large number

72

of talents can be polished to become good citizen by providing proper

facilities and guidance to the students of government schools

5 It would be of great significance if the vocational aspirations of the students

are based on their related interests and competencies Moreover they should

be provided opportunities to join the occupations of their interests They are

very likely to excel in the field of their interests

Discussion

The present study was planned to get insight about the personality and

vocational interests of high school students With the help of literature review

researcher was able to identify certain issues related to personality and vocational

interests of different samples However issues related to personality and vocational

interests of Pakistani school students are of great importance In Pakistan the students

of high schools have to decide two major categories of science and arts (humanities)

group These distinctions are of paramount importance because many careers depend

on the distinctions of these subjects For instance doctors and engineers are the

profession which can only be achieved by science students Therefore this stage is very

important for students in decision making about future career

The findings of this part of the study revealed that there are gender differences

between the vocational interests of the students Male students have preferences for

different occupations while females have preferences for some other occupations

Similarly these differences were also observed for science and arts group students

73

There were many factors which influenced the choices of the students Since

this study dealt with the personality and vocational interests of the students who are

yet not admitted in any professional college so the vocational aspirations of the

students were of great concern Although vocational aspirations are part of

vocational interests measured by SDS but the findings of focus groups and interviews

suggested that some in depth analysis on vocational interests of the students need to

be carried out

According to Hollandlsquos model (Holland 1994) when there is congruence

between vocational aspirations and vocational interests there are more chances for

the individual to succeed in their desired career The findings of this part of the study

also observed that there are gender differences about the vocational aspirations of the

students It was also noticed that science and arts group students have different

vocational aspirations depending on the subjects which they are studying The

present study also endeavored to explore the vocational aspirations of the students

and find out the degree of agreement between vocational aspirations and vocational

interests measured by Hollandlsquos model Gender differences about the vocational

aspirations of the students were also explored

The sample selected for the study was from government schools which are

located in urban as well as rural areas Majority of the students were of same socio-

economic background In rural areas there are very few private schools while

majority of the students are being catered for by the government schools Another

reason for choosing government schools in the study was that majority of the

population lives in rural areas therefore students from these areas are being

74

accommodated by these schools Neglecting these government schools in term of

facilities meant that government is neglecting the educational rights of majority of

the rural population Hence there is a requirement to deeply analyze the personality

and vocational interests of the students of government schools Another point of

concern was that there are no career counselors in the schools to guide and counsel

the students according to their vocational interests Hence the vocational aspirations

as well as vocational interests of the students also need to be explored in depth

The main study exploring conceptual understanding related to personality and

vocational interests was conducted on 9th

and 10th

class students The effects of

demographical variables were also observed both on personality and vocational

interests independently The sample selected may not be mature enough and the

findings of the study need to be validated for cultural relevance by the experts of

different fields Although the findings obtained by conducting focus groups and

interviews showed that students were well aware about their vocational aspirations

have matching personality and interests with the desired careers and are striving hard

to achieve them However it was felt that opinion of experts of different fields may

be obtained about the personality profiles related to their occupations Experts were

also requested to categorize the matching personality types mentioned by Holland

model (Holland 1985a) with their respective occupations in Pakistani context

The consistent relationship between FFM and vocational interests was found

in the literature review (Barrick et al 2003 Larson et al 2002 Staggs et al 2007)

Extraversion is consistently related to social and enterprising interests openness is

related to investigative and artistic interests agreeableness is related to social

75

interests and conscientiousness is related to conventional interests The present study

will further help in exploring personality-interest relationships

The findings of the present study are also supported by the literature on

gender differences (Costa et al 1984 Gottfredson et al 1993 Holland et al 1994)

Bullock and Reardon (2008) illustrated male college students showed an interest in

Realistic and Enterprising vocations whereas women showed an interest in Social

Artistic and Enterprising vocations Hence it is assumed that Male will prefer

Realistic Investigative and Enterprising interests and Female will prefer Artistic and

Social interests

According to Holland occupational classification Doctor as a vocational

aspiration of students should have Investigative interests Army should have Realistic

interests Teacher should have Social interests Lawyer should have Enterprising and

Engineer should have Realistic and Investigative interests Thus it is expected that

studentslsquo vocational aspirations should match with their interests to attain the state of

congruence

The findings of the present study about preferences of Science and Arts

students are also supported by the research conducted in Hong Kong by Chang

(1981) Science students will prefer Realistic and Investigative occupations and Arts

students will prefer occupations of Artistic Social and Enterprising types Both

Science and Arts students will prefer occupations of Conventional types The results

are supported by the existing literature (Leung amp Hua 2005 Staggs et al 2007) The

findings of the study supplemented the existing body of literature about differences

between gender and science and Arts students

76

In the present study the Urdu translated version of NEO PI-R (Chishti 2002)

and SDS (Naheed 1988) to measure personality and vocational interests respectively

were used on the high school students It was decided that pretesting of both the

instruments on the sample of high school students may be carried out Overall this

part of the research was of great help in designing subsequent studies related to

personality and vocational interests of the Pakistani students

77

Chapter III

PART 2 - RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS

This part of the study was designed to finalize the research instruments

comprehendible to the target population The study pertained to the measurement of

personality and vocational interests of the high school students Five factor model of

personality (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) and Hollandlsquos model (Holland 1985a) of

vocational interests provided the theoretical framework for the present study

Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) measures the

personality domains and Self Directed Search (SDS) measures the vocational interests

Demographic Sheet Future Possibilities Questionnaire and Evaluation Sheet were also

designed to obtain the required information Pretesting of the research instruments were

also carried out on a small sample

Objectives

1 To carry out pretesting of the research instruments

Method

The study was conducted to finalize the followings instruments

Step 1 Demographic Sheet

Step 2 Future Possibilities Questionnaire

Step 3 Evaluation sheet

78

Step 4 NEO PI-R

Step 5 SDS

Step 6 Pretesting of the Research Instruments

Step 1 Demographic Sheet

Based on the information gathered in previous part (see chapter II) of the study

a demographic sheet was constructed with the help of experts (two PhD students and

one MPhil psychologist) from National Institute of Psychology Quaid-i-Azam

University Islamabad The demographic sheet consisted of detailed information about

the participants including variables like name gender age class sciencearts group

urbanrural fatherlsquos income fatherlsquos education and name of school etc The

demographic sheet is attached at Appendix Dlsquo

Step 2 Future Possibilities Questionnaire

Future possibilities questionnaire asked two questions about the vocational

aspirations of the students The first question was ―What career do you intend to adopt

in futurelsquolsquo The second question was ―If you have more than one career choice please

write in order of preference Some of the information about the demographical

variables was also obtained The future possibilities questionnaire is attached at

Appendix Elsquo

Step 3 Evaluation Sheet

An evaluation sheet was constructed to evaluate the personality profile of

selected vocations by the experts An evaluation sheet was developed with the help of

experts (one PhD psychologist one PhD scholar and One MPhil in psychology)

79

Evaluation sheet consisted of rating of 30 facets of personality (NEO PI-R) on a seven

point scale (1 to 7) ranging from least desiredlsquo to most desiredlsquo The conceptual

definitions of 30 facets of personality (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) are printed on the

evaluation sheet Experts of different fields were administered evaluation sheet to get

personality profiles related to their occupations Experts were also given the detailed

definitions of six personality types as described in Hollandlsquos typology Experts in each

field are required to choose one out of six personality types which meaningfully

correspond with their respective profession Detailed instructions were written on the

evaluation sheet Personal information like name profession designation and

experience were also mentioned The evaluation sheet along with detailed instructions

is attached at Appendix Flsquo

Step 4 NEO Personality Inventory Revised (NEO PI-R)

The NEO PI-R is self-administered and available in two parallel versions Form

S is designed for self-reports and Form R is the rating version of the instrument

Research has been conducted on this instrument and it has been translated into many

languages The NEO PI-R is a systematic assessment of emotional interpersonal

experimental attitudinal and motivational styles The inventory gives a detailed

assessment of normal personality can be used in human resource development

industrialorganizational psychology as well as vocational counseling and clinical

practice It consisted of 240 items and 3 validity items with the administration time of

35-45 minutes It can be administered to students and adults and the reading level

should be at least 6th grade The scoring options include hand scoring and software

scoring

80

Development and Validation

The NEO PI-R began in 1978 as the NEO inventory with three domains and 18

facets relating to N E and O In 1983 18 items domain scales measuring A and C were

added In 1985 the instrument was published as NEO personality inventory In 1990

facets scales for A and C were completed and some minor modifications were made in

original N E and O items which lead to the development of NEO PI-R The revised

inventory differed in the addition of facet scales for the A and C domains and also in

minor changes in some of the items comprising the N E and O scales These changes

were made to improve upon the internal consistency and validity of several facet scales

Correlation between the original scales and the revised scales ranged from (r = 93 to

95) The five-factor model has emerged as being an important development in the

study of individual differences These constructs have been shown to be quite robust

empirically and have impressive validity The field of personality assessment is moving

rapidly towards the five-factor model as the conceptual framework for most assessment

needs

Scoring of the Instrument

The NEO PI-R has a 5-point self-rating response format (strongly agree to

strongly disagree) The scoring options include hand scoring and software scoring

The scoring of NEO PI-R is quite easy The scorer examined the answer sheet and

check that a response has been given for each item The respondents should be

encouraged to complete the missing responses If the respondent is unsure of the

meaning of an item or is unsure of how to respond he or she may be told to use the

neutral response option The NEO PI-R should not be scored if 41 responses are

missing If three responses are missing from a facet scale it should be interpreted with

81

caution If the respondent has 150 or more agree and strongly agree responses or 50 or

fewer items as agree and strongly agree the NEO PI-R should be interpreted with

caution 106 items are negatively scored

The scales of NEO PI-R and NEO-FFI measure traits that approximate normal

distributions Majority of the individuals score near average while few lie on the

extremes Scales are most conveniently explained by describing characteristics of

extremely high or extremely low scores It may also be useful to consider pairs of

domain scores in terms of two-dimensional planes which correspond in many cases to

particular areas of life The affective plane defined by N and E which represents the

individuallsquos basic emotional styles (Costa amp McCrae 1980 Watson amp Tellegen 1985)

and the interpersonal plane or circumplex defined by E and A (McCrae amp Costa

1989c) have been extensively researched E and O together are important both for

vocational interests (Costa et al 1984) and for the selection of optimal forms of

therapy (Miller 1991) E and C jointly determine patterns of activity O and A are

relevant to attitudes O and C are important to academic performance and A and C

represent the basic dimensions of character

Reliability

Internal consistency coefficients for both forms (ie form S and form R) range

from 86 to 95 for domain scales and from 56 to 90 for facet scales Alphas for the

domain range from 86 to 92 for Form S and from 89 to 95 for Form R Internal

consistency estimates for the facets Form S range from 56 to 81 For the Form R

facets these values range from 60 to 90 (Costa amp McCrae 1992b) Six-year retest

reliabilities for the Neuroticism Extraversion and Openness domains ranged from 68

to 83 in both self-reports and observer ratings Three-year retest coefficients between

82

63 and 79 were found for the domains of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness (Costa

amp McCrae 1992b) The reliability and validity of the Urdu version of NEO PI-R

(Chishti 2002) was established in Pakistan The alpha reliability coefficient for Urdu

version of NEO PI-R ranged from 73 (Openness) to 89 (Conscientiousness) whereas

the Alpha coefficients of English version ranged from 37 (Openness) to 80

(Neuroticism) This demonstrated that Urdu version of Revised NEO Personality

Inventory is a reliable and valid instrument for the Pakistani subjects

Validity

Many studies have been conducted on the external validity (eg Golberg 1989

John 1989 McCrae amp Costa 1985a 1987 Ostendorf 1990 Trapnell amp Wiggin

1990) Details about different types of validity (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) are given

below

Content Validity Content validity means that the test samples appropriately

from the range of characteristics it is intended to represent In the NEO PI-R content

validity is addressed by identifying six distinct facets to sample each domain and by

selecting non-redundant items to measure each facet (Costa amp McCrae 1992a)

Criterion Validity It means that identifiable groups of individuals differ in their

mean scores in theoretically predictable ways The findings that patients in

psychotherapy score high on Neuroticism (Miller 1991) and that drug abusers score

low on Agreeableness and Conscientiousness (Brooner King Kidorf Schmidt amp

Bigelow 1997) provided some evidence of criterion validity for NEO-PI scales

83

Construct Validity The value of a scale lies in its ability to show meaningful

relations to external criteria that allow making valid inferences about scale scores while

interpreting individual cases Data on construct validity show that the scales of NEO

PI-R are generally successful in measuring the intended constructs The dimensions of

the NEO PI-R have been found to emerge over different types of factoring methods and

types of samples (Costa 1996 McCrae Zonderman Costa Bond amp Paunonen 1996)

over self-reports and observer ratings (McCrae 1994 Peidmont 1994) and even cross-

culturally (eg Spanish Korean Hebrew Chinese and German see McCrae and

Costa 1997 for a review of cross-cultural data) Several studies that demonstrated the

theoretically appropriate predictive power of NEO PI-R scales with respect to a variety

of external criteria including psychological well-being coping and defenses needs and

motivation Jungian types interpersonal traits and creativity and divergent thinking

provided evidence of construct validity for both forms

Convergent and Discriminant Validity Convergent and discriminant validity of

the facet scales have been established as well (eg Costa McCrae amp Holland 1984

Costa amp McCrae 1986 Lorr 1986) Sufficient data exists documenting the convergent

and discriminant validity of the facets themselves documenting their utility as useful

and non redundant measures of personality (Costa 1996 Costa McCrae amp Dye 1991

Peidmont amp Weinstein 1993) The clinical value of NEO PI-R has also been

documented Information from this instrument has been shown relevant to anticipating

psychotherapeutic outcome (Miller 1991) and for understanding the Axis 11

personality disorders (Trull 1992)

84

Costa and McCrae (1992b) outlined several strategies for using the NEO in a

clinical context Convergent validity is seen in the fact that NEO PI-R facet scales are

correlated with alternative measures of similar constructs For example N1 Anxiety is

related to Anxiety as measured by the State-Trait Personality Inventory (Spielberger et

al 1979) and Tension as measured by the Profile of Mood States (McNair Lorr amp

Droppleman 1971) A1 Trust is positively correlated with the Trusting scale of the

Interpersonal Style Inventory (Lorr 1986) and negatively correlated with the Suspicion

scale of the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory (Buss amp Durkee 1957) All 30 scales

show substantial correlations with appropriate criteria

Discriminant validity is seen by contrasting the correlates of different facets

particularly from different domain The Personality Research Form (PRF Jackson

1984) is considered as correlates of the E facet scales PRF Affiliation is related to E1

Warmth and E2 Gregariousness PRF Dominance is related to E3 Assertiveness PRF

harm avoidance is negatively related to E5 Excitement ndashSeeking and PRF Play is

related to E6 Positive Emotion A study examined the 300 items of the Adjective

Check List (ACL Gough amp Heilbrun 1983) and the seven largest correlates were

identified for each of the 30 NEO PI-R facets These correlates showed an appropriate

and distinctive pattern that testifies to the discriminant validity of the facet scales

Norms Normative information for Form S is based on a sample of 500 men and

500 women screened from a larger pool of 2273 individuals These 1000 individuals

were selected demographically in order to match US Census projections for 1995 Form

R norms were obtained from 143 ratings of 73 men and 134 ratings of 69 women

These ratings were obtained from both spouses and multiple peer ratings (McCrae amp

Costa 1991a)

85

Judgesrsquo Evaluation of NEO PI-R

The NEO PI-R Form S was translated in Urdu at National Institute of

Psychology Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad by Chishti (2002) The Urdu version

of NEO PI-R is used in this study The Urdu version was given to four experts (two

PhD psychologists and two were MPhil in psychology) to evaluate the possibility of

administering the inventory to grade 9th

and 10th

students It was evaluated by the

expert that the translated version is quite easy to understand however few words and

concepts may be difficult to understand by some of the students It was also suggested

that any queries raised by the students must be addressed and meaning of words may be

explained in a standardized way NEO PI-R Urdu version along with detailed

instructions is attached at Appendix Glsquo The facet scales of NEO PI-R (Urdu version)

are attached at Appendix Hlsquo The answer sheet is attached at Appendix Ilsquo

Conceptual Definitions of the Personality

The dispositional domain of Personality was measured by NEO PI-R which was

developed to operationalize the five factor model of personality The five factors

represent the most basic dimensions underlying the traits identified in both natural

language and psychological questionnaire Factors are defined by groups of inter-

correlated traits called facets Each cluster of facets determined the domain The basic

definitions (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) as well as crucial distinctions of 5 domains and

30 facets are described below

Neuroticism (N) The most pervasive domain of personality scales contrasts

adjustment or emotional stability with maladjustment or neuroticism The general

tendency to experience negative effects such as sadness embarrassment anger guilt

86

and disgust is the core of neuroticism domain People who score high on such

dimension tend to experience greater level of stress In contrast people who score low

tend to be generally calm relaxed hardy relatively unemotional self-satisfied High

scorer may be at risk for some kinds of psychiatric problems but the N scale should not

be viewed as a measure of psychopathology

Extraversion (E) The high score in this domain indicates that extraverts like

people prefer large group and gathering They are assertive active and talkative like

excitement and stimulation and tend to be cheerful in disposition They are upbeat

energetic and optimistic The introverts are reserved rather than unfriendly

independent rather than followers even paced rather than sluggish Introverts may be

shy but they do not necessarily suffer from social anxiety and are not unhappy or

pessimistic

Openness (O) Individuals who are high on Openness (O) have been described

as imaginative aesthetic sensitivity creative intellectual curiosity independent

analytical traditional artistic liberal and having broad interests Open individuals are

curious about both inner and outer worlds and their lives are experientially richer They

are willing to entertain novel ideas and experience both positive and negative emotions

more keenly than do closed individuals In contrast individuals who are low in (O)

have been described as conventional down to the earth uncreative simple not

curious non adventurous conforming non analytical traditional conservative and as

having narrow interests Alternative formulations of FFM often label this factor as

Intellect and (O) scores are modestly associated with both education and measured

intelligence

87

Agreeableness (A) Agreeableness is primarily a dimension of interpersonal

tendencies The agreeable person is fundamentally altruistic He or she is sympathetic

to others and eager to help them and believe that other will be equally helpful in return

By contrast the disagreeable or antagonistic person is egocentric impractical of otherslsquo

intensions and competitive rather than cooperative Low (A) is associated with

narcissistic antisocial and paranoid personality disorders whereas high (A) is

associated with the dependent personality disorders (Costa amp McCrae 1990)

Conscientiousness (C) Conscientious individuals are purposeful strong-willed

determined scrupulous punctual reliable consistent and is associated with academic

and occupational achievement Low scorers are not necessarily lacking in moral

principles but they are less exacting in applying them just as they are attention

seeking low assertiveness low orderliness and more lackadaisical in working toward

their goals

Neuroticism Facets

Anxiety (N1) Anxious individuals are apprehensive fearful prone to worry

nervous tense and jittery High scorers are more likely to have such fears as well as

free-floating anxiety Low scorers are calm and relaxed They do not dwell on things

that might go wrong

Angry Hostility (N2) Angry hostility represents the tendency to experience

anger and related states such as frustration and bitterness This scale measures the

individuallsquos readiness to experience anger Low scorers are easygoing and slow to

anger

88

Depression (N3) It measures normal individual differences in the tendency to

experience depressive affect High scorers are prone to feelings of guilt sadness

hopelessness and loneliness They are easily discouraged and often dejected Low

scorers rarely experience such emotions

Self-Consciousness (N4) Self conscious individuals are uncomfortable around

others sensitive to ridicule and prone to feeling of inferiority Low scorers do not

necessarily have poise or good social skills they are simply less disturbed by awkward

social situations

Impulsiveness (N5) It refers to the inability to control cravings and urges

Desires (for food cigarettes possessions etc) are perceived as being so strong that the

individual cannot resist them although he or she may later regret the behavior Low

scorers find it easier to resist such temptations having a high tolerance for frustration

Vulnerability (N6) Individuals who score high on this scale feel unable to cope

with stress becoming dependent hopeless or panicked when facing emergency

situations Low scorers perceive themselves as capable of handling themselves in

difficult situations

Extraversion Facets

Warmth (E1) Warm people are affectionate and friendly They genuinely like

people and easily form close attachments to others Low scorers are neither hostile nor

necessarily lacking in compassion but they are more formal reserved and distant in

manner than high scorers

Gregariousness (E2) Gregariousness is the preference for other peoplelsquos

company Gregarious people enjoy the company of others and the more the merrier

89

Low scorers tend to be loners who do not seek- or who even actively avoid ndash social

stimulation

Assertiveness (E3) High scorers on this scale are dominant forceful and

socially ascendant They speak without hesitation and often become group leaders Low

scorers prefer to keep in the background and let others do the talking

Activity (E4) A high Activity score is seen in rapid tempo and vigorous

movement in a sense of energy and in a need to keep busy Active people lead fast-

paced lives Low scorers are more leisurely and relaxed in tempo although they are not

necessarily sluggish or lazy

Excitement-seeking (E5) High scorers crave excitement and stimulation

They like bright colors and noisy environments Low scorers feel little need for thrills

and prefer a life that high scorers might find boring

Positive emotion (E6) It assesses the tendency to experience positive emotions

such as joy happiness love and excitement High scorers laugh easily and often They

are cheerful and optimistic Low scorers are not necessarily unhappy they are merely

less exuberant and high-spirited

Openness Facets

Fantasy (O1) Individuals who are open to fantasy have a vivid imagination

and an active fantasy life They daydream not simply as an escape but as a way of

creating for themselves an interesting inner world They elaborate and develop their

fantasies and believe that imagination contributes to a rich and creative life Low

scorers are more prosaic and prefer to keep their minds on the task at hand

Aesthetics (O2) High scorers have a deep appreciation for art and beauty

They are moved by poetry absorbed in music and intrigued by art They need not have

90

artistic talent nor even necessarily what most people would consider good taste but for

many of them their interest in the arts will lead them to develop a wider knowledge and

appreciation than that of the average individual Low scorers are relatively insensitive

to and uninterested in art and beauty

Feelings (O3) Openness to feelings implies receptivity to onelsquos own

inner feelings and emotions and the evaluation of emotion as an important part of life

High scorers experience deeper and more differentiated emotional states and feel both

happiness and unhappiness more intensely than others Low scorers have somewhat

blunted affects and do not believe that feeling states are of much importance

Actions (O4) Openness is seen behaviorally in the willingness to try different

activities go new places or eat unusual foods High scorers prefer novelty and variety

to familiarity and routine Over time they may engage in a series of different hobbies

Low scorers find change difficult and prefer to stick with the tried-and-true

Ideas (O5) This trait is seen not only in an active pursuit of intellectual

interests for their own sake but also in open-mindedness and a willingness to consider

new perhaps unconventional ideas High scorers enjoy both philosophical arguments

and brain-teasers Openness to ideas does not necessarily imply high intelligence Low

scorers on the scale have limited curiosity and if highly intelligent narrowly focus

their resources on limited topics

Values (O6) Openness to Values means the readiness to re-examine social

political and religious values Closed individuals tend to accept authority and honor

tradition and as a consequence are generally conservative regardless of political party

affiliation

91

Agreeableness Facets

Trust (A1) High scorers have a disposition to believe that others are honest

and well-intentioned Low scorers tend to be cynical and skeptical and to assume that

others may be dishonest or dangerous

Straightforwardness (A2) The individuals with high scores on this scale are

frank sincere and ingenuous Low scorers are more willing to manipulate others

through flattery craftiness or deception They view these tactics as necessary social

skills and may regard more straightforward people as naive

Altruism (A3) High scorers have an active concern for otherslsquo welfare as

shown in generosity consideration of others and a willingness to assist others in need

to help Low scorers are somewhat self-centered and are reluctant to get involved in the

problems of others

Compliance (A4) This facet concerns characteristic reactions to interpersonal

conflict The high scorer tends to defer to others to inhibit aggression and to forgive

and forget Compliant people are meek and mild The low scorer is aggressive prefers

to compete rather than cooperate and has no reluctance to express anger when

necessary

Modesty (A5) High scorers are humble and self-effacing although they are not

necessarily lacking in self-confidence or self-esteem Low scorers believe they are

superior people and may be considered conceited or arrogant by others A pathological

lack of modesty is part of the clinical conception of narcissism

Tender-Mindedness (A6) This facet scale measures attitudes of sympathy

and concern for others High scorers are moved by otherslsquo needs and emphasize the

92

human side of social policies Low scorers are more hardheaded and less moved by

appeals to pity They would consider themselves realists who make rational decisions

based on cold logic

Conscientiousness Facets

Competence (C1) Competence refers to the sense that one is capable

sensible prudent and effective High scorers feel well prepared to deal with life Low

scorers have a lower opinion of their abilities and admit that they are often unprepared

and inept

Order (C2) High scorers are neat tidy and well organized They keep

things in their proper places Low scorers are unable to get organized and describe

themselves as unmethodical Carried to an extreme high order might contribute to a

compulsive personality disorder

Dutifulness (C3) In one sense conscientious means ―governed by

conscience and that aspect of conscientiousness is assessed as dutifulness High

scorers adhere strictly to their ethical principles and scrupulously fulfill their moral

obligations Low scorers are more casual about such matters and may be somewhat

undependable or unreliable

Achievement Striving (C4) Individuals who score high on this facet have high

aspiration levels and work hard to achieve their goals They are diligent and purposeful

and have a sense of direction in life Very high scorers however may invest too much

in their careers and become workaholics Low scorers are lackadaisical and perhaps

even lazy They are not driven to succeed They lack ambition and may seem aimless

but they are often perfectly content with their low levels of achievement

93

Self-Discipline (C5) It is the ability to begin tasks and carry them through to

completion despite boredom and other distractions High scorers have the ability to

motivate themselves to get the job done Low scorers procrastinate in beginning chores

and are easily discouraged and eager to quit People low in self-discipline cannot force

them to do what they want themselves to do

Deliberation (C6) Deliberation is the tendency to think carefully before

acting High scorers are cautious and deliberate Low scorers are hasty and often speak

or act without considering the consequences At best low scorers are spontaneous and

able to make snap decisions when necessary

Step 5 Self-Directed Search (SDS)

The SDS is an outgrowth of a theory of vocational choices (Holland 1959

1966b 1973 1985a) which has undergone extensive investigation and won wide

acceptance The SDS Form R (SDS Holland 1994) is one of the most widely used

interest inventories (Spokane amp Holland 1995) and is available in multiple formats

eg paper-pencil personal computer internet mail-in scoring (Professional Report

Service) and kit (Vocational Exploration and Insight Kit) (Reardon amp Lenz 1998) The

SDS is a self-administered self-scored and self interpreted vocation counseling tool It

included two booklets an assessment booklet and an occupational classification

booklet To use the SDS a person fills out the assessment booklet and obtained three

letter occupational codes The code is then used to locate suitable occupations in the

occupational classification booklet the occupation finder Most people can complete

the SDS in 40 to 50 minutes The SDS is used in high school colleges adult centers

correctional institutions women centers and employment offices for career education

94

vocational guidance and placement The SDS is not helpful for people who are grossly

disturbed uneducated or illiterate The scale and rating in the SDS assessment booklet

include

Activities (six scales of eleven items each)

Competencies (six scales of eleven items each)

Occupations (six scales of fourteen items each)

Self estimate (two sets of six ratings each rating corresponding to a type)

Total items = 228

The SDS is clearly suitable for persons aged 15 and older but the upper and

lower limits have not been well investigated The SDS in its published form or with

minor changes has been used successfully with males and females college students

young children employee adults etc

Reliability and Validity of SDS

The SDS (Holland 1985a) is an extension of Hollands work on the study of

personality types Holland contended that each individual to some extent resembles

one of six basic personality types realistic investigative artistic social enterprising

or conventional The SDS consisted of an assessment workbook which is scored by the

client and a reusable booklet The Occupations Finder The workbook begins with a

section on Occupational Daydreams The sections that follow deal with Activities

Competencies Occupations (attitudes toward specific occupations) and Self-Estimates

(of abilities) Raw scores are converted into a three-letter summary code which

95

reflected a preferred style The order of the three letters in the summary code is

hierarchical the first letter representing the strongest preference for a particular type

Hollandlsquos six personality types are unique This is not to suggest that other

researchers have not proposed six major personality factors (Brand 1995) but none are

described in the same terminology as has been done by Holland Over the past decade

there has been a renewed interest in the topic of personality at work (Hough 1998)

There have been meta-reviews in the area (Barrick amp Mount 1991 Salgado 1997) as

well as studies looking at personality trait correlates of specific work outcomes like

absenteeism (Judge Martocchio amp Thoresen 1997) and job satisfaction tension and

propensity to leave (Van der Berg amp Feij 1993) Numerous studies have been

conducted to establish the reliability and validity of SDS The cross cultural researches

also provided evidence that SDS is a reliable and valid instrument

Reliability Internal consistency coefficient for the assessment scales range from

84 to 92 for males and 86 to 91 for females (age range 14 to 18) In general the 1985

revision is slightly more reliable than the 1977 revision 69 of the summary scales are

more reliable 17 show no difference and 14 is less reliable The standard error of

the difference score at the 5 level range from 78 to 98 for the 14 to 18 years old

sample from 78 to 94 for the 19 to 25 years old sample and from 84 to 97 for the 26

to 74 years old sample Internal consistency coefficients on the summary scale

coefficients on the paper version of the SDS ranged from 90 to 94 Test-retest

reliability correlations for the summary scales ranged from 76 to 89 (Holland et al

1994)

96

Validity In general the concurrent or predictive validity of the SDS summary

scales or occupations scales are comparable with and sometimes exceed the

concurrent or predictive validities of other interest inventories (Dolliver 1975

Gottfredson amp Holland 1975 Hanson Noeth amp Prediger 1977 Holland amp

Gottfredson 1975 Hughes 1972 OlsquoNeil Magoon amp Tracey 1978 Touchton amp

Moggon 1977 Wiggins amp Westlander 1977) Kappa (k) is an index of agreement that

takes into account the marginal in the 6 x 6 tables that were used to obtain the

percentage of hits so that it is an accurate index of agreement The value of k is 27 and

36 for females and males respectively for 14 to 18 years old The value of k is 44 and

36 for females and males respectively for 19 to 25 years old

The validity of Hollandlsquos (1973 1985b) trait characterizations of the types

generally has been supported by empirical studies relating scores on type measures

(eg SDS VPI) to a wide range of personality inventories including Cattelllsquos 16PF

(Holland 1962 Ward Cunningham amp Wakefield 1976) the Edwards Personal

Preference Schedule (Utz amp Korben 1976 Wakefield amp Cunningham 1975) the

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (Martin amp Bartol 1986) and the NEO Inventory (Costa

et al 1984) In addition Holland group membership has been related to scores on the

16PF (Bolton 1985 Peraino amp Willerman 1983) Jacksonlsquos (1967) Personality

Research Form (Beysner Bodden amp Winer 1978) the California Psychological

Inventory (Taylor amp Kelso 1973) and the Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey

(Turner amp Horn 1975) among others Various studies have looked at the cross-cultural

validity of Hollands theory such as Khan Alvi Shaukat Hussain and Baig (1990) and

Siddiqa (1999) who performed their study in Pakistan They revised many items

because of cultural differences and not being able to confirm statistics yet they

97

concluded that the model promises to be useful in a non-western culture (p 132)

Judgesrsquo Evaluation of the SDS

The SDS was translated in Urdu at National Institute of Psychology Quaid-i-

Azam University Islamabad by Naheed (1988) The procedures used in translation were

direct translation team or committee approach and back translation Field probe

techniques were used for cultural adaptation and modification After thorough

deliberation 18 items were discarded from the inventory The final version has 210

items Activities have six scales of eleven items each Competencies have six scales of

ten items each Occupations have six scales of twelve items each and Self ratings have

two sets of six ratings each rating corresponding to a type The Urdu version of SDS is

used in the present study

The Urdu version was given to four experts (two PhD and two MPhil scholars)

in the field of psychology to evaluate the possibility of administering the inventory to

grade 9th

and 10th

students It was evaluated by the expert that the translated version is

quite easy to understand however few words and concepts may be difficult to

understand by some of the students It was also suggested that any queries raised by the

students must be addressed and meaning of words may be explained in a standardized

way The Urdu version of SDS is attached at appendix Jlsquo

Conceptual Definitions of Vocational Interests

The dispositional aspects of vocational interests are conceptualized by the

Holland typology of vocational interests Vocational interests are measured by Self

98

Directed Search (Holland 1985a) The SDS measures six types of vocational interests

known as personality types The definitions are described below

Personality Types

According to Holland (1985a) most people can be described as one of six

personality types realistic investigative artistic social enterprising and conventional

The description of each type is shown below

Realistic type The realistic types are predisposed to activities that entail

working with objects perceive themselves as having mechanical and athletic abilities

and value the tangibles They prefer activities involving the systematic manipulation of

machinery tools or animals

Investigative type The investigative types prefer to engage in activities

involving observational symbolic and creative inquiry see themselves as being

scholarly and intellectual and value science They tend to be analytical curious

methodical and precise

Artistic type The artistic types like ambiguous free and unsystematic

activities perceived themselves as expressive original intuitive introspective

nonconforming and value aesthetic qualities

Social type The social type like working with others to inform train cure

and enlighten see themselves as liking to help others understanding others and having

teaching ability and value social and ethical concerns and activities

Enterprising type The enterprising types show preference for activities that

involve manipulation of others to achieve organizational goals or economic gain

perceive themselves as aggressive self-confident and sociable and value political and

economic achievement

99

Conventional type The conventional types tend to like activities that entail

ordered manipulation of data and records perceive themselves as conforming and

orderly and value business and economic achievement

Step 6 Pretesting of Research Instruments

This part of the study dealt with the pretesting of research instrumentsNEO PI-

R and SDS along with the demographic sheet were administered to the small sample of

students The results showed the reliabilityvalidity of main domains of NEO PI-R and

main scales of SDS The sample procedures and results of the study are discussed

below

Sample

In this part of the study 100 students were taken from one boy school for the

study purpose All the students were taken from a school situated near Rawalpindi

After getting their consent 100 willing students were randomly selected 50 students

were taken from 9th

class and 50 students were taken from 10th

class 50 Science and 50

Arts students were randomly selected Convenient sampling technique was used as far

as selection of school is concerned One Government school where arts and science

subjects are being taught was taken for the study Within the school the sample is

divided into two main categories 9th

class students and 10th

class students Then in each

class (9th

or 10th

class) sample is distributed into science and arts groups students In

each science or arts group 25 students were selected using the systematic random

sampling techniques Depending on the number of students available in each category

the interval k was calculated by dividing the total available students by 25 Once k is

computed then any number between 1 and computed k has been randomly selected for

100

each category Using the nominal roll of students for each category every student

falling on the selected number in the sequence was selected for the study The

distribution of sample is described below

Distribution of Students in a School

Figure 4 Sample distribution in a school

All the tests were administered to 100 students and after scrutinizing the data

and eliminating the absentees the sample was left with only 79 students The age

range is from 14 years to 19 years The mean age is 1615 years There are 43 science

students and 36 arts students 45 students were from 9th

class and 34 students were

from 10th

class

Procedure

The tests were administered to the students in the course of two days The

students were administered demographic sheet NEO PI-R and SDS as per the

convenience of school administration On the first day demographic sheet and SDS

One School

(100 Students)

50 Students

from 10th

Class

50 Students

from 9th

Class

25 Students

(Science Group)

25 Students

(Arts Group)

25 Students

(Science Group)

25 Students

(Arts Group)

101

were administered to the students On the second day NEO PI-R was administered on

the same students The testing was carried out in-groups of 50 students Detail

instructions were printed on the cover pages of inventories however students were

also briefed about the instructions verbally as well Questions and queries were also

addressed The tests were personally administered by the researcher assisted by two

well trained individuals The consent of the students and the school administration

were sought prior to test administration The students were briefed about the purpose

of the study They were also requested to inform or write down any problem they

face while completing these inventories There were no significant observations

pointed out by the sample during this phase

Results

The data was analyzed by computer using SPSS 13 Alpha reliability

coefficients of all the main scales of NEO PI-R were computed Item total

correlations of all the items with their respective subscales were also computed

Correlations of subscales of NEO PI-R and inter-correlation between the five main

domains were calculated The results showed the reliability and validity of NEO PI-R

and are shown in Table 1 to Table 8 Alpha reliability coefficients of subscales of

SDS are shown in Table 9 Item-total correlations of each item with respective

subscales and the inter-correlations matrix between the subscales and summary

scales are shown in Table 10 to 11 The result demonstrated the reliability and

validity of the SDS

102

ReliabilityValidity of NEO PI-R

The reliabilityvalidity of NEO PI-R was calculated The alpha reliability

coefficients of five main scales of NEO PI-R illustrated the internal consistency of

the instrument and are shown in Table 1

Table 1

Alpha reliability coefficients of 5 main scales of NEO PI-R

Scales No of items Alpha coefficients Alpha coefficients

(N = 79) (N = 60)

Neuroticism 48 76 77

Extraversion 48 62 80

Openness 48 34 73

Agreeableness 48 68 76

Conscientiousness 48 81 89

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

source of alpha coefficients (N =60) (Chishti 2002)

Five main scales of NEO PI-R (Neuroticism Extraversion Openness

Agreeableness Conscientiousness) showed moderate Alpha reliability coefficients

ranging from 34 (Openness) to 81 (Conscientiousness) Overall the results

demonstrated high internal consistency of the instrument as reflected by alpha

coefficients except Openness domain An alpha value of 5 or 6 or more was deemed

sufficient for the purpose of estimating the reliability of scale However subscale

Openness showed weak internal consistency as compared to other four scales

Whereas Alpha coefficient determined by Chishti (2002) showed high internal

consistency of five domains including (73) Openness domain This showed low

internal consistency of openness domain However item-total correlations of each

scale have been calculated to find out the construct validity of each subscale

103

Table 2

Item-total correlation of each item with respective subscales of NEO PI-R (N = 79)

Anxiety (N1)

(Items = 8)

r Warmth

(E1)

(Items = 8)

r Fantasy

(O1)

(Items = 8)

r Trust

(A1)

(Items = 8)

r Competence

(C1)

(Items = 8)

r

n1 55 n2 34 n3 03 n4 31 n5 53

n31 42 n32 53 n33 59 n34 52 n35 45

n61 53 n62 47 n63 07 n64 41 n65 35

n91 42 n92 42 n93 56 n94 34 n95 22

n121 38 n122 53 n123 25 n124 60 n125 35

n151 51 n152 40 n153 42 n154 52 n155 46

n181 44 n182 48 n183 34 n184 55 n185 37

n211 42 n212 46 n213 34 n214 44 n215 42

Hostility

(N2)

(Items = 8)

r Gregarious

(E2)

(Items = 8)

r Aesthetics

(O2)

(Items = 8)

r Straight

Forward

(A2) (Items = 8)

r Order

(C2)

(Items = 8)

r

n6 46 n7 30 n8 27 n9 38 n10 41

n36 45 n37 65 n38 44 n39 58 n40 41

n66 48 n67 43 n68 40 n69 41 n70 38

n96 30 n97 54 n98 38 n99 33 n100 35

n126 44 n127 26 n128 47 n129 58 n130 52

n156 34 n157 33 n158 45 n159 52 n160 31

n186 37 n187 53 n188 39 n189 53 n190 53

n216 66 n217 53 n218 47 n219 33 n220 30

Depression

(N3)

(Items = 8)

r Assertive-

ness

(E3)

(Items = 8)

r Feelings

(O3)

(Items = 8)

r Altruism

(A3)

(Items = 8)

r Dutifulness

(C3)

(Items = 8)

r

n11 12 n12 44 n13 34 n14 55 n15 42

n41 59 n42 17 n43 57 n44 21 n45 40

n71 25 n72 60 n73 41 n74 57 n75 40

n101 37 n102 28 n103 35 n104 50 n105 49

n131 33 n132 49 n133 55 n134 50 n135 60

n161 37 n162 22 n163 44 n164 65 n165 52

n191 32 n192 41 n193 47 n194 51 n195 47

n221 39 n222 13 n223 41 n224 38 n225 50

Continuedhellip

104

Self-

Conscious

(N4) (Items = 8)

r Activity

(E4)

(Items = 8)

r Actions

(O4)

(Items = 8)

r Compliance

(A4)

(Items = 8)

r Achievement

Striving

(C4) (Items = 8)

r

n16 44 n17 46 n18 35 n19 39 n20 55

n46 03 n47 30 n48 12 n49 53 n50 49

n76 72 n77 33 n78 46 n79 35 n80 50

n106 46 n107 56 n108 32 n109 50 n110 51

n136 42 n137 52 n138 30 n139 60 n140 51

n166 39 n167 25 n168 22 n169 38 n170 54

n196 54 n197 39 n198 36 n199 51 n200 51

n226 38 n227 40 n228 49 n229 33 n230 59

Impulsive-

ness (N5) (Items = 8)

r Excitement

seeking (E5)

(Items = 8)

r Ideas

(O5) (Items = 8)

r Modesty

(A5) (Items = 8)

r Self Discipline

(C5) (Items = 8)

r

n21 23 n22 19 n23 25 n24 39 n25 40

n51 57 n52 34 n53 26 n54 33 n55 71

n81 34 n82 46 n83 41 n84 49 n85 58

n111 35 n112 36 n113 53 n114 16 n115 63

n141 39 n142 35 n143 23 n144 50 n145 52

n171 40 n172 42 n173 52 n174 49 n175 38

n201 46 n202 45 n203 48 n204 41 n205 47

n231 39 n232 55 n233 50 n234 55 n235 53

Vulnerability

(N6)

(Items = 8)

r Positive

Emotion

(E6) (Items = 8)

r Values

(O6)

(Items = 8)

r Tender

Mindedness

(A6) (Items = 8)

r Deliberation

(C6)

(Items = 8)

r

n26 50 n27 44 n28 39 n29 39 n30 34

n56 39 n57 49 n58 45 n59 39 n60 66

n86 49 n87 46 n88 39 n89 30 n90 42

n116 53 n117 32 n118 50 n119 53 n120 65

n146 48 n147 48 n148 42 n149 41 n150 37

Continuedhellip

105

Vulnerability

(N6)

(Items = 8)

r Positive

Emotion

(E6) (Items = 8)

r Values

(O6)

(Items = 8)

r Tender

Mindedness

(A6) (Items = 8)

r Deliberation

(C6)

(Items = 8)

r

n176 61 n177 56 n178 24 n179 44 n180 19

n206 56 n207 29 n208 28 n209 48 n210 52

n236 29 n237 40 n238 32 n239 40 n240 56

Note n1 to n240 represent each item of Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R)

Neuroticism domain includes subscales N1 N2 N3 N4 N5 N6 Extraversion domain includes subscales

E1E2E3E4E5E6 Openness domain includes subscales O1O2O3O4O5O6 Agreeableness domain

includes subscalesA1A2A3A4A5A6 Conscientiousness domain includes subscales C1C2C3C4C5C6

P lt 05 P lt 01 P lt 001

The findings in Table 2 illustrated the item-total correlations of each subscale

of NEO PI-R Items of each subscale are positively correlated with the total score of

respective subscale The results showed that almost all the items significantly

correlated with the total of their respective subscale However 11 items (3 11 22

42 44 46 48 63 114 180 and 222) from subscales fantasy depression excitement

seeking assertiveness altruism self-conscious actions fantasy modesty

deliberation and assertiveness have non-significant correlations with their respective

subscales Overall the results showed the construct validity of 30 subscales of NEO

PI-R

Table 3

Correlations of subscales with main scale of Neuroticism (N=79)

Subscale r

Anxiety (N1) 76

Angry Hostility (N2) 61

Depression (N3) 55

Self-Consciousness (N4) 71

Impulsiveness (N5)

Vulnerability (N6)

67

68

p lt 001

106

In Table 3 the correlations of six subscales with the main scale of Neuroticism

domain were computed The results showed that all the six subscales i-e Anxiety

(N1) Angry hostility (N2) Depression (N3) Self-Consciousness (N4) Impulsiveness

(N5) and Vulnerability (N6) are highly significantly correlated with the main scale of

Neuroticism domain The range of magnitude of correlations is from a minimum

(r = 55 p lt 001) of subscale (N3) to a maximum (r = 76 p lt 001) of subscale (N1)

This showed the construct validity of subscales of Neuroticism domain of NEO PI-R

Table 4

Correlations of subscales with main scale of Extraversion (N=79)

Subscale r

Warmth (E1) 68

Gregariousness (E2) 58

Assertiveness (E3) 36

Activity (E4) 47

Excitement-seeking (E5)

Positive Emotion (E6)

61

63

p lt 001

The finding in Table 4 showed that all the six subscales i-e Warmth (E1)

Gregariousness (E2) Assertiveness (E3) Activity (E4) Excitement seeking (E5)

and Positive Emotion (E6) are highly significantly correlated with the main scale of

Extraversion domain The range of magnitude of correlations is from a (r = 36 p lt

107

001) of subscale (E3) to a maximum (r = 68 p lt 001) of subscale (E1) This

showed the construct validity of facet scales of Extraversion domain of NEO PI-R

Table 5

Correlations of subscales with main scale of Openness (N=79)

Subscale r

Fantasy (O1) 42

Aesthetics (O2) 55

Feelings (O3) 54

Actions (O4) 45

Ideas (O5)

Values (O6)

52

24

p lt 05 p lt 001

The correlations of six subscales with the main scale of Openness domain

shown in Table 5 revealed that all subscales are significantly correlated with the

main scale of Openness domain The range of magnitude of correlations is from a

minimum (r = 24 p lt 05) of subscale (O6) to a maximum (r = 55 p lt 001) of

subscale (O2) The subscale of Values has moderate correlation with the openness

domain scale Overall this showed the construct validity of facet scales of Openness

domain of NEO PI-R

108

Table 6

Correlations of subscales with main scale of Agreeableness (N=79)

Subscale r

Trust (A1) 46

Straight forwardness (A2) 65

Altruism (A3) 60

Compliance (A4) 67

Modesty (A5)

Tender mindedness (A6)

29

64

p lt 01 p lt 001

In Table 6 the correlations of six subscales with the main scale of

Agreeableness domain were computed All the six subscales i-e Trust (A1) Straight

forwardness (A2) Altruism (A3) Compliance (A4) Modesty (A5) and Tender

mindedness (A6) are highly significantly correlated with the main scale of

Agreeableness domain The range of magnitude of correlations is from (r = 29 p lt

01) of subscale (A5) to a maximum (r = 67 p lt 001) of subscale (A4) This showed

the construct validity of facet scales of Agreeableness domain of NEO PI-R

Table 7

Correlations of subscales with main scale of Conscientiousness (N=79)

Subscale r

Competence (C1) 51

Order (C2) 50

Dutifulness (C3) 69

Achievement striving (C4) 72

Self discipline (C5)

Deliberation (C6)

81

77

p lt 001

109

The findings in Table 7 showed that all the six facets subscales are highly

significantly correlated with the main scale of Conscientiousness domain The range

of magnitude of correlations is from a minimum (r = 50 p lt 001) of subscale (C2)

to a maximum (r = 81 p lt 001) of subscale (C5) This displayed the construct

validity of subscales of Conscientiousness domain of NEO PI-R

Table 8

Inter-correlations between five main domains of NEO PI-R (N=79)

Scale I II III IV V

I Neuroticism (N) -

II Extraversion (E) -11 -

III Openness (O) -15 26 -

IV Agreeableness (A) -13 11 05 -

V Conscientiousness (C) -43 33 27 54 -

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

p lt 05 p lt 01 p lt 001

Table 8 indicated the inter-correlations of five main domains of NEO PI-R The

result showed that the 5 main domains (Neuroticism Extraversion Openness

Agreeableness and Conscientiousness) are significantly correlated with each other

Neuroticism (N) domain is negatively correlated with all other domain however

significantly negatively correlated with Conscientiousness (r = -43 p lt 001)

Extraversion (E) is significantly correlated with Openness (r = 26 p lt 05) and

Conscientiousness (r = 33 p lt 01) Conscientiousness (C) is significantly correlated

with all other domains This inter correlation matrix showed the construct validity of

the five domains of NEO PI-R

110

ReliabilityValidity of SDS

Table 9 showed the alpha reliability coefficients of summary scales and

subscales of activities competencies occupations and self-estimates of SDS on the

basis of six personality types ie Realistic (R) Investigative (I) Artistic (A) Social

(S) Enterprising (E) and Conventional (C) Item-total correlations of each item with

their respective subscales were calculated Inter-correlation of subscales activities

competencies occupations self-estimate1 self-estimate2 and main summary scales

were also computed to establish the reliabilityvalidity of SDS

Table 9

Alpha reliability coefficients of subscales of SDS (N=79)

Scales No of items Alpha coefficients

(N = 79)

Alpha coefficients

(N = 120)

Activities

Activities (R) 11 48 57

Activities (I) 11 48 65

Activities (A) 11 57 60

Activities (S) 11 51 65

Activities (E) 11 58 60

Activities (C) 11 52 66

Continuedhellip

111

Scales No of items Alpha coefficient

(N = 79)

Alpha coefficient

(N = 120)

Competencies

Competencies (R)

10

63

57

Competencies (I) 10 69 60

Competencies (A) 10 65 59

Competencies (S) 10 61 70

Competencies (E) 10 61 61

Competencies (C)

Occupations

10

52

62

Occupations (R) 12 72 55

Occupations (I)

Occupations (A)

Occupations (S)

Occupations (E)

Occupations (C)

Summary

Realistic

Investigative

Artistic

Social

Enterprising

Conventional

12

12

12

12

12

33

33

33

33

33

33

77

70

77

77

78

76

77

75

71

75

74

56

65

63

55

50

-

-

-

-

-

-

Note SDS = Self Directed Search

Source of alpha coefficients Urdu version SDS (N = 120) (Siddiqa 1999)

112

Table 9 showed the Alpha reliability coefficients of main summary scales

ranging from 71 (Social) to 77 (Investigative) This showed very high internal

consistency of the instrument Alpha reliability coefficients of Activities subscales

range from 48 (Activities R amp Activities I) to 58 (Activities E) whereas the alpha

reliability coefficient computed by Siddiqa (1999) on working women also range

from 57 (Activities R) to 66 (Activities C) The alpha reliability coefficients of 6

subscales of Competencies range from 52 (Competencies C) to 69 (Competencies

I) while alpha coefficient computed by Siddiqa (1999) were ranging from 57

(Competencies R) to 70 (Competencies S) The Alpha reliability coefficients of 6

subscales of Occupations range from 70 (Occupations A) to 78 (Occupations C)

whereas alpha coefficient computed by Siddiqa (1999) ranging from 55

(Occupations R) to 65 (Occupation A) This showed that alpha coefficients of SDS

have same values as compared to alpha coefficients determined by Siddiqa (1999)

Overall the results revealed that all subscales of SDS have moderate to high internal

consistency

Table 10

Item-total correlation of subscales of SDS (N=79)

Activities

(R)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(R)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(R)

(Items=12)

r Self-

estimates 1

(Items =6)

r

v1 51 V67 48 V127 36 S1 59

V2 37 V68 58 V128 54 S2 37

V3 23 V69 32 V129 47 S3 50

V4 50 V70 48 V130 46 S4 52

V5 46 V71 45 V131 61 S5 63

V6 52 V72 29 V132 50 S6 61

V7 42 V73 56 V133 46

Continuedhellip

113

Activities

(R)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(R)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(R)

(Items=12)

r Self-

estimates 2

(Items =6)

r

V8 44 V74 62 V134 44 S7 65

V9 39 V75 36 V135 51 S8 58

V10 21 V76 66 V136 49 S9 58

V11 31 V137 51 S10 60

V138 59 S11 54

S12 35

Activities (I)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(I)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(I)

(Items=12)

r

V12 41 V77 41 V139 56

V13 40 V78 64 V140 46

V14 42 V79 65 V141 50

V15 32 V80 41 V142 46

v16 33 V81 52 V143 61

V17 21 V82 46 V144 62

V18 52 V83 60 V145 51

v19 43 V84 42 V146 61

V20 50 V85 41 V147 45

V21 68 V86 59 V148 47

V22 11 V149 61

V150 50

Activities

(A)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(A)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(A)

(Items=12)

r

V23 36 V87 41 V151 54

V24 25 V88 36 V152 48

V25 49 V89 45 V153 48

V26 52 V90 59 V154 55

V27 45 V91 63 V155 55

Continuedhellip

114

Activities

(A)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(A)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(A)

(Items=12)

r

V28 34 V92 41 V156 37

V29 39 V93 47 V157 48

V30 39 V94 48 V158 50

V31 64 V95 59 V159 53

V32 41 V96 51 V160 52

V33 49 V161 43

V162 37

Activities

(S)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(S)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(S)

(Items=12)

r

V34 48 V97 50 V163 41

V35 46 V98 53 V164 41

V36 44 V99 46 V165 58

V37 20 V100 36 V166 57

V38 34 V101 47 V167 63

V39 56 V102 40 V168 50

V40 12 V103 37 V169 67

V41 41 V104 61 V170 49

V42 47 V105 43 V171 34

V43 56 V106 54 V172 50

V44 33 V173 60

V174 69

Activities

(E)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(E)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(E)

(Items=12)

r

V45 56 V107 66 V175 50

V46 47 V108 41 V176 52

V47 47 V109 48 V177 53

V48 52 V110 28 V178 52

Continuedhellip

115

Activities

(E)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(E)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(E)

(Items=12)

r

V49 32 V111 63 V179 55

V50 32 V112 56 V180 66

V51 34 V113 34 V181 52

V52 50 V114 44 V182 61

V53 41 V115 51 V183 65

V54 51 V116 40 V184 47

V55 37 V185 56

V186 33

Activities

(C)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(C)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(C)

(Items=12)

r

V56 37 V117 49 V187 60

V57 40 V118 49 V188 49

V58 42 V119 44 V189 61

V59 50 V120 58 V190 56

V60 35 V121 48 V191 57

V61 33 V122 23 V192 56

V62 49 V123 20 V193 40

V63 42 V124 50 V194 59

V64 44 V125 31 V195 51

V65 39 V126 55 V196 51

V66 51 V197 58

V198 52

Note SDS = Self Directed Search V1 to V198 and S1 to S12 represent each item of Self Directed Search (SDS)

Activities Competencies and Occupations each comprising RIASEC subscales

p lt 05 p lt 01 p lt 001

Table 10 showed the item-total correlation of subscales of SDS Almost all

the items significantly correlated with the total of each subscale (activities

competencies occupations and self-estimates) except items no 10 17 22 37 40

and 123 The results showed the construct validity of each subscale of SDS

116

Table 11

Intercorrelation of SDS Scales (N=79) Activities Competencies Occupation Self Rating 1 Self Rating 2 Summary

Ra Ia Aa Sa Ea Ca Rc Ic Ac Sc Ec Cc Ro Io Ao So Eo Co R1 I1 A1 S1 E1 C1 R2 I2 A2 S2 E2 C2 Rs Is As Ss Es Cs

Ra -

Ia 23 -

Aa 31 14 -

Sa 30 27 27 -

Ea 34 14 58 32 -

Ca 24 35 36 45 47 -

Rc 51 22 48 26 40 18 -

Ic 31 39 31 24 49 37 50 -

Ac 43 16 65 32 47 22 63 42 -

Sc 34 24 42 27 49 17 47 46 62 -

Ec 40 33 47 46 59 33 57 48 60 64 -

Cc 30 29 36 19 48 38 52 56 49 50 55 -

Ro 58 16 39 23 38 10 63 31 57 54 52 47 -

Io 43 17 38 21 59 27 40 54 51 59 50 54 62 -

Ao 41 09 59 26 34 03 40 10 60 47 42 27 61 59 -

So 32 21 29 26 40 21 40 48 41 51 51 52 42 72 51 -

Eo 30 02 36 22 42 26 40 29 34 35 42 42 43 45 40 53 -

Co 33 10 30 26 36 37 36 33 30 39 43 56 46 59 44 62 78 -

R1 22 13 30 08 15 03 17 13 16 35 28 20 21 25 24 30 20 25 -

I1 18 18 31 16 48 15 33 31 32 18 40 30 25 16 21 23 22 11 19 -

A1 00 06 04 09 06 01 -02 14 08 25 23 08 05 22 -05 24 -07 04 20 -06 -

S1 -05 -04 33 -12 08 -01 -08 03 14 13 03 08 05 07 24 11 10 11 26 17 -07 -

E1 09 08 04 -02 02 02 -06 36 18 25 02 19 10 38 14 28 19 26 24 -14 32 19 -

C1 13 -11 08 04 18 -04 00 28 17 07 04 12 02 21 11 16 11 14 07 19 20 12 36 -

R2 05 05 39 13 27 10 03 12 22 22 23 22 26 34 33 34 23 21 52 17 16 27 36 12 -

I2 11 04 23 19 34 24 20 29 15 23 29 26 18 27 19 33 15 30 21 31 19 00 24 21 28 -

A2 10 -06 13 -06 27 -03 19 20 26 35 27 07 15 29 34 23 03 01 28 40 11 08 07 17 20 38 -

S2 03 -02 36 -12 19 -03 08 09 28 24 16 13 12 24 35 22 11 14 29 14 04 77 26 15 31 00 17 -

E2 26 28 23 12 15 24 14 51 26 34 33 25 20 50 18 38 11 27 31 -02 46 01 53 29 25 22 13 18 -

C2 13 -07 20 19 29 -01 21 05 16 14 10 24 15 21 26 17 23 36 01 17 05 10 19 24 04 12 -01 22 -01 -

Rs 71 23 53 30 47 19 73 41 62 58 61 52 84 62 61 53 48 49 57 34 11 12 20 09 51 28 26 23 32 17 -

Is 42 51 44 33 62 43 53 82 52 58 63 63 52 77 39 67 39 50 29 51 19 07 33 25 31 54 37 16 51 16 62 -

As 41 10 74 29 53 18 54 35 82 65 61 40 58 63 79 53 36 36 36 36 31 24 22 21 38 33 54 38 37 22 67 59 -

Ss 31 21 53 38 48 24 38 44 56 69 58 48 45 63 60 75 45 53 42 28 19 58 33 18 42 26 26 67 36 24 58 61 68 -

Es 44 24 53 35 69 41 48 64 57 64 73 60 53 72 48 66 72 70 36 31 26 13 46 28 41 37 23 27 59 26 65 75 64 68 -

Cs 37 18 41 34 55 56 42 51 42 42 48 74 42 61 38 58 64 84 20 27 11 13 33 44 23 37 06 18 35 52 49 64 44 57 75 -

Note SDS = Self Directed Search Please read Ra as Realistic Activities Ia as Investigative Activities Aa as Artistic Activities Sa as Social Activities Ea as Enterprising Activities Ca as Conventional

Activities Rc as Realistic Competencies Ic as Investigative Competencies Ac as Artistic Competencies Sc as Social Competencies Ec as Enterprising Competencies Cc as Conventional Competencies Ro as

Realistic Occupations Io as Investigative Occupations Ao as Artistic Occupations So as Social Occupations Eo as Enterprising Occupations Co as Conventional Occupations R1and R2 as Realistic self estimateI1 and I2 as Investigative self estimate A1 and A2 as Artistic self estimate S1 and S2 as Social self estimate E1 and E2 as Enterprising self estimate C1 and C2 as Conventional self estimate Rs as

Realistic Summary Is as Investigative Summary As as Artistic Summary Ss as Social Summary Es as Enterprising Summary Cs as Conventional Summary r ge 22 is significant at 05 to 001 level

117

Table 11 showed the inter-correlations of SDS scales (Activities

Competencies Occupations Self-estimates and Summary scores) on six personality

types The substantial relationship existed between the subscales of SDS The results

indicated that the inter-correlations of six subscales of Activities are significantly

correlated with each other

All Competencies scales have significant positive correlations ranging from (r

= 42 p lt 001) to (r = 64 p lt 001) with each other The inter-correlation of six

subscales of Occupations showed that all the 6 subscales are significantly correlated

ranging from (r = 40 p lt 001) to (r = 78 p lt 001) with each other All the 6

summary scales are significantly correlated with each other ranging from (r = 44 p lt

001) to (r = 75 p lt 001) This inter-correlation matrix showed the construct validity

of the six subscales of SDS

Discussion

This part of the study dealt with the pretesting of measures of personality and

vocational interests on small scale Pretesting of both the instruments (NEO PI-R and

SDS) and reliability and validity of the instruments were established in this part of the

study The pretesting of Urdu versions of the instruments was decided on a sample of

randomly selected 100 high school students from government school of Rawalpindi

district After scrutinizing the data and eliminating the absentees the analysis was

carried out on a sample of 79 students The aim in this part of the study was to find

out the reliabilityvalidity of both the instruments and get acquainted with the

practical problems which can come across during the research Overall the results

showed that both the instrument NEO PI-R and SDS have significant reliability and

118

validity The results demonstrated moderate alpha reliability coefficients of subscales

of both the instruments and were highly internally consistent The inter-correlations

between the main and subscales of both the instruments showed the construct validity

of all the scales The alpha coefficients of Urdu translated versions of NEO PI-R and

SDS were compared with alpha coefficients computed by Chishti (2002) and Siddiqa

(1999) The results revealed moderate internal consistency of the scales of NEO PI-R

and SDS except for Openness domain Burki (2009) reported alpha value of 35 for

openness domain in organizational setup Fayyaz (2008) reported alpha value of 38

for openness domain in pilot study and 58 for main study after adding synonyms for

difficult words Safdar (2002) reported alpha coefficient of 59 for openness domain

on MSc students The low internal consistency of openness scale may be due cultural

effect

Since the sample was quite less as compared to the numbers of items in the

inventories however no major decisions like discarding and changing the items

based on the statistical analysis was done The analyses provided the researcher a

confidence about the reliabilityvalidity of the instruments It was decided to conduct

the pretesting on the sample which has to be selected for the main study However

during the pretesting stage researcher faced some problems regarding the willingness

of few individuals to participate in the study on second day of testing Few minor

questions and queries were raised by the students like time of the tests meaning of

few words use of pencil or pen etc Overall the results of the study showed that Urdu

versions of both the scales (NEO PI-R and SDS) can be administered being the

reliable and valid instruments on the main sample of high school students

119

Chapter IV

PART 3 PERSONALITY AND VOCATIONAL INTERESTS

OF THE STUDENTS

This part of the study was designed to find out the relationship between

personality based on five factor model (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) and vocational

interests based on RIASEC model (Holland 1985a) of high school students NEO PI-

R is used to measure personality profiles of students and SDS is used to establish the

vocational interests During literature review the consistent pattern of relationship

between personality and vocational interests was observed (Barrick et al 2003

Larson et al 2002 Staggs et al 2007) The relevance of these two heuristic models

in Pakistani culture has been explored The psychometric properties of NEO PI-R and

SDS were established on the main sample The mean differences on personality and

vocational interests with respect to demographic variables were also computed All

theoretically derived hypotheses on the personality-interests relationship and gender

differences were also empirically verified The objectives hypotheses sample

sample characteristics procedures and results are discussed below

Objectives

1 To study the relationship between personality (five factor model) and

vocational interests (Hollandlsquos typology) among high school students

120

2 To find out the mean differences with respect to demographic variables

(gender sciencearts urbanrural 9th

10th

classes parentslsquo education) on

personality and vocational interests of the students

3 To establish psychometric properties of the research instruments

Hypotheses

Followings hypotheses were formulated to study the above mentioned

objectives

1 Extroversion will be positively correlated with the Enterprising and Social

types

2 Openness to Experience will be positively correlated with Artistic and

Investigative types

3 Agreeableness will be positively correlated with the Social type

4 Conscientiousness will be positively correlated with Conventional type

5 Female tend to score higher on Neuroticism Extraversion Agreeableness and

Conscientiousness as compared to male

6 Male tend to score higher on Realistic interests as compared to female

7 Female tend to score higher on Artistic and Social interests as compared to

male

Sample

Initially the researcher got the list of all government schools situated in

Rawalpindi Tehsil and District by the Directorate of education where Science and

121

Arts classes are being taught The schools were contacted on telephone Only seven

schools could be traced which have sufficient numbers of Science and Arts students

Thus convenient sampling technique was used as far as selection of school is

concerned The main study was conducted on the 700 students of 7 different schools

of Rawalpindi The list of boysgirls and urbanrural areas schools is attached at

Appendix Klsquo

The sample has been taken randomly within the school Among the list of

willing students 100 students from each school were selected In each school 50

students 25 science students and 25 Arts students were randomly selected from grade

10th

and similarly 50 students 25 science students and 25 Arts students from grade 9th

were randomly selected In each science or arts group 25 students were selected using

the systematic random sampling techniques Depending on the number of students

available in each category the interval k was calculated by dividing the total available

students by 25 Once k is computed then any number between 1 and computed k has

been randomly selected for each category Using the nominal roll of students for each

category every student falling on the selected number in the sequence was selected for

the study 4 boy schools and 3 girl schools were selected 2 boy schools and 2 girl

schools were selected from urban areas of Rawalpindi while 1 boy and 1 girl school

was selected from rural areas of Rawalpindi 1 boy school which was selected for the

pretesting of research instrument contained majority of the students from rural areas

The sample of the main study included the data from the study conducted in Chapter

III (pages 99 to 101) regarding pretesting of research instruments Overall 400 boys

and 300 girls were selected The distribution of schools and the students in each

school are shown in the following figures

122

Distribution of Sample in Schools

Figure 5 Sample Distribution in Schools

Distribution of Students in each School

Figure 6 Sample Distribution within Schools

4 Boys

Schools (400

Students)

3 Girls

Schools (300

Students)

2 Schools from

Rural Areas

(200 students)

2 Schools

from Urban

Areas

(200 students)

1 School from

Rural Areas

(100 students)

2 Schools

from Urban

Areas

(200 students)

(200

Seven Schools

(700 Students)

One School

(100 Students)

50 Students

from 10th

Class

50 Students

from 9th

Class

25 Students

(Science Group)

25 Students

(Arts Group)

25 Students

(Science Group)

25 Students

(Arts Group)

123

Sample Characteristics

All the tests were administered on the 700 students in a course of two days

Some of the individuals did not correctly fill the questions of the inventories

according to the instructions and few of them were absent on the second day of

testing After scrutinizing the data and eliminating the absentees the sample is left

with a total of 596 students Cases with incomplete data were excluded from further

analyses which led to a decrease in the number of valid cases by 1485 There are

319 male and 277 female students Their age range is from 14 years to 19 years with

a mean age of 1573 years The average fatherslsquo income for 494 students is Rs 7634-

approximately (102 cases are missing) ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 50000 There are

only 14 cases having father income greater than 20000 There are 382 students

belonging to urban areas and 214 students were from rural areas Among them 328

students from 9th

class and 268 students are from 10th

class There are 304 students

belonging to science group and 292 students belonging to Arts group

Instruments

Following instruments were used in the study

1 NEO PI-R

2 SDS

3 Demographic sheet

(See details about instruments in chapter III pages 78 to 99)

Procedure

The booklets were prepared for two inventories (NEO PI-R amp SDS) The

inventories were administered to the participants in group settings The consent of the

124

students and school administrations were taken before administration of tests Data

were collected during the second half of the school year (from January to March) The

measures were administered in a group in classrooms during school hours All the

participants from different schools were divided into groups of 50 Two groups one

from 9th

class including 50 students were administered tests separately and the second

group including 50 students from 10th

class were administered the same tests on the

same day The testing procedures were carried over the course of two days

The group of 50 students from each class was administered SDS and

Demographic sheet on the first day of testing and NEO PI-R was administered on the

same group on second day Two well trained invigilators assisted the researcher in

conduct of tests The timings of administering the tests were also adjusted according

to the convenience of school administration The participants were given written

instructions printed on the first page of each inventory Before the start of the

inventories some sentences were written in order to explain the response format and

specific instructions regarding the inventory Subjects were also briefed about the

approximate time required to complete the inventory The average time to complete

one inventory is 40 minutes List of some difficult words asked by students for

explanation from NEO PI-R are attached at Appendix Llsquo and that of SDS are at

Appendix Mlsquo Once the data is completed then it is subjected to statistical analysis

OperationalConceptual Definitions of the Variables

Personality (details are in chapter III pages 85 to 93)

Vocational interests (details are in chap III pages 97 to 99)

125

Science group students The science group students are those who studied

science subjects (Physics Chemistry Mathematics and Biology) along with

compulsory subjects (English Urdu Pakistan Studies Islamiat)

Arts group students (Humanities group) The arts group students are those

who studies humanities subjects which are non-scientific and non-technical subjects at

school (For instance Social studies Arabic Islamiat (elective) Home economics etc)

along with compulsory subjects (English Urdu Pakistan Studies Islamiat)

Urban students The school students who are resident of urban area and are

studying in schools which are located in the urban localities of Rawalpindi city

Rural students The school students who are resident of rural area and are

studying in schools which are located in the rural areas of Rawalpindi city

Parentsrsquo education Three groups of students were formulated based on the

education of parents Father Mother educated grouplsquo have at least matriculation

education for both father and mother father educated grouplsquo father have at least

matriculation education but mothers are not matriculates father mother uneducated

grouplsquo have none of father or mother have matriculation education

The results of the study are computed and are mentioned in the following

Psychometric Properties of the Research Instruments

The psychometric properties of research instruments (NEO PI-R and SDS)

were established on the main sample of the study The Alpha reliabilities item-total

correlations and inter-correlations between the subscales and main scales of all the

126

three research instruments were computed A hexagonal arrangement of vocational

interests for the main sample was also calculated

ReliabilityValidity of NEO PI-R

Table 12 showed the Alpha reliability coefficient of main scales and subscales

of NEO PI-R

Table 12

Alpha reliability coefficients of main scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Scales No of items Alpha coefficients

Neuroticism 48 67

Extraversion 48 65

Openness 48 36

Agreeableness 48 71

Conscientiousness 48 84

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

The results showed the Alpha reliability coefficients of 5 main scales of NEO

PI-R The 5 main scales revealed moderate Alpha reliability coefficients ranging from

36 (Openness) to 84 (Conscientiousness) The highest alpha value is of scale

Conscientiousness and lowest value is of scale Openness The same findings were

observed during the pretesting stage (see Table 1) Overall the results showed

moderate to high internal consistency of the NEO PI-R except Openness domain

127

Table 13

Item-total correlation of each item with respective subscales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Anxiety

(N1)

(Items = 8)

r Warmth

(E1)

(Items = 8)

r Fantasy

(O1)

(Items = 8)

r Trust

(A1)

(Items = 8)

r Competence

(C1)

(Items = 8)

r

n1 49 n2 44 n3 18 n4 38 n5 46

n31 51 n32 55 n33 50 n34 49 n35 47

n61 27 n62 41 n63 26 n64 38 n65 48

n91 47 n92 34 n93 57 n94 47 n95 20

n121 29 n122 51 n123 37 n124 54 n125 51

n151 50 n152 46 n153 51 n154 46 n155 46

n181 40 n182 46 n183 34 n184 49 n185 43

n211 47 n212 40 n213 32 n214 41 n215 51

Hostility

(N2)

(Items = 8)

r Gregarious-

ness

(E2)

(Items = 8)

r Aesthetic

(O2)

(Items = 8)

r Straight

Forward

(A2)

(Items = 8)

r Order

(C2)

(Items = 8)

r

n6 52 n7 52 n8 40 n9 42 n10 27

n36 30 n37 55 n38 45 n39 47 n40 40

n66 50 n67 43 n68 41 n69 39 n70 49

n96 21 n97 49 n98 35 n99 47 n100 40

n126 40 n127 38 n128 47 n129 44 n130 50

n156 30 n157 40 n158 53 n159 51 n160 38

n186 35 n187 42 n188 52 n189 56 n190 42

n216 44 n217 57 n218 49 n219 34 n220 45

Depression

(N3)

(Items = 8)

r Assertive-

ness

(E3)

(Items = 8)

r Feelings

(O3)

(Items = 8)

r Altruism

(A3)

(Items = 8)

r Dutifulness

(C3)

(Items = 8)

r

n11 35 n12 49 n13 46 n14 49 n15 41

n41 59 n42 30 n43 35 n44 32 n45 41

n71 27 n72 56 n73 36 n74 56 n75 44

n101 46 n102 26 n103 36 n104 49 n105 50

n131 42 n132 40 n133 49 n134 45 n135 53

Continuedhellip

128

Depression

(N3)

(Items = 8)

r Assertive-

ness

(E3)

(Items = 8)

r Feelings

(O3)

(Items = 8)

r Altruism

(A3)

(Items = 8)

r Dutifulness

(C3)

(Items = 8)

r

n161 48 n162 38 n163 39 n164 50 n165 50

n191 46 n192 41 n193 42 n194 47 n195 52

n221 42 n222 40 n223 41 n224 45 n225 52

Self-

Conscious

(N4)

(Items = 8)

r Activities

(E4)

(Items = 8)

r Actions

(O4)

(Items = 8)

r Compliance

(A4)

(Items = 8)

r Achievement

Striving

(C4)

(Items = 8)

r

n16 45 n17 35 n18 40 n19 34 n20 50

n46 24 n47 29 n48 21 n49 51 n50 54

n76 59 n77 18 n78 33 n79 49 n80 43

n106 45 n107 44 n108 39 n109 34 n110 57

n136 49 n137 46 n138 37 n139 50 n140 53

n166 23 n167 41 n168 34 n169 46 n170 60

n196 50 n197 50 n198 43 n199 50 n200 50

n226 35 n227 46 n228 46 n229 44 n230 53

Impulsive

(N5)

(Items = 8)

r Excitement

Seeking

(E5)

(Items = 8)

r Ideas

(O5)

(Items = 8)

r Modesty

(A5)

(Items = 8)

r Self

Discipline

(C5)

(Items = 8)

r

n21 31 n22 44 n23 38 n24 39 n25 34

n51 51 n52 34 n53 31 n54 44 n55 63

n81 38 n82 41 n83 47 n84 49 n85 51

n111 34 n112 47 n113 48 n114 21 n115 51

n141 38 n142 47 n143 43 n144 46 n145 50

n171 40 n172 44 n173 46 n174 48 n175 56

n201 40 n202 43 n203 44 n204 32 n205 53

n231 45 n232 50 n233 48 n234 50 n235 50

Vulnerability

(N6)

(Items = 8)

r Positive

emotion

(E6)

(Items = 8)

r Values

(O6)

(Items = 8)

r Tender

Minded

(A6)

(Items = 8)

r Deliberation

(C6)

(Items = 8)

r

n26 49 n27 55 n28 44 n29 38 n30 47

n56 38 n57 46 n58 36 n59 44 n60 56

Continuedhellip

129

Vulnerability

(N6)

(Items = 8)

r Positive

emotion

(E6)

(Items = 8)

r Values

(O6)

(Items = 8)

r Tender

Minded

(A6)

(Items = 8)

r Deliberation

(C6)

(Items = 8)

r

rn86 42 n87 47 n88 31 n89 45 n90 42

n116 51 n117 38 n118 30 n119 50 n120 54

n146 50 n147 55 n148 30 n149 37 n150 45

n176 45 n177 54 n178 26 n179 49 n180 37

n206 45 n207 15 n208 36 n209 50 n210 46

n236 39 n237 46 n238 38 n239 47 n240 56

Note n1 to n240 represent each item of Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R)

Neuroticism domain includes subscales N1 N2 N3 N4 N5 N6 Extraversion domain includes subscales

E1E2E3E4E5E6 Openness domain includes subscales O1O2O3O4O5O6 Agreeableness domain includes

subscalesA1A2A3A4A5A6 Conscientiousness domain includes subscales C1C2C3C4C5C6

p lt 001

The item-total correlations of each subscale of NEO PI-R are mentioned in

Table 13 All the items are significantly positively correlated with their respective

subscale Whereas during pretesting stage 11 items were not significantly correlated

with their respective subscale (see Table 2) The results displayed the construct

validity of each subscale of NEO PI-R

Table 14

Inter-correlation between subscales and main scale of Neuroticism (N = 596)

Scales I II III IV V VI VII

I Anxiety (N1) -

II Hostility (N2) 32 -

III Depression (N3) 22 21 -

IV Self Conscious (N4) 27 20 27 -

V Impulsiveness (N5) 15 26 20 11 -

VI Vulnerability (N6) 29 31 17 19 35 -

VII Neuroticism (N) 64 62 57 56 57 65 -

p lt 01 p lt 001

130

In Table 14 the inter-correlation of six subscales of Neuroticism domains of

NEO PI-R are shown The result showed that all the 6 subscales are significantly

correlated with each other The range of magnitude of correlations between subscales

and main domain scale is from a minimum (r = 56 p lt 001) of subscale Self

Conscious (N4) to a maximum (r = 65 p lt 001) of subscale Vulnerability (N6) The

similar findings for correlations between subscale and main scale of neuroticism were

found during pretesting stage (see Table 3) This inter-correlation matrix showed the

construct validity of the six subscales of Neuroticism domains of NEO PI-R

Table 15

Inter-correlation between subscales and main scale of Extraversion (N = 596)

Scales I II III IV V VI VII

I Warmth (E1) -

II Gregariousness (E2) 34 -

III Assertiveness (E3) 14 05 -

IV Activities (E4) 22 05 16 -

V Excitement Seeking(E5) 27 15 08 20 -

VI Positive Emotion (E6) 37 24 01 20 12 -

VII Extraversion (E) 70 59 40 51 56 59 -

p lt 01 p lt 001

Table 15 showed the inter-correlation of six subscales of Extraversion

domains of NEO PI-R The 6 subscales are significantly correlated with each other

and are highly significantly correlated with the main scale of Extraversion domain as

131

were observed in Table 4 The range of magnitude of correlations between subscale

and main domain scale is from a minimum (r = 40 p lt 001) of subscale (E3) to a

maximum (r = 70 p lt 001) of subscale (E1) This inter-correlation matrix showed

the construct validity of the six subscales of Extraversion domains of NEO PI-R

Table 16

Inter-correlation between subscales and main scale of Openness (N = 596)

Scales I II III IV V VI VII

I Fantasy (O1) -

II Aesthetics (O2) 03 -

III Feelings (O3) -07 25 -

IV Actions (O4) 02 02 -03 -

V Ideas (O5) -02 19 27 -01 -

VI Values (O6) 05 -10 -08 05 -04 -

VII Openness (O) 32 62 54 33 57 24 -

p lt 01 p lt 001

The findings in Table 16 showed the inter-correlation of six subscales of

Openness domains of NEO PI-R The result showed that Fantasy (O1) and Actions

(O4) have non-significant correlation with all other subscales Values (O6) is

significantly negatively correlated with Aesthetic (O2) and Feelings (O3) The results

revealed that six subscales are significantly correlated with the main scale of

Openness domain The magnitude of correlations for Fantasy Actions and Values

with main domain of Openness is fairly low as compared to other scales This may

have effect on the overall low internal consistency of the Openness domain (see Table

132

1 5 and 12) This inter-correlation matrix showed the moderate construct validity of

the six subscales of Openness domains of NEO PI-R

Table 17

Inter-correlation between subscales and main scale of Agreeableness (N = 596)

Scales I II III IV V VI VII

I Trust (A1) -

II Straight Forwardness (A2) 12 -

III Altruism (A3) 39 19 -

IV Compliance (A4) 24 15 29 -

V Modesty (A5) -05 20 -09 16 -

VI Tender mindedness (A6) 28 17 30 28 05 -

VII Agreeableness (A) 60 54 62 65 35 60 -

p lt 05 p lt 001

The result mentioned in Table 17 revealed that all the 6 subscales are

significantly correlated with each other However Altruism (A3) is significantly

negatively correlated with Modesty (A5) All the six subscales are significantly

correlated with the main scale of Agreeableness domain The range of magnitude of

correlations is from a minimum (r = 35 p lt 001) of subscale (A5) to a maximum (r

= 65 p lt 001) of subscale (A4) Similar correlations between subscales and main

scales of agreeableness were observed in Table 6 This showed the construct validity

of the six subscales of Agreeableness domains of NEO PI-R

133

Table 18

Inter-correlation between subscales and main scale of Conscientiousness (N=596)

Scales I II III IV V VI VII

I Compliance (C1) -

II Order (C2) 34 -

III Duty (C3) 40 40 -

IV Achievement striving (C4) 44 46 56 -

V Self discipline (C5) 43 41 56 50 -

VI Deliberation (C6) 40 37 47 49 50 -

VII Conscientiousness (C) 68 65 77 79 79 73 -

p lt 001

The results shown in Table 18 revealed that all the 6 subscales are

significantly correlated with each other and also with the main scale of

Conscientiousness domain (also see Table 7) The range of magnitude of correlations

is from a minimum (r = 65 p lt 001) of subscale (C2) to a maximum (r = 79 p lt

001) of subscale (C4 and C5) This inter-correlation matrix showed the construct

validity of the six subscales of Conscientiousness domains of NEO PI-R

Table 19

Inter-correlations between five main domains of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Scale I II III IV V

I Neuroticism (N) -

II Extraversion (E) -17 -

III Openness (O) -09 34 -

IV Agreeableness (A) -25 14 10 -

V Conscientiousness (C) -49 27 22 55 -

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

p lt 05 p lt 001

134

The findings in Table 19 showed that all the 5 main scales are significantly

correlated with each other Neuroticism (N) domain is significantly negatively

correlated with all other domains The inter correlation matrix provided well defined

evidence of construct validity of the five domains of NEO PI-R as compared to inter

correlations matrix during pretesting stage (see Table 8)

ReliabilityValidity of SDS

Following tables showed the alpha reliability coefficients of summary scales

and subscales of Activities Competencies and Occupations of SDS on the basis of

six personality types ie Realistic (R) Investigative (I) Artistic (A) Social (S)

Enterprising (E) and Conventional (C) Item-total correlations of each item with their

respective subscales were also calculated Inter-correlations of subscales and main

summary scales were also computed to establish the validity of SDS

Table 20

Alpha reliability coefficients of subscales of SDS (N = 596)

Scale No of items Alpha coefficients

Activities

Activities (R) 11 54

Activities (I) 11 65

Activities (A) 11 62

Activities (S) 11 53

Activities (E) 11 62

Activities (C) 11 68

Continuedhellip

135

Scale No of items Alpha coefficients

Competencies

Competencies (R)

10

63

Competencies (I) 10 66

Competencies (A) 10 63

Competencies (S) 10 55

Competencies (E) 10 58

Competencies (C)

Occupations

10

65

Occupations (R) 12 76

Occupations (I)

Occupations (A)

Occupations (S)

Occupations (E)

Occupations (C)

Summary

Realistic

Investigative

Artistic

Social

Enterprising

Conventional

12

12

12

12

12

33

33

33

33

33

33

80

77

77

81

81

78

76

80

71

77

80

Note SDS = Self Directed Search

136

The Alpha reliability coefficients of each subscale based on six personality

types of SDS are shown in Table 20 The Alpha coefficient of summary scales ranged

from 71 (Social) to 80 (Artistic and Conventional) This displayed very high

internal consistency of the SDS The alpha coefficient value of Activities subscales

ranged from 53 (Activities S) to 68 (Activities C) Competencies subscales ranged

from 55 (Competencies S) to 66 (Competencies I) and Occupations subscales

ranged from 76 (Occupations R) to 81 (Occupations E and C) This showed that

alpha coefficients of all subscales of SDS are better than the alpha coefficients

determined at pretesting stage of SDS (see Table 9) This revealed construct validity

of subscales of SDS

Table 21

Item-total correlation of each item with respective subscale of SDS (N = 596)

Activities

(R)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(R)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(R)

(Items=12)

r Self-

estimates 1

(Items =6)

r

V1 57 V67 32 V127 37 S1 56

V2 40 V68 57 V128 58 S2 53

V3 31 V69 34 V129 58 S3 40

V4 20 V70 50 V130 59 S4 49

V5 58 V71 56 V131 58 S5 57

V6 52 V72 39 V132 47 S6 60

V7 43 V73 57 V133 55 Self-

estimates 2

(Items = 6)

r

V8 45 V74 56 V134 41 S7 65

V9 45 V75 48 V135 46 S8 62

V10 24 V76 54 V136 54 S9 60

V11 44 V137 53 S10 55

V138 61 S11 52

S12 50

Continuedhellip

137

Activities

(I)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(I)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(I)

(Items=12)

r

V12 55 V77 43 V139 60

V13 45 V78 49 V140 54

V14 41 V79 38 V141 63

V15 52 V80 40 V142 60

v16 35 V81 42 V143 64

V17 30 V82 57 V144 54

V18 65 V83 50 V145 56

v19 62 V84 44 V146 55

V20 62 V85 30 V147 47

V21 44 V86 53 V148 44

V22 12 V149 56

V150 55

Activities

(A)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(A)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(A)

(Items=12)

r

V23 45 V87 51 V151 55

V24 32 V88 50 V152 49

V25 52 V89 42 V153 62

V26 49 V90 50 V154 58

V27 52 V91 54 V155 59

V28 47 V92 48 V156 50

V29 35 V93 49 V157 49

V30 37 V94 41 V158 52

V31 52 V95 43 V159 50

V32 54 V96 52 V160 52

V33 45 V161 54

V162 50

Continuedhellip

138

Activities

(S)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(S)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(S)

(Items=12)

r

V34 44 V97 40 V163 47

V35 35 V98 57 V164 50

V36 42 V99 45 V165 59

V37 45 V100 29 V166 58

V38 44 V101 42 V167 59

V39 50 V102 44 V168 48

V40 30 V103 35 V169 52

V41 37 V104 44 V170 53

V42 46 V105 49 V171 48

V43 49 V106 52 V172 52

V44 44 V173 52

V174 56

Activities

(E)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(E)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(E)

(Items=12)

r

V45 51 V107 49 V175 59

V46 42 V108 50 V176 55

V47 44 V109 45 V177 62

V48 43 V110 40 V178 53

V49 44 V111 45 V179 48

V50 45 V112 43 V180 62

V51 49 V113 43 V181 53

V52 35 V114 48 V182 58

V53 42 V115 47 V183 58

V54 58 V116 46 V184 62

V55 49 V185 54

V186 52

Continuedhellip

139

Activities

(C)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(C)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(C)

(Items=12)

r

V56 36 V117 55 V187 59

V57 58 V118 50 V188 61

V58 37 V119 43 V189 64

V59 57 V120 53 V190 61

V60 34 V121 49 V191 60

V61 51 V122 33 V192 55

V62 52 V123 39 V193 47

V63 50 V124 59 V194 57

V64 55 V125 49 V195 57

V65 45 V126 59 V196 44

V66 55 V197 56

V198 61

Note V1 to V198 and S1 to S12 represent each item of Self Directed Search (SDS)

p lt 01 p lt 001

The results shown in Table 21 are related to the item-total correlations of

subscales (Activities Competencies Occupations and Self-estimates) based on six

personality types (Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising and

Conventional) of SDS The results showed that all the items significantly correlated

with the total of their respective subscale whereas 6 items were non-significantly

correlated with their subscales during pretesting stage (see Table 10) The results

displayed the construct validity of each subscale of SDS

140

Table 22

Inter-correlations of SDS Scales (N = 596) Activities Competencies Occupations Self Rating 1 Self Rating 2 Summary

Ra Ia Aa Sa Ea Ca Rc Ic Ac Sc Ec Cc Ro Io Ao So Eo Co R1 I1 A1 S1 E1 C1 R2 I2 A2 S2 E2 C2 Rs Is As Ss Es Cs

Ra -

Ia 26 -

Aa 38 26 -

Sa 19 35 29 -

Ea 39 33 53 37 -

Ca 39 40 48 37 66 -

Rc 57 28 28 19 32 33 -

Ic 26 54 27 22 38 38 38 -

Ac 30 24 63 30 43 36 40 39 -

Sc 22 30 35 31 40 32 29 40 47 -

Ec 38 31 41 35 54 46 44 41 50 53 -

Cc 35 34 36 29 46 53 43 50 46 39 58 -

Ro 54 23 32 15 35 36 53 31 37 29 41 42 -

Io 38 38 35 19 36 41 35 51 39 32 40 45 61 -

Ao 33 24 55 25 42 39 26 27 56 37 40 39 55 61 -

So 31 32 32 32 42 43 28 41 37 35 43 48 48 67 57 -

Eo 38 22 39 25 49 50 36 28 38 28 48 45 57 57 62 64 -

Co 36 26 34 29 45 52 34 31 37 24 44 53 53 55 53 62 75 -

R1 21 13 11 10 16 09 22 10 12 12 21 16 23 18 15 20 20 25 -

I1 22 03 10 08 26 18 23 08 06 11 27 12 20 08 11 09 27 24 26 -

A1 -04 17 08 19 09 09 -07 17 12 15 07 09 00 15 11 22 04 11 09 -02 -

S1 03 03 38 11 19 15 02 09 33 24 20 18 07 13 32 15 18 14 09 13 04 -

E1 12 34 10 09 11 18 16 41 19 12 17 18 14 36 17 25 12 20 13 02 28 13 -

C1 27 11 05 07 17 12 28 17 11 11 20 15 27 23 12 17 22 23 26 26 01 07 29 -

R2 15 19 22 18 26 25 13 23 21 15 28 31 23 27 23 31 30 29 31 14 16 21 25 17 -

I2 18 15 21 13 21 21 22 19 19 21 29 28 20 18 19 22 22 29 25 25 15 18 24 23 40 -

A2 05 13 19 15 18 11 08 22 27 29 24 18 09 23 24 22 14 17 08 13 25 17 17 12 24 29 -

S2 -01 01 32 03 14 08 -01 07 31 20 16 11 04 12 30 13 13 11 11 13 07 69 13 11 20 16 19 -

E2 12 26 05 10 12 17 12 36 18 19 19 19 08 21 07 17 05 13 12 06 21 08 33 17 21 12 18 11 -

C2 12 19 08 14 14 14 16 15 14 13 17 12 15 17 16 16 09 17 06 19 21 03 23 18 17 18 24 06 23 -

Rs 75 33 40 23 44 43 75 39 43 33 52 50 81 56 48 48 56 54 53 30 03 11 23 37 49 35 15 09 19 20 -

Is 43 68 39 31 49 51 47 76 43 43 54 55 53 78 50 59 53 55 28 40 20 17 44 31 38 49 31 15 32 27 63 -

As 34 31 77 36 51 46 31 39 80 49 50 46 45 55 82 54 52 49 17 12 38 39 26 12 31 29 51 37 18 23 48 56 -

Ss 24 32 52 51 48 43 25 39 56 62 52 47 35 50 60 69 51 48 20 17 22 68 25 17 35 29 32 64 21 16 41 54 69 -

Es 46 44 49 37 73 64 45 54 53 47 75 60 53 62 58 64 77 68 26 29 18 24 47 32 41 33 27 21 44 25 63 73 64 63 -

Cs 47 40 43 37 60 74 48 46 45 37 58 73 56 59 52 61 68 83 26 30 15 18 31 47 37 36 24 14 26 41 64 69 56 55 79 -

Note SDS = Self Directed Search Please read Ra as Realistic Activities Ia as Investigative Activities Aa as Artistic Activities Sa as Social Activities Ea as Enterprising Activities Ca

as Conventional Activities Rc as Realistic Competencies Ic as Investigative Competencies Ac as Artistic Competencies Sc as Social Competencies Ec as Enterprising Competencies

Cc as Conventional Competencies Ro as Realistic Occupations Io as Investigative Occupations Ao as Artistic Occupations So as Social Occupations Eo as Enterprising Occupations

Co as Conventional Occupations R1and R2 as Realistic self estimateI1 and I2 as Investigative self estimate A1 and A2 as Artistic self estimate S1 and S2 as Social self estimate E1

and E2 as Enterprising self estimate C1 and C2 as Conventional self estimate Rs as Realistic Summary Is as Investigative Summary As as Artistic Summary Ss as Social Summary Es

as Enterprising Summary Cs as Conventional Summary r ge 08 is significant at 05 to 001 level

141

Table 22 showed the inter correlations matrix of all the scales of Activities

Competencies Occupation Self-estimates and Summary scales of SDS All the 6

subscales of Activities are significantly correlated with each other and have moderate

internal consistency The range of magnitude of inter-correlations is from a minimum

(r = 19 p lt 001) to a maximum (r = 66 p lt 001) The range of magnitude of inter-

correlations for Competencies subscales is from a minimum (r = 29 p lt 001) to a

maximum (r = 58 p lt 001) The results also displayed the inter-correlation of six

subscales of Occupations and range of magnitude is from a minimum (r = 48 p lt

001) to a maximum (r = 75 p lt 001) which provided evidence of construct validity

of SDS subscales

The inter-correlations of six main summary scales of SDS showed that all the

6 summary scales ie Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising and

Conventional are significantly correlated with each other and have moderate internal

consistency The range of magnitude of inter-correlations is from a minimum (r = 41

p lt 001) to a maximum (r = 79 p lt 001) This inter-correlation matrix

demonstrated the construct validity of all the subscales of SDS

The inter correlation matrix was plotted to find out the correlational pattern

among the scales of the SDS The relationships among the major categories can be

ordered according to a hexagon in which distances between occupational classes are

inversely proportional to the size of the correlations between them The spatial

arrangement facilitates the interpretation of the degrees of similarity and difference

among the categories

142

Hexagonal Representation of Inter-correlations of SDS Scales

Figure 7 Hexagonal Representation of Inter-correlations of SDS Scales (N = 596)

Note SDS = Self Directed Search read R as Realistic I as Investigative A as Artistic S as Social E as

Enterprising and C as Conventional

Figure 7 presented the representation of averages of all the inter-correlations

between the subscales and summary scales of SDS Any relationship between two

types is the average of 36 correlations in 6 x 6 matrixes Data from Table 22 are

arranged in this hexagon for each of the 6x6 matrices (activities competencies

occupations self-estimates and summary scores) The evidence for the hexagonal

arrangement of vocational interests is substantial According to a hexagon the

distances between the occupational classes depend on the size of correlations Closer

the distances between occupational classes better the size of correlation The results

showed that the relationship between RI is better than RA and similarly the

relationship between RA is better than RS Similarly in almost all the cases the

relationships between occupational classes are determined according to Hollandlsquos

33 24

26

33

29

37

32

33

34

A

S E

C

24

25

30

27

20

32

25

I R 30

143

assumptions However the relationship between IE which are placed opposite on the

hexagon have stronger relationship of (r = 34) which is even better than the IS and IC

which are adjacent types In Figure 7 the magnitude of average correlations ranged

from (20 to 37) However arrangements of occupational classes on the hexagon are

supportive of Holland assumption The hexagonal representation of inter-correlations

computed by Naheed (1988) on high school students (Figure 8) showed almost the

same pattern This displayed the validity of Holland model on high school students

Hexagonal Representation of Inter-correlations of SDS Scales (Naheed 1988)

Figure 8 Hexagonal Representation of Inter-correlations of SDS Scales (N = 114)

Note SDS = Self Directed Search read R as Realistic I as Investigative A as Artistic S as Social E as

Enterprising and C as Conventional

Source Naheed (1988)

33 24

23

33

35

40

32

27

39

A

S E

C

27

29

23

33

23

33

27

I R 26

144

Relationship between Personality and Vocational Interests

The results in this section demonstrated the relationship of five main domains

of personality and six personality types of vocational interests according to the main

objective of the study The 30 facets of five domains of personality are also correlated

with the six personality types The mean differences with respect to demographic

variables (gender sciencearts group urbanrural 9th

10th

classes and parentslsquo

education) on personality and vocational interests were also computed The results are

shown below

Table 23

Inter-correlations between 5 main scales including 30 facet scales of NEO PI-R and 6

summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

Scaletypes Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

Neuroticism (N) -12 -06 -03 01 -10 -11

Anxiety (N1) -10 -05 02 -02 -10 -06

Hostility (N2) -07 02 07 08 01 -02

Depression (N3) -05 -02 -05 01 -01 01

Self Conscious (N4) 04 03 03 05 01 -02

Impulsiveness (N5) -07 -03 -05 -01 -05 -09

Vulnerability (N6) -18 -15 -10 -06 -20 -22

Extraversion (E) 08 16 27 25 22 13

Warmth (E1) 02 15 21 23 18 12

Gregariousness (E2) -01 01 02 04 05 -02

Assertiveness (E3) 08 07 19 15 12 07

Activities (E4) 08 13 17 13 14 08

Excitement (E5) 08 07 19 20 13 09

Positive Emotion (E6) 03 13 18 13 14 11

Continuedhellip

145

Scaletypes Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

Openness (O) 09 13 24 22 15 10

Fantasy (O1) -07 -11 -11 -07 -11 -11

Aesthetics (O2) 06 12 25 23 10 07

Feelings (O3) 01 12 17 16 14 07

Actions (O4) 01 -02 06 01 -04 -02

Ideas (O5) 20 21 20 18 25 22

Values (O6) -03 -07 -03 -03 -01 -04

Agreeableness (A) 05 12 10 04 14 15

Trust (A1) 11 14 13 12 19 18

Straight Forwardness (A2) 01 08 06 -01 04 05

Altruism (A3) 02 10 06 05 11 10

Compliance (A4) 03 01 04 -01 04 07

Modesty (A5) -04 -06 -15 -18 -11 -06

Tender mindedness (A6) 05 15 20 14 20 15

Conscientiousness (C) 18 21 14 13 25 27

Compliance (C1) 21 22 15 17 21 26

Order (C2) 08 06 -01 01 05 10

Duty (C3) 07 16 12 08 18 16

Achievement striving (C4) 14 25 15 12 29 27

Self discipline (C5) 15 10 08 08 16 18

Deliberation (C6) 12 13 12 13 17 21

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory SDS = Self Directed Search

p lt 05 p lt 01 p lt 001

The results shown in Table 23 are related to the correlations between five

main domains including 30 facets of NEO PI-R and six personality types of SDS The

results showed substantial relationship exists between personality and vocational

interests both at higher and lower order facet scales The Neuroticism domain is

significantly negatively correlated with Realistic Enterprising and Conventional

146

personality types The six subscales of Neuroticism domain generally have non-

significant correlation with all six personality types except Vulnerability subscale

which is significantly negatively correlated with five personality types Extraversion

domain is significantly positively correlated with all six personality types except

Realistic type Extraversion have the magnitude of relationships with Enterprising

type is (r = 22 p lt 001) with Social type is (r = 25 p lt 001) and (r = 27 p lt

001) The facets scales of Extraversion domain generally significantly correlated with

all the six personality types except Gregariousness which is non-significantly

correlated with any of the six personality types The findings supported the hypothesis

no1 of the study which stated that Extraversion is correlated to Social and

Enterprising types

Openness domain is significantly positively correlated with all the six

personality types The magnitude of relationship is (r = 09 p lt 05) with Realistic

types (r = 22 p lt 001) with Social type (r = 24 p lt 001) with Artistic type and (r

= 13 p lt 01) with Investigative type All the subscale of Openness domain generally

significantly correlated with all the six personality types except facet scale Fantasy

which is negatively significantly correlated with four personality types Facet scales

Values and Actions have non-significant correlation with all the six types The facet

scales of Fantasy Actions and Values also have non-significant correlation with

other facet scales of Openness domain (see Table 16) Overall the findings supported

the hypothesis no 2 that openness to experience will be positively correlated with

Artistic and Investigative types

Agreeableness domain is significantly positively correlated with Investigative

(r = 12 p lt 01) Artistic (r = 10 p lt 05) Enterprising (r = 14 p lt 001) and

147

Conventional types (r = 15 p lt 001) This domain is non-significantly correlated

with Social and Realistic types The subscale Trust of Agreeableness domain

significantly correlated with all the six types while facet scale Modesty is negatively

correlated with all six types The findings did not support the hypothesis no 3 which

stated that agreeableness will be positively related to social personality types

However Trust and Tender-mindedness facet scales are positively significantly related

to Social interests

Conscientiousness domain is significantly positively correlated with all six

personality types The magnitude of relationship range from (r = 13 p lt 001) with

Social type and (r = 25 p lt 001) with Enterprising type and (r = 27 p lt 001) with

Conventional type All the six facets scale of Conscientiousness domain generally

significantly correlated with all the six personality types except facet scale Order

which is non-significantly correlated with five personality types The findings that

Conscientiousness is positively correlated to Conventional interests supported the

hypothesis no 4 Overall it is obvious from the results that considerable relationship

existed between Five Factor Model and Hollandlsquos typology

In Table 24 multiple regression analysis was conducted to find out specific

contribution of various variables on six personality types (realistic investigative

artistic social enterprising and conventional) The predictor variables included

gender 9th

10 classes urbanrural scienceArts group parents education neuroticism

extraversion openness agreeableness and conscientiousness Variables were entered

simultaneously in the block Six RIASEC types were entered one by one as criterion

variable

148

Table 24

Summary of Multiple Regression Analysis for Demographic and Five Domains of

Personality on the six Personality Types

Dependent Variables

Independent

Variables

b SE β t

REALISTIC INTERESTS

R = 370 R

2 = 137

Adj R2

= 124

Constant 4291 7993

9th

10th

class -1825 622 -116 -2936

Gender

UrbanRural

-3271

1765

653

653

-228

108

-5445

2703

Conscientiousness 073 022 179 3374

INVESTIGATIVE INTERESTS

R = 401 R

2 = 161

Adj R2

= 148

Constant 8384 7666

9th

10th

class -1405 596 -092 -2356

SceinceArts

Conscientiousness

-4459

079

599

021

-297

199

-7442

3814

ARTISTIC INTERESTS

R = 460 R

2 = 212

Adj R2

= 199

Constant -21365 7708

9th

10th

class -2054 600 -130 -3423

Gender

Openness

4566

128

632

031

290

166

7230

4136

Extraversion 108 023 194 4757

Continuedhellip

149

Dependent Variables

Independent

Variables

b SE β t

SOCIAL INTERESTS

R = 391 R

2 = 153

Adj R2

= 139

Constant -10357 7133

9th

10th

class -1860 556 -132 -3347

Conscientiousness

Openness

053

101

019

029

144

147

2754

3541

Extraversion 042 021 089 1986

ENTERPRISING INTERESTS

R = 381 R

2 = 145

Adj R2

= 132

Constant -3502 7643

9th

10th

class -1817 595 -121 -3052

ScienceArts

Conscientiousness

-2294

085

598

021

-154

216

3836

4104

Extraversion 079 022 150 3532

CONVENTIONAL INTERESTS

R = 345 R

2 = 119

Adj R2

= 105

Constant -1025 8543

9th

10th

class -1800 627 -115 -2873

Gender

Conscientiousness

-1677

108

660

022

-108

264

-2541

4921 p lt 05 p lt 01 p lt 001

150

The results showed that Urbanrural (β = 108 p lt 01) and Conscientious (β

= 179 p lt 001) have some impact on Realistic interests Conscientious (β = 199 p

lt 001) have some impact on Investigative interest Gender (β = 290 p lt 001)

Openness (β = 166 p lt 001) and Extraversion (β = 194 p lt 001) have an impact

on Artistic interests Conscientiousness (β = 144 p lt 001) Openness (β = 147 p lt

001) and Extraversion (β = 191 p lt 001) have some impact on Social interests

Conscientiousness (β = 216 p lt 001) and Extraversion (β = 150 p lt 001) have

some impact on Enterprising interests Conscientiousness (β = 264 p lt 001) have

an impact on Conventional interests Gender contributed considerably to predict

Artistic interests Extraversion contributed substantially to predict the Enterprising

and Social interests Openness contributed significantly in predicting the Artistic

interests Conscientiousness contributed substantially in predicting the Conventional

interests Hence the results demonstrated support to the hypotheses no 1 2 and 4

Table 25

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of male and female students on five

main domain scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Scales Gender Total No

of cases

M SD t

Neuroticism Male 319 13714 1477

178 Female 277 13931 1498

Extraversion Male 319 14954 1211

240 Female 277 15226 1555

Openness Male 319 13537 955

186 Female 277 13685 988

Agreeableness Male 319 16169 1444

484 Female 277 16736 1403

Conscientiousness Male 319 16958 1963

104 Female 277 17121 1777

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

p lt 05 p lt 001 df = 594

151

Table 25 showed the mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of male

and female students on the five domains of NEO PI-R There are significant mean

differences between male and female scores on Extraversion and Agreeableness

domains Although there are non-significant mean differences between male and

female students on Neuroticism Openness and Conscientiousness domains yet the

female students mean scores are higher than male studentslsquo scores on all the five main

domain scales These findings supported the hypothesis no 5 of the study

Table 26

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Science and Arts group students on

five main domain scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Scale Group Total No

of cases

M SD t

Neuroticism Science 303 13949 1584

224 Arts 293 13677 1376

Extraversion Science 303 15155 1420

135 Arts 293 15001 1352

Openness Science 303 13655 977

120 Arts 293 13560 962

Agreeableness Science 303 16559 1420

218 Arts 293 16300 1478

Conscientiousness Science 303 17112 2009

103 Arts 293 16952 1736

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

p lt 05 df = 594

The finding in Table 26 displayed that there are significant mean differences

between scores of Science and Arts students on Neuroticism and Agreeableness

domains The science students mean scores are higher than Arts students score

152

Overall there are non-significant mean differences between science and Arts students

on Extraversion Openness and Conscientiousness domains This showed that science

or arts students have non-significant differences with respect to personality profiles

Table 27

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Urban and Rural group students

on five main domains of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Scale Group Total No

of cases

M SD t

Neuroticism Urban 382 13827 1453

27 Rural 214 13793 1556

Extraversion Urban 382 15221 1385

335 Rural 214 14828 1357

Openness Urban 382 13622 977

55 Rural 214 13576 962

Agreeableness Urban 382 16478 1439

102 Rural 214 16351 1476

Conscientiousness Urban 382 17087 1878

92 Rural 214 16939 1879

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

p lt 001 df = 594

The results mentioned in Table 27 showed the mean standard deviation and t-

value of scores of students belonging to Urban and Rural areas on five main domains

of NEO PI-R There are significant mean differences between scores of students of

urban and rural areas on Extraversion domain The mean scores of urban students are

higher than rural students This showed that students from urban areas are high on

Extraversion domains due to better exposure as compared to rural areas students

153

Overall there are non-significant mean differences between scores of students

belonging to urban and rural areas on other domains of NEO PI-R

Table 28

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of 9th and 10th class students on five

main domains of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Scale Class Total No

of cases

M SD t

Neuroticism 9

th 328 13824 1453

498 10

th 268 13804 1556

Extraversion 9

th 328 15022 1385

129 10

th 268 15151 1357

Openness 9

th 328 13570 977

14 10

th 268 13649 962

Agreeableness 9

th 328 16215 1439

63 10

th 268 16698 1476

Conscientiousness 9

th 328 16831 1878

96 10

th 268 17281 1879

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

p lt 05 df = 594

The results mentioned in Table 28 showed that there are non-significant mean

differences between the scores of 9th

and 10th

class students on main domains of NEO

PI-R except on Neuroticism domain

154

Table 29

Mean and standard deviation between three groups of students based on parents

education on the scores of five domain scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Domains

of personality

Father

mother

educated

(N = 150)

Father

educated

(N = 214)

Father

mother

uneducated

(N = 232)

M SD M SD M SD

Neuroticism 13922 1512 13805 1585 13754 1382

Extraversion 15391 1526 14979 1405 14971 1244

Openness 13689 919 13571 1035 13582 945

Agreeableness 16643 1378 16451 1544 16278 1397

Conscientiousness 17072 1909 17048 1860 16994 1882

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory Father mother educated

group (both the parents have at least matriculation education) father educated group (only fathers have at least

matriculation education) father and mother uneducated group (none of the parents have matriculation)

Table 29 indicated the mean and standard deviation of three groups of students

based on parent education on the five domains of NEO PI-R The group of students

having the father mother educated has the highest mean scores on all the five main

domains of personality

155

Table 30

One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) between three groups of students based on

parents education on the scores of five domains of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Domains Sum of

squares

df Mean

square

F

Neuroticism Between group 25805 2 12902

58

Within group 13178765 593 22223

Total 13204571 595

Extraversion Between group 194335 2 97167

512

Within group 11254588 593 18979

Total 11448924 595

Openness Between group 14148 2 7074

74

Within group 5611657 593 9463

Total 5625806 595

Agreeableness Between group 122115 2 61057

291

Within group 12427334 593 20956

Total 12549450 595

Conscientiousness Between group 6336 2 3168

08

Within group 20995752 593 35406

Total 21002088 595 Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

p lt 01

Table 30 showed one way analysis of variance between 3 groups of students

based on parentslsquo education The results showed that there are non-significant mean

differences between the 3 groups of students based on parentslsquo education except

Extraversion domain of NEO PI-R The results showed that group of students whose

parents are educated have highest mean (M = 153 91 SD = 1526) and F (2 593) =

512 p lt 01) Overall findings revealed that parents education have non-significant

effects on the personality patterns of students

156

Table 31

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Lower age (14 to 16 yrs) and

Upper age (17 to 19 yrs) groups on main scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Scale Group Total No

of cases

M SD t

Neuroticism Lower age 460 13816 1483

75 Upper age 136 13811 1517

Extraversion Lower age 460 15101 1406

01 Upper age 136 15007 1325

Openness Lower age 460 13611 979

01 Upper age 136 13587 953

Agreeableness Lower age 460 16481 1457

03 Upper age 136 16267 1430

Conscientiousness Lower age 460 17065 1850

166 Upper age 136 16928 1977

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

In Table 31 the result showed mean differences of two age groups on NEO PI-

R The sample was divided into two groups students of lower age group consisted of

ages (14 to 16 years) while students of upper age group consisted of ages (17 years to

19 years) There are non-significant mean differences between the two groups This

showed that age differences have no significant effects on the scores of NEO PI-R

Gender differences on scores of SDS

The mean differences on the scores of male and female students were

computed on main summary scales of SDS The results are shown below

157

Table 32

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Male and Female students on main

summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

Personality

Types

Gender Total No

of cases

M SD t

Realistic Male 319 2572 740

648 Female 277 2170 773

Investigative Male 319 2864 756

02 Female 277 2866 754

Artistic Male 319 2615 752

809 Female 277 3110 735

Social Male 319 2832 724

486 Female 277 3106 644

Enterprising Male 319 2863 749

46 Female 277 2835 754

Conventional Male 319 3139 756

208 Female 277 3007 794

Note SDS = Self Directed Search

p lt 05 p lt 001 df = 594

The results mentioned in Table 32 showed the mean standard deviation and t-

value of scores of male and female students on the six personality types of SDS

There are significant mean differences between the scores of male and female

students on Realistic Artistic Social and Conventional personality types Mean

scores of male is higher than scores of females on Realistic personality type This

showed that males have a preference for Realistic jobs as compared to females and

thus hypothesis no 6 is supported

There are significant mean differences on the scores of students on artistic and

social personality types The mean scores of female students are higher than scores of

male students This proved that females have a preference for Artistic and Social jobs

158

as compared to male students These findings supported the hypothesis no 7 of the

study Mean scores of males are higher than scores of females on Conventional

personality type This showed that male students have preference for Conventional

type jobs as compared to females

Table 33

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Science and Arts group students on

main summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

Personality

Types

Gender Total No

of cases

M SD t

Realistic Science 303 2454 789

220 Arts 293 2313 769

Investigative Science 303 3091 690

784 Arts 293 2629 749

Artistic Science 303 2799 826

140 Arts 293 2891 736

Social Science 303 2959 719

06 Arts 293 2955 681

Enterprising Science 303 2978 743

431 Arts 293 2716 737

Conventional Science 303 3137 784

192 Arts 293 3015 765

Note SDS = Self Directed Search

p lt 05 p lt 001 df = 594

The findings in Table 33 showed that there are significant mean differences

between Science and Arts students on Realistic Investigative and Enterprising

personality types The scores of science students are slightly better than arts students

159

on Realistic Investigative and Enterprising types This revealed that science students

have preference for Realistic Investigative and Enterprising personality types

Table 34

Mean Standard deviation and t-value of scores of Urban and Rural group students

on main summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

Personality

Types

Group Total No

of cases

M SD t

Realistic Urban 382 2303 811

348 Rural 214 2533 702

Investigative Urban 382 2897 766

140 Rural 214 2807 732

Artistic Urban 382 2892 779

195 Rural 214 2762 787

Social Urban 382 3001 717

195 Rural 214 2885 668

Enterprising Urban 382 2884 770

148 Rural 214 2789 712

Conventional Urban 382 3101 793

97 Rural 214 3036 747

Note SDS = Self Directed Search

p lt 001 df = 594

The results in Table 34 showed that there are non-significant mean differences

between students of urban and rural areas on personality types of SDS except

Realistic type The mean scores of rural students are slightly higher than urban area

students on Realistic personality types This showed that students from rural areas

prefer more Realistic jobs

160

Table 35

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of 9th and 10th class students on

main summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

Personality

Types

Group Total No

of cases

M SD t

Realistic 9

th 328 2468 734

198 10

th 268 2284 825

Investigative 9

th 328 2889 713

557 10

th 268 2835 803

Artistic 9

th 328 2892 788

03 10

th 268 2788 775

Social 9

th 328 3015 705

03 10

th 268 2891 692

Enterprising 9

th 328 2900 729

116 10

th 268 2788 773

Conventional 9

th 328 3137 758

124 10

th 268 3004 794

Note SDS = Self Directed Search

p lt 05

The results mentioned in Table 35 showed that there are non-significant mean

differences between students of 9th

class and 10th

class on personality types of SDS

except on Investigative type The mean scores of 9th

class students are slightly higher

than 10th

class students on Investigative personality types

161

Table 36

Mean and standard deviation between three groups of students based on parents

education on the scores of six personality types of SDS (N = 596)

Personality

Types

Father

mother

educated

(N = 150)

Father

educated

(N = 214)

Father

mother

uneducated

(N = 232)

M SD M SD M SD

Realistic 2236 827 2403 749 2465 768

Investigative 2905 731 2921 723 2787 792

Artistic 2988 829 2873 762 2726 757

Social 3027 704 2985 685 2891 710

Enterprising 2886 740 2899 751 2781 754

Conventional 3096 724 3111 793 3034 794

Note SDS = Self Directed Search Father mother educated group (both the parents have at least matriculation

education) father educated group (only fathers have at least matriculation education) father and mother

uneducated group (none of the parents have matriculation)

Table 36 indicated the mean and standard deviation of three groups of students

based on parentslsquo education on the five domains of NEO PI-R The group having the

father mother uneducated have the highest mean scores on Realistic (M = 2465 SD =

768) The group having the father educated have the highest mean scores on

Investigative (M = 2921 SD = 723) Enterprising (M = 2899 SD = 751) and

Conventional types (M = 3111 SD = 793) The group having the father mother

educated have the highest mean scores on Artistic (M = 2988 SD = 829) and Social

(M = 3027 SD = 704)

162

Table 37

One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) between three groups of students based on

parents education on the scores of six personality types of SDS (N = 596)

Personality

Types

Sum of

squares

df Mean square F

Realistic

Between group

48932

2

24466

405

Within group 3581898 593 6040

Total 3630830 595

Investigative

Between group

23247

2

11623

204

Within group 3364123 593 5673

Total 3387371 595

Artistic

Between group

65136

2

32568

538

Within group 3588032 593 6050

Total 3653168 595

Social

Between group

19116

2

9558

194

Within group 2908057 593 4904

Total 2927173 595

Enterprising

Between group

18301

2

9150

162

Within group 3333998 593 5622

Total 3352299 595

Conventional

Between group

7363

2

3681

61

Within group 3579824 593 6036

Total 3587187 595 Note SDS = Self Directed Search

p lt 05 p lt 01

Table 37 showed the analysis of variance between 3 groups based on parentslsquo

education of students and their effects on the six personality types The results showed

that there are significant mean differences between the 3 groups of students based on

parentslsquo education on the scores of Realistic and Artistic personality types The group

having father mother uneducated have higher mean on Realistic type as compared to

other groups The group having father mother educated have the highest mean on

163

Artistic type as compared to other groups There are non-significant mean differences

between three groups on other personality types

Discussion

Two most widely used models to measure personality and vocational interests

from dispositional domain are Five factor model and Hollandlsquos typology respectively

Costa and McCrae (1992a) designed the NEO PI-R based on Five factor model

Numerous reliability and validity studies were conducted over the years in different

countries as well as in Pakistan (Anis-ul-Haque 2003 Chishti 2002 Safdar 2002

Shaheen 2007 Taj 2003) Hence it is expected that NEO PI-R has cross cultural

efficacy and can be confidently administered on Pakistani population

Holland has proposed a comprehensive model of vocational interests based on

dispositional domains Holland has developed a comprehensive measure of vocational

interests ie Self Directed Search (SDS) SDS was translated comprehensively by

(Naheed 1988) in Pakistan and during the adaptation process few items were

changed and modified and thus the measure is left with 210 items Numerous

reliability and validity studies were conducted over the years in different countries as

well as in Pakistan (Khan et al 1990 Naheed 1988 Siddiqa 1999) Hence it is

expected that SDS has cross cultural efficacy and can be administered on Pakistani

students

The main study was conducted to determine the relationship between

personality and vocational interests The mean differences of different demographic

variables (gender ScienceArts groups urbanrural 9th

10th

classes and parentslsquo

education) on the personality and vocational interests were also explored Despite

164

researcher best efforts random sampling could not be employed properly for the

selection of schools in the study Initially it was decided that 10 schools (5 each from

urban and rural areas) would be selected randomly However finally 7 school (both

from rural and urban areas) with ample students from science and arts groups could be

located by the researcher In each school 100 students (50 science students and 50

Arts students) were randomly selected in the study Thus total of 700 students were

administered the tests After scrutinizing the data and doing away with the absentees

the final data was left with 596 students

The results of the study showed the reliabilityvalidity of NEO PI-R and SDS

Alpha reliability coefficients (see Table 12) of main domains scores and subscales of

NEO PI-R showed the internal consistency of the instrument The range of Alpha

coefficients vary from 36 (Openness) to 84 (Conscientiousness) Openness domain

has low Alpha reliability coefficient of (36) This reflected that this domain has low

internal consistency This may be due to the cultural effect The subscale of Openness

domain consisted of facet scales including Fantasy Aesthetics Feelings Actions

Ideas and Values This low internal consistency of Openness scale was also observed

in other cultures as Laidra et al (2007) showed low internal consistency of Openness

domain (42) in Estonian school students

In a context where Islam being the most widely accepted and practiced

religion the scales Values Fantasy and Actions need to be deliberated thoroughly for

their relevance in Pakistani culture (see conceptual definitions Openness facets scales

in chap III pages 89 to 90) The applicability of Openness Domain in Pakistani

students also needs to be further explored Openness is related to experience novel

things and is generally described by characteristics like imaginative curious and

165

aesthetically sensitive (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) It required education which is based

on the principle of openness and broadness coupled with economic prosperity Some

of the statement in Openness scales are of abstract nature and Pakistani understand

behavior example more easily than the abstract (see for example Mirza 1975)

Moreover in Pakistani culture which is a collectivistic culture (Hofstede

2001) a person who fantasizes and build castle in air is not encouraged or socially

approved Whereas in western culture the word fantasy have different connotations as

compared to Pakistani context Similarly facet scales Ideas and Values of openness

domains have different connotation in Pakistan as compared to western culture In

Pakistan people follow the norms of the society and tribes hence itlsquos difficult for

them to challenge these norms In certain part of the country people feel pride to stick

to their traditions and values These cultural differences have effects on the results of

facets scales of Openness domain

Low internal consistency of Openness domain also indicated that high school

student may not be able to provide reliable information about their personality traits

John Caspi Robins Moffitt and Loeber (1994) mentioned coefficient alpha

reliabilities of four scales exceeded α = 7 except α = 53 for Openness scale The

finding that alpha was lowest for the Openness scale is consistent with the adult Big

Five literature showing that the Openness factor is the least homogeneous of the Big

Five domains (eg Goldberg 1990 Norman 1963) Parker and Stumpf (1998) stated

that Openness showed the smallest degree of convergence across the self report a

finding that confirms earlier observations on the model in general (Ostendorf 1990)

Given its relatively low reliability the usefulness of the Openness scale may be

established through demonstration of more validity studies

166

The inter correlation matrix between subscales and Openness domain (see

Table 16) showed that subscales Fantasy Actions are non-significantly correlated

with other subscales Subscale Values significantly negatively correlated with

Aesthetic and Feelings This showed that Fantasy Actions and Values of Openness

domain have not only low internal consistency but also affected the construct validity

of the Openness domain The results needed to be interpreted with caution for

Openness domain

Safdar (2002) used Urdu version of NEO PI-R on university students and

reported Alpha value of 59 for Openness domain and 41 for Agreeableness domain

Taj (2003) reported alpha coefficient of 37 for Agreeableness for a sample of

working and non working women Chishti (2002) reported low alpha coefficient of

Fantasy (51) Feelings (30) Actions (20) and Values (20) facets scales of

Openness domain on Urdu version of NEO PI-R

The Alpha reliability coefficients (see Table 20) of the subscales (Activities

Competencies Occupations and Self-ratings) of SDS showed high internal

consistency of the instrument The alpha coefficient of summary scales range from (α

= 71) for Social to (α = 80) for Artistic and Conventional All subscales of SDS have

high reliability coefficients Intercorrelations between the Activities Competencies

Occupations Self-ratings and Summary scales (see Table 22) showed the construct

validity of the SDS These correlations were plotted in the hexagon (see Figure 7) for

the three levels adjacent types alternate types and opposite types The relationship

between adjacent types was better than alternate types and similarly the relationship

between alternate types was better than opposite type The results proved the

relevance of Holland model on high school students

167

Relationship of personality and vocational interests

The main objective of the final study was to determine the relationship

between personality and vocational interests of the high school students To achieve

this objective few hypotheses on the relationship between personality and vocational

interest were formulated Inter-correlation (see Table 23) between the 5 main domains

of personality including its 30 facet scales and the six personality types were

calculated The results showed that substantial relationship existed between the two

models Extraversion domain is significantly positively correlated with all six

personality types except Realistic type The magnitude of relationship range from (r =

22 p lt 001) with Enterprising type and (r = 25 p lt 001) with Social type

The hypothesis No 1 was ―Extroversion will be positively correlated with the

Social and Enterprising types The results showed that Extraversion is positively

correlated with Social and Enterprising types This means that Extraversion domain

overlapped with the Enterprising interests and Social interests These findings are

supported in the literature (Costa et al 1984 De Fruyt amp Mervielde 1997 Holland et

al 1994 Tokar amp Swanson 1995 Tokar et al 1995) Previous studies also

supported the positive correlation of Extraversion with social interests (Carless 1999

Costa Fozard amp McCrae 1977 Costa et al 1984 Peraino amp Willerman 1983) and

with Enterprising interests (Carless 1999 Costa et al 1984 Peraino amp Willerman

1983 Waller et al 1995) The results also revealed that Extraversion is non-

significantly correlated with Realistic type The present finding of a non-significant

relationship between Extraversion and Realistic interests are supported by Peraino and

Willerman (1983)

168

The results also mentioned that the facet scales of Extraversion domain

generally significantly correlated with all the six personality types except

Gregariousness which is non-significantly correlated with any of the six personality

types Sullivan and Hansen (2004) found that associations between personality traits

and vocational interests can be accounted for by associations between lower-order

personality traits and interests

A study on 934 Flemish-speaking students by De Fruyt and Mervielde (1997)

analyzed their data in terms of the 30 facet scores as well as the total big five scores

The pattern of correlations showed clearly that few of the big five facets were related

to the realistic and investigative type while many were related to the social and

enterprising type

The findings in Table 23 displayed that strongest relationship is between

extraversion and artistic social and enterprising types The strongest correlations

between Extraversion and Enterprising and Social types of Hollands model have been

supported in the literature (Blake amp Sackett 1993 Bolton 1985 Costa et al 1984

Dillon amp Weissman 1987 Goh amp Leong 1993 Gottfredson et al 1993 Hogan

1986 Peraino amp Willerman 1983) However negative correlations between

Extraversion and Realistic and Investigative types have been reported in the literature

(Blake amp Sackett 1993 Bolton 1985 Costa et al 1984 Peraino amp Willerman

1983) Overall the results of the study supported the hypothesis that Extraversion is

positively correlated with Social and Enterprising interests

Openness domain is significantly correlated with all the six personality types

(see Table 23) The six facet scales of Openness are generally significantly correlated

with the six personality types However facet scales Actions and Values have non-

169

significant correlation with any of the personality types Fantasy is negatively

correlated with most of the personality types

The hypothesis 2 was ―Openness will be positively correlated with

Investigative and Artistic types The results showed that Openness is positively

significantly correlated with all the six personality types however Openness has

moderate strong correlation with Artistic type (r = 24 p lt 001) with Social type (r =

22 p lt 001) and with Investigative type (r = 13 p lt 01) It appeared that people

who express Investigative and Artistic interests also tend to be more open to new

experiences The curiosity and inquisitiveness of the Investigative type described by

Holland (1985a) as intellectual scholarly and curious represented that Investigative

interests overlap 20 to 60 with the Openness to Experience domain (Costa et al

1984 Gottfredson et al 1993 Holland et al 1994 Tokar amp Swanson 1995 Tokar

et al 1995) Artistic interests related moderately (r around 40 to 50) to the Openness

to Experience domain (Costa et al 1984 De Fruyt amp Mervielde 1997 Gottfredson et

al 1993 Holland et al 1994 Tokar amp Swanson 1995 Tokar et al 1995)

Individuals scoring high on Artistic and Enterprising interest scales are more

likely to demonstrate characteristics of those high in Openness and Extraversion

respectively Caldwell and Burger (1998) showed that high levels of Extraversion and

Openness (in addition to Agreeableness and Emotional Stability) are predictive of the

number of job offers received in a job search Tokar et al (1998) reported that

―greater extraversion is also linked to higher frequency and quality of job search

activities (p 144) as well as job satisfaction and change

The Big Six and the Big Five are indeed related to one another in important

ways applicable to counseling but not universally There are substantial linkages

found by (Larson et al 2002) and (Barrack et al 2003) between Artistic and

170

Openness Investigative and Openness Social and Extraversion and between

Enterprising and Extraversion Aesthetics (a facet of Openness to Experience) largely

accounted for the association between Artistic interests and Openness The results

showed that Openness was found to have moderately strong positive correlations with

the Investigative Realistic and Artistic vocational interests a finding consistent with

those reported by others (Carless 1999 Costa et al 1977 Costa et al 1984 Duffy amp

Crissy 1940 see also review by Tokar et al 1998 and meta-analysis by Staggs

2004) Overall the results supported the hypothesis that Openness is positively

correlated with Artistic and Enterprising types

Agreeableness domain is significantly correlated with all the personality types

except Realistic and Social types (see Table 23) The results showed that facets scales

of Trust and Tender mindedness significantly correlated with all the personality types

Facet scale Compliance has non-significant correlation with any of the six personality

types Modesty is negatively correlated with all the personality types Modesty has

different connotation in Pakistani culture as compared to western culture The most

people in Pakistani society are modest and show sympathies and personal interest

with respect to other people However the socio-economic situation in Pakistan

pressurized the individual to think of his improvement of economic condition and thus

has more concern about self at times instead of concern of others

The findings of previous research suggested that Social interests corresponded

modestly (r s around 20) with the Agreeableness domain (De Fruyt amp Mervielde

1997 Tokar amp Swanson 1995 Tokar et al 1995) The personality factor score of

aggression was also found to be negatively related to the social vocational interest

factor This finding is similar to the results reviewed by Tokar et al (1998) who

found a positive relationship between agreeableness (low aggressiveness) and Social

interests

171

The result of the present study showed that Agreeableness is significantly

correlated with Artistic types The Artistic types like ambiguous free and

unsystematic activities perceived themselves as expressive original intuitive

introspective nonconforming and value aesthetic qualities Some aspects of Social

types and Artistic types are related with each other in Pakistani culture This may be

the reason that Agreeableness is significantly correlated with Artistic interests This

overlap between Social interests and Agreeableness is the weakest of the five

correlations but is consistent across the interest measures (Ackerman amp Heggestad

1997) However this showed that the hypothesis Agreeableness will be positively

correlated with the Social typelsquo is not supported by the results

Conscientiousness domain is significantly correlated with all the six

personality types All the facet scales significantly correlated with the six personality

types except facet scale Order However Order scale is significantly correlated with

Conventional type The results showed moderate strong relationship between

Conscientiousness and Conventional type Conscientiousness has strong moderate

correlation with Conventional type (r = 27 p lt 001) Enterprising type (r = 25 p lt

001) and Investigative type (r = 21 p lt 001) The results of meta analysis

conducted by Larson et al (2002) showed that the correlation of Conventional

interests and the Conscientiousness domain was moderately positive when the SDS

was the measure used (r = 29) but dropped to only slightly positively related when

the SII was the measure used (r =13) On the opposite end of the dimension it is

shown that the Conventional type has been correlated with control (Gottfredson et al

1993) judging (Dillon amp Weissman 1987) and conscientiousness (Blake amp Sackett

1993) The findings in the present study showed that hypothesis ―Conscientiousness

will be positively related with Enterprising interests is supported by the results

172

The findings in the present study regarding the consistent overlap between

personality and vocational interests were also confirmed by the multiple regression

analysis (see Table 24) which supported that some of the personality variables have

considerably contributed in predicting the vocational interests

Tokar Fischer and Subich (1998) reported that in general consistent

relationships appear across many correlational studies They stated that the

personality factor of Extraversion was consistently linked to Enterprising and Social

vocational interests Openness was found to be moderately related to Artistic and

Investigative interests Conscientiousness was related to Conventional interests

Agreeableness was linked with Social vocational interests and Neuroticism was not

found to consistently correlate with vocational interests Similar results were reported

by Ackerman and Heggestad (1997) and by Carless (1999) In the relationship

between personality and vocational interests sizable independent variance is also

present Considering the overlap among certain relationships can improve the

knowledge of the connection between these individual differences and vocational

behavior Additional research is needed to strengthen the understanding of potential

implications for practitioners

Mean Differences on Demographical Variables

The mean differences with respect to demographical variables (gender

science-arts urban-rural 9th

- 10th

classes and parentslsquo education) on personality and

vocational interests were also explored Gender differences were explored on five

factor model and were also consistent with findings using other personality

inventories (eg Eysenck amp Eysenck 1975) The results showed (see Table 25) that

there are significant mean differences between male and female students on

173

Extraversion and Agreeableness of the NEO PI-R The mean scores of female are

higher as compared to male students In a male dominated Pakistani society it may be

the case that male will score higher on Extraversion domain However with changing

societal scenario where girls are also quite active and taking part in all aspects of life

the results showed that female are slightly better on extraversion domain which

consist of subscales like warmth gregariousness assertiveness activity excitement

and positive emotion On the other hand female scores are slightly better on

Agreeableness domain Although there are non-significant gender differences on

Neuroticism domain but the mean scores of female students are slightly better than

male students The findings are supported in the existing literature (eg Chapman et

al 2007 Costa et al 1984 Costa et al 2001) The hypothesis that ―female tend to

score higher on neuroticism extraversion agreeableness and conscientiousness as

compared to male students is supported by the results

The mean scores differences between science and arts students on five

domains of personality showed that there are significant differences on neuroticism

and agreeableness domain of five factor model (see Table 26) The scores of science

students are slightly higher on both the domains as compared to arts students The

mean differences between urban and rural areas students showed that there are

significant differences on extraversion domain while non-significant differences were

observed on other domains of personality (see Table 27) This may be due to the

reason that urban students have better opportunities in the urbanized localities and

they take part in different types of social activities While in rural areas there are

limited opportunities and students generally involved in routine activities

174

The mean differences between 9th

and 10th

class students were also explored

The results showed significant mean differences on neuroticism domains while non-

significant differences were observed on other domains of personality The mean

scores of groups of students based on educations of parents on personality were

explored The ANOVA was computed and the results showed that there are only

significant mean differences on extraversion domains (see Tables 29 to 30) The mean

scores of those students whose father and mother are educated are slightly better than

other two groups Overall the results showed that parentslsquo education have no effects

on personality of high school students The mean score differences between lower age

group (up to 16 years) and upper age group (17 years and above) on score of NEO PI-

R are also calculated The results showed that there are non-significant differences on

all the five personality domains This showed that age of the students has no effects

on the scores of NEO PI-R in this study (see Table 31) The use of NEO PI-R on

schools students showed that results can be replicated in adolescents reading in

schools as it is observed on adults Overall the results showed that there are no

significant effects of demographical variables on personality Hence no further

analysis has been carried out to explore the differences of demographical variables on

personality

Gender differences on vocational interest showed that there are significant

differences on Realistic Artistic Social and Conventional interests (see Table 32)

The mean scores of male students are higher as compared to female students on

Realistic and Conventional types On Social and Artistic types the mean scores of

female students are higher than male students In Pakistani culture Female have more

interests in Artistic and Social activities hence their scores are higher on both these

scales The findings are supported by the research literature (eg Betz Harmon amp

175

Borgen 1996 Betz amp Klein 1996 Costa et al 1984 Gianakos amp Subich 1988

Henry amp Bardo 1987 Murray amp Hall 2001 Smart 1989 Stonewater 1987 Varca

amp Shaffer 1982 Walsh Bingham amp Sheffey 1986 Walsh amp Huston 1988) The

results supported the hypotheses that male will score higher on Realistic interests and

female will score higher on Social and artistic interests

Mean differences of science and arts students on the scores of SDS were also

explored (see Table 33) The result showed that there are significant differences on

Realistic Investigative and Enterprising types among science and arts students The

means scores of science students were higher as compared to Arts students There

were non-significant differences on Artistic type however mean score of Arts

students were slightly higher as compared to science students In Pakistan the schools

have two groups of students one is science group and the other one is Arts group

Science students prefer occupations which are related to science subjects Hence

science students should adopt Realistic and Investigative types occupations as

compared to Arts students Whereas Arts students have keen interests in activities

related to Artistic and Social types These findings are supported by the study

conducted on Hong Kong students (Chang 1981)

The results showed that there are non-significant mean differences between

students of 9th

and 10th

classes on personality types except Investigative type The

mean scores of urban and rural areas on six personality types were also explored

There are significant mean differences between urban and rural area students on

realistic vocational interests There are significant mean differences on Realistic and

Artistic interests between groups of students based on parentslsquo education The means

176

scores of group whose parents are educated are slightly higher as compared to other

groups on Artistic vocational interests

Overall the result showed significant gender differences on personality (only

on Extraversion and Agreeableness) and vocational interests (Realistic Artistic

Social and Conventional) There were also significant differences between science

and arts students on vocational interests However urbanrural and 9th

and 10th

class

students have non-significant differences on personality and vocational interests

Parentslsquo education also has significant effects on personality (Extraversion) and

vocational interests (Realistic and Artistic) of students Overall parentslsquo education has

non-significant effects on personality and vocational interests Hence no further

analysis of demographical variables on personality has been carried out Similarly no

further analysis on urbanrural 9th

10th

classes and parentslsquo education on vocational

interests have been carried out However further analysis on gender differences and

sciencearts students on vocational interests have been carried out in the subsequent

study

177

Chapter V

PART 4 VOCATIONAL INTERESTS MEASURED BY

SDS SUMMARY CODES

This study was designed to determine the preferences of vocational interests of

the students by scoring the SDS summary codes The first three highest summary

codes (Holland 1985a) are of great significance and can be interpreted in term of

degree of consistency by employing the hexagonal model The general pattern for the

preferences for occupational types by the students was studied Differences between

male and female students as well as science and Arts students were also determined

The objectives and hypotheses of the study are mentioned below

Objectives

1 To find out the preferences of students on occupational types based on SDS

summary codes

2 To find out the preferences of male and female students on occupational types

based on SDS summary codes

3 To find out the preferences of science and arts students on occupational types

based on SDS summary codes

178

Hypotheses

1 Male students will prefer Realistic Investigative and Enterprising interests as

compared to female students

2 Female students will prefer Artistic and Social interests as compared to male

students

3 Science students will prefer occupations of Realistic and Investigative types as

compared to Arts students

4 Arts students will prefer occupations of Artistic Social and Enterprising types

as compared to Science students

5 Both Science and Arts students will prefer occupations of Conventional types

Operational Definitions of the Concepts

Summary codes The SDS measures the six personality types (Realistic

Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising and Conventional) from the subscales

Activities Competencies Occupations and Self-ratings In each subscales scores are

calculated on each six RIASEC types SDS has YesNolsquo response format In

activities subscale there are 11 items in each six RIASEC categories By adding all

the Yeslsquo scores for R type give the score for activities R Similarly scores for

activities IASEC are calculated The same scoring procedure is used for other

subscales of competencies occupations and self-ratings Summary scores are the

cumulative scores obtained by adding the scores of each subscale on six personality

types For instance the score for R types will be the cumulative scores obtained by

179

adding the R scores of subscales activities competencies occupations and self

estimates Therefore six score representing six RIASEC are obtained for each student

The first three highest scores are arranged in descending order and assigned codes

according to type which they represented Summary codes are the first three highest

codes measured by SDS The person used the summary codes (RIASEC) to locate the

suitable occupations from the occupational finder

PersonalityOccupational types The conceptual definitions of personality

types are mentioned in chapter III pages 97 to 99

Science group and Arts group The operational definitions of science and

Arts group students are mentioned above in chapter IV pages 125

Sample

The sample of the study was the same as used in chapter IV (for details see

pages 120 to 123) of the study The study was conducted on 596 high school students

There are 319 male and 277 female students Their age range is from 14 years to 19

years with a mean age of 1573 years There are 304 students belonging to Science

group and 292 students belonging to Arts group

Instruments

Demographic sheet and Self Directed Search (SDS) was used in this part of

the study (details are in chapter III for demographic sheet (see page 78) and for SDS

(see pages 93 to 99)

180

Frequencies of Highest Summary Codes of Students

The frequencies of highest summary codes achieved by students were

computed Gender differences and highest summary codes of science and arts students

have also been calculated The results are shown below

Table 38

Frequencies of highest Summary codes of students on six personality types of SDS

(N = 596)

Highest

summary

codes

SDS Summary Codes

Realistic

R

Investigati

ve

I

Artisti

c

A

Socia

l

S

Enterprisi

ng

E

Conventional

C

1st

summary

code

35 123 120 155 66 234

2nd

summary

code

58 120 124 141 151 138

3rd

summary

code

65 125 128 131 174 120

Note 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary code as second highest summary SDS code

3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

The findings in Table 38 showed the overall frequencies of highest summary

SDS codes of students Summary codes having equal scores are also included in the

scoring The results showed that C is the highest summary codes achieved by the

majority of the students followed by S and A The frequencies of 2nd

and 3rd

summary

codes depict E as the highest summary code achieved by the students followed by S

and C These results revealed that majority of the Pakistani students have preferences

for conventional vocational interests

181

Table 39

Frequencies of highest Summary codes of male (N = 319) and female (N = 277)

students on six personality types of SDS

Highest Summary

Codes

Summary Codes

Realistic

R

Investigative

I

Artistic

A

Social

S

Enterprising

E

Conventional

C

M F M F M F M F M F M F

1st summary code 31 4 66 57 31 89 57 98 40 26 152 82

2nd

summary code 46 12 66 54 41 83 65 76 85 66 82 66

3rd

summary code 50 15 61 64 63 65 78 53 93 81 44 76

Note M = Male F = Female read 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary code as second

highest summary SDS code 3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

Table 39 showed the overall summary code distribution of male and female

students on six personality types The first three highest summary codes were

computed for each student Summary codes having equal scores are also included in

the scoring The results showed the highest summary codes for both males and

females For male high school students the highest summary codes of C have the

highest frequency 152 studentslsquo highest summary code was C followed by I as 66

studentslsquo highest summary code 57 male students highest summary code was S

followed by 40 studentslsquo highest code as E and 31 students have R and A as highest

summary code Majority of the students have E and C as the 2nd

highest summary

codes for the male students E and S codes are the 3rd highest summary code

preferences for majority of the male students

Female high school studentslsquo highest summary codes of S have the highest

frequency 98 students achieved S as highest summary code followed by 89 studentslsquo

182

highest summary code of A 82 highest summary codes are C and 57 highest

summary codes are I A and S codes are the 2nd

highest summary codes achieved by

the majority of the female students followed by E and C as 2nd

highest summary

codes E and C codes are the 3rd

highest summary codes achieved by the female

students

Overall the results showed that male students have strong preferences for

Conventional interests followed by Investigative interests while females have

preferences for Social and Artistic interests Males preferred more Realistic

Investigative Enterprising and Conventional interests as compared to females

Realistic is the least preferred choice for females These findings supported the

hypothesis no 1 On the other hand female students have strong preferences for

artistic and social interest as compared to male students These findings are supportive

of hypothesis no 2

Table 40

Frequencies of highest Summary codes of Science (N = 304) and Arts (N = 292)

students on six personality types of SDS

Highest Summary

Codes

Summary Codes

Realistic

R

Investigative

I

Artistic

A

Social

S

Enterprising

E

Conventional

C

S A S A S A S A S A S A

1st summary code 16 19 92 28 52 63 50 95 38 26 112 113

2nd

summary code 30 23 72 49 39 83 63 71 81 58 78 69

3rd

summary code 37 28 53 63 60 60 80 55 81 82 49 58

Note S = Science students A = Arts students 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary

code as second highest summary SDS code 3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

183

Table 40 showed the overall summary code distribution of Science and Arts

students on six personality types The first three highest summary codes were

computed for each student Summary codes having equal scores are also included in

the scoring The results showed the highest summary codes for both Science and Arts

students For Science studentslsquo highest summary codes of C have the highest

frequency 112 studentslsquo highest summary code was C followed by I as 92 studentslsquo

highest summary code 52 Science students highest summary code was A followed by

50 studentslsquo highest code as S 38 students have E and 16 students have R as highest

summary codes E and C are the 2nd

highest summary codes for the majority of

Science students E and S codes are the 3rd

highest summary code preferences of

majority of Science students

Arts studentslsquo highest summary codes of C have the highest frequency 113

students achieved C as highest summary code followed by 95 studentslsquo highest

summary code of S 63 highest summary codes are A and 28 highest summary codes

are I A and S are the 2nd

highest summary codes achieved by the majority of Arts

students followed by C and E E and I are the 3rd

highest summary codes achieved by

the majority of Arts students Overall the results showed that Science students have

preferences for Conventional and Investigative type occupations These findings have

partially supported the hypothesis no 3 Arts studentslsquo preferences are for

Conventional Social and Artistic type occupations as compared to science students

Thus findings supported the hypothesis no 4 The results also displayed that both

Science and Arts students have preference for Conventional type occupations Hence

the results supported hypothesis no 5

184

Discussion

The highest summary codes of students were demonstrated to find out the

general trends of students In Pakistani culture which is a collectivist culture there

are many factors which are influencing the choices of the students In a diverse

culture of Pakistan where there are many educational system imparting knowledge to

the students it is very difficult to pinpoint the common factors for all students

However in government school belonging to Punjab province (the biggest populous

province of Pakistan) the general trends showed that majority of the students

preferred Conventional type occupations followed by Social types The Conventional

types tend to like activities that entail ordered manipulation of data and records

perceive themselves as conforming and orderly and value business and economic

achievement They have clerical and arithmetic abilities but often lack artistic ability

Since there are limited career opportunities in Pakistan for students of government

school there are chances that system may be producing certain types of interests and

abilities in students However the trend is slightly different when gender differences

are accounted for the present study Male students have preference for Conventional

type occupations followed by Investigative types while female have preferences for

Social and Artistic type occupations

Since Pakistan is still a male dominated society females are preferably

allowed to adopt the profession like teacher doctor and nursing etc these profession

entail social interests Male students outnumbered their female counterparts in hard

sciences (eg mathematics physics and engineering) Kirkcaldy (1988) reported

women to have significantly lower interests level than men for technical and scientific

jobs While male have low interests for design and socio-educational jobs In addition

185

women preferred less structured more creative less task-oriented and more

permissive types of jobs a description that fits well with artistically or emotionally

involving jobs (Furnham 2005) This suggested that vocational interests may be the

cause of gender differences in educational and occupational choices One cannot be

sure whether gender differences in vocational interests are influenced by culture

personality or ability factors eg whether women prefer certain jobs because they

suit their abilities their personalities or simply conform to social expectations

(Gottfredson 2005)

Gender differences in Holland personality types have been widely researched

using a variety of measurement criteria including academic majors (Gianakos amp

Subich 1988) occupational choices (Smart 1989) and leisure activities (Varca amp

Shaffer 1982) as well as scores on vocational self-efficacy questionnaires (Betz et

al 1996 Betz amp Klein 1996) and interest inventories (Costa et al 1984 Henry amp

Bardo 1987 Stonewater 1987 Walsh et al 1986 Walsh amp Huston 1988)

In general researchers have found greater manifestations of Realistic

Investigative and Enterprising traits among men than among women In contrast

Social and Artistic qualities have generally been found to be more prevalent among

women (Betz et al 1996 Betz amp Klein 1996 Costa et al 1984 Gianakos amp Subich

1988 Henry amp Bardo 1987 Smart 1989 Stonewater 1987 Varca amp Shaffer 1982

Walsh et al 1986 Walsh amp Huston 1988) Results have been mixed in regard to the

Conventional personality type with some researchers finding stronger propensities in

men (Betz et al 1996 Betz amp Klein 1996 Gianakos amp Subich 1988) and others in

women (Costa et al 1984 Stonewater 1987) A detailed study need to be conducted

to look into the reason of preferring Conventional interests in male students in the

present study Overall the results partially supported the hypothesis that male prefer

186

Realistic Investigative and Enterprising interests while female prefer Social and

Artistic interests

In Pakistan two main types of subjects are being taught at high school level in

government schools The science group consists of science subjects while in Arts

group the subjects are from humanities group After passing the middle classes the

students were allotted science and arts group to carry on study in 9th

class The criteria

of allotting science and arts groups to students differ from school to school Some of

the schools allot science group to those students who scored better in middle class

examination and arts group to those who have less mark In some school the allotment

depends on the number of seats and capacity in the class Still some schools have

limited faculty to teach science or arts subject therefore the allotment is according to

their convenience However it was observed that in some school the student interest

and his preferences for the choice is taken as the criterion for allotment Overall there

is no set criterion of allotment of science and Arts subjects to the students of high

schools

The result showed (see Table 40) that the summary codes choices of Science

and Arts group students also differ from each other The science and Arts group

students have Conventional as the most preferred summary code The second highest

score of science students is of Investigative type This showed that science students

have some preferences for Investigative type occupations which entail scientific

abilities The Investigative type likes investigative jobs and has mathematical and

scientific ability The students of Arts group have Social and Artistic type preferences

This also showed that Arts students have some preferences for Social and Artistic

type occupations The summary scores of 2nd

summary code and 3rd

summary code

showed the scattered pattern for the science students Overall science students have a

187

well defined vocational pattern to some extent in accordance with the Holland

typology The Arts students study arts or humanities subject in their curriculum The

first summary code score of Arts students showed that 113 students highest code is

Conventional followed by 95 students have Social and 63 students have Artistic

codes as their highest scores The results showed that Arts students also have well

defined summary code scores to some extent according to Holland typology

The findings partially supported the hypothesis that Science students preferred

Realistic and Investigative types as compared to Arts group The findings also

partially supported the hypothesis that Arts students preferred Artistic Social and

Enterprising types as compared to science students The results also supported the

hypothesis that both science and arts students preferred Conventional types and is

supported by the existing literature (Leung amp Hua 2005 Staggs et al 2007) The

findings of the study about Science and Arts students are also supported by the

research conducted in Hong Kong by Chang (1981) and supplemented the existing

body of literature about differences between gender and science and Arts students

However the findings also drew attention to the ever changing nature of phenomena

and suggested ongoing research pertaining to this important topic

Vocational interests are associated with behaviors that reflect an individuals

choice to engage in tasks and activities they like Congruency is the primary concept

in which realistic personality in a realistic environment would prove to be highly

consistent to fulfill the interests and skills of the person The relation between the

vocational aspirations and vocational interests is very significant Hence there is a

requirement to investigate the level of congruence between vocational interests and

vocational aspirations of students

188

Chapter VI

Part 5 VOCATIONAL ASPIRATIONS OF THE STUDENTS

This part of the research was designed to explore in detail the vocational

aspirations of the students Vocational aspirations are measured as part of SDS and

are considered as the validity check on the SDS summary codes In Pakistan there is

no concept of employing career counselors in the school The students are left on the

mercy of different moderators which influence them to choose certain occupations as

their future choices The job opportunities available in the market where students

have easy access and are open to all students on merit and job security are some of

the main reasons of selecting particular occupations as future choices Therefore the

present study explored in detail the vocational aspirations of the students Majority of

the students mentioned doctor army teacher lawyer and engineer as their vocational

aspirations The gender differences were also studied in this part of the research The

degree of agreement between vocational aspirations and vocational interests of the

students were also determined The objectives of the study are

Objectives

1 To compare gender differences on vocational aspirations of the students

2 To find out the differences on personality and vocational interests with respect

to vocational aspirations

3 To determine the degree of agreement between vocational aspirations and

vocational interests of the students

189

Hypotheses

1 Female students are likely to aspire more Social Artistic and Conventional

codes as compared to male students

2 Male students are likely to aspire more Investigative Realistic and

Enterprising codes as compared to female students

3 Doctor as a vocational aspiration of students is likely to have high degree of

agreement with their Investigative SDS summary code

4 Army as a vocational aspiration of students is likely to have high degree of

agreement with their Realistic SDS summary code

5 Teacher as a vocational aspiration of students is likely to have high degree of

agreement with their Social SDS summary code

6 Lawyer as a vocational aspiration of students is likely to have high degree of

agreement with their Enterprising SDS summary code

7 Engineer as a vocational aspiration of students is likely to have high degree of

agreement with their Realistic and Investigative SDS summary codes

OperationalConceptual Definitions

Vocational aspirations Vocational aspirations of the students are the

prospective vocational choices of the student which they intended to adopt in future

Vocational aspirations and matching occupational codes According to Hollandlsquos

(1997) coding system as RIASEC using the Dictionary of Holland Occupational

Codes (Gottfredson amp Holland 1996) the profession Doctor should have the

Investigative (I) as highest occupational code the profession Army should have the

Realistic (R) as highest occupational code the profession Teacher should have the

190

Social (S) as highest occupational code the profession Lawyer should have the

Enterprising (E) as highest occupational code and the profession Engineer should

have the Realistic (R) and Investigative (I) as highest occupational code

Degree of agreement The relationship between the code of the current

vocational aspiration and the SDS summary code represent degree of agreement

When the first letter code of the current aspiration and the SDS are the same the

likelihood of a person maintaining that aspiration is very high A simpler index of

agreement between any two codes can also be obtained by employing the hexagonal

model The scoring procedure entailed comparing the first letter codes for the current

vocational aspiration and the highest summary SDS codes The higher the score the

closer the agreement Detailed scoring procedure is attached at Appendix Alsquo

Personality The conceptual definitions of personality and main domains of

personality are mentioned above in chapter III pages 85 to 93

Vocational interests The conceptual definitions of vocational interests

including personality types are mentioned above in chapter III pages 97 to 99

Summary codes The operational definition of summary codes is mentioned

above in chapter V pages 178 to 179

Instruments

Following instruments were used in the study

4 NEO PI-R

5 SDS

6 Demographic Sheet

7 Future Possibilities Questionnaire

(See details about instruments in chap III pages 78 to 99)

191

Sample

The sample of the study consisted of 482 students selected from the main

sample of the study (see chapter IV pages 120 to 123) The sample has been taken

randomly within the school The sample was selected based on the five most preferred

vocational aspirations of the students (doctor army teacher lawyer and engineer)

There are 4 boys and 3 girlslsquo schools 2 boy schools and 2 girl schools were selected

from urban areas of Rawalpindi while 2 boys and 1 girl school were selected from

rural area of Rawalpindi There are 243 male students and 239 female students 271

are in 9th

class and 211 in 10th

class students 254 are Science students and 228 are

Arts students Urban students are 321 and rural students are 161 Their age range is

from 14 years to 19 years with a mean age of 1566 years The average fatherslsquo

income is Rs 7669- approximately

Procedure

(Details are given in chapter IV pages 123 to 124)

Results

In this study gender differences on vocational aspirations of the students were

computed Highest summary codes of students based on vocational aspirations were

determined The degree of agreement between vocational aspiration and SDS

summary codes were also explored The results are shown below

192

Table 41

Vocational aspirations of students (N = 482)

Vocational aspirations

Gender

Doctor Army Teacher lawyer Engineer

Male students

(N = 243)

75 124 7 10 27

Female students

(N = 239)

118 15 51 45 10

Total 193 139 58 55 37

The finding in Table 41 showed the frequencies of vocational aspirations of

both male and female students Doctor seems to be favorite career for both boys and

girls Male preferred Army predominantly while very few female opted for this

choice Teaching is the profession which the girls liked most Very few boys opted for

the teaching profession Lawyer as a profession is the favorite for the female as

compared to the male Engineering is more liked by boys as compared to girls The

results showed gender differences between the vocational aspirations of the students

Table 42

The frequencies of highest summary codes of male (N = 243) and female (N = 239)

students on six personality types measured by SDS

Gender

SDS Summary Codes

Realistic

R

Investigative

I

Artistic

A

Social

S

Enterprising

E

Conventional

C

Male students 21 50 24 43 32 114

Female students 4 49 63 83 20 60

Note SDS = Self Directed Search

The findings in Table 42 indicated the gender differences between male and

female students on the highest summary codes on six personality types Summary

codes having equal scores are also included in the scoring Highest summary codes of

193

243 male students who aspired about different vocations were calculated on six

personality types The results showed that male students have preference for

Conventional type followed by Investigative and Social types Highest summary

codes of 239 female students were computed on six personality types The results

showed that female students have preference for Social code followed by Artistic and

Conventional codes Overall the results proved that male students aspired more

Realistic Enterprising and Conventional codes as compared to female students

While female students aspired more Social Artistic codes as compared to male

students The results supported hypotheses no 1 and 2

Table 43

Mean and standard deviation between five groups based on vocational aspirations of

students on their scores on five domains of NEO PI-R (N = 482)

Domains of

personality

Vocational Aspirations

Doctor

(N = 193)

Army

(N = 139)

Teacher

(N = 58)

Lawyer

(N = 55)

Engineer

(N = 37)

M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD

Neuroticism 13815 1392 13565 1667 13905 1426 14131 11 1426 13946 1248

Extraversion 15057 1400 15084 1269 14879 1353 15534 11 1410 15008 1343

Openness 13693 987 13507 930 13455 888 13736 11 1033 13435 968

Agreeable-

ness

16484 1543 16485 1412 16490 1404 16536 11 1407 16832 1180

Conscientiou

sness

17034 1792 17296 1978 16740 1489 17278 11 1619 17251 2072

Note M = means scores SD = standard deviation NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Openness Extraversion

Personality Inventory

Table 43 indicated the mean and standard deviation of five groups of students

on the five domain of NEO PI-R The group having the vocational aspiration of

194

lawyers have the highest mean scores on Neuroticism (M = 14131) followed by

engineers (M = 13946) and teachers (M = 13904) The group of students whose

vocational aspirations are lawyer have the highest mean on Extraversion (M =

15534) and Openness (M = 13736) The group of students having the vocational

aspiration of engineer have the highest mean scores (M = 16832) on Agreeableness

The group of students having the vocational aspiration of Army have the highest

mean scores (M = 17296) on Conscientiousness

Repeated measure ANOVA

Repeated measure ANOVA is a technique used to test the quality of means

The repeated measures test is more powerful because it separates between-subject

variability from within-subject variability

Table 44

Repeated Measure Analysis of variance (ANOVA) for five groups based on vocational

aspirations of students on their scores on five main domains of personality (N = 482)

Effects MS df F Greenhouse-Geisser

Personality 46927511 4 23910 p lt 001

Personality x

Vocational Aspirations

212801 16 1084 p lt 371

Personality x Gender 371554 4 1893 p lt 137

Personality x

Vocational Aspirations x

Gender

124512 16 634 p lt 792

Error 196270 1888

p lt 001 Male = 243 Female = 239 Personality means five main domains of personality (neuroticism

extraversion openness agreeableness and conscientiousness) Vocational aspirations means five groups of

students based on five vocational aspiration (Doctor Army Teacher Lawyer and Engineer)

Mauchly‟s Test W = 40 χ 2 (9) = 42794 p lt 001 Wilks‟ Lambda = 096 F (4 16) =0 97 p gt 05

195

In order to test sphericity Mauchlylsquos Test was inspected which tests for the

equivalence of the hypothesized and the observed variancecovariance patterns The

test was highly significant W = 40 χ 2 (9) = 42794 p lt 001 suggesting that the

assumption of sphericity had been violated A one-way within subjects (or repeated

measures) ANOVA was conducted to compare the effect of five group based on

vocational aspirations on five main domains of personality However results in Table

44 suggested that only personality has significant differences within subjects however

there is no significant effects of personality vocational aspirations and gender There

is no significant effect of the vocational aspirations Wilkslsquo Lambda = 96 F (4 16) =

97 p gt 05 These results suggested that vocational aspirations really do not have an

effect on five domains of personality

Table 45

Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose vocational aspiration is

Doctor (N = 193)

Summary codes

Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

1stsummary code 5 48 24 47 15 54

2nd

summary code 7 38 32 40 30 46

3rd

summary code 13 25 35 33 58 29

Note SDS = Self Directed Search 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary code as second

highest summary SDS code 3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

Table 45 showed the frequencies of first three SDS summary codes for

students whose prospective vocational choice is doctor The three highest SDS

summary codes for each student were computed The dominant summary code is

Conventional as 54 studentslsquo highest code followed by Investigative as 48 studentslsquo

196

highest summary code 47 students highest summary code is Social while 24 studentslsquo

highest summary code is Artistic According to Holland an Investigative type likes

Investigative jobs has mathematical and scientific ability but often lacks leadership

ability They are described as analytical curious intellectual reserved and precise

According to Holland classification the vocational choice doctor should have an

Investigative type as their first summary code However 48 students scored

Investigative type as their highest summary code This showed that those opted for

doctor has some parity with the prospective vocational choice and thus partially

supported the hypothesis no 3

Table 46

Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose vocational aspiration is Army

(N = 139)

Summary codes

Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

1st summary code 7 27 14 24 20 47

2nd

summary code 12 24 15 21 31 36

3rd

summary code 19 19 10 38 32 21

Note SDS = Self Directed Search 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary code as second

highest summary SDS code 3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

Table 46 showed the frequencies of first three SDS summary codes for

students whose prospective vocational choice is Army The three highest SDS

summary codes for each student were computed The dominant summary code is

Conventional as 47 studentslsquo highest code followed by Investigative as 27 studentslsquo

first choice 24 students highest summary code is Social while 20 studentslsquo highest

summary code is Enterprising According to Holland Conventional types has clerical

and arithmetic ability They are conforming conscientious orderly persistent and

197

practical For Army the Realistic should be predominant choice while only 7 studentslsquo

highest summary score is Realistic This showed the degree of incongruence between

vocational aspiration of Army and SDS summary code Thus hypothesis no 4 is not

supported by the results

Table 47

Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose prospective vocational choice

is Teacher (N = 58)

Summary codes

Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

1st summary code 0 4 16 21 3 16

2nd

summary code 4 5 14 15 9 11

3rd

summary code 3 15 11 8 11 11

Note SDS = Self Directed Search 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary code as second

highest summary SDS code 3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

The results in Table 47 displayed the overall frequencies of first three

summary codes computed from SDS for the students whose prospective vocational

choice is teacher The dominant summary code is Social as 21 studentslsquo highest code

followed by each Artistic and Conventional as 16 studentslsquo highest summary code

According to Holland classification the vocational choice of teacher should have

Social as their first summary code Social type like social jobs has social skills and

talents but often lacks mechanical and scientific ability They are described as

cooperative friendly kind persuasive tactful and warm However 21 students

attained social as their highest summary code This showed that those opted for

teachers have some degree of congruence between the vocational aspirations of

198

teacher and original summary codes Hence hypothesis no 5 is partially supported by

the results

Table 48

Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose prospective vocational choice

is Lawyer (N = 55)

Summary codes

Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

1st summary code 2 5 10 24 2 11

2nd

summary code 2 15 18 9 3 8

3rd

summary code 1 8 11 4 17 15

Note SDS = Self Directed Search 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary code as second

highest summary SDS code 3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

Table 48 showed the frequencies of first three SDS summary codes for

students whose prospective vocational choice is lawyer The dominant summary code

is Social as 24 studentslsquo highest code followed by Conventional and Artistic as 11 and

10 studentslsquo highest summary code respectively 2 students highest summary code is

Enterprising According to Holland classification the vocational choice of lawyer

should have Enterprising as their first summary code The Enterprising types show

preference for activities that involve manipulation of others to achieve organizational

goals or economic gain perceive themselves as aggressive self-confident and

sociable and value political and economic achievement They liked enterprising jobs

and have leadership and speaking abilities but often lacks scientific ability However

24 students attained social as their highest summary code which is adjacent to

enterprising type This showed that those opted for lawyers have degree of

199

incongruence between the vocational aspirations and their vocational interests Thus

hypothesis no 6 is not supported by the results

Table 49

Frequencies of SDS Summary scales of students whose prospective choice is Engineer

(N = 37)

Summary codes

Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

1st summary code 4 5 9 5 3 13

2nd

summary code 2 6 3 5 11 11

3rd

summary code 7 8 2 9 7 5

Note SDS = Self Directed Search 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary code as second

highest summary SDS code 3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

The results indicated in Table 49 displayed the overall frequencies of first

three summary codes computed from SDS for students whose prospective vocational

choice is engineer The dominant summary code is Conventional as 13 studentslsquo

highest code followed by Artistic as 9 studentslsquo highest summary code 5 students

highest summary code is Investigative and the same number ie 5 studentslsquo highest

summary code is Social According to Holland classification most of the engineering

discipline has Investigative as their highest code and some have Realistic also

However 5 students attained investigative type as their highest summary code This

shows that those opted for engineering have high degree of incongruence between the

vocational aspiration of engineer and original summary codes Thus hypothesis no 7

is not supported by the results

200

Table 50

Frequencies of scores obtained from highest Summary code of students (Males and

females) based on five groups of vocational aspirations of students via hexagonal

model (N = 482)

Vocational

aspirations of

students

Highest

summary code

from

classification

booklet

Frequencies of scores obtained from highest summary

codes based on hexagonal model

1 2 3 4

M F M F M F M F

Doctor

(N = 193

I 6 6 44 53 8 28 17 31

Army

(N = 139)

R 15 3 23 4 79 7 6 1

Teacher

(N = 58)

S 0 0 4 16 3 14 0 21

Lawyer

(N = 55)

E 0 3 4 9 6 31 0 2

Engineer

(N = 37)

IR 3 0 14 1 7 7 3 2

Note M = Male F = Female I = Investigative R = Realistic S = Social E = Enterprising 4 score means that

highest summary code and Holland classification code correspond with each other 3 means that highest summary

codes and Holland classification codes are adjacent on the hexagon 2 means that the highest summary codes and

Holland classification codes are on alternate on the hexagon and 1 means that the highest summary codes and

Holland classification codes are on the opposite side on the hexagon

Table 50 showed the relationship between vocational aspirations of the

students and highest summary scale based on hexagonal model 193 students opted

doctor as their vocational aspirations and their highest summary code from

classification booklet is Investigative Highest summary code of 17 male students

matched with their highest prospective code while 8 studentslsquo score were adjacent and

44 studentslsquo score were on the alternate position on hexagon Similarly 31 female

studentslsquo highest summary code matched with their highest vocational aspirations

201

code 28 studentslsquo score are on adjacent types while 53 studentslsquo scores are on the

alternate types on hexagon These results also partially supported hypothesis no 3

139 students opted for army as their vocational aspiration their choices and

highest summary scale on SDS were compared based on hexagonal model The

results showed that only 6 male students vocational aspirations matched with their

highest summary code ie Realistic 79 studentslsquo summary scales were adjacent to

Realistic type 23 male students have alternate matching with the summary scale

while 15 students have opposite summary scale Similarly 1 female student vocational

aspiration and highest summary code matched with each other while 7 students

summary code are adjacent to their prospective choice highest code The results

obtained from hexagonal model did not support hypothesis no 4

58 students opted for teacher as their vocational aspiration and the highest

summary code for teacher is Social 7 male students were on the adjacent or alternate

type 21 female student highest summary codes matched with their highest

prospective vocational choice code 14 students summary code were on adjacent types

while 16 students were on alternate type Thus the results supported hypothesis no 5

for female students

55 students opted for lawyer as their vocational aspiration while the code for

the choice lawyer is Enterprising 6 male students highest summary codes were on

adjacent types and 4 students codes were on alternate types 2 female students highest

code matched with highest vocational aspirations code while 31 female studentslsquo

highest summary codes were on adjacent types The results also did not support

hypothesis no 6

37 students opted engineer as their vocational aspirations whereas the highest

summary code for the engineer choice is Investigative 3 male students highest

202

summary code matched with their highest prospective choice code7 students highest

summary codes were on adjacent types while 7 studentslsquo summary codes were on

alternate types 2 female students highest summary code matched with their

vocational aspiration highest code while 7 female students summary scale were on the

adjacent types on the hexagon This also not supported the hypothesis no 7 Overall

the results provided partial support for doctor and teacher vocational aspirations while

there is a state of incongruence between the vocational aspirations of army lawyer

and engineer and their SDS summary codes

Discussion

The study was designed to explore the vocational aspirations of the students

and determine their differences on personality and vocational interests Miller et al

(2004) studied the relationship of expressed occupational daydreams and scores on

the Self-Directed Search (SDS) and found results consistent with Hollands theory of

careers It has long been recognized that personal daydreams about ourselves have

relevance for career planning and are a relatively good predictor of vocational choice

(Brown amp Brooks 1991 Touchton amp Magoon 1977 Yanico 1981)

In the existing theoretical and empirical literature vocational interests and

career goalsaspirations are frequently referred to as measured versus expressed

interests (Spokane amp Decker 1999) The first referred to interests as they are assessed

with standardized interest inventories representing a central part of a personlsquos

personality (Holland 1999) The latter referred to stated vocational aspirations which

are considered an expression of a personlsquos self-concept (Super 1990)

203

Literature supported the facilitative role of the use of occupational daydreams

within the context of career counseling (Crabbs 1979 Sarnoff amp Remer 1982)

Holland et al (1994) indicated that current vocational daydreams are a moderate to

good predictor of later career behaviors The evidence for relying on a personlsquos

occupational aspirations for the prediction of occupational field are presented by

Holland and Lutz (1968) Holland and Whitney (1968) Dolliver (1969) Whitney

(1969) Holland Gottfredson amp Nafziger (1973) Holland (1985b) Holland and

Gottfredson (1975) McLaughlin and Tiedeman (1974) Touchton and magoon

(1977) OlsquoNeil and Magoon (1977) Borgen and Seling (1978) and Gottfredson and

Holland (1975) These studies indicated that the category of peoplelsquos current

vocational aspirations or the history of their aspirations is a moderate to efficient

predictor of the category of their current aspiration major field vocational plan or

current occupation over one three four and eleven-year intervals People whose

aspirations belong to the same category are more predictable than people whose

aspirations belong to different categories Holland (1968) showed that a personlsquos

history of occupational preferences and especially the most recent preferences are

good estimates of what will choose or do next The same findings are also supportive

of studies (Ansari 1981 Aziz 2001 Riaz 1995 Zaidi 1979) conducted on

occupational aspirations in Pakistani context

In the present study the five most reported or preferred career of students of

government schools were doctor army teacher advocate and engineer 482 students

opted for the five types of vocational aspirations 118 female students and 75 male

students opted doctorlsquo as their first choice Doctor is considered as the most favorite

career in Pakistan Only those students can get admission in professional medical

colleges who achieved very good marks in science subjects In Pakistan doctor is

204

considered as the best job for female students 124 male students opted Army as their

favorite choice while only 15 female opted Armylsquo as their daydream choice This

showed that male have preference to join Army In Pakistan where there are limited

job opportunities getting jobs in government department on merit is considered as

very difficult therefore armed forces provide sufficient opportunities to the youth to

join on merit Moreover due to job security armed forces are still the best option

available for male students

51 female students wanted to be teacher while only 7 male opted teacher as

their favorite career Again the profession of teacher is considered as one of the best

for females There are some moderating factors which start influencing the students

from very early age These effects needed to be studied in depth for better

understanding about the vocational aspirations of the students 45 female wanted to be

advocate in their life while only 10 male studentslsquo favorite career was advocate This

showed that female are coming out and adopting different occupations which were not

considered suitable earlier During the past few decades the government has provided

lot of job opportunities to female in different department Hence they are competing

neck to neck with their male counterparts 27 male students and 10 female students

opted engineerlsquo as their favorite career This showed that there are gender differences

between the vocational aspirations of students Therefore different career

opportunities for male and female should be planned and provided to the students by

the government

Gender differences were also calculated on the highest summary codes The

results showed that the male students aspired more Realistic Enterprising and

Conventional codes as compared to female students On the other hand female

students aspired more Artistic and Social codes as compared to male students

205

Previous researches also supported these conclusions (Betz et al 1996 Betz amp Klein

1996 Murray amp Hall 2001 Proyer amp Hausler 2007) These findings partially

supported the hypotheses no 1 and 2

The effects of prospective vocational choices of students on personality were

determined by comparing the mean differences between the five groups based on

vocational aspirations There were non-significant mean differences between

vocational aspirations of the students and personality The differences of five groups

of vocational aspirations on the vocational interests were computed by counting the

first second and third highest summary codes of each group The vocational

aspirations and the highest summary code should correspond with each other The

consistency in score may help the individual to choose the career of his choice and

has highest level of person-environment congruency or fit On the other hand

disparity between the prospective vocational choice and the highest summary code

may develop into incongruent situation

The findings reflected (see Table 45) the summary scale of students whose

prospective vocational choice is doctor have conventional (score of 54 students) as the

highest summary code Almost the same pattern is observed for 2nd

highest summary

code and 3rd

highest summary codes Since Conventional type is the choice of

majority of the students therefore it has the maximum score According to Holland

occupational classification (HOC) Investigative should be the highest summary code

for doctors In Pakistan there are occupations which depend on the classification of

science and arts group subjects For a doctor science subjects are compulsory Hence

investigative type has been the right choice as it entails scientific abilities This

showed the degree of agreement to some extent between the vocational aspiration of

doctor and their vocational interests

206

The highest summary code of students whose prospective vocational choice

was Army have conventional as the highest summary code of majority of the students

followed by Investigative Social and Enterprising Generally the same pattern is

observed for the 2nd

and 3rd

highest summary codes According to Holland

classification booklet the Realistic code represented the occupation of Army The

results showed the disparity between the vocational aspirations of the students and

their highest summary codes determined by SDS This indicated that their vocational

interests (activities competencies etc) did not correspond with the vocational

aspirations This incongruence need to be addressed as early as possible for the better

future of students

There are some occupations which do not depend on the classification of

science and arts subject Like occupation of army both science and arts students can

apply for enrolment in regular Army however in PAF and Navy the candidates

should have science subjects Even in Army specialized courses require science as

their major subjects The results showed index of incongruence between the

vocational aspiration and vocational interests of students whose choice is Army The

summary scales of students whose vocational aspiration was teacher showed that 21

students have social as their highest code while 16 students have Artistic as their

highest summary code Same pattern was observed for the 2nd

and 3rd

highest

summary code According to HOC booklet teachers should have Social as their

highest summary code This showed the moderate index of agreement between the

vocational aspirations of teacher and highest summary code

The summary scales of students whose prospective vocational choice was

Lawyer showed that 24 students highest summary code was Social while 10 students

highest code was Artistic According to classification booklet the ESA is the summary

207

code for a lawyer Only 2 students highest summary code was Enterprising whereas

majority of the students have S and A as their highest summary code This showed

incongruence for the highest code but showed congruence for the 2nd

and 3rd

highest

codes The summary scale of students whose prospective vocational choice was

engineer showed that Conventional was the highest summary code of 13 students

followed by Artistic of 9 students According to HOC booklet the first highest code

of engineer is Investigative while mechanical engineering has Realistic as the first

summary code The results showed that 5 studentslsquo highest summary code is

investigative This showed the incongruence between the vocational aspiration as

engineer and their vocational interests

Gender differences were computed for the five groups of students based on

vocational aspirations and their scores on vocational interests by employing

hexagonal model According to hexagon model if the first choice of a vocational

aspiration occupational code and first choice of SDS summary scale match then the

individual gets 4 marks If the vocational aspiration occupational code and SDS

summary code are adjacent to each other the individual get 3 marks If they are on

alternate position on the hexagon then it will get 2 marks and If on opposite to each

other then it will get 1 mark The frequencies of scores of five group of vocational

aspirations based on hexagon model were plotted (see Table 50)

The frequencies of scores for doctors showed that only 17 male and 31 female

studentslsquo highest summary code and occupational code match with each other The

frequencies of scores for the army group showed that only 6 male and 1 female

student highest summary code and occupational code match with each other For

teacher none of the male students and 21 female studentslsquo highest summary code and

occupational code matched with each other For lawyer none of male and 2 female

208

studentslsquo highest summary code and occupational code matched with each other For

engineer only 3 male students and 2 female studentslsquo highest summary code and

occupational code matched This showed the degree of agreement between their

prospective vocational choices and highest SDS codes

Overall the results got partial support for the hypotheses no 3 to 7 that

vocational aspirations of students is likely to have high degree of agreement between

their vocational interests There were reasonably good degree of agreement between

vocational aspirations of doctors and teachers with their vocational interests among

students There was a moderate degree of agreement between vocational aspiration of

lawyer and their vocational interests However there was a state of incongruence

between the vocational aspirations of army and engineer with their vocational

interests among students

In government high school there is no mechanism where career guidance is

provided to the students Some teachers tried to guide the students according to their

knowledge but there is no institutional support to the students in this regard The

choices of vocational interest by students generally depend on the wishes and whims

of students Students either interact with their role model or they listen about it from

their parents teachers and peer The other problem is the availability of limited job

opportunities in Pakistan therefore the students aspiration are also limited In

government schools majority of the students are not able to achieve their vocational

aspiration because there is lot of competition for limited vacancies in a particular job

More over there is no proper guidance available to students at schools or

governmental level therefore their vocational aspirations of different occupations at

times did not correspond with their interest and competencies

209

Present results of the study may be of value to those career counselors who

assist students in the process of making career choices Based on the five most

preferred vocational aspirations of the students a study was designed to seek expert

opinion about personality and vocational interests The results attained based on

studentslsquo scores were validated with the opinion of experts of selected occupations to

add cultural relevance for the concepts used in the study

210

Chapter VII

Part 6 EXPERT OPINIONS ABOUT PERSONALITY AND

VOCATIONAL INTERESTS

This part of the study was designed to enhance the cultural relevance of

concepts used in the previous part of the research It was carried out to evaluate the

results about personality and vocational interests in view of expertslsquo opinion The

study endeavored to explore the personality patterns related to different occupations

by the experts It also investigated the identification of personality types defined by

Holland RIASEC model in Pakistani context which meaningfully correspond with

their respective profession by the experts An evaluation sheet was designed (see

Appendix Flsquo) to measure the personality profile related to different occupations by

the experts and find out the relevance of personality types with respective occupations

of experts Followings are the objectives of the study

Objectives

1 To determine the psychometric properties of the evaluation sheet

2 To evaluate the personality profiles about different occupations by the

professionals

3 To find out the relevance of personality types with the different occupations

by the professionals

No formal hypotheses were formulated in this part of the research The study

has been conducted in two phases

211

Phase 1

In this part of the study 5 most preferred vocations described by the students

were selected based on the information gathered from the previous part of the study

The selected preferred vocations sample and procedure are explained below

Selection of Preferred Vocations

During the administration of future possibilities questionnaire the students

were asked to write the vocational aspirations which they are going to adopt or select

in future Frequencies of the prospective vocational choices were calculated and the

first 5 most preferred vocational aspirations mentioned by the students were selected

for the study purposes The selected preferred occupations are listed below

a Doctor

b Army

c Teacher

d Advocate

e Engineer

Sample

Five professionals from each preferred career were selected There are 25

professionals from five different occupations (doctor army teacher lawyer and

engineer) A convenient sampling technique was used Experts having at least 20

212

years of service in particular fields were selected They were taken from both genders

where possible

Procedure

Prior appointments were made by the professionals Rapport was established

and the purpose of the study was explained to them The experts were given following

instructions

ldquoAs a student of National Institute of Psychology Quaid-i-Azam University

Islamabad I am conducting a research on the topic of ldquoPersonality and

Vocational interestsrdquo You being the expert in your field are requested to

describe the personality traits which in your own personal view should be

possessed by a professional _________________ on the following 30 traits of

personality Definitions of each trait of personality are also given below You

are requested to complete the evaluation sheet by rating the personality of

professional _______________ on a seven point rating scale (1 to 7) ranging

from bdquoleast required‟ to bdquomost required‟ You are also requested to choose one

of the six personality types which meaningfully correspond with your

profession The detailed definitions of each personality types are also printed

at the end of evaluation sheet Your cooperation in this regard will be highly

appreciatedrdquo

For the respondent who has to write the attributes of the doctors the word

doctor was written in the blank space Similarly for each expert of hisher field the

name of profession of that particular field was written in the instructions A total of 25

213

professionals (from both gender) were administered evaluation sheet A demographic

sheet was also attached with the evaluation sheet

Phase II

The statistical analysis was carried out to establish reliability and validity of

evaluation sheet Further analysis was carried out to evaluate the personality profiles

deliberated by the experts Personality types mentioned by experts for each vocation

were also noted down Mean differences were also computed between the experts of

five vocations

Results

The results related to reliability and validity of evaluation sheet evaluation of

personality traits and personality types by the experts are computed in the following

tables

ReliabilityValidity of Evaluation Sheet

The Alpha reliability coefficients of five main domains scales of personality in

Evaluation sheet were computed The item-total correlation between each item and

respective main scales were also computed The results are shown below

214

Table 51

Alpha reliability coefficient of five domains of Personality of Evaluation sheet (N=25)

Scales Number of items Alpha coefficients

Neuroticism 6 66

Extraversion 6 64

Openness 6 31

Agreeableness 6 58

Conscientiousness 6 78

Table 51 showed the Alpha reliability coefficients of 5 scales of Evaluation

sheet The 5 main scales showed moderate Alpha reliability coefficients ranging from

31 (Openness) to 78 (Conscientiousness) The low alpha reliability coefficients

were due to less number of items in each scale Low internal consistency of Openness

domain was also observed on the sample of students as well (see Table 12) The

results showed moderate internal consistency of the instrument

Table 52

Item-total correlation of five domains of Evaluation sheet (N=25) Neuroticism

(Items = 6)

r Extraversion

(Items = 6)

r Openness

(Items = 6)

r Agreeable

ness

(Items = 6)

r Conscientious

ness

(Items = 6)

r

q1 76 q7 44 q13 22 q19 19 q25 78

q2 33 q8 56 q14 76 q20 61 q26 78

q3 73 q9 66 q15 47 q21 47 q27 13

q4 49 q10 75 q16 30 q22 66 q28 61

q5 64 q11 66 q17 40 q23 44 q29 88

q6 73 q12 53 q18 69 q24 63 q30 79

Note q1 to q30 represent each item of Evaluation sheet

p lt 05 p lt 01 p lt 001

215

The findings in Table 52 showed the item-total correlations of each subscale

of Evaluation sheet The results displayed that almost all the items significantly

positively correlated with the total of their respective subscale except q2

(Neuroticism) q13 and q16 (Openness) q19 (Agreeableness) and q27

(Conscientiousness) This shows the construct validity of each subscale of Evaluation

sheet

Table 53

Inter-correlation of main scales of Evaluation sheet (N = 25)

Scale I II III IV V

I Neuroticism (N) -

II Extraversion (E) -41 -

III Openness (O) -07 60 -

IV Agreeableness (A) -24 23 19 -

V Conscientiousness (C) -49 48 31 57 -

p lt 05 P lt 01

Table 53 showed the inter-correlation of five main domains of Evaluation

sheet The results revealed that the 5 main scales are significantly correlated with each

other except Openness (O) and Agreeableness (A) domains Neuroticism (N) domain

is negatively correlated with all other domains The same pattern of inter-correlation

of five domains was observed on the sample of students (see Table 8 and 19) This

inter correlations matrix showed the construct validity of the five domains of

Evaluation sheet

216

In this part of the study repeated measure one way analysis of variance was

computed on five groups of expert on five domains of evaluation sheet The

frequencies of experts mentioning the personality types corresponding to their careers

were also calculated The results are shown below

Table 54

Mean and standard deviation between five groups of experts based on their scores on

five domains of Evaluation sheet (N = 25)

Domains of

personality

Experts of Selected Careers

Doctor

(N = 5)

Army

(N = 5)

Teacher

(N = 5)

Lawyer

(N = 5)

Engineer

(N = 5)

M SD M SD M SD M SD M S SD

Neuroticism 980 466 1060 207 1500 367 1620 11 521 1500 158

Extraversion 3160 385 3660 56 3600 200 3220 11 327 2920 327

Openness 2860 297 2980 249 3140 219 2940 11 573 2820 549

Agreeable-

ness

3500 283 3520 217 3320 487 3140 11 321 3140 288

Conscientiou

sness

3620 402 4040 140 3580 587 3440 11 541 3460 152

Note M = Mean scores SD = Standard deviation

Table 54 indicated the mean and standard deviation of five groups of experts

of five different careers on the five domain of evaluation sheet The lawyers group has

the highest mean scores on Neuroticism followed by teacher and engineers Army

group has the highest mean on Extraversion followed by teacher Teachers group has

the highest mean scores on Openness followed by Army and lawyers group Army

217

and doctors group have the highest mean on Agreeableness domain Army group have

the highest mean on Conscientiousness followed by the doctors

Repeated measure ANOVA

Repeated measure ANOVA is used to separates between-subject variability

from within-subject variability

Table 55

Repeated Measure Analysis of variance (ANOVA) between five groups of experts

based on their scores on five domains of Evaluation sheet (N = 25)

Effects MS df F Greenhouse-Geisser

Five domains of Evaluation

sheet

208753 4 17765 p lt 001

Five domains of Evaluation

sheet x Vocations of Experts

2644 16 225 p lt 024

Error 1175 80

p lt 001 p lt 05 Male = 243 Female = 239 Five main domains of Evaluation sheet (neuroticism

extraversion openness agreeableness and conscientiousness) Five groups of experts based on five vocations

(Doctor Army Teacher Lawyer and Engineer)Mauchly‟s Test W = 37 χ 2 (9) = 1816 p lt 05

Wilks‟ Lambda = 027 F (4 16) =1 75 p gt 05

In order to test sphericity Mauchlylsquos Test was inspected which was

significant W = 37 χ 2 (9) = 1816 p lt 05 suggesting that the assumption of

sphericity had been violated A one-way within subjects (or repeated measures)

ANOVA was conducted to compare the effect of five group of vocations on five main

domains of evaluation sheet However results in Table 55 suggested that five domains

of evaluation sheet have significant differences within subjects however there are

non-significant effects of five groups of expert on five domains of evaluation sheet

218

(Wilkslsquo Lambda = 027 F (4 16) =1 75 p gt 050 These results suggested that

different vocations do not have an effect on five domains of evaluation sheet

Table 56

Frequencies of expert opinions about personality types corresponding with their

careers (N = 25)

Career

expert

N Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

Doctor 5 - 4 - 1 - -

Army 5 - - - - 5 -

Teacher 5 - - - 5 - -

Lawyer 5 - - - 1 4 -

Engineer 5 1 4 - - - -

The frequencies mentioned in Table 56 showed the expert opinion about the

personality types which correspond with their profession The results demonstrated

that doctors picked Investigative type which corresponds with their profession

According to Holland occupational title classification (HOC) doctors have the

investigative as their highest summary code This showed the degree of agreement

between expert opinion and Holland summary codes The experts belonging to Army

group selected Enterprising personality type which corresponds with their profession

According to HOC army occupation has the Realistic as their highest summary code

This showed disparity between expert opinion and highest summary code for army

occupation The experts from teachers group preferred Social personality type as the

most suitable type which corresponds with their profession According to HOC

219

teachers should have Social as their highest summary code This showed degree of

agreement between expert opinion of group of teacher and corresponding Holland

summary code

The lawyers group of experts picked Enterprising as their suitable type which

also corresponds with Holland summary code The engineer group selected

Investigative as the most suitable personality type which also corresponds with the

Holland summary code Overall the results showed that there is a correspondence

between expert opinion and Holland classification of occupation except the

occupation of Army which is one of the most preferred careers of students in

Pakistan

Discussion

The study was conducted on the five groups of experts which were selected on

the basis of five favorite vocational aspirations of students In total 25 experts were

selected to determine the expert opinion about personality and vocational interests in

Pakistani context The Alpha reliabilities coefficients of five domains measured by

evaluation sheet also show moderate Alpha value except Openness domain (α = 31)

This also showed that the relevance of Openness domain to the Pakistani culture need

to be deliberated with more validity studies on different samples

One way repeated measure analysis of variance was calculated for the five

groups of experts on five domains of evaluation sheets The results showed that mean

differences between the five groups of experts Lawyer have the highest mean on

220

Neuroticism (M = 1620 SD = 521) as compared to other groups Similar finding

were observed when one way repeated measure analysis of variance was conducted

on five groups of students based on vocational aspirations on five domains of NEO

PI-R (see Table 44) There were non-significant differences on five domains however

lawyer have the highest mean on Neuroticism as compared to other groups On

Extraversion domain significant mean differences were also observed on five groups

of experts The mean scores of army and teacher groups have the highest mean value

as compared to other groups

The five groups of experts were also given the conceptual definitions of six

personality types of vocational interests They were requested to choose the one

personality type out of six which correspond with your profession The result showed

that 4 doctors picked investigative type while 1 picked social type According to

Holland occupational classification (HOC) physicians have investigative as their first

summary code The results corresponded for the group of doctors

All five experts from regular Army picked enterprising as their most

corresponding personality type According to HOC Army has Realistic type as their

highest summary code This showed a disparity between the HOC classification and

expert opinion The Enterprising types show preference for activities that involve

manipulation of others to achieve organizational goals or economic gain perceive

themselves as aggressive self-confident and sociable and value political and

economic achievement The enterprising type like enterprising jobs and has leadership

and speaking abilities but often lacks scientific ability They are energetic extraverted

adventurous and domineering etc While Realistic types are predisposed to activities

221

that entail working with objects perceive themselves as having mechanical and

athletic abilities and value the tangibles They prefer activities involving the

systematic manipulation of machinery tools or animals The Realistic type like

realistic jobs and has mechanical abilities but may lack social skills They are asocial

practical conforming uninsightful uninvolved and hardheaded

For teachers all the expert rated Social type as their most suitable type The

HOC classification also reported Social as their highest summary code for teacher

For Lawyer and Engineer the expert opinion and HOC classification are almost the

same

Overall the findings of the this part of the study are supportive of the

conclusions drawn from the previous parts of present study except for the relevance of

occupation of army when compared with the Holland occupational classification The

results revealed that cultural relevance of some of the occupations mentioned in the

HOC classification need to be established in Pakistan

222

Chapter VIII

GENERAL DISCUSSION

The study was designed to find out the personality and vocational interests

among students from government high schools in Pakistan It also explored the

vocational aspirations of the students Based on the vocational aspirations of the

students five most favorite career choices were selected The differences between

Personality profiles for these careers deliberated by the experts belonging to these five

selected vocations were also investigated The personality types corresponding to

different careers in the opinion of experts of selected career were also determined

The differences with respect to demographic variables (gender sciencearts

urbanrural 9th

10th

class and parentslsquo education) on personality and vocational

interests were also explored

In Pakistan there are different types of schools Some of the schools are from

public sector and other belongs to private sector In private sector there are different

categories of schools Some of the schools systems are well established and their

branches are situated all over Pakistan Whereas some private schools are established

with different names and are present in every nook and corner of the urbanized

localities of Pakistan In government schools again there are different categories

Some of the schools are public schools some are cadet colleges and some are under

the administrative control of provinces The government schools are present in urban

223

areas as well as in rural areas of Pakistan In rural areas of Pakistan there are very

few private schools available for students whereas the bulk of the students belonging

to rural areas are bound to study in government schools The government schools

have nominal fee structure as compared to private schools Moreover people from low

socio-economic status can only afford to send their children in government schools

The government schools in a province generally have a common syllabus In

Punjab these schools are also called as Urdu medium schools In Pakistan about 70

of the population lives in rural areas Therefore these schools cater for the students

belonging to large segment of society The results of focus groups and interviews

showed that there are no school psychologistslsquo or career counselorslsquo posted to these

schools After passing middle standard examinations the students are to choose

between two main categories of science subjects and Arts subjects (humanities

group) The science and arts groups of students have not only different subjects to

study but there are many careers which depend on these categories Hence the present

study focused students in their schools years to understand the dynamics of

personality and vocational interests

Two most widely used models to measure personality and vocational interests

are FFM and Hollandlsquos typology respectively Costa and McCrae (1992a) developed

the measure NEO PI-R based on five factor model Holland has proposed a

comprehensive model of vocational interests which is another expression of

personality Holland (1994) has developed a comprehensive measure of vocational

interests ie Self Directed Search (SDS) Vocational aspirations of the participants

are also explored which is considered as the part of SDS Keeping in view the sample

224

characteristics it was decided that Urdu translated version of NEO PI-R and SDS

would be used to measure personality and vocational interests The sample of the

study consisted of students from Urdu medium government schools from Rawalpindi

Urdu being the national language is being taught and spoken customarily in these

schools On the other hand in English medium schools the focus is more in written as

well as spoken English Urdu is being neglected in these categories of schools

During interviews and focus groups from principal and teachers of Urdu

medium government schools (see chapter II for details) it was revealed that Urdu as a

language can be easily read and comprehended by the students of Urdu medium

schools The test contents of Urdu version of NEO PI-R and SDS were discussed in

detail with the experts and even with the principal of schools It was decided that

comprehensive Urdu translated versions are available and can be used to determine

the relevance of these two widely used model of personality and vocational interests

on the high school students

The relationship between personality and vocational interests of the high

school students proved that substantial relationship existed between the two models

(for details see chapter IV pages 144 to 150) Extraversion is significantly correlated

with Social and Enterprising interests Openness domain is significantly correlated

with all the six personality types (see Table 23) The findings are supported by the

other studies like Nauta (2004) and Rottinghaus Lindley Green amp Borgen (2002)

Hartman and Betz (2007) also found that Conscientiousness is related to Investigative

Social Enterprising and Conventional confidence Neuroticism is negatively related

225

to all but artistic interests and Extraversion related to Artistic Social and

Enterprising domains

Agreeableness domain is significantly correlated with all the personality types

except Realistic and Social types Conscientiousness domain is significantly

positively correlated with all the six personality types The results showed moderate

strong relationship between Conscientiousness and Conventional type (see Table 23)

The meta-analytic results of Larson et al (2002) study were especially helpful in

identifying modest but positive relationships between the big dimensions of interests

and personality Thus three correlations range from 22 to 28 investigative is

correlated with openness correlated conventional is correlated with

conscientiousness and enterprising is correlated with conscientiousness The

implications of these meta-analytic results suggested new conceptualizations of

understanding of both personality and interest

Personality and vocational interests are strongly related starting with the early

study by Costa et al (1984) and to the most recent studies (Barrett 2009 Barrick et

al 2003 Bullock amp Reardon 2008 Ehrhart amp Makransky 2007 Hartman amp Betz

2007 Harris et al 2006 Larson et al 2002 Logue et al 2007 Staggs et al 2007

Zhang 2008)

Gottfredson (1999) suggested that future genetic analysis will help to identify

the common causal factors between interests and personality Costa et al (1995) have

introduced a vocational-like measure intended to mimic the Big Five labeled the

NEO Job Profiler a tool that quantify the match between the person and a specific

226

position Therefore the integration of personality and vocational interest will provide a

more holistic and accurate picture of the person

Thus the conclusion from two meta-analyses (Barrick et al 2003 Larson et

al 2002) is that there is modest relationship between personality and vocational

interest types and in some cases the correlations are very nominal The same is the

case with the present study One of the limitations was that the openness dimension

showed low reliability coefficient among the study participants However the

meaningful significant and consistent results regarding the relation of openness to

interests supported the measurelsquos validity within this sample However the facet

scales Fantasy Actions and Values of Openness domain need to be deliberated

thoroughly for their relevance in Pakistani culture

The existing theoretical reviews provided the information for counseling

applications in the areas of vocational and educational outcomes For instance the

extraversion and enterprising overlap can provide information which can be helpful

for the vocational counselor (Staggs et al 2007) The client who is extraverted and

has enterprising interests is likely to be successful at jobs which are related to

extraverted and enterprising characteristics as compared to the individual who does

not possess extraverted and enterprising personality disposition This information is

useful for general direction but more specific input is required for more complex

career counseling Many psychologists have moved forward from this general

information toward more precise and complex Personality-Interest convergence

(Blake amp Sackett 1999 Waller et al 1995)

227

It has been observed in the literature review that Conscientiousness and

Emotional Stability are consistently related to job performance (Barrick et al 2001

Hurtz amp Donovan 2000 Salgado 1997) Judge and Ilies (2002) were of the opinion

that conscientiousness and emotional stability are related to motivation coupled with

performance orientation These two traits are also related with goal setting and self-

efficacy Conscientiousness is coupled with limited problem in work behaviors and is

associated with suitable behaviors in the job in hand (Barrick et al 2001 Salgado

1997) Conscientiousness individual are generally easily fit into the jobs which

require conventional interests They generally prefer organizational cultures that are

outcome and detail oriented (Hofstee et al 1992 Judge amp Cable 1997)

Agreeableness traits are associated with motivation only when cooperative

demands and teamwork are required in the jobs Agreeableness was non-significantly

correlated with Hollandlsquos social interests and other interpersonal variables (Betz amp

Borgen 2010) This finding has been supported in the present research as there is

non-significant relationship between agreeableness personality domain and Hollandlsquos

social interests

On the other hand Extraversion traits are related to motivation only when

competitive environment and systematic advancement in the job are required Those

individuals will be more motivated who are in a state of congruence with the job

When personality and interests are related to the job then higher job performance can

be achieved Extraversion has characteristics like assertiveness and ambitious and are

generally found fit with jobs that are enterprising as well as social types (Hofstee et

al 1992 Tokar amp Swanson 1995)

228

Many researches and meta-analyses of the relationships of the Big Five to job

performance have consistently supported the strength of Conscientiousness as a

positive predictor of job performance across performance criteria in occupations

(Barrick amp Mount 1991 Barrick et al 2001 Dunn Mount Barrick amp Ones 1995

Tokar et al 1998) Extraversion has often been shown to be a strong predictor for

those jobs involving social interaction such as management and sales (Barrick amp

Mount 1991 Tokar et al 1998) Openness and Extraversion were found to predict

success in job training programs (Barrick amp Mount 1991) Mount et al (1998) found

that Conscientiousness and Emotional Stability (the inverse of Neuroticism) were

related to performance in jobs involving working with others whether those are

colleagues customers or patients In the prediction of overall job satisfaction

Neuroticism (negatively) Conscientiousness and Extraversion were the strongest

predictors across occupations (Judge amp Ilies 2002) A meta-analysis by Judge

Thoresen Bono and Patton (2001) concluded that people tend to be high performers

when they like their jobs They would be more satisfied with the job performance

There is ongoing debate that Big Five are predictive of vocational interests or

facet traits also add to the prediction (Paunonen 1998 Paunonen amp Jackson 2000

Schneider Hough amp Dunnette 1996) Addition of facet traits of personality along

with five big traits support Sullivan and Hansenlsquos (2004) finding that Aesthetics facet

is associated with the Artistic interests Similar findings were reported by Waller et al

(1995) who found that Assertiveness was related to the enterprising interests In the

present study the relationship between facets traits and vocational interests provided

insight into the study for more precise prediction of future careers

229

Costa et al (2001) suggested that gender differences on personality replicated

across cultures both on college and adult samples Women are generally found higher

in neuroticism agreeableness warmth and openness to feelings whereas men were

higher in assertiveness and openness to ideas (McCrae et al 2002a)

Openness to Experience in Pakistani Context

It was found that among the five widely examined personality factors of the

FFM Openness to Experience is the most controversial (McCrae amp John 1992)

McCrae and Costa (1997) acknowledged that ―the concept of Openness appears to be

unusually difficult to grasp (p 826) The relatively weak psychometric properties of

the Openness factor in non-Western cultures was another area of concern as compared

to the other four domains of the FFM (Cheung et al 2008) Individuals high on

openness to experience generally found best fit when the jobs are related to artistic

and social types Previous researches have also found that such individuals are

attracted to environment in organization that are innovative creative and detail

oriented (Hofstee et al 1992 Judge amp Cable 1997) However openness has been

replicated across cultures along with other four personality factors of FFM (McCrae

amp Costa 1997 McCrae amp John 1992)

During the process of translation of NEO PI-R the items of openness domain

were difficult to translate into Urdu (Chishti 2002) Each item was analyzed

extensively and some items were rephrased and modified according to the Pakistani

culture During the process of Urdu translation efforts were made to translate the

feeling connotation of the statement rather than literal meanings of the original words

230

The alpha reliability of openness domain of Urdu version were 57 74 17 13 67

15 and English version were 47 57 21 12 43 and 22 for six facet scales

fantasy Aesthetics feelings actions ideas and values respectively After dropping 8

items for the final analysis the openness facets has Urdu version alpha reliability are

51 72 30 20 72 and 20 for respective facets which is still not at the desirable

level

Five factors have been found similar to that of the American norms in cross-

cultural comparisons in 36 cultures (McCrae amp Allik 2002 McCrae Costa Del-

Pilar Rolland amp Parker 1998) However normative structure was not replicated in

Malaysia Nigeria and Zimbabwe These discrepancies have been pointed out by

McCrae and Terracciano (2005) and reason is probably the low internal consistency

of the Openness factor

McCrae Costa and Yik (1996) reported the alpha coefficient of the Values

facet was only 32 in Hong Kong university students The alpha coefficient of the

Openness factor was 53 in Chinese university students (Cheung et al 2001) The

facet scales Actions and Values have alpha coefficients of 10 and 29 which show

low internal consistency of Openness domain in Chinese culture Yang et al (1999)

also reported low internal consistency of facets scale of openness ranging from 28 to

73

In other Asian cultures Openness factor have been found problematic in many

studies Katigbak Church and Guanzon-Lapena (2002) found the low alpha

coefficients for Values (22) and Feelings (44) facet scales for Filipino students

Lodhi Deo and Belhekar (2002) noted the alphas coefficients of Actions (43) and

231

Values (10) were fairly low among Indian postgraduate students Mastor Jin and

Cooper (2000) found low alpha coefficients for Actions (28) and Values (48) for

Malay students in Malaysia

In contrast openness factor have much higher alpha reliability coefficients in

Europe determined by many studies ranging from 81 to 90 (Allik Laidra Realo amp

Pullmann 2004 Aluja Garcia amp Garcia 2003 Berings et al 2004) McCrae (2002)

suggested less individual differences on Openness to Experience in traditional

cultures due to limited life options Pakistan being the developing country and having

collectivistic culture the low internal consistency of openness scale could be due to

the reasons as explained by McCrae (2002)

There may be several reasons for the weak psychometric properties of the

Openness factor in Pakistani samples One of the reasons of low internal consistencies

may be due to sampling error as suggested by McCrae et al (1996) However Caruso

(2000) in a meta-analysis found that the low internal consistency of Openness in some

studies is not caused by sampling error The other reason may be due to the problems

in distortion of concepts in the Urdu translation like in Chinese translation of NEO PI-

R (Leung Cheung Zhang Song amp Xie 1997)

In discussing the low reliability (32) of the Values facet in their study

McCrae et al (1996) suggested the concept of ―characteristic adaptation the culture-

specific manifestation of a universal underlying trait If this is the reason then it is

essential to adopt an indigenous approach The construct of openness need to be

operationalize in local context The adaptation of the manifestation of the construct

also needs to be taken up in accordance to cultural context Emic and etic approaches

232

could also be consciously initiated to see the relevance of Openness construct in

indigenously derived instruments The facets scales of Fantasy and Values of

openness domain did not emerge in the cultural concept of openness in China

(Cheung et al 2008) so this may be the case when exploring openness factor in

Pakistani context

Vocational Interests

In Pakistan having a collectivist culture there are many factors which are

influencing the vocational interests of the students It is very difficult to pinpoint the

common factors for all students However in the present study the general trends

showed that majority of the students preferred Conventional type occupations

followed by Social types The Conventional types are interested in activities that

require ordered manipulation of data and records Since there are limited career

opportunities in Pakistan for students of government school there are chances that

students are inclined towards those occupations which can be easily achieved

However the trend is slightly different when gender differences are accounted for

Male students have preference for Conventional type occupations while female have

preferences for Social and Artistic type occupations

In order to prepare the youth for changeable economic conditions the concept

career development should be practiced vigorously for this period As a result of

economic social and political changes and progress in Pakistan there is a requirement

to introduce quality of career education programs in schools The focus should be on

the enhancement of career management skills of the students Efficient career training

233

programs should be implemented for the Pakistani human resource and need to be

prepared in harmony with the studentslsquo skills and development levels

In Pakistan two main types of subjects are being taught at high school level in

government schools The science group consists of science subjects while in Arts

group the subjects are from humanities group Still some schools have limited faculty

to teach science or arts subjects therefore the allotment of subjects to students is

according to their convenience Vocational aspirations of the students are of great

significance at this very junction of student life They have to decide which career

they are intended to adopt This decision making by the students have very long

lasting effects on their future careers

The results in the present study revealed that doctor is considered as the most

favorite career choice in Pakistan Only those students can get admission in

professional medical colleges who achieved very good marks in science subjects In

Pakistan doctor is considered as the best job for female students However very few

students who achieved outstanding results in academic career can get admission in

medical colleges

Another favorite career for male students is Army In Pakistan there are

limited job opportunities getting jobs in government department on merit is

considered as very difficult However Armed forces provided sufficient opportunity to

the youth to join on merit In Armed forces recruiting process continues throughout

the year Moreover due to job security armed forces are still the best option available

for male students But unfortunately the students who aspired army as vocational

aspiration have high degree of incongruence with their vocational interests The same

234

is the case with vocational aspiration of lawyer and engineer A timely intervention

can help the students for pursuing more realistic and suitable career for them

Moreover the results obtained on students were generally the same when opinions of

expert were obtained on personality and vocational interests Therefore the relevance

of Hollandlsquos themes needs further deliberations in Pakistani context

The profession of teacher is considered as one of the best for females Female

students also wanted to be advocate in their life This showed that female are coming

out and adopting different occupations which were earlier considered nontraditional

for them

There are also many factors which started influencing the students from very

early age These factors including parents siblings peer socio economic area

schools etc need to be studied in depth for better understanding about the vocational

aspirations of the students The government has provided lot of job opportunities to

female in different departments Hence they are competing with their male

counterparts in every field Since there are gender differences between the vocational

interests of students therefore different career opportunities for male and female

should be planned and provided to the students by the government

In Pakistan majority of the students of government schools are not able to

achieve their vocational aspiration because there is lot of competition for limited

vacancies in a particular job More over there is no proper guidance available to

students at schools or governmental level therefore their vocational aspirations of

different occupations at times did not correspond with their interest and competencies

235

There is a vital requirement to employ career counselor in schools for the proper

guidance of students

Congruency refers to the compatibility of the personality and the environment

Holland suggested that congruency between personality and environment in jobs lead

to occupational satisfaction stability and achievement (Holland 1973) However in

the present study there was a state of moderate congruence between vocational

aspirations of doctor and teacher and their vocational interests On the other hand

there was a state of incongruence for the vocational aspirations of Army Advocate

and Engineer and their vocational interests These findings are also food for thought

for the policy makers and to those career counselor and human resource person who

are working in these fields

Reardon and Lenz (1998) and Holland Gottfredson and Nafziger (1975)

indicated that persons with poor diagnostic signs on the Self-Directed Search were

likely candidates for more intensive interventions They suggested that these

interventions may be provided by highly trained professional Lack of congruence

between vocational aspirations and vocational summary codes low coherence among

aspirations and a high point code in the Realistic or Conventional area are the

problematic areas which require immediate attention The findings of the present

study revealed that there is an immediate requirement for timely intervention at the

high school level to guide and counsel the Pakistani youth for the future productive

workforce

The mismatch between policy and practice is similar to that of many other

countries In Pakistan there are limited published researches (Ansari 1981 Aziz

236

2001 Riaz 1995 Zaidi 1979) on occupational aspirations and expectations of

Pakistani adolescents Therefore understanding the dynamics of vocational aspirations

can play an important role in attainment of educational and career choices The

information about vocational aspirations can also provide important clues about career

development

This research attempted to address some of the gaps in the broader literature

about adolescent as it is also identified by Rojewski (2005) While it is acknowledged

that vocational interests and goals emerge in childhood (Hartung Porfeli amp

Vondracek 2005) adolescence seems to be a crucial period for the study of their

development Research showed that during adolescence interests crystallize and

stabilize and career goals and aspirations become more realistic in terms of

adaptation to personal and environmental characteristics (Larson Wei Wu Borgen

amp Bailey 2007 Low amp Rounds 2007 Walls 2000)

Cultural Perspective

The wide use of NEO PI-R in several cross cultural investigations attested its

broad based applicability and practical validity which has resultantly earned a status

of cross cultural instrument (Yung 1999) Allik and McCrae (2004) conducted

secondary analyses with FFM data from 36 cultures and found differences between

European and American cultures with Asian and African cultures It was found that

European and American cultures were higher in Extraversion and Openness to

Experience and lower in Agreeableness

237

Costa et al (2001) reported smallest gender differences in personality among

Asian and African cultures and largest gender differences were found in Europe

These studies demonstrated comparison between mean levels of personality across

cultures This is a useful approach for understanding the important links between

culture and personality (Schmitt Allik McCrae amp Benet-Martinez 2007)

Emmerik et al (2010) suggested that there is a sort of ―national character (see

Allik amp McCrae 2004 Schmitt et al 2007) that may interact with culture to shape

the manifestation of acquired needs in work settings Furthermore many studies

provided controversial and inconsistent findings on Hollandlsquos vocational structure

across different cultures (Rounds 1995 Rounds amp Tracey 1996 Ryan et al 1996)

In traditional Asian cultures an individuallsquos occupation is equally important to his

significant others

Economic development and radical changes in the society as well as in the

labor market in Pakistan for the last two decades provided both challenges and

opportunities for career counseling Unemployment has increased manifold and

graduates are no longer guaranteed a job Students have to hunt for jobs for successful

living Consequently importance of vocational guidance has recently become

critically important However vocational guidance in Pakistan is still a dream and

lacks institutional support in government schools

In the present study some of the high school students could not understand

some of the concepts used in the SDS (see Appendix Mlsquo) So there is a requirement

when career counselors apply the SDS to Pakistani clients they should be very careful

to make sure that their clients fully understand the entire concepts One of the

238

common limitations is the application of Western career instruments to other cultures

without proper adaptation Thus there is a requirement of developing instruments in

the local language and for the local culture Furthermore there is a requirement of

updating the list the indigenous vocations according to cultural relevance

Gender Differences

The findings of the present study regarding the vocational interests of the

students have been supported by the studies on other cultures Tak (2004) examined

the Hollandlsquos vocational structure of Korean college students and found male students

had significantly higher scores in realistic enterprising and conventional interests

Female students had found to be significantly higher in artistic and social interests

These results were supported from other researches on Americans (Hansen amp

Campbell 1985) and the Chinese cultures (Tang 2001) Swanson (1992) reported that

the conventional scores were significantly higher for male students as compared to

female African American college students These results were also reported by Tang

(2001) in Chinese male college students

The findings in the present study regarding gender differences on vocational

interests were partially supported the trend found by Costa et al (1984) Gottfredson

et al (1993) and Holland et al (1994) Kirkcaldy (1988) also found higher interest in

technical-scientific professions for men Women preferred design-related and social-

educational occupations interests

Holland et al (1997) found that Realistic and Social types on SDS are related

to gender in high school student Females have lesser interests on realistic and

239

investigative types than the other personality types (Holland et al 1997 Jones amp

Ward 2002 Spokane Luchetta amp Richwine 2002) Women are found to be more

related to high Social and low Realistic The same results were also supported by

Fouad and Mohlerlsquos (2004) They reported higher mean scores for women than men

on Social and Artistic types

In Pakistan the rural youth has to face many important challenges about their

vocational aspirations and career achievement Rural youth have to experience narrow

school curriculum especially in government schools a shortage of highly qualified

teachers and limited access to career counseling They are also not provided adequate

employment opportunities in their local communities

240

Implications of the study

The present research on the relationship between personality and vocational

interests of students and congruence between vocational aspirations and vocational

interests is important for number of reasons This is the first study exploring different

aspects of relationship between personality and vocational interests among high

school students in Pakistan The present research has many theoretical implications

for the research on personality and vocational interests The research also underlined

that there are individual differences on personality and vocational interests and also

clarified the degree of agreement between vocational aspirations and vocational

interests of the students

The research may contribute to a better understanding of different dimensions

related to students of government schools representing large segment of society in

Pakistan The findings may be valuable in the field of career counseling as well as for

policy makers in the field of education

A growing body of literature provided evidence that constructs and techniques

are being validated cross-culturally This study contributed to cross-cultural evidence

that most of the western constructs and techniques used in study have similar meaning

in our context The findings of the study suggested that five factor model of

personality and Holland typology are generally found to be relevant to our culture

The study replicated the results of relationship between higher order

dimensions (five main domains) of five factor model and Holland six personality

types in Pakistan The study also attempted to determine the relationship between

241

lower order dimensions (30 facets scales) of five factor model and its relationship

with Holland six personality types The results of the current study also indicated that

Five main domains of personality and 30 facet traits have a definite role to play in

theorizing and practice regarding career satisfaction Nevertheless counselors would

have something helpful to say to students who scored low on these traits such as

considering a suitable career or trying to change their trait levels which is still

possible for individuals in their teens (Heatherton amp Weinberger 1994)

The study also contributed in the sense that some aspects of main constructs

used in the study have not been replicated in our culture To be more specific

Openness domain and its facet scales of five factor model showed low internal

consistency and in turn have low cross cultural applicability

The findings regarding the expert opinions can be used as a strategy to

reevaluate the Holland occupational classification according to Pakistani context The

personality characteristics which describe Holland personality types may be cross

culturally validated for Pakistani occupations

The most salient feature of Hollandlsquos model as applied to high school students

is that vocational aspirations are predictive of vocational interests was not supported

in the study This aspect of the current findings raised an important question mark for

the wide ranging applicability of the Holland model to high school students The

practice implication could also be derived from the findings of this study Vocational

interests could be measured and interpreted according to social and cultural context

instead of using career structures which are derived from other culture

242

Students have to make an early decision to circumscribe their career choices

during middle schools SDS can be applied which could generate information for

students and schools so they could make informed decisions The high scores on the

Realistic and Investigative interests could be helpful for students to pursue science

track careers Whereas high scores on Artistic and Social personality types could be

used to make decisions on the assignment of Arts tracks Overall the findings of the

study have partial support for the relevance of FFM and Hollandlsquos model to Pakistani

context

Limitations of the Study

The present research has certain limitations like any other research in social

sciences One of the limitations is the use of inventories as a measure Inventories are

of course widely used instruments in social sciences but definitely with certain

limitations The element of social desirability is one of the major factors affecting the

validity of the instrument Inventories are developed keeping in view these hazards

but still the element of social desirability cannot be completely eliminated There are

few other factors like faking good or bad which can also affect the proper use of

inventories

The second limitation is the random sampling of the sample Despite of all

efforts proper random sampling could not be applied Out of willing participants

majority completed the inventories properly according to the requirements but still

243

there are lot many absentees as well as incomplete data records This disturbed the

proportion set out initially for the study (see chapter IV pages 120 to 123)

Both the instruments used in the study are Urdu translations The translated

version may not be the true substitute of original version One of the limitations may

be the length of the inventories Two inventories were used with considerable large

number of items Although the inventories were administered to the students in a

course of two days still there are chances that students may lose interests in proper

filling of inventories The sample reduced in the number of valid cases by 1485

Another important limitation of the present study is the indifferent attitude of

the participants In Pakistan research culture is not yet developed Generally people

consider it as wastage of time as no positive change is implemented based on these

researches Hence their responses lack originality and often lack seriousness In the

present study this limitation reduced the total sample because it was tried to keep

those individuals whose questionnaires were completed properly according to the

instructions

The students of 9th

and 10th

classes have minimal differences in term of age

and class hence differences are non-significant being homogenous groups The

language of NEO-PI-R may be difficult for some students to comprehend the meaning

in true sense (see Appendix Llsquo)

The sample is only restricted to Rawalpindi district it should have been from

all over the country Hence result cannot be properly generalized

244

Future Research

The results of the present study have implications for both theory and practice

The major conclusion from the present study is that personality traits and vocational

interests are only modestly related even in the best of cases Although FFM traits and

vocational interests are related clearly they are not identical constructs and are not

mere substitutes for each other The theoretical implication pertains to higher order

structures that explain relationships among FFM traits and RIASEC interests The

lower order structures also explain relationship between FFM traits and RIASEC

interests which need further deliberation The practice perspective explores the

processes of how normal personality traits and interest types are jointly related to

work outcomes

The second area for future research is how congruence between personality

traits and vocational interests is related to motivational processes and to job

performance The concept of congruence is well established and is traditionally

defined as the similarity between vocational interests and job environments The

findings of the present study showed that personality traits and vocational interests

measure largely different constructs

The moderate relationship between personality and vocational interests are the

evidence for the role of moderators Future research can also analyze in detail the role

of some demographic variables (like parents socio economic siblings peers area

schools curriculum teachers psycho-socio environment etc) on personality and

vocational interests The instruments used (NEO PI-R and SDS) are the translated

versions which are adapted culturally More validity studies may be conducted using

245

these instruments on different samples The Holland occupational classifications for

different occupations need to be evaluated in Pakistan according to the requirements

Conclusion

Notwithstanding the limitations of the current study it represented an initial

investigation into an area that is under researched in Pakistan It needs further

investigation to update theoretical development in this area and to guide student

advising and career counseling Based on the results of the current study it is believed

that the Holland vocational theory could be extended and revitalized in terms of new

research directions by incorporating Big Five personality factors and lower order 30

facet traits into the model and looking for best possible combinations of personality

traits and vocational interests to enhance validity relationshipsmdashnot only for career

counselors but also students in their career development

The study tried to establish relationship between personality and vocational

interests according to the theoretical framework The findings of the research are also

consistent with the literature in the field of personality and vocational interests The

findings of the study attempted to make both a theoretical and practical contribution

to the existing literature and also suggested some implications for future research It

enhances our understanding about the relationship between personality and vocational

interests in Pakistani students The study also explored in detail the congruence

between vocational aspirations and vocational interests of the students The findings

of the study may be helpful in better understanding for students and career counselors

and also provide a practical guide for the educational policy makers

246

REFERENCES

Ackerman P L amp Heggestad E D (1997) Intelligence personality and interests

Evidence for overlapping traits Psychological Bulletin 121 219ndash245

Ali S R amp Saunders J L (2009) The career aspirations of rural Appalachian high

school students Journal of Career Assessment 17(2) 172ndash188

Allik J Laidra K Realo A amp Pullmann H (2004) Personality development

from 12 to 18 years of age Changes in mean levels and structure of traits

European Journal of Personality 18 445ndash462

Allik J amp McCrae R R (2004) Towards geography of personality traits Patterns

of profiles across 36 cultures Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 35

13ndash28

Allport G W (1937) Personality A psychological interpretation New York Holt

Rinehart amp Winston

Allport G W amp Odbert H S (1936) Traits-name A psycho-lexical study

Princeton N J Psychological Review

Aluja F A Garcia O amp Garcia L F (2003) Relationships among extraversion

openness to experience and sensation seeking Personality and Individual

Differences 35 671ndash680

Alves Ferreira J A amp Hood A B (1995) The development and validation of a

Holland-type Portuguese Vocational Interest Inventory Journal of Vocational

Behavior 46 119ndash130

247

Alves M Joaquim A amp Hood A (1995) The development of validation of

Hollandndashtyped vocational interest inventory Journal of Vocational Behavior

46 119ndash130

Aly J H (2006) Education in Pakistan A White Paper National Education Policy

Review Team Islamabad Ministry of Education Government of Pakistan

Anis-ul-Haque M (2003) Personal Attributes and Conflict Management Styles

Unpublished PhD Dissertation University of Peshawar Pakistan

Ansari Z A (1981) Occupational Aspirations of High School Students in Peshawar

Pakistan Journal of Psychology 12 3ndash9

Argyle M Furnham A amp Graham J (1981) Social situations Cambridge

Cambridge University Press

Assouline M amp Meir E I (1987) Meta-analysis of the relationship between

congruence and vocational interests Journal of Vocational Behavior 21

288ndash298

Auger W R Blackhurst A E amp Wahl K H (2005) ―The Development Of

Elementary-Aged Childrenlsquos Career Aspirations and Expectations

Professional School Counseling retrieved 25th

April 2008 From

httpwwwfindarticlescom

Avallone V L (1974) A comparative study of the effects of two vocational guidance

systems The Self-Directed Search and a traditional vocational guidance

model (Doctoral dissertation University of Northern Colorado) Dissertation

Abstracts International 35 2670ndash2671

CHAPTER V VOCATIONAL INTERESTS MEASURED BY SDS 177

SUMMARY CODES

Objectives 177

Hypotheses 178

Method 178

Results 180

Discussion 184

CHAPTER VI VOCATIONAL ASPIRATIONS OF THE STUDENTS 188

Objectives 188

Hypotheses 189

Method 189

Results 191

Discussion 202

CHAPTER VII EXPERT OPINIONS ABOUT PERSONALITY AND 210

VOCATIONAL INTERESTS

Objectives 210

Method 211

Results 213

Discussion 219

CHAPTER VIII GENERAL DISCUSSION 222

Implications of the Study 240

Limitations of the Study 242

Future Research 244

Conclusion 245

REFERENCES 246

ABSTRACT

The present study deals with the personality and vocational interests of the high school

students Relationship between personality and vocational interests and the degree of

agreement between vocational aspirations and vocational interests of the students were carried

out in the current study The differences with respect to demographical variables on personality

and vocational interests were also explored The main study was conducted on the sample of

596 students (319 male and 277 female students with a mean age of 1573 years) belonging to 7

government schools There were 303 students belonging to science group and 292 students

belonging to Arts group The different relationships between the personality and vocational

interests were assessed through a series of statistical analysis of Correlation Multiple

regression analysis t test and One Way Analysis of Variance The Alpha reliabilities of main

domains of NEO PI-R range from 36 (Openness) to 84 (Conscientiousness) The Alpha

reliabilities for scales of Self Directed Search (SDS) range from 53 to 68 for Activities 55 to

66 for Competencies 76 to 81 for Occupations and 71 to 80 for summary scales The results

established the psychometric properties of the instruments A moderate relationship was found

between FFM and Holland model The study identified the vocational preferences of students

with respect to demographical variables The results revealed significant gender differences on

personality and vocational interests The study also determined the vocational aspirations of the

students and found the degree of agreement between vocational aspirations and vocational

interests for most preferred careers The results revealed a moderate state of congruence for

careers (doctor and teacher) and a state of incongruence for some careers (army lawyer and

engineer) The findings of the study are also reinforced from the opinion of experts Some

pertinent areas were identified for future research The present research contributed both for

theory and practice The findings may be valuable in the field of career counseling as well as

for policy makers in the field of education

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Alpha reliability coefficients of 5 main scales of NEO PI-R (N=79)

102

Table 2 Item-total correlations of each item with respective subscales of

NEO PI-R (N = 79)

103

Table 3 Correlations of subscales with main scale of Neuroticism (N = 79) 105

Table 4 Correlations of subscales with main scale of Extraversion (N = 79) 106

Table 5 Correlations of subscales with main scale of Openness (N = 79) 107

Table 6 Correlations of subscales with main scale of Agreeableness (N=79) 108

Table 7 Correlations of subscales with main scale of Conscientiousness

(N = 79)

108

Table 8 Inter-correlations between five main domains of NEO PI-R (N=79) 109

Table 9 Alpha reliability coefficients of subscales of SDS (N = 79)

110

Table 10 Item-total correlations of subscales of SDS (N = 79) 112

Table 11 Inter-correlations of SDS Scales (N = 79) 116

Table 12 Alpha reliability coefficients of main scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

126

Table 13 Item-total correlations of each item with respective subscales of

NEO PI-R (N = 596)

127

Table 14 Inter-correlations between subscales and main scale of

Neuroticism (N = 596)

129

Table 15 Inter-correlations between subscales and main scale of

Extraversion (N = 596)

130

Table 16 Inter-correlations between subscales and main scale of Openness

(N = 596)

131

Table 17 Inter-correlations between subscales and main scale of

Agreeableness (N = 596)

132

Table 18 Inter-correlations between subscales and main scale of

Conscientiousness (N = 596)

133

Table 19 Inter-correlations between five domains of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

133

Table 20 Alpha reliability coefficients of subscales of SDS (N = 596)

134

Table 21 Item-total correlations of each item with respective subscales of 136

SDS (N = 596)

Table 22 Inter-correlations of SDS Scales (N = 596) 140

Table 23 Inter-correlations between 5 main scales including 30 facet scales

of NEO PI-R and 6 summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

144

Table 24 Summary of Multiple Regression Analysis for Demographic and

Five Domains of Personality on the six Personality Types

(N = 596)

148

Table 25 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of male and female

students on five domain scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

150

Table 26 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Science and

Arts group students on five domain scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

151

Table 27 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Urban and Rural

students on five domain scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

152

Table 28 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of 9th and 10th

class students on five domain scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

153

Table 29 Mean and standard deviation between three groups of students

based on parents education on the scores of five domain scales of

NEO PI-R (N = 596)

154

Table 30 One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) between three groups of

students based on parents education on the scores of five domain

scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

155

Table 31 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Lower age (14

to 16 yrs) and Upper age (17 to 19 yrs) groups of students on main

scales NEO PI-R (N = 596)

156

Table 32 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Male and

Female students on main summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

157

Table 33 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Science and

Arts group students on main summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

158

Table 34 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Urban and Rural

students on main summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

159

Table 35 Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of 9th and 10th

class students on main summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

160

Table 36 Mean and standard deviation between three groups of students

based on parents education on the scores of six personality types of

SDS (N = 596)

161

Table 37 One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) between three groups of

students based on parents education on the scores of six

personality types of SDS (N = 596)

162

Table 38 Frequencies of highest summary codes of students on six

personality types of SDS (N = 596)

180

Table 39 Frequencies of highest summary codes of male (N = 319) and

female ( N = 277) students on six personality types of SDS

181

Table 40 Frequencies of highest Summary codes of Science (N = 304) and

Arts ( N = 292) group students on six personality types of SDS

182

Table 41 Vocational aspirations of the students (N = 482) 192

Table 42 The frequencies of highest summary codes of male (N = 243) and

female (N = 239) students on six personality types of SDS

192

Table 43 Mean and standard deviation between five groups of students

based on vocational aspirations on their scores on five domains of

NEO PI-R (N = 482)

193

Table 44 Repeated measure analysis of variance (ANOVA) between five

groups of students based on vocational aspirations on their scores

on five domains of NEO PI-R (N = 482)

194

Table 45 Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose vocational

aspiration is Doctor (N = 193)

195

Table 46 Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose vocational

aspiration is Army (N = 139)

196

Table 47 Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose vocational

aspiration is Teacher (N = 58)

197

Table 48 Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose vocational

aspiration is Lawyer (N = 55)

198

Table 49 Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose vocational

aspiration is Engineer (N = 37)

199

Table 50 Frequencies obtained from highest Summary code of five groups

of students (males and females) based on vocational aspirations via

hexagonal model (N = 482)

200

Table 51 Alpha reliability coefficients of five domains of personality of

Evaluation sheet (N = 25)

214

Table 52 Item-total correlations of five domains of Evaluation sheet (N =25) 214

Table 53 Inter-correlations of main scales of Evaluation sheet (N = 25) 215

Table 54 Mean and standard deviation between five groups of experts based

on their scores on five domains of Evaluation sheet (N = 25)

216

Table 55 Repeated measure Analysis of variance (ANOVA) between five

groups of experts based on their scores on five domains of

Evaluation sheet (N = 25)

217

Table 56 Frequencies of expert opinions about personality types

corresponding with their careers (N = 25)

218

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 Five Main Domains and 30 Facets of NEO PI-R 15

Figure 2 Hexagonal Structure of Hollandrsquos model 25

Figure 3

Figure 4

The Personality types (Holland 1985)

Hexagonal Representation of Inter correlations of SDS scales

(N = 596)

26

100

Figure 5 Sample Distribution in Schools 122

Figure 6 Sample Distribution within Schools 122

Figure 7 Hexagonal Representation of Inter-correlations of SDS Scales

(N = 596)

142

Figure 8 Hexagonal Representation of Inter-correlations of SDS Scales

(Naheed 1988) (N = 114)

143

LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix A Scoring Procedure for Vocational Aspirations on Hexagonal Model

Appendix B Focus Group Guidelines for Students

Appendix C Focus Group Guidelines for Teachers

Appendix D Demographical Questionnaire

Appendix E Future Possibilities Questionnaire

Appendix F Evaluation Sheet

Appendix G Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

NEO PI-R (Urdu Version)

Appendix H

Appendix I

Facets Scale of NEO PI-R (Urdu Version)

Answer Sheet NEO PI-R

Appendix J Self Directed Search SDS (Urdu Version)

Appendix K

Appendix L

List of Schools

List of difficult words generally asked by the students on

NEO PI-R

Appendix M List of difficult concepts generally asked by the students on SDS

1

Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

Personality traits and vocational interests are two major non-cognitive

domains in the field of psychology from dispositional realm These dispositional

attributes are important as they influence many outcomes related with work and life

success They both can measure individual differences The exact nature of the

association between the two domains remains vague despite hundreds of studies

(Borgen 1986 Hansen 1984)

The extensively used models are the Five Factor Model (FFM) of personality

(Costa amp McCrae 1992a) and Hollands model of vocational interests (Holland

1985a) They both contributed the common objective of predicting and explaining

individuals work behaviors FFM focus on ways of acting thinking and feeling

Whereas Hollandlsquos vocational theory focuses on individuals preferences

It is believed that the relationship between personality and vocational

interests would be very significant when individualslsquo behavioral tendencies match

their preferences The theoretical overlap between personality and vocational

interests has been consistently established by many researchers (eg Ackerman amp

Heggestad 1997 Barrett 2009 Barrick Mount amp Gupta 2003 Berings De Fruyt

amp Bouwen 2004 Bullock amp Reardon 2008 Duffy Borges amp Hartung 2009

Ehrhart amp Makransky 2007 Harris Vernon Johnson amp Jang 2006 Hartman amp

2

Betz 2007 Hogan amp Blake 1996 Larson Rottinghaus amp Borgen 2002 Logue

Lounsbury Gupta Frederick amp Leong 2007 Nauta 2004 Staggs Larson amp

Borgen 2007 Zhang 2008)

The applicability of FFM in many populations with diverse cultures has been

determined (Costa amp Widiger 1994 McCrae 1992) The relevance of the FFM to

children has been established by Digman and Takemoto-Chock (1981) This ground-

breaking work has been followed by some significant researches in youth (Digman amp

Inouye 1986 Logue et al 2007 McCrae et al 2005 Zhang 2008) as well as in

older sample (Chapman Duberstein Soumlrensen amp Lyness 2007)

The five dimensions of FFM (Neuroticism Extraversion Openness

Agreeableness and Conscientiousness) have been thoroughly extracted by means of

diverse instruments and assessment sources (Somer amp Goldberg 1999) by using

factorial techniques (Goldberg 1990) on samples of subjects of varying ages

(Costa amp McCrae 1988b De Fruyt Mervielde Hoekstra amp Rolland 2000 Digman

amp Shemelyov 1996 Mervielde amp De Fruyt 2000) and from various cultures using a

psycho-lexical approach (Anglo-American Goldberg 1990 1992 Hofstee DeRaad

amp Goldberg 1992 Saucier 1997 German Ostendorf 1990 Dutch De Raad 1992

Czech Hrebickova 1995 Polish Szarota 1996 Turkish Somer amp Goldberg 1999)

Holland (1966b) has conceptualized vocational interests as expressions of

personality (Holland 1999 Sullivan amp Hansen 2004) He termed the six vocational

3

types ie Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising and Conventional

(RIASEC) as Personality typeslsquo (see Holland 1973) Hollands assumed that

individuals will show a liking for occupations which match to their personal way of

life (Pryor 1986) Such a match will help in adjustment and eventually occupational

success on multiple levels

Personality measures explain the social skills and drive required to succeed

whereas measures of Vocational interest describe a person liking for an occupation

Thus these measures are related supplemental but not identical Some personality

traits may correspond with many vocational interests whereas other may not match

with any vocational interests

Personal occupational daydreams are good predictor of vocational choices

and are supported in the literature review (Brown amp Brooks 1991 Crabbs 1979

Sarnoff amp Remer 1982 Touchton amp Magoon 1977 Yanico 1981) Holland

Fritzsche and Powell (1994) indicated that current vocational aspirations are a

predictor of career choices (Hirschi amp Laumlge 2008 Miller Springer Tobacyk amp

Wells 2004)

Pakistan being a developing country have achieved some economical

development but yet not developed the high standard of professional skills in human

resource The professional skills are not crystallized Hence there seems to be a state

of chaos where individuals are not clear which vocations suit their interests and

abilities Hence it is of paramount importance to focus students in their school years

4

to understand their personality and vocational interests so that they can be guided to

choose suitable career in future The present study focused on the personality and

vocational interests of high school students The relationships among personality

vocational aspirations and vocational interests also require some exploration Such an

exploration needs a delineation of the concept of personality and vocational interests

Personality

Personality is a complex concept which is difficult to define Allport (1937)

and Murray (1938) defined personality but wide-ranging definitions covering all

aspects like intra psychic qualities of mind and body relations to others and

personal goals is yet to surface

According to Hogan (1991) personality refers to the social reputation the

way an individual is perceived by others The other aspect is private and must be

inferred as it refers to processes and propensities which explain why a person

behaves in a specific way

Personality traits referred to the stable characteristics which are

psychological in nature and provide reasons for persons behavior These traits

described a person and determine his emotional cognitive and behavioral

propensities Costa and McCrae (1989) defined ―personality as enduring emotional

5

interpersonal experiential attitudinal and motivational styles that explain behavior

in different situations Funder (2002) described personality as pattern of thought

emotion and behavior Larsen and Buss (2005) defined personality as ―the set of

psychological traits and mechanisms within the individual that are organized and

relatively enduring and that influence his or her interactions with and adaptations to

the intra-psychic physical and social environments (P4)

Psychological Traits

According to Larson and Buss (2005) psychological traits help to describe

people and recognize the dimensions of individual differences Second they may

facilitate to explain behavior Third traits help to predict the behavior Thus

personality helps in describing explaining and predicting individual differences

which are the hallmarks of good scientific theory

Psychological traits are fairly organized and enduring Personality is

organized because it includes decision rules and it is relatively enduring over time

and situation However some situation may be over-powering and suppress the

expression of psychological traits The person-environment interaction is a complex

personality feature and is difficult to describe The interaction with situations

included perceptions selections evocations and manipulations People interpret or

see an environment choose situations to enter and go about show reactions which

6

are produced in others and manipulate the ways to influence others All these forms

of interaction are important to understand the links between the personalities of

people and the nature of their environment

Adaptive functioning is another main feature of personality dealing with

coping adjusting and dealing with the challenges of life Generally the human

behavior is goal-directed functional and purposeful This adaptation is with

reference to physical social and intra-psychic environment The physical

environment often poses challenge for people which may be a direct threat to

survival Social environment also poses adaptive challenges The way one struggles

for belongingness love and esteem is actually coping with social environment

People have dreams needs fantasies are nevertheless real to everyone as an

important part of their psychological reality Thus social physical and intra-psychic

environment provides an important context for understanding human personality

Domains of Knowledge

The field of personality can be smartly segmented into different domains of

knowledge These consist of dispositional biological intra-psychic cognitive-

experiential social and cultural and adjustment domains as described by Larson and

Buss (2005) Dispositional domain deals with the individual differences Biological

domain assumed that human is collections of biological system and is illustrated as

the psychophysiology of personality Intra-psychic domain dealt with mental

7

mechanism of personality which generally operates at unconscious level Cognitive-

Experiential domain emphasizes on conscious thoughts feelings desires and beliefs

Adjustment domain referred to the coping adapting and adjusting in day to day

lives In the present study the dispositional domain of personality has been taken as

the theoretical base for exploring individual differences

Historical Background of Traits Research

Sir Francis Galton was the first scientist to recognize that personality

differences in peoplelsquos lives would eventually became encoded into their language

now known as the lexical hypothesis Allport and Odbert (1936) extracted 17953

adjectives and later reduced this gigantic list to 4500 personality describing words

Cattell (1943) as a starting point for his lexical analysis of personality traits reduced

the list and ended with a smaller set of 35 clusters of personality traits Fiske (1949)

later took a subset of 22 of Cattelllsquos 35 clusters and discovered five factors through

factor analysis Fiske is distinguished as the first person to determine five factor

model Tupes and Chiristal (1961) made the next major contribution to the five factor

taxonomy They studied the factor structure of 22 simplified descriptions in eight

samples and ended up with the five factor model Norman (1963) also found five

factors of personality traits Goldberg (1981) based on his lexical project found the

five factors

8

The event that led to the widespread acceptance of FFM among personality

researchers during 1980s was a symposium in Honolulu It is also followed by the

publication of the Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory Revised

(NEO PI-R) by Costa and McCrae (1992a) FFM established the common taxonomy

to understand one another

Taxonomies of Personality

Over the past century dozens of taxonomies of personality traits have been

proposed most of which are found on the intuitions of personality psychologists

Some of the taxonomies that have solid and empirical justifications are discussed

below

Eysenckrsquos Hierarchical Model of Personality

Eysenck (1981) developed a model of personality based on traits believed to

be highly heritable The three main traits were extraversion---introversion (E)

neuroticism---emotional stability (N) and psychoticism (P) and could be remembered

by an acronym PEN Eysencklsquos hierarchical model has super traits at top level and

narrow traits at the second level There is a third level of habitual acts and specific

traits are at the very lowest level

9

Extraversion included a large number of narrow traitsmdashsociable active

dominant lively etc These narrow traits co-vary significantly with each other to

load on the same large factor extraversionlsquo Eysenck and Eysenck (1975) described

extraverts as typically like to attend social parties strives for friendships and seem to

have people around them Introverts in contrast are aloof and distant prefer quiet

time and generally have predictable lifestyle (Larsen amp Kasimatis 1990) Thus

extraversion and introversion are central dimensions of human personality

Neuroticism consisted of a cluster of more specific traits like anxious lacking

self esteem tense moody irritable and guilty High scorers on neuroticism tend to

be worrier anxious and depressed The low-N scorers are more emotionally stable

balanced and calm and collected under stressful situations The third trait

Psychoticism consist of narrow traits like aggressive impulsive egocentric lacking

empathy and antisocial The high-P scorer is typically a solitary individual lacks

empathy laughs when someone gets hurt accidentally and shows insensitivity to the

pain and sufferings of others However the analyses of study by Aziz and Jackson

(2001) suggested that the five factor model was more forceful as compared to three-

factor model in the Pakistani data

Cattellrsquos Taxonomy

Cattell (1943) can be recognized with developing a strong empirical strategy

for identifying the basic dimensions of personality and with stimulating and

10

determining the entire trait approach to personality Cattelllsquos taxonomy consisted of

16 personality factors the largest in terms of the number of factors identified as basic

traits He tried to define describe explain and predict individual differences and

applied factor analysis to understand personality The 16 factors scales are

interpersonal warmth imagination boldness intelligence emotional stability

dominance impulsivity tension conformity insecurity suspiciousness shrewdness

sensitivity self-sufficiency self-discipline and radicalism

Although Cattell (1943) used factor analysis to find out common trait his

theory has not been effectively replicated Second order factor analyses of the 16

Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF Cattell Eber amp Tatsuoka 1970) pointed to

a model similar to the FFM (Cattell 1995 Krug amp Johns 1986) The numbers of

meta-analyses have confirmed the predictive value of Big Five across a wide range

of behavior

Five Factor Model (FFM)

The FFM (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) described the basic dimensions of

personality Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Agreeableness and

Conscientiousness These dimensions have been repeatedly recovered in factor

analyses in varied situations and populations (Costa amp McCrae 1985 Goldberg

1990 McCrae amp Costa 1987 Norman amp Goldberg 1966 Passini amp Norman 1966

Tupes amp Christal 1961) Similarly five factor structure have been reported and

11

evaluated by many investigators (Digman 1990 Digman amp Inouye 1986 Goldberg

1990 1992 John 1990 McCrae amp Costa 1987 McCrae amp John 1992 Wiggins amp

Pincus 1992) In many researches FFM has provided a suitable structure to interpret

and organize other personality systems (McCrae amp Costa 1985a 1989b Piedmont

McCrae amp Costa 1991)

One of the important characteristic of FFM is that the factors are dimensions

where people fall in between the extremes The five main dimensions and their facets

are heritable to some extent (Jang McCrae Angleitner Reimann amp Livesley 1998

Loehlin McCrae Costa amp John 1998) These factors are generally considered

universal recovered even in German and Chinese languages (McCrae amp Costa

1997)

Costa and McCrae used the NEO personality scales as a structure to

incorporate other measurement approaches like those developed by Eysenck (Costa

amp McCrae 1985) Jackson (Costa amp McCrae 1988a) Spielberger (Costa amp McCrae

1987) and Wiggins (McCrae amp Costa 1989b) It included scales like MMPI (Costa

Busch Zonderman amp McCrae 1986) and the MBTI (McCrae amp Costa 1989c)

These results provided commanding evidence in favor of the FFM in

subsuming other trait models of human personality During the last two decades

FFM received the most consideration and support from personality researchers

(Costa amp McCrae 1995a Goldberg 1981 McCrae amp John 1992 Saucier amp

12

Goldberg 1996 Wiggins 1996) as well as strong critics (Block 1995a 2001 Brand

1995 Briggs 1992 Cattell 1996 Costa amp McCrae 1992b 1995b Eysenck 1992

Goldberg amp Saucier 1995 Loevinger 1994 McAdam 1992 Pervin 1994)

FFM got tremendous support from personality psychologists (Digman amp

Shmelyov 1996 Kallasmaa Allik Realo amp McCrae 2000 Rolland Parker amp

Stumpf 1998 Somer amp Goldberg 1999 Tsuji et al 1997) in cross cultural studies

The FFM is claimed to be empirically rooted and theoretically sound model of

personality (as cited in Gill amp Hodgkinson 2007)

Personality and Culture

Recent years have seen an interest in studies of personality and culture

(Church 2001 Church amp Lonner 1998 Lee McCauley amp Draguns 1999 McCrae

2000) McCrae Yik Trapnell Bond and Paulhus (1998) determined the cross

cultural generalization of FFM using Chinese translations and American English of

NEO PI-R on samples in Germany Italy and South Korea The results showed that

the differences between Hong Kong and North American undergraduates and

between undergraduates of European and Chinese living in Canada were cultural in

origin

A significant criterion of the validity of a model of personality is its cross

cultural validity that is independent of culture (John Goldberg amp Angleitner 1984)

13

Berry (1969) suggested classic distinction about research which can be divided into

two categories The emic approach aimed at discovering the constructs specific to

each culture by gathering specific linguistic material in each culture and the etic

approach on the contrary aimed at verifying whether the constructs identified in a

given culture can be found in another context thereby attempting to distinguish

universals In short studies based on the psycho-lexical approach often integrated an

emic approach where as studies using lexical markers or standardized inventories

used an etic approach Some research combined both approaches that are called an

integrated method thus enabling both cross cultural universals and specific

dimensions to be recognized (Katigbak Church amp Akamine 1996 Yang amp Bond

1990 Yik amp Bond 1993) In the present study etic approach was overwhelmingly

used along with emic approach to explore the culture specific aspects related to

personality and vocational interests

During the review of literature there seems to be some dispute on the topic of

personality and culture This controversy is also identified by Knyazev Zupančič

and Slobodskaya (2008) and Triandis and Suh (2002) McCrae and Costa (2003)

claimed that personality traits are enduring tendencies while Shweder (1991) argued

against it and argued that global traits do not exist Applicability of FFM across

Pakistani culture needs to be explored in order to analyze the existing available

literature

14

McCrae and Costa (1997) claimed that personality traits are human universal

and can be found in all cultures Nevertheless the way in which these characteristics

are expressed is shaped by culture and experience (McCrae 2001 2002 McCrae amp

Costa 2008) Allik and McCrae (2004) showed similar personality profiles by

conducting secondary analyses with FFM data from 36 cultures They observed that

European and American cultures were higher in Extraversion and Openness to

Experience and lower in Agreeableness as compared to Asian cultures

Costa Terracciano and McCrae (2001) mentioned smallest gender

differences in personality among Asian and African cultures as compared to Europe

cultures Such studies demonstrated that comparing personality across cultures could

be helpful for understanding the dynamics associated with culture and personality

(Schmitt Allik McCrae amp Benet-Martinez 2007) Finally there is a sort of national

character (see Allik amp McCrae 2004 Schmitt et al 2007) that may interact with

culture to shape the manifestation of acquired needs in work settings

The majority of cross-cultural studies on personality have been conducted

with adults or late adolescents However there are few studies conducting on children

with reference to FFM (Gartstein Knyazev amp Slobodskaya 2005) Few studies

incorporated parentslsquo view of children which may be different in different cultures

These problems can be overcome by comparing cross-cultural differences through

self-reports and opinion from the experts These procedures have been being adopted

in the present study in order to examine the personality and vocational interests of

15

high school students and evaluate the findings with the opinion of the experts A

comprehensive measure of personality has been developed based on FFM by Costa

and McCrae (1992a)

Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO PI-R)

The NEO PI-R (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) is a measure of the five main

domains of personality as well as the 6 facets representing each domain The 5

domain scales and 30 facet scales of the NEO PI-R are

Five Domains Facets

Neuroticism (N)

Anxiety Angry Hostility Depression Self-

Consciousness Impulsiveness Vulnerability

Extraversion (E)

Warmth Gregariousness Assertiveness Activity

Excitement-Seeking Positive Emotions

Openness (O) Fantasy Aesthetics Feelings Actions Ideas

Values

Agreeableness (A)

Trust Straightforwardness Altruism Compliance

Modesty Tender-Mindedness

Conscientiousness (C)

Competence Order Dutifulness Achievement

Striving Self-Discipline Deliberation

Figure 1 Five main Domains and 30 Facets of NEO PI-R

16

NEO PI-R is a well designed instrument The instructions are quite clear and

self-explanatory It has proven its value in personality research and provides

comprehensive assessment of personality and facet traits It is quite useful in any

research on personality correlates like moral development (Lonky Kaus amp Roodin

1984) ego identity status (Tesch amp Cameron 1987) response to psychotherapy

(Miller 1991) and coping with military basic training (Vickers Kolar amp Hervig

1989)

The wide use of NEO PI-R in several cross cultural investigations attested its

broad based applicability and practical validity which has earned a status of cross

cultural instrument (Yang et al 1999) The use of NEO PI-R as an inventory in

English language may be limited to English literate population in Pakistan so the

need was felt to use the already translated version of NEO PI-R in Urdu language

(Chishti 2002) which is a national and widely understood language of Pakistan

NEO PI-R items can be administered orally by an interviewer without loss of

validity (Costa amp McCrae 1992b) It is a useful instrument which can be applied on

different populations It has also been used successfully in college students (Wiggins

amp Pincus 1989) and also on individuals having only high school education One of

the greatest strength of the instrument is its comprehensiveness If some scales are

omitted important relations with other criteria may be missed There is no time limit

for completing NEO PI-R however change can be introduced in the procedures to

17

facilitates individuals with poor reading skills The shorter version of the instrument

is also available

The NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI)

This is a shortened version with only 60 items measuring 5-factors of

personality It is a self-report and can be administered to adults with a 6th grade

reading level The time for administration is 10-15 minutes It correlated with the

NEO PI-R domain scales at 77 to 92 and has a 68 to 86 internal consistency

values However NEOndashFFI (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) measures only the broad five

domains and is not a comprehensive inventory like NEO PI-R which also measures

facets scales representing each main domain Hence NEO PI-R has been used in the

present study to measure the higher and lower order personality pattern of students

Urdu Version of NEO PI-R

The adaptation translation and cross validation of NEO PI-R in Urdu

language has been conducted in Pakistan by Chishti (2002) The back translation

method was used and 4 culture specific items ie 52 68 105 and 157 were adapted

in accordance with Pakistani culture The Urdu version and original English version

of NEO PI-R were administered on sample of Pakistan Air Force cadets The

reliability and validity of the Urdu version of NEO PI-R was established The Alpha

reliability coefficient for Urdu version ranged from 73 (Openness) to 89

18

(Conscientiousness) whereas the Alpha coefficients of English version ranged from

37 (Openness) to 80 (Neuroticism) This research demonstrated that Pakistani

version of Revised NEO Personality Inventory is a reliable and valid instrument for

the Pakistani subjects

Critical Analysis of Five Factor Model of Personality

Block (1995a) and Rounds and Zevon (1983) claimed researchers may group

words together to bias the results of a lexical hypothesis with personality adjectives

to reduce the number of redundant synonyms Block (1995a) identified

developmental issues and limited work experience related to researches conducted on

college students especially when occupational interests were examined In the scope

of the present study these limitations will not matter as Hollandlsquos model was

originally developed with high school and college students

Although validation studies on FFM of personality are well constructed

plentiful and impressive (Juni 1995) however confusion in wording statement and

use of compound sentences may pose validity problems Overall this inventory can

be used in both theory and practice contexts A demographically representative

normative group would help in generalizing the instrument to various populations

Miller (1991) noted that the FFM can be used in treatment plans of patient in a

systematic way without loss of compassion for the patient

19

It has been established that the FFM is quite attuned with well known

psychological theories Although Eysenck (1991) supported the PEN model as more

appropriate but majority of psychologists are in favor of factor-analytic FFM models

in the background of current psychological research (Ewen 1998) The FFMlsquos

compatibility with other models showed that this model is compatible with other

factor-analytical models McMartin (1995) favored the structure of personality

consisting of five big traits rather than Eysencklsquos model

The Five main dimensions have shown convergent and discriminant validity

across different instruments (McCrae amp Costa 1990) Nonetheless shortcomings of

the FFM have been discussed by many researchers (Eysenck 1991 John amp Robins

1993 McAdams 1992 Waller amp Ben-Porath 1987) McCrae and John (1992) have

described there are disputes among five-factorists about the best interpretation of

the factors there are certainly important distinctions to be made at the level of the

more molecular traits that define the factors and it is possible that there are other

basic dimensions of personality (p 177)

McAdams (1992) stated that FFM cannot achieve the title of the unified

psychological theory being just a list of five variables to identify and classify

personality traits Digman (1990) stated that five dimensions of personality can be

measured with high reliability and validity providing support to the personality

structure It appeared that the FFM holds well across cultural context

20

A five-factor outcome was clearly evident in studies conducted in Japan

Philippines and Germany (Digman 1990) One of the limitations of the FFM is that

it failed to anticipate behavior in many situations However FFM was complementary

and combatable to other theories including Freuds highly subjective theory of

psychoanalysis The stumbling block for the greatness of FFM is the criticism that

the model was not a theory rather just an idea for means of classification

The FFM have been well established as predictors of success in many

occupations involving managerial and semi-skilled roles (Barrick amp Mount 1991

Barrick et al 2001 Hurtz amp Donovan 2000 Mount Barrick amp Stewart 1998

Salgado 1998 2003 Tett Jackson amp Rothstein 1991) NEO PI-R offered

information that may be valuable to the counselor or clinician in many ways (Miller

1991 Muten 1991) Two of the NEO PI-R domains Openness and

Conscientiousness are promise to be of particular interest in the area of educational

psychology Vocational interests are strongly related to personality particularly to

Extraversion and Openness (Costa McCrae amp Holland 1984) NEO PI-R scales can

form a useful complement for vocational interests (McCrae amp Costa 1991a)

21

Vocational Interests

Vocational interests have been defined by many researchers (Dawis 1991

Savickas 1999) Interests as activities that are collection of likes and dislikes (Cole

amp Hanson 1978 Strong 1960 Kuder 1977) Bingham (1937) viewed interests as a

dispositional tendency and Carter (1944) described interests as attitudes that reflect

stable personality traits Holland (1973) stated that vocational interests are simply

another aspect of personality hellip If vocational interests are expressions of personality

then it follows that interest inventories are personality inventories (p7)

To be more precise vocational psychology is concerned an individuals

choice of a particular occupation and is related to satisfaction and productivity in it

Strong (1927) published the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) for Men for the

assessment of vocational interests Kuder (1934) introduced the Kuder Preference

Record (Walsh amp Osipow 1986) Holland (1957) published his prolific theory of

vocational choice and developed Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) and Self-

Directed Search to measure interest and personality types In the present study

vocational interests of the students are measured by the Self-Directed Search

22

The Concept of Fit or Congruence

The concept of fit or congruencelsquo between the person and the environment

attracted attention of many psychologists (Edwards 1991 Kristof 1996 Schneider

1987) People choose jobsworking settings which depend on many different factors

like pay and security (Argyle Furnham amp Graham 1981 Furnham amp Koritsas

1990) People have some choices to choose the vocational environment however

vocational choices or preferences are not free from restraints due to personality

influences demographic and economic constraints

Vocational interests reflect individual choices in engaging in tasks and

activities of their choice They liked to be in environments where they are attracted

by the people like them Congruency is the basic concept (French Rogers amp Cobb

1974) of compatibility between personality and the environment For example a

social personality in a social environment would prove to be highly satisfied with

opportunities and rewards

Due to rapid developments in technology the nature of jobs evolves and

changes quickly People can adapt himself to new job and even develop striking

changes in attitudes and work-related behavior Most organizations attempt through

various techniques to motivate individualslsquo behavior by giving remarkable incentives

(Furnham 1994) Even then the individual may quickly develop a misfit while other

23

negotiates for special privileges despite certain constraints (Argyle Furnham amp

Graham 1981)

In Pakistani job market where it is not easy to choose an appropriate career

that suits onelsquos personality and vocational interests thus despite having all the

motivation and suitable skills people may be unable to attain their desired careers

The economic state and policies are reflective of availability of jobs in the region

Moreover some factors like sex culture education social class may hinder people to

choose particular careers which they like most especially in developing countries

There are chances that people may continue to be in the job despite a mismatch

between interests and environment

Hollands typology advocated that congruence between interests and

environment is associated with greater satisfaction and is supported by many others

(Assouline amp Meir 1987 Mount amp Muchinsky 1978 Spokane 1985) There is a

dearth of literature in the field of vocational interests and the work environment in

Pakistani context Hence there is a requirement to investigate the level of congruence

between interests and environment of Pakistani potential workforce

Holland Theory of Vocational Choices

The work of Holland (1973 1985a and 1997) in the domain of vocational

interests stands out like a colossus He introduced an occupational classification

24

system (1958 1959 1966a 1966b) and a theory of vocational interests which

attracted substantial attention (Campbell amp Borgen 1999 McDaniel amp Snell 1999

Tracey amp Rounds 1993 1997)

Holland explicitly recognized the role of personality (1959 1966a 1973

1997) in his theory of vocational personalities and work environments He is of the

view that individuallsquos satisfaction depends on the match between hisher personality

and occupational environment

Although there was a criticism on Hollandlsquos typology (eg Gati 1991) yet

it has been widely studied in the vocational literature It has been emerged repeatedly

in cross-cultural analyses (Day amp Rounds 1998) and its generalizability has been

supported in large samples (Rounds amp Tracey 1993 Tracey amp Rounds 1993)

Holland (19731985a) theorized that personality traits self-knowledge and

occupational knowledge reflect career choices In making career choices

environmental factors like family school and social environment have a large role to

play Despite these constraints individuals searched for the type of environment

that suitscongruent with their personality type The theory specified a hexagonal

structure wherein each of the six RIASEC types appears on one point of the hexagon

It is assumed that adjacent types are most similar than types positioned opposite of

one another on the hexagon The types placed on alternate positions have a moderate

level of similarity Hollandlsquos career theory is based on concepts like match between

25

interest and work environment (congruence) difference between the highest and

lowest interest (differentiation) and similarity between the top few interests

(consistency) as mentioned by Leong and Gupta (2006) The hexagonal structural of

Holland model is represented below

Figure 2 Hexagonal structure of Holland Model (1985a)

Note R = Realistic I = Investigative A = Artistic S = Social E = Enterprising C = Conventional

Thus R-I relationship would be more consistentcongruent then R-A which is

on alternate type R-S relationship would be least consistent which are placed

opposite to each other The six personality types and their personality description are

shown below

I

E S

C A

R

26

The Realistic type like realistic jobs Has

mechanical abilities but may lack social

skills Is described as

Asocial Inflexible Practical

Conforming Materialistic Self-Effacing

Frank Natural Thrifty

Genuine Normal Uninsightful

Hardheaded Persistent Uninvolved

The Investigative type likes

investigative jobs Has mathematical and

scientific ability but often lacks

leadership ability Is described as

Analytical Independent Rational

Cautious Intellectual Reserved

Critical Introspective Retiring

Complex Pessimistic Unassuming

Curious Precise Unpopular

The Artistic type likes artistic jobs Has

writing musical or artistic abilities but

often lacks clerical skills Is described as

Complicated Imaginative Intuitive

Disorderly Impractical Nonconforming

Emotional Impulsive Open

Expressive Independent Original

Idealistic Introspective Sensitive

The Social type like social jobs Has

social skills and talents but often lack

mechanical and scientific ability Is

described as

Ascendant Helpful Responsible

Cooperative Idealistic Sociable

Empathic Kind Tactful

Friendly Patient Understanding

Generous Persuasive Warm

The Enterprising type like enterprising

jobs Has leadership and speaking

abilities but often lacks scientific ability

Is described as

Acquisitive Energetic Flirtatious

Adventurous Excitement- Optimistic

Agreeable seeking Self-Confident

Ambitious exhibitionistic Sociable

Domineering Extroverted Talkative

The Conventional type like conventional

jobs Has clerical and arithmetic abilities

but often lacks artistic ability Is

described as

Careful Inflexible Persistent

Conforming Inhibited Practical

Conscientious Methodical Prudish

Defensive Obedient Thrifty

Efficient Orderly Unimaginative

Figure 3 The personality types (Holland 1985a)

27

Hollandlsquos hexagon typically has been measured comprehensively with the

Self-Directed Search (SDS) (Holland 1985a) The other measures are the Strong

Interest Inventory (SII) (Hansen 1984 Hansen amp Campbell 1985 Harmon Hansen

Borgen amp Hammer 1994) and the Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) (Holland

1985c)

Hollands measure has been applied in many settings like in managerial work

(Maurer amp Tarulli 1997) It has also been applied to the situations like career change

(Oleski amp Subich 1996) and academic comfort (Mullis Mullis amp Brailsford 1997)

Career development over the life span has been studied by Richards (1993)

Concurrent validity studies have been conducted using Hollands measures in many

studies (Bikos Krieshok amp OBrien 1998 Harmon Borgen Berreth King Schauer

amp Ward 1996 Zachar amp Leong 1997)

Hollands personality types have been related with other personality measures

like the MBTI (Nordvik 1996) and the NEO-PI (Holland Johnston amp Asama

1994) It has also been related with the EPQ (Goh amp Leong 1993) Bem Sex Role

Inventory (Miller Knippers Burley amp Tobacyk 1993) and Attachment styles

(Randolph amp Waldrop 1995)

Various cross-cultural validations studies have been conducted on Hollands

theory in countries like Hong Kong (Farh Leong amp Law 1998) Britain (Furnham

Toop Lewis amp Fisher 1995) and Portugal (Alves Joaquim amp Hood 1995) A

study conducted by Haverkamp Collins and Hansen (1994) and Ryan Tracey and

Rounds (1996) found mixed support for the theory in Asian-American employees

28

and in African-American and white high school students However cross cultural

validation of Holland theory in Pakistan conducted by Naheed (1988) provided some

support for the theory

In the existing literature congruence satisfaction relationship has got mixed

support Young Tokar and Subich (1998) found that the congruence--satisfaction

relation as a function of personality type while Furnham (1994) noted that

extroversion and neuroticism may be associated with job satisfaction Carson and

Mowsesian (1993) found little support for the congruence--satisfaction relationships

The present study would help in identifying the level of congruence between the

interests and aspirations of students

In Pakistan the Holland theory was applied but with some adaptation there

are few occupations which are totally uncalled for Pakistani population and they even

do not know about them Therefore there was a requirement to adapt this model to

the Pakistani population The adaptation and translation of SDS was carried out by

Naheed (1988) in accordance to the cultural relevance of Pakistani population and is

used in the present study to measure the vocational interests

Cross cultural studies revealed mix support for the Holland model A meta-

analysis by Rounds and Tracey (1996) is supportive of Hollandlsquos model from

samples in the United States Rounds and Day (1999) suggested cross cultures

representations of work might exist emphasizing the importance of structure of

vocational interest across diverse cultures (Fouad 1999) There might be different

clustering of interests as proposed by Holland due to idiosyncratic aspects of

29

occupational perceptions within a cultural context (eg Law Wong amp Leong

2001) Hence applicability of Hollandlsquo model on high school students in Pakistani

culture need to be explored in order to add to the existing cross cultural literature on

vocational interests

Self Directed Search (SDS)

The Self Directed Search (Holland 1985a) is a self-administered and self

interpreted vocation counseling tool It consists of two booklets an assessment

booklet and an occupational classification booklet The SDS was developed with

purpose to provide a vocational counseling to those who do not wish to have access

to vocational counselors The SDS and its underlying typology have also proved to

be helpful research tools in education business and social science

The SDS increases self understanding satisfaction with current vocational

aspirations and interests In three experiments (Avallone 1974 Krivatsy amp Magoon

1976 Nolan 1974) the beneficial effects of the SDS have proved equal to those of

professional counselors The use of SDS is controlled by its user it stimulates

initiative and learning It eliminates the need for separate answer sheets proctors

special testing dates mailing delays scoring-service costs scoring stencils and

elaborate and complex score reports Norms are incorporated in the three letter

occupational codes

30

The SDS is an outgrowth of a theory of vocational interests (Holland 1959

1966b 1973 1985a) which has undergone extensive investigation and won wide

acceptance The relations between personal characteristics and the occupations in the

occupations finder are easily understood because they are grouped by the same code

letters used to summarize a personlsquos characteristics The personal assessment is

carried out on SDS by scoring the scales activities competencies occupations and

self estimates each representing six RIASEC personality types Scores are added

against RIASEC personality types The first three highest scores are the three-letter

summary codes A person compares all the three summary codes with the

occupations in the occupation finder For instance a person has the highest three

summary codes as ESA which match with the occupation lawyerlsquo in the occupation

finder

The first edition of SDS was published in 1971 The 1977 edition closely

resembled 1971 edition however many inconspicuous changes were also made In

1985lsquos edition 59 of the 228 items were revised The most obvious change was the

doubling of the occupational finder from 500 occupations to more than 1100

occupations The Form Easy (E) was developed for adolescents and adults with

limited reading skills The booklet ―you and your career (Holland 1985b) was

developed to make the SDS a more complete and self-directed experience explaining

the typology and dealing with some common interpretive problems The dictionary

of Holland occupational codes is a translation of the Dictionary of occupational titles

(DOT US Department of Labor 1977) into the Holland (1985a) classification

31

system The computer version was developed in 1985 and computer assisted

assessments became common later on (Chauvin amp Miller 2009)

The ease with which the typology and the SDS can be used understood and

communicated has lead to numerous unanticipated adaptations and revisions

Research on the SDS or its adaptations has been conducted in Australia Canada

Japan Netherlands New Zealand Switzerland Italy Israel Nigeria and Guyana

The SDS was found valid and reliable in many countries including China South

Africa and Slovenia (Holland 1995) The same is the case in Pakistan where SDS

has been translated and adapted into Urdu language (Naheed 1988) and was found

valid and reliable The vocational interests of the high school students were measured

in the present study by Urdu translated version of SDS

The SDS is most effective in private settings but the device has also been

used successfully in small groups of 15 to 25 If larger groups must be used monitors

familiar with the SDS are needed for every 25 to 30 persons The SDS is clearly

suitable for persons aged 15 and older but the upper and lower limits have not been

well investigated The reading level is estimated to be at the seventh and eighth grade

levels according to the Dale and Chall (1948) readability formula The SDS with

minor changes has been used successfully with young children males and females

high schoolers college students employed adults Spanish-American and American

Indians

32

Gender Differences

The inconsistent results on gender differences may be due to the different

samples used and to some extent due to cultural differences Holland Fritzsche and

Powell (1997) found that Realistic and Social types are related to gender in high

school students There were significant gender differences in a sample of African

American college students (Swanson 1992) male students had significant higher

scores on realistic investigate enterprising and conventional Holland codes as

compared to female Similar findings were also reported by Hines (1983) on a

sample of black college students Leong Austin Sekaran and Komarraju (1998)

found female workers had higher scores on realistic investigative artistic social

and enterprising than male workers in India

Tang (2001) stated that female students had higher scores on Artistic Social

and Conventional as compared to male students in China Tak (2004) examined

significantly higher scores in realistic enterprising and conventional for male

students and higher scores in artistic and social types for female students The same

findings were reported by Robertu Fox and Tunick (2003)

Mau and Bikos (2000) viewed adolescentslsquo occupational aspirations as

significant determinant of both short-term educational and long-term career choices

and career self-concept (Rojewski 1999) The more the adolescents get mature it is

easier to tap their abilities interests and values in forming their occupational

aspirations (Super 1990)

33

Vocational Aspirations

According to Holland (1962) while testing the predictive validity of a

personlsquos stated vocational aspiration it was discovered that such aspirations

predicted the category of the subsequent aspiration more efficiently than the high-

point code of the VPI or selected scales from the old SVIB Holland (1968)

explained that the most recent preferences are good estimates of what heshe will

choose or do next Consequently it seemed a good idea to have an aspirations section

in the SDS The inclusion of this list of vocational aspirations has proved valuable in

several ways (1) Coding the vocational aspirations leads to efficient predictions of

future aspirations and jobs (2) Discrepancies between the code of the current

aspiration and the SDS code can be used to promote self-understanding and

discussion (3) Assessing a personlsquos expressed aspirations emphasizes the importance

of a personlsquos self-direction and initiative

Daydream Codes

A personlsquos past and current aspirations are elicited in the daydreams section

of SDS The construct and predictive validity of these aspirations is usually as useful

as test information Counselors should notice the first letter code of the three most

recent vocational aspirations If they are the same (eg teacher social worker

recreation directormdashall Slsquos as per occupational finder book) then the likelihood of

the person maintaining a social aspiration is high If the first two of the three

34

aspirations have the same first letter code the predictive validity of the first

aspiration is moderate If the first three aspirations listed belong to different

occupational categories the predictive validity of the current aspiration is low

(Touchton amp Magoon 1977 Olsquo Neil amp Magoon 1977)

Daydream Code vs SDS Code

Several understandings are necessary for the skillful use of the occupational

classification First the codes are approximate not precise Consequently the degree

of discrepancy between SDS codes and occupational codes is rough not precise

Second the first letter of the occupational code is most important most descriptive

and more reliable Although codes shift slightly from sample to sample changes in

the first letter of the code are infrequent Changes in the second and third letters of

codes occur more frequently Third the distribution of occupational codes among

and within the six main categories is extremely uneven The data suggested that

people with flat profiles contradictory profiles or profiles with rare summary codes

present a variety of questions and problems These people have the greatest need of

professional assistance constructive work experience and information (Holland

1985a)

The relation between the code of the current vocational aspiration and the

SDS summary code is very significant When the first letter code of the current

aspiration and the SDS are the same the likelihood of a person maintaining that

aspiration is very high Three studies (Holland amp Lutz 1968 Holland amp Gottfredson

35

1975 Borgen amp Seling 1978) indicated that when interest inventories and reported

aspirations are in disagreement the predictive validity of the vocational aspiration

exceeds that of the interest inventory although the efficiency of this prediction is

much less than when inventory and aspiration are in agreement Hence there is a

requirement to investigate the level of congruence between vocational interests and

vocational aspirations of students within the purview of present study

In evaluating degree of agreement between SDS codes aspirations or

occupational choice the Zener-Schnuelle index (Zener amp Schnuelle 1976) can be

used Iachan (1984) has provided a mathematically more satisfying solution for

determining the agreement between any pair of three-letter codes in a six-variable

system A simpler index of agreement between any two codes can also be obtained

by employing the hexagonal model This simple procedure correlates about 75 with

the Zener-Schnuelle Index The scoring procedure entailed comparing the first letter

codes for the current vocational aspiration and the SDS The higher the score the

closer the agreement In the present study the state of congruence between the

vocational aspirations and vocational interests were determined by employing the

hexagonal model The detailed instructions and the scoring procedure for the

hexagonal model are described in Appendix ―A

Martin et al (2009) with reference to German Vocational Training System

argued that vibrant adjustments of aspirations play a decisive role for a successful

outcome from school to work transition Ali and Saunders (2009) explored the career

aspirations of rural Appalachian high school students and found adolescentslsquo

36

educational aspirations were strongly linked to future occupational aspirations and

career choices Numerous studies supported that occupational aspirations lead to

future career choices (Aziz 2001 Bandura 1986 Bandura Barbaranelli Capara amp

Pastorelli 1996 Eccles Wigfield amp Schiefele 1998 Lent Brown amp Hackett 1994

Rojewski 1999)

Career Development in Childhood

The different stages of childhood and adolescence are regarded as the years of

preparation for adulthood which covers primary school and junior high school

children They make certain decisions about their future careers It has been found

that career conscience develops in primary school students hence they can aspire

their careers in a more realistic way (Auger Blackhurst and Wahl 2005 Magnuson

and Starr 2000 Nazlı 2007 Trice and King 1991 Walls 2000)

Tokar Fischer amp Subich (1998) determined junior high school students can

associate their own characteristics with careers in Turkey Hirschi (2010) examined

the development and reciprocal interaction of vocational interests and career goals

and the relation of their development to basic personality traits in middle

adolescence According to Gottfredson (2002) career aspirationsgoals begin

developing in early childhood by eliminating occupational alternatives that conflict

with onelsquos self-concept Patton and Creed (2007) surveyed Australian high school

students on measures of occupational aspirationsexpectations and career status

aspirationsexpectations

37

The occupational interests and individual personality traits are related have

been found in the literature review (Betz amp Borgen 2000 Costa McCrae amp

Holland 1984 De-Fruyt amp Mervielde 1997 Goh amp Leong 1994 Gottfredson

Jones amp Holland 1993 Hogan amp Blake 1999 Holland Johnston amp Asama 1994

Ozone 1998)

Costa et al (1984) investigated the relationship between personality styles

and vocational interest and indicated gender differences did exist on scales of the

SDS Women scored higher in Artistic Social and Conventional interests and lower

in Realistic Investigative and Enterprising interests Furthermore significant

correlations existed between Investigative and Artistic vocational interests and

Openness and between Social and Enterprising vocational interests and Extraversion

across genders Gottfredson et al (1993) found similar results with the exception of

considerably smaller coefficients than Costa et al (1984)

Interest in examining relationships between personality and vocational

interests has long been examined so there is a requirement to deliberate on the

relationship between personality and vocational interests in Pakistani context

38

Personality and Vocational Interests

Terman (1931) stated ―For understanding an individuallsquos total personality it

is absolutely necessary to know something about the kinds and intensity of his

interests (p xvii) Darley (1941) said that interest development is an outgrowth of

personality development Berdie (1944) said that studies of interests are actually

studies of motivation and understanding the determinants of interests will solve the

riddles of personality origins Berdie hinted that interests and personality share

similar structures because they arise from similar causal determinants Darley and

Hagenah (1955) reviewed this topic extensively placing vocational interest within

personality theory Savickas (1999) masterfully surveyed the history of thought about

the theoretical meaning of interests and personality

Hollandlsquos hexagon model is the icon for an integrative theory describing

persons and environments and their interaction Several articles supported a more

unified view (eg Ackerman amp Heggestad 1997 Blake amp Sackett 1999 Borgen

1986 1999 Costa et al 1984 Holland 1997 1999 Prediger 1999) Spokane and

Decker (1999) stated ―It is increasingly apparent that interests personality self-

efficacy and other variants of personality and vocational self-concept may be facets

of a unified set of complex underlying traits (p 230)

Dawis (1991) clarified that interests are specific activities to attain values and

meet needs and personality traits are ways of acting to meet needs The relationship

39

between personality and interests would be greatest when there is a match between

individuallsquos behavioral tendencies and preferences Ackerman and Heggestad (1997)

found substantial relationship between personality and vocational interests

Hollandlsquos theory (1973 1985a) postulated that vocational interests are an

expression of personality which explicitly ―infers the structure of personality from

the clustering of vocational interests (Costa et al 1984 p 391) Therefore

Hollandlsquos model and the FFM should correspond meaningfully Goldberg (1990)

recommended further evaluation of the modellsquos comprehensiveness by testing its

capacity to encompass individual differences originating from different domains a

reasonable alternative is the structure of vocational interests Gottfredson Jones and

Holland (1993) have empirically assessed the relationship between the big five and

Hollandlsquos structural models

Personality-interest overlap by many researchers using SII (Harmon Hansen

Borgen amp Hammer 1994) and NEO-Personality Inventory-Revised (Carless 1999

Costa amp McCrae 1992a Gottfredson et al 1993 Tokar amp Swanson 1995) have

been explored The meta-analyses between personality and vocational interest have

empirically synthesized this relationship (Barrick et al 2003 Larson et al 2002)

The meta-analysis of Big Three and the Big Six have also been conducted (Staggs

2004) The present study found out the relationship between FFM including its facet

scales with six personality types

40

It is empirically well established that vocational interests show meaningful

relations to basic traits (Barrick et al 2003 Larson et al 2002) although not many

studies with adolescents are available (Hirschi amp Laumlge 2008 Larson amp Borgen

2006) The strongest and most consistent relations across studies are reported

Artistic interests relate moderately (r around 40 to 50) to the openness to experience

domain enterprising interests relate 20 to 50 with the extraversion domain social

interests relate moderately to the extraversion domain (r around 30 to 40)

investigative interests overlap 20 to 60 with the openness to experience domain

(Costa McCrae amp Holland 1984 De Fruyt amp Mervielde 1997 Gottfredson et al

1993 Holland et al 1994 Tokar amp Swanson 1995 Tokar Vaux amp Swanson

1995) and finally social interests correspond modestly (rs around 20) with the

agreeableness domain (De Fruyt amp Mervielde 1997 Tokar et al 1995) Realistic

interests and neuroticism domains were generally non-significantly correlated to

personality trait or interest type respectively

Sullivan and Hansen (2004) viewed interests as activities that are enjoyable

and motivating for individuals whereas personality are behavioral tendencies help in

motivation and determining success in particular activities They suggested the

importance of examining personality traits at facet levels and found that

extraversionlsquos underlying facets (warmth vs assertiveness) related differentially to

enterprising and social interests This distinction cannot be understood by simply

examining the main domain of extraversion Thus individual who is interested in

sales career would be happy and successful if heshe possesses assertivenesssocial

41

dominance disposition which is related to enterprising interests Heshe may not be

very successful if primarily possesses the warmthsociability disposition that is

related to social interests Logue et al (2007) investigated the five main domains

along with narrow personality facet traits He also investigated the vocational interest

linkage to satisfaction with major for college students

Tokar et al (1998) examining the five main domains reported the consistent

linkage between personality and vocational interests They found extraversion

domain correspond with enterprising and social vocational interests whereas

Openness domain has moderate relationship with artistic and investigative interests

Conscientiousness was linked to conventional interests while Agreeableness was

related with social vocational interests Neuroticism domain was generally not found

to be correlated with any vocational interests Similar findings were reported by

Ackerman and Heggestad (1997) and by Carless (1999)

This showed that consistent patterns of relationships between personality and

vocational interests have been established The meta-analysis conducted by Larson et

al (2002) found openness to be related to artistic (r =48) and investigative interests

(28) Extraversion was related to enterprising (r =41) and social interests (r =31)

Realistic interests and Neuroticism domains were not found related personality and

vocational interests respectively These findings suggested that vocational interests

may not be considered as part of individuallsquos personality disposition (Bordin 1943

Holland 1997 Tokar amp Swanson 1995 Tussing 1942)

42

In another meta-analysis examined by Barrick et al (2003) substantial

relationships between enterprising and artistic interests with extraversion and

openness to experience personality domain were obtained On the other hand the

realistic interests were not related to any personality traits RIASEC types were

regressed on the FFM scores showed a multiple R of 11 for realistic 26 for

investigative 42 for artistic 31 for social -47 for enterprising and 27 for

conventional types This meta-analysis concluded that there is relationship between

personality traits and vocational interests yet they are not identical and substitutes

for each other

Ackerman and Heggestad (1997) reviewed the relationship between

Hollands vocational interests and the FFM and found agreeableness is not related to

any vocational interests The same conclusion was reported for Neuroticism

However conscientiousness was related to conventional interests whereas

extraversion was related to enterprising and social interest Openness domain was

related with investigative artistic and social interest types They reported their

results based on three studies (Goh amp Leong 1993 Gottfredson et al 1993 Kanfer

Ackerman amp Heggestad 1996)

Empirical differences also emerged while comparing results from a study

conducted by De Fruyt and Mervielde (1999) with those of Ackerman and Heggestad

(1997) De Fruyt and Mervielde (1999) found a non significant relationship between

Investigative and Openness but found enterprising types to be significantly related to

43

conscientiousness Agreeableness was significantly related to the social and the

enterprising type Emotional stability is associated with the enterprising type and

conventional type whereas Ackerman and Heggestad (1997) did not However

consistent relationship existed between some of the personality traits and some of the

vocational interests The present study is designed to further authenticate this

consistent relationship in Pakistani context

Holland (1996) suggested that the six RIASEC types have ―strong to weak

relationships with four of the Big Five factors (p 400) Similarly a moderately

strong correlation was found between extraversion and openness personality traits by

Digman (1997)

The renaissance of interest and research in personality-interests relationship

suggested that FFM of personality traits as it relates to the Hollandlsquos model be

examined especially in the scope of present study Extraverts are very keen to obtain

organizational goals (Costa amp McCrae 1992a Goldberg 1992) Thus desire to

influence others and achieve economic gains is basic traits of extraverts (Gray

1987) Thus it can be concluded that those who are extraverted are more likely to

have preferences for enterprising and social jobs (Ackerman amp Heggestad 1997

Barrick amp Gupta 1997 De Fruyt amp Mervielde 1999 Gottfredson et al 1993)

Agreeableness domain is mainly related to social relations between each

others Those who are philanthropic gracious and eager to help others (Costa amp

McCrae 1992a) are high scorer on agreeableness domains Goldberg (1992) also

44

found that kindness generosity and fairness are related to high scorer on

agreeableness and they usually strive for cooperation rather than competition (Costa

amp McCrae 1992a) This suggested that agreeableness is likely to be related to social

vocational interests Previous Researches also supported significant relation

relationship between agreeableness and social interests (Barrick amp Gupta 1997 De

Fruyt amp Mervielde 1999)

Those who are high scorer on Openness to Experience are generally

imaginative possess intellectual curiosity and have originality On the other hand

artistic and investigative types are related to characteristics like abstraction insight

nonconformity and originality This suggested that there is a conceptual overlap

between openness to experience and artistic and investigative interests The same has

also been suggested by Barrick and Gupta (1997) and is supported by some more

studies (Ackerman amp Heggestad 1997 Gottfredson et al 1993)

Individuals who are high on neuroticism are especially attracted to jobs that

are relatively stressed free However stress is part and parcel of day to day routines

in organizational setup suggesting misfit for high scorer on neuroticism Emotional

stability and characteristics associated with Holland type are not found to be related

Therefore it is believed that scores on emotional stability will not be related to any

of the RIASEC types (Barrick amp Gupta 1997) Similar findings were reported by

Ackerman and Heggestad (1997) between any Holland type and emotional stability

45

Consequently a weak relationship is expected between emotional stability and any of

the six Holland personality types

The realistic type is non-significantly related to any personality dimension as

suggested by some studies (Ackerman amp Heggestad 1997 Barrick amp Gupta 1997

Costa et al 1984 De Fruyt amp Mervielde 1999 Tokar amp Swanson 1995) Since no

FFM personality trait are associated with preferences for aggressive action physical

activities and motor skill therefore personality traits are least expected to correspond

with realistic interests

People who scored high on conscientiousness are dependable orderly and

hardworking Thus conscientiousness is related to achievement striving (Digman

1990 Watson Clark amp Harkness 1994) These traits are essential for the success

and are related to the performance in all jobs (Barrick amp Mount 1991 Barrick et al

2001) It is expected that conscientiousness and conventional interests are more

relevant to each other Several studies have rendered support for conscientiousness

being positively related to conventional types (Ackerman amp Heggestad 1997

Barrick amp Gupta 1997 De Fruyt amp Mervielde 1999 Gottfredson et al 1993)

Costa et al (1984) found neuroticism correlated weakly with the artistic type

extraversion was strongly positively correlated with the enterprising type Openness

was strongly positively correlated with the artistic type Tokar and Swanson (1995)

concluded that openness and extraversion are particularly related to Holland model

The findings presented partial support to the existing body of literature about five-

46

factor model which claimed that it can assimilate organize and interpret other

structural model of personality

Similar conclusions were also reported by Schinka Dye and Curtiss (1997)

They reported fairly high correlations between extraversion openness and

agreeableness traits with the enterprising artistic and social personality interests

However the relationship between personality and RIASEC types are modest as 16 of

the 30 being less than r = 20 They were of the view that the FFM ―may not provide

powerful predictors of other aspects of global personalities including occupational

interests and possibly extending to other area of personal values preferences and

beliefs (p 366)

Costa McCrae and Kay (1995) have considered how NEO personality

inventory may be used in career assessment They acknowledged that ―personality

inventories should supplement rather than replace vocational interest inventories

(p 130) They were strongly supportive of three sorts of data in career assessment

ability trait and vocational interest They suggested that extraversion openness and

agreeableness of FFM are mostly relevant to vocational interests About neuroticism

they assumed neurotics are ―likely to be unhappy in whatever job they have (p

130) More importantly they distinguished between big five and facet scales Thus

they were of the view that individuals may have identical conscientiousness scores

but one is high in some facet traits and other could have the opposite pattern yet they

would be best suitable to quite different jobs This is apparent that 30 NEO

47

personality inventory facets are very vital and helpful to the expert which facets are

desirable or undesirable for different jobs

Waller Lykken and Tellegen (1995) initially conceptualized the

interrelatedness of personality and interests at a facet level in both domains One of

the limitation found in the literature review is that in most of the studies big five

traits and big six vocational interests were examined while very few studies looked at

the lower order facet level traits In the present study five personality traits were

studied along with the lower order facets in order to obtain detailed view of

personality and vocational interest relationship

Applicability of FFM to Children

The vast majority of studies have been conducted with samples of college

students and adults Whereas the FFM model has been examined and applied to

many populations cultures and domains of behavior (Costa amp Widiger 1994

McCrae 1992) Digman and Takemoto-Chock (1981) and Digman and Inouye

(1986) were the first who demonstrated the possible applicability of the FFM to

children Kohnstamm Slotboom and Elphick (1994) concluded that children of

school age demonstrated the presence of a factor similar to conscientiousness in

adults both in self-descriptions as well as in teacher and parent ratings

48

Farsides and Woodfield (2003) provided mixed empirical support about the

role five traits played in determining academic success Neuroticism was found to be

positively related to academic achievement in middle school but negatively at college

level Similarly extraversion predicted higher grades in middle school but lower

grades at the college level (De Raad amp Schouwenburg 1996 Eysenck 1996) They

proposed several reasons for this discrepancy These are due to small sample sizes

and the use of different personality measures Different criteria for academic success

varying time lapses between the collection of data and age specificity issued may

have jeopardized the results

Laidra Pullmann and Allik (2007) studied two large samples of school

children from 7 to 19 years of age and found the relationship between intelligence

and personality with respect to academic achievement in Estonian schools

Conscientiousness and openness traits have been found relevant to achievement

(Paunonen amp Ashton 2001)

Similarly Hair and Graziano (2003) analyzed five factor traits in middle

school and found correlations with high school GPA Heaven Mak Barry and

Ciarrochi (2002) and Maqsood (1993) examined the relationship between personality

variables and adjective scales for agreeableness and conscientiousness to self-rated

academic performance in adolescents of 14ndash16 years of age None of the three

Eysencklsquos PEN model correlated significantly with GPA in a sample of Russian

adolescents (Slobodskaya Safronova amp Windle 2005)

49

A somewhat different approach was taken by Parker and Stumpf (1998) to

assess personality dimensions according to five factor model on academically

talented youth (mean age = 1377) from the USA They used four different

instruments NEO-FFI ACL MBTI and CCQ The findings largely supported the

conception about FFM that data derived from adults is applicable to academically

talented youth

Chung (1983) administered 120 occupation titles which were derived from

the General Occupational Themes (GOT) of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank

(Campbell 1974) and Hollands Vocational Preference Inventory (1965) In factor

analysis it was clearly seen that Realistic and Investigative correlated more with

Factor II while Artistic Social Enterprising correlated more with Factor I

Conventional was a bi-factor variable It can be said that Factor I is Arts subjects and

Factor II is Science subjects

It is obvious from the above study that according to students choices of

academic subjects the secondary school pupils in Hong Kong are of two main types

arts students and science students Science students preferred occupations of realistic

or investigative types and arts students preferred occupations of artistic social or

enterprising types all of which were their personality types Both science students

and arts students would prefer occupations of conventional type

Larson and Borgen (2006) studied the overlap of the Strong Basic Interest

scales with the facet scales of the NEO-PI-R They found that specific Basic Interest

50

scales could be predicted best from specific facet scales of the NEO-PI-R Public

speaking interests were most related to the assertiveness facet of the extraversion

domain science interests were most related to the ideas facet of the openness

domain and office practices interests were most related to the order facet of the

conscientiousness domain

More studies of this kind need to be done to explicate the links between

interests and personality The present study examining the relationship between

lower order personality facets and vocational interests in high school students may

well locate important interest-personality linkages that are obscured in the more

general big six and big five models

McCrae et al (2002a) were of the opinion that the NEO PI-R could be

significantly used for measuring personality in adolescents Adolescentslsquo self-ratings

have also displayed a structure similar to adults (Allik Laidra Realo amp Pullman

2004 Scholte van Aken amp van Lieshout 1997) Markey Markey Ericksen and

Tinsley (2002) have suggested that preadolescent can also reliably rate themselves

using a standard measure of adult personality (NEO-Five Factor Inventory)

On the other hand many studies have linked personality traits to career

choice and interests among adolescents (Feather amp Said 1983 Hartman Fuqua amp

Blum 1985 Hartman Fuqua amp Hartman 1988 Lokan amp Biggs 1982 Medina amp

Drummond 1993) There has been little research on career decidedness and

personality traits among ―middle adolescents (ie about 14 to 17 years) Even

51

though adolescence is characterized by marked personality change and development

(Piaget 1952) it is also a time when relatively stable personality traits emerge

(McCrae et al 2002b)

Gender Differences on Personality and Vocational Interests

Previous research suggested that there are considerable differences in

vocational interests due to gender (Benbow 1988 Hansen Collins Swanson amp

Fouad 1993 Lubinski amp Benbow 1992) The literature also suggested the

differences between traits and interests on sample of college students when compared

with sample of working adults Goh and Leong (1993) found low to moderate

correlations between personality and RIASEC personality types may be because of

sample of college students They assumed that older adults could be expected to have

more highly differentiated vocational interests

Existing literature showed that differences in personality factors can be

expected for high achiever students (Dauber amp Benbow 1990 Goff amp Ackerman

1992) Same is the case about differences in vocational choices for intelligent

students as compared to average students (Lubinski amp Benbow 1992) Intelligent

students have been found to be high on realistic and investigative categories

(Benbow amp Stanley 1982 Dauber amp Benbow 1990)

52

In supporting the applicability of the FFM in Chinese adolescents Wu

Lindsted Tsai and Lee (2008) used NEO personality inventory revised (NEO-PI-R)

in Taiwanese adolescents Women found to be higher in neuroticism extraversion

and agreeableness scores as opposed to males The gender differences reported in the

study are supportive of the results from other cultures This suggested that the

Chinese NEO-PI-R retains the psychometric properties of other language versions

In a study related to gender differences and personality Costa Terracciano

and McCrae (2001) based on the analyses of NEO PI-R data from 26 cultures (N =

23031) suggested that gender differences replicated across cultures for college age

and adult samples They found that the differences are broadly consistent with

gender stereotypes Personality factors were reasonably unchangeable across ages

Schmitt Realo Voracek and Allik (2009) suggested that sex differences in

personality traits are larger in countries whose cultures are prosperous healthy and

egalitarian Women have more opportunities in such cultures which are equal with

those of men They reported the findings in which women reported higher levels of

neuroticism extraversion agreeableness and conscientiousness than did men across

most nations

Women scored higher scores on social types measured by SDS as these are

related to people and service oriented occupations (Holland et al 1994) Men scored

significantly higher scores on Realistic scales which are related to technical skilled

trades engineering occupations Hansen et al (1993) found different career structure

53

for men and women He assessed sex differences in Hollands hexagon ordering of

career interests as measured by the SII They found that women scores on

Investigative and Realistic scales were highly correlated supporting significant

gender differences on Hollandlsquos model

The literature is rich in studies investigating gender differences in personality

traits (Feingold 1994 Jorm 1987) These differences are replicated regardless of

culture period and instruments used to measure these traits These differences

appeared to be a universal phenomenon (Colom amp Jayme-Zaro 2004) and have been

found among adults children and young people in almost all countries (Barrett amp

Eysenck 1984 Delgado 1995 Francis 1993)

The present study was designed to find out the personality vocational

interests and vocational aspirations of the high school students The differences with

respect to demographic variables on personality and vocational interests were also

determined

54

Rationale of the Study

One of the long held goals of psychology has been to establish a model that

can conveniently describe human personality and can be used in the remedying of

personality disorders and improving general understanding of personality One of the

prominent models in contemporary psychology is what is known as the five-factor

model of personality (Digman 1990) This model incorporated five different

variables into a conceptual model for describing personality Neuroticism

Extraversion Openness Agreeableness and Conscientiousness are five mains

domains of personality which are measured by NEO PI-R (Costa amp McCrae 1992a)

The five factors are sometime referred to as the ―Big Five (Ewen 1998) The FFM

is among the newest models and showed promise to be among the practical and

applicable models available in the field of personality psychology (Digman 1990)

Hollandlsquos model explicitly recognized the role of personality in fact

Hollandlsquos taxonomy is personality taxonomy Holland (1985a) clearly outlined the

domain of personality traits believed to correspond with each of the six personality

types If Holland taxonomy is personality taxonomy then five factor model and

Holland taxonomy should correspond with each other Hollands RIASEC typology

has shown that congruence between interests and environment is associated with

greater satisfaction (Assouline amp Meir 1987 Mount amp Muchinsky 1978 Spokane

1985) ―Congruency is the primary concept (French et al 1974) and refers to the

55

compatibility of the personality and the environment Vocational interests are

multifaceted orientations associated with behaviors that reflected an individuals

choice to engage in tasks and activities they like and to be in environments where

they are surrounded by people who are similar to them

Five factor model of personality and Hollandlsquos model of vocational interests

are most widely accepted and used models in the research literature on personality

and vocational interests Recent trends in literature review showed that there is

consistent pattern of relationship between personality and vocational interests

(Barrett 2009 Barrick et al 2003 Bullock amp Reardon 2008 Ehrhart amp

Makransky 2007 Harris et al (2006) Larson et al 2002 Logue et al 2007

Staggs et al 2007 Zhang 2008) Lot of studies and meta-analyses were conducted

to determine this relationship between personality and vocational interests This

relationship has been described in studies in diverse population and samples

Majority of the studies were conducted on the sample of college students or adults

However few studies were also conducted on the school students The results showed

that general relationship pattern between personality and other variables have been

replicated on the sample of school students (Hair amp Graziano 2003 Laidra et al

2007 Parker amp Stumpf 1998 Wu et al 2008)

In Pakistan there are few studies conducted on the five factor model of

personality (Akhtar 2004 Anis-ul-Haque 2003 Chishti 2002 Safdar 2002

Shaheen 2007 Taj 2003) In these studies Urdu translated versions of NEO PI-R to

56

measure personality were used on Pakistani population Similarly translation and

adaptation of SDS measuring vocational interests on Pakistani High school students

was conducted by Naheed (1988) However the relationship between personality and

vocational interests has not been explored earlier within the context of Pakistani

society

The present study is an endeavor to find out the relationship between

personality and vocational interests among high school students There are many

types and categories of schools in Pakistan There are private schools as well as

government schools The general trend in Pakistan is that parents send their children

to private schools which are also popularly known as English medium schools

However majority of English medium schools are located in the urban localities

Whereas in rural areas there are very few English medium schools in the near

vicinity and therefore the government schools generally cater for the majority of rural

students Another reason for sending the children to government schools is the socio-

economic status of parents The fee structure of government schools is affordable to

commoners in Pakistan

The government schools from both urban and rural areas belonging to

Rawalpindi district are taken in the study In Punjab the biggest province of

Pakistan the government schools have almost the same syllabus and same facilities

in all schools Hence the sample was taken from Rawalpindi district and it was

assumed that the results of the study could be generalized to the population of

57

students of government schools in Punjab Although there are limited facilities in

government school (Memon 2007) the students from these schools are contributing

in the development of Pakistan in different capacities However still there are large

numbers of students who could not complete their studies and might not have

achieved suitable careers Therefore this appears to be a neglected area which

requires immediate attention

The present study also explored the differences in demographical variables on

personality and vocational interests The participation rates of women in occupations

traditionally held by men have increased dramatically in the past few decades Many

more women are becoming doctors bankers human resource managers lawyers and

are working on many executive and managerial positions Overall men and women

still show somewhat different participation rates in the occupations and these

differences seem to be related to differences in values

In Pakistan the students after passing 8th

class have to choose two different

categories of subjects ie the science group and humanities group There are many

career opportunities which are based on these categories of subjects Therefore

students of 9th

and 10th

classes were taken in the study Since there are no career

counselor in the schools to guide the students about suitable career matching their

personality and vocational interests the present study also endeavored to explore the

vocational interest preferences and vocational aspirations of the students Whether

the degree of agreement between vocational aspirations and vocational interests of

58

the students exist To authenticate the results and add in cultural relevance to the

concepts used in the study the opinion of experts about personality and vocational

interests are also incorporated These were the issues which were addressed in the

study

The current study would be helpful in further refinement of the theoretical

framework and explore relationship that exists between personality and vocational

interests Whether the consistent relationship between personality and vocational

interests would replicate in Pakistani context The work values nature of jobs career

opportunities pay structure etc are quite different from western culture Therefore

this study endeavored to explore the relationship between personality and vocational

interest in Pakistani context It further explored the differences of various

demographical variables on personality and vocational interest The current study

will help in generalizing the results and application of two widely used models in

Pakistani context These models have been empirically supported by previous studies

and thus are taken as theoretical framework for the present study The study will also

add to the understanding of career counselors and policy makers about the vocational

aspirations of the students their preferences and level of congruence between

vocational interests and vocational aspirations

The study has been designed into six parts The part 1 of the study was

designed to develop insight and conceptual understanding about the personality and

vocational interests in high school students Part 2 of the study is regarding the

59

development of research instruments Part 3 of the study is designed to find out the

relationship between personality and vocational interests of the students In Part 4

the vocational interests and general pattern for the preferences for occupational types

by the students was studied Part 5 is associated with the degree of agreement

between vocational aspirations and vocational interests of the students Part 6 is

about the evaluation of personality profile by the experts and finally the results were

discussed along with the implications of the study

60

Chapter II

PART 1 - EXPLORATION OF CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING ABOUT

PERSONALITY AND VOCATIONAL INTERESTS OF THE STUDENTS

Majority of the previous researches were conducted on the relationship

between personality and vocational interests among college students and adults

(Ackerman amp Heggestad 1997 Barrick et al 2003 Larson et al 2002) However

the relationship between personality and vocational interests among high school

students is not very prevalent in the reported literature This study was designed to

develop insight and conceptual understanding about the personality and vocational

interests of high school students in Pakistan

The sample selected for the study was consisted of students of government

schools under the administrative control of Punjab (the biggest province in Pakistan)

A large segment of society has low socio-economic status and lives in the urban as

well as rural areas of Pakistan (World Bank 2000) Government schools generally

catered for the students belonging to this segment of society Hence there is a

requirement to understand the dynamics of personality and vocational interests in

students of government schools

The vocational aspirations are also considered as part of Self Directed Search

(SDS) in which participants were asked to give the list of vocational preferences

Since there are no proper mechanisms in Pakistani school where students can be

guided and counseled hence exploring their vocational aspirations is of great

61

importance Vocational aspirations of the students depend on many factors Due to

limited availability of research literature in Pakistan about vocational aspirations

there is a requirement to explore and understand the vocational aspirations of the

students and find out the degree of agreement with vocational interests Gender

differences between the personality vocational interest and vocational aspirations of

the students were also explored The information gathered in this study was quite

helpful in designing the subsequent parts of the research study

Objectives

To develop insight about the personality and vocational interests of high

school students

Method

In this part series of focus groups and interviews were conducted to develop

insight into the study Focus group is a carefully planned discussion designed to

obtain perceptions feelings and manner of thinking about subject under

investigation It provides a fast easy and practical way of getting in touch with the

target population This part of the research consisted of following steps

Step 1 Focus groups with the students

Step 2 Focus groups with the teachers

Step 3 Interviews with the Principals

62

In this study 6 focus groups were conducted 4 with students and 2 with

teachers of different schools The willingness of the participants was taken before

hand and a convenient sampling technique was used in this part of the study Few

guidelines (attached at Appendix ―B) with the help of experts (one PhD scholar and

one MPhil scholar) in the field of psychology were prepared before the focus group

with students in order to get maximum information about the personality development

and vocational choices of the students

Two focus groups were conducted one with male and the other with female

teachers independently The topic guide was prepared with the help of experts (one

PhD scholar and one MPhil scholar) in the field of psychology and attached at

Appendix Clsquo The researcher acted as moderator assisted by one co-moderator

(MPhil in Psychology) Before starting each focus group a brief introduction about

the purpose of the study was provided to the participants The participants in groups

were asked to introduce themselves with each other They were explained the general

rules and discussion guidelines They were given assurance about the confidentiality

of their opinions and comments

According to guidelines prepared for the focus groups participants were asked

open and neutral questions Participants were asked to talk freely with each other and

pay respect to the opinions of others There is no concept of right and wrong answers

in this discussion Separate focus groups were conducted with male and female

students as well as teachers The logic for conducting separate focus groups for male

and female students and teacher was that female students as well as teachers were

reluctant to conduct focus groups with male counterparts All the focus group

63

discussion was transcribed with notes The samples procedures and findings of the

focus groups and interviews are described below

Step 1 Focus groups with students

Total 4 focus groups were conducted with students The details are shown below

Sample

Two focus groups were conducted with the male students Two focus groups

were conducted with female students Two focus groups were conducted with the

students of urban areas (one each with male and female students) and similarly two

focus groups were conducted with the students of rural areas In each focus group 8

participants were selected 4 students from 9th

class (2 each from Science and Arts

group) and 4 students from 10th

classes (2 each from Science and Arts groups) were

selected All the students were from government schools located in Rawalpindi The

age range was from 14 years to 19 years (mean age = 165 years)

Procedure

The participants were approached in the schools with the help of school

administration After getting their consent 8 students were selected for each focus

group They were given oral instructions and general purpose of the study was

explained to them Participants were encouraged to give frank and honest opinion

The session took about 60 to 80 minutes for each focus group The discussion was

64

noted down and at the end participants were acknowledged for their cooperation and

participation

Findings of the Focus Groups with Students

Following information was obtained from the focus groups conducted with the

students

1 Most of the students responded that they were studying because they wanted

to achieve good career and some of them responded to become good human

beings

2 Majority of the male student wanted to become doctor engineer army officers

etc These seem to be the favorite careers for male students in Pakistan While

most of the female students wanted to become doctor teacher lawyer nurse

etc They agreed that there were many factors which influenced them to

choose particular choices as future careers However they were of the opinion

that whatever they had selected best matched with their temperaments

3 Some of the students responded that the idea to adopt their desired career has

not been from the childhood They further responded that with the passage of

time they had changed the profession of their choices This showed that

initially they have choices at fantasy level but with the passage of time they

changed it realistically With regard to future choices majority of the students

were inspired either by the influence of media or by their interactions with

any of the successful close relative

65

4 Most of the students were aware of the basic criteria for the attainment of

choice of profession up to some extent Although they did not have the

complete details about the basic selection criteria about the profession of their

choices however they have working knowledge Students were aware of the

fact that they have to work hard in studies in order to achieve the desired

careers They were also taking interest in games and activities related to their

career choice

5 Students were asked to narrate the benefits which they will have to get after

adopting the particular profession Most of them responded that it would be

interesting and they will get a good job and will be financially better off

They also said that they would get respect in the society and will improve

their personality Once they were asked about the demerits of choosing

particular profession they responded that they may have to go far away from

home and some said that there is a continuous struggle and study in life

6 The students did not have clear second and third choices Some of the

students responded that their second choice would be business while some

were sure to achieve their first career choice Most of the students narrated

that they did not receive any formal guidancecounseling in order to adopt

any career Some of the students said that teachers informally discussed about

their choice of careers This showed that at school level there is no proper

counselingguidance program

7 Most of the students narrated that their fathers had asked to adopt a particular

profession This showed that parents have tried to influence their children for

66

adopting a particular career Most of the students were of the view that their

personality suited to the vocations of their choices and their activities and

interests also matched with the desired careers

8 Science students were interested to become doctors engineers and scientists

etc Majority of the students had opted science group in 9th

class While very

few opted Arts group rather their teachers had put them in Arts groups due to

less marks Science students were of the opinion that if they did not succeed

to achieve the desired careers that depend on science subjects then they could

shift to other many options Arts group students narrated that if they did not

succeed to achieve the career of their choice then they have many other

options including army civil superior services lawyer teacher and even any

government job etc

9 Students were aware of the facts that very few students achieved good marks

to get admission in professional colleges However they said that they are

trying hard to achieve their targets Majority of the students mentioned that

they are not very good in English as a subject They said that they have

problems in spoken English Majority of the students mentioned that they are

very good in Urdu language as compared to English language

Step 2 Focus Groups with Teachers

Two focus groups were conducted with teachers One focus group was

conducted with male teachers and one focus group was conducted with female

teachers The details are shown below

67

Sample

The composition of the focus group included teachers having at least 10 years

of teaching experience Teachers having a minimum stay of 3 years in a school

where science and arts subjects are being taught to students were selected Focus

groups were conducted with teachers selected from six different schools The most

senior teachers teaching Science and Arts subjects were selected Five of them were

vice-principals and 3 were senior teachers There were 8 participants in the focus

group for male teachers 4 teachers were science teachers and 4 teachers were

teaching Arts subjects The age range for male teachers was from 32-48 years and

mean age was (M = 38 years)There were 6 participants in the focus group for female

teachers 3 teachers were science teachers and 3 were teaching Arts subjects The age

range for female teachers was from 30-45 years and mean age was (M = 35 years)

Procedure

The participants were approached in the schools with the help of school

administration After getting their consent the selected participants were briefed

about the purpose of the discussion They were encouraged to give frank and honest

opinion The session started with the introduction of all the participants Initially the

discussion was on general topics but later on it was moved to more specific topics It

was made sure for each participant to get a chance to speak The session took about

60 to 70 minutes for each focus group The discussion was generated focusing on the

individual differences between the students vocational choices of the students

factors affecting them and the procedures adopted in the schools for allotting Science

68

and Arts group The educational policy and curriculum (Aly 2006) and their effects

on helping and guiding the students were also discussed The discussion was noted

down and at the end participants were acknowledged for their cooperation and

participation

Findings of the Focus Groups with Teachers

Followings information was obtained from the focus group conducted with

the teachers

1 According to the teachers there are no significant things in curriculum which

could be helpful for the students to set direction for their future adjustments

Similarly the educational policy was also not very lucid (Zaman 2008) in this

regard

2 Schools have their own method of allotting Science and Arts groups to

students however generally the criteria to allot Science group and Arts group

are based on marks Students who get more marks are placed in Science

group while those who scored less marks are placed in Arts group However

sometimes preference is given to the choices of students as well It was also

observed that students after passing grade 8th have to choose between two

major groups ie Science group and Arts group The subjects and the

curriculum taught at the schools are not much helpful in choosing suitable

careers Majority of the schools in Rawalpindi city have science group in

Matriculations While very few offered both Science and Arts group In some

of the schools the strength of student either in science or in arts groups was

69

very low There are differences between science and arts students regarding

choice of careers

3 There are lot many private English medium schools in urban areas whereas

very limited such opportunity are available in rural areas Only government

schools catered for the majority of rural population Generally speaking due

to low socio economic status of parents children are being sent to

government schools There are separate schools for boys and girls hence no

coeducation in government high schools Teachers are of the opinion that the

fee structure of government schools is very reasonable and people with less

income can afford to send their children in government schools

4 In some schools even the shortage of teaching staff lack of adequate funds

and facilities were also mentioned by the teachers According to them proper

facilities should be provided to the government schools They considered

teachers as low paid employees They admitted that teachers sometimes

behaved harshly with the students According to teachers students have

limited career choices due to non availability of job opportunities for them

They said that most of the students are interested to join jobs in public sector

Female students have even more limited careers choices due to socio-cultural

scenario and non availability of job opportunities for them However they are

very eager to join even the non-traditional careers which were not encouraged

earlier for females

5 Teachers are of the opinion that some of the students are very hard working

and achieved outstanding results while majority of the students are just

70

mediocre They said that there are many factors which influence the

vocational aspirations of the students

6 They said that well trained career counselor should be appointed in the

schools to help students identifying their true potentials It will also be helpful

in guiding the students to achieve suitable careers Teachers said that they

tried to guide the students about their career choices They said that students

are very keen to choose desired profession and are well aware about the basic

requirement of achieving the desired profession

Step 3 Interviews with the Principals of Schools

Few interviews were also conducted with the principals from both Boys and

Girls government Schools These were unstructured interviews however the focus

was on the guidelines prepared for the focus groups Principals from 4 boy and 3 girl

government schools were interviewed The schools were both from urban and rural

areas All the principals had at least 20 years of service It took about 30 to 45

minutes for each interview The researcher was accompanied by one well trained

assistant All the details and information were transcribed by taking short notes All

the principals were briefed about the purpose of the study They were assured about

the confidentiality of the interviews Initially general discussion was started followed

by asking specific questions based on the guidelines prepared for the focus groups

for teachers and students Detail information was collected which were given below

71

Findings of the Interviews with Principals of Schools

Maximum information was collected from interviews Followings were the

observations based on the content analysis and feedback received from the

interviews

1 All the principals were highly qualified and experienced teachers Majority of

the principals were satisfied by the performance of their students It was felt

that there are lack of proper facilities shortage of teachers and limited

allocation of funds for the government schools

2 They said that there are some highly qualified teachers in the schools

Principals are of the strong opinion that career counselors should immediately

be posted to each school

3 They said that students had different attractive vocational aspirations however

very few able to achieve them There are gender differences between students

about vocational interests Science and arts students also differed with each

other about the vocational interests They were of the opinion that limited

career opportunities are available for the students in public sector Students

belonging to rural areas should be given some incentives in terms of marks

and scholarships to compete with the students of urban areas

4 Well paid and highly qualified teachers should be posted to these categories

of schools Rural areas schools catered for large number of students hence

their standard should be enhanced by providing latest audio-visual and

electronic equipments Principals were of the opinion that the government

should enhance educational budget for government schools A large number

72

of talents can be polished to become good citizen by providing proper

facilities and guidance to the students of government schools

5 It would be of great significance if the vocational aspirations of the students

are based on their related interests and competencies Moreover they should

be provided opportunities to join the occupations of their interests They are

very likely to excel in the field of their interests

Discussion

The present study was planned to get insight about the personality and

vocational interests of high school students With the help of literature review

researcher was able to identify certain issues related to personality and vocational

interests of different samples However issues related to personality and vocational

interests of Pakistani school students are of great importance In Pakistan the students

of high schools have to decide two major categories of science and arts (humanities)

group These distinctions are of paramount importance because many careers depend

on the distinctions of these subjects For instance doctors and engineers are the

profession which can only be achieved by science students Therefore this stage is very

important for students in decision making about future career

The findings of this part of the study revealed that there are gender differences

between the vocational interests of the students Male students have preferences for

different occupations while females have preferences for some other occupations

Similarly these differences were also observed for science and arts group students

73

There were many factors which influenced the choices of the students Since

this study dealt with the personality and vocational interests of the students who are

yet not admitted in any professional college so the vocational aspirations of the

students were of great concern Although vocational aspirations are part of

vocational interests measured by SDS but the findings of focus groups and interviews

suggested that some in depth analysis on vocational interests of the students need to

be carried out

According to Hollandlsquos model (Holland 1994) when there is congruence

between vocational aspirations and vocational interests there are more chances for

the individual to succeed in their desired career The findings of this part of the study

also observed that there are gender differences about the vocational aspirations of the

students It was also noticed that science and arts group students have different

vocational aspirations depending on the subjects which they are studying The

present study also endeavored to explore the vocational aspirations of the students

and find out the degree of agreement between vocational aspirations and vocational

interests measured by Hollandlsquos model Gender differences about the vocational

aspirations of the students were also explored

The sample selected for the study was from government schools which are

located in urban as well as rural areas Majority of the students were of same socio-

economic background In rural areas there are very few private schools while

majority of the students are being catered for by the government schools Another

reason for choosing government schools in the study was that majority of the

population lives in rural areas therefore students from these areas are being

74

accommodated by these schools Neglecting these government schools in term of

facilities meant that government is neglecting the educational rights of majority of

the rural population Hence there is a requirement to deeply analyze the personality

and vocational interests of the students of government schools Another point of

concern was that there are no career counselors in the schools to guide and counsel

the students according to their vocational interests Hence the vocational aspirations

as well as vocational interests of the students also need to be explored in depth

The main study exploring conceptual understanding related to personality and

vocational interests was conducted on 9th

and 10th

class students The effects of

demographical variables were also observed both on personality and vocational

interests independently The sample selected may not be mature enough and the

findings of the study need to be validated for cultural relevance by the experts of

different fields Although the findings obtained by conducting focus groups and

interviews showed that students were well aware about their vocational aspirations

have matching personality and interests with the desired careers and are striving hard

to achieve them However it was felt that opinion of experts of different fields may

be obtained about the personality profiles related to their occupations Experts were

also requested to categorize the matching personality types mentioned by Holland

model (Holland 1985a) with their respective occupations in Pakistani context

The consistent relationship between FFM and vocational interests was found

in the literature review (Barrick et al 2003 Larson et al 2002 Staggs et al 2007)

Extraversion is consistently related to social and enterprising interests openness is

related to investigative and artistic interests agreeableness is related to social

75

interests and conscientiousness is related to conventional interests The present study

will further help in exploring personality-interest relationships

The findings of the present study are also supported by the literature on

gender differences (Costa et al 1984 Gottfredson et al 1993 Holland et al 1994)

Bullock and Reardon (2008) illustrated male college students showed an interest in

Realistic and Enterprising vocations whereas women showed an interest in Social

Artistic and Enterprising vocations Hence it is assumed that Male will prefer

Realistic Investigative and Enterprising interests and Female will prefer Artistic and

Social interests

According to Holland occupational classification Doctor as a vocational

aspiration of students should have Investigative interests Army should have Realistic

interests Teacher should have Social interests Lawyer should have Enterprising and

Engineer should have Realistic and Investigative interests Thus it is expected that

studentslsquo vocational aspirations should match with their interests to attain the state of

congruence

The findings of the present study about preferences of Science and Arts

students are also supported by the research conducted in Hong Kong by Chang

(1981) Science students will prefer Realistic and Investigative occupations and Arts

students will prefer occupations of Artistic Social and Enterprising types Both

Science and Arts students will prefer occupations of Conventional types The results

are supported by the existing literature (Leung amp Hua 2005 Staggs et al 2007) The

findings of the study supplemented the existing body of literature about differences

between gender and science and Arts students

76

In the present study the Urdu translated version of NEO PI-R (Chishti 2002)

and SDS (Naheed 1988) to measure personality and vocational interests respectively

were used on the high school students It was decided that pretesting of both the

instruments on the sample of high school students may be carried out Overall this

part of the research was of great help in designing subsequent studies related to

personality and vocational interests of the Pakistani students

77

Chapter III

PART 2 - RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS

This part of the study was designed to finalize the research instruments

comprehendible to the target population The study pertained to the measurement of

personality and vocational interests of the high school students Five factor model of

personality (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) and Hollandlsquos model (Holland 1985a) of

vocational interests provided the theoretical framework for the present study

Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) measures the

personality domains and Self Directed Search (SDS) measures the vocational interests

Demographic Sheet Future Possibilities Questionnaire and Evaluation Sheet were also

designed to obtain the required information Pretesting of the research instruments were

also carried out on a small sample

Objectives

1 To carry out pretesting of the research instruments

Method

The study was conducted to finalize the followings instruments

Step 1 Demographic Sheet

Step 2 Future Possibilities Questionnaire

Step 3 Evaluation sheet

78

Step 4 NEO PI-R

Step 5 SDS

Step 6 Pretesting of the Research Instruments

Step 1 Demographic Sheet

Based on the information gathered in previous part (see chapter II) of the study

a demographic sheet was constructed with the help of experts (two PhD students and

one MPhil psychologist) from National Institute of Psychology Quaid-i-Azam

University Islamabad The demographic sheet consisted of detailed information about

the participants including variables like name gender age class sciencearts group

urbanrural fatherlsquos income fatherlsquos education and name of school etc The

demographic sheet is attached at Appendix Dlsquo

Step 2 Future Possibilities Questionnaire

Future possibilities questionnaire asked two questions about the vocational

aspirations of the students The first question was ―What career do you intend to adopt

in futurelsquolsquo The second question was ―If you have more than one career choice please

write in order of preference Some of the information about the demographical

variables was also obtained The future possibilities questionnaire is attached at

Appendix Elsquo

Step 3 Evaluation Sheet

An evaluation sheet was constructed to evaluate the personality profile of

selected vocations by the experts An evaluation sheet was developed with the help of

experts (one PhD psychologist one PhD scholar and One MPhil in psychology)

79

Evaluation sheet consisted of rating of 30 facets of personality (NEO PI-R) on a seven

point scale (1 to 7) ranging from least desiredlsquo to most desiredlsquo The conceptual

definitions of 30 facets of personality (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) are printed on the

evaluation sheet Experts of different fields were administered evaluation sheet to get

personality profiles related to their occupations Experts were also given the detailed

definitions of six personality types as described in Hollandlsquos typology Experts in each

field are required to choose one out of six personality types which meaningfully

correspond with their respective profession Detailed instructions were written on the

evaluation sheet Personal information like name profession designation and

experience were also mentioned The evaluation sheet along with detailed instructions

is attached at Appendix Flsquo

Step 4 NEO Personality Inventory Revised (NEO PI-R)

The NEO PI-R is self-administered and available in two parallel versions Form

S is designed for self-reports and Form R is the rating version of the instrument

Research has been conducted on this instrument and it has been translated into many

languages The NEO PI-R is a systematic assessment of emotional interpersonal

experimental attitudinal and motivational styles The inventory gives a detailed

assessment of normal personality can be used in human resource development

industrialorganizational psychology as well as vocational counseling and clinical

practice It consisted of 240 items and 3 validity items with the administration time of

35-45 minutes It can be administered to students and adults and the reading level

should be at least 6th grade The scoring options include hand scoring and software

scoring

80

Development and Validation

The NEO PI-R began in 1978 as the NEO inventory with three domains and 18

facets relating to N E and O In 1983 18 items domain scales measuring A and C were

added In 1985 the instrument was published as NEO personality inventory In 1990

facets scales for A and C were completed and some minor modifications were made in

original N E and O items which lead to the development of NEO PI-R The revised

inventory differed in the addition of facet scales for the A and C domains and also in

minor changes in some of the items comprising the N E and O scales These changes

were made to improve upon the internal consistency and validity of several facet scales

Correlation between the original scales and the revised scales ranged from (r = 93 to

95) The five-factor model has emerged as being an important development in the

study of individual differences These constructs have been shown to be quite robust

empirically and have impressive validity The field of personality assessment is moving

rapidly towards the five-factor model as the conceptual framework for most assessment

needs

Scoring of the Instrument

The NEO PI-R has a 5-point self-rating response format (strongly agree to

strongly disagree) The scoring options include hand scoring and software scoring

The scoring of NEO PI-R is quite easy The scorer examined the answer sheet and

check that a response has been given for each item The respondents should be

encouraged to complete the missing responses If the respondent is unsure of the

meaning of an item or is unsure of how to respond he or she may be told to use the

neutral response option The NEO PI-R should not be scored if 41 responses are

missing If three responses are missing from a facet scale it should be interpreted with

81

caution If the respondent has 150 or more agree and strongly agree responses or 50 or

fewer items as agree and strongly agree the NEO PI-R should be interpreted with

caution 106 items are negatively scored

The scales of NEO PI-R and NEO-FFI measure traits that approximate normal

distributions Majority of the individuals score near average while few lie on the

extremes Scales are most conveniently explained by describing characteristics of

extremely high or extremely low scores It may also be useful to consider pairs of

domain scores in terms of two-dimensional planes which correspond in many cases to

particular areas of life The affective plane defined by N and E which represents the

individuallsquos basic emotional styles (Costa amp McCrae 1980 Watson amp Tellegen 1985)

and the interpersonal plane or circumplex defined by E and A (McCrae amp Costa

1989c) have been extensively researched E and O together are important both for

vocational interests (Costa et al 1984) and for the selection of optimal forms of

therapy (Miller 1991) E and C jointly determine patterns of activity O and A are

relevant to attitudes O and C are important to academic performance and A and C

represent the basic dimensions of character

Reliability

Internal consistency coefficients for both forms (ie form S and form R) range

from 86 to 95 for domain scales and from 56 to 90 for facet scales Alphas for the

domain range from 86 to 92 for Form S and from 89 to 95 for Form R Internal

consistency estimates for the facets Form S range from 56 to 81 For the Form R

facets these values range from 60 to 90 (Costa amp McCrae 1992b) Six-year retest

reliabilities for the Neuroticism Extraversion and Openness domains ranged from 68

to 83 in both self-reports and observer ratings Three-year retest coefficients between

82

63 and 79 were found for the domains of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness (Costa

amp McCrae 1992b) The reliability and validity of the Urdu version of NEO PI-R

(Chishti 2002) was established in Pakistan The alpha reliability coefficient for Urdu

version of NEO PI-R ranged from 73 (Openness) to 89 (Conscientiousness) whereas

the Alpha coefficients of English version ranged from 37 (Openness) to 80

(Neuroticism) This demonstrated that Urdu version of Revised NEO Personality

Inventory is a reliable and valid instrument for the Pakistani subjects

Validity

Many studies have been conducted on the external validity (eg Golberg 1989

John 1989 McCrae amp Costa 1985a 1987 Ostendorf 1990 Trapnell amp Wiggin

1990) Details about different types of validity (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) are given

below

Content Validity Content validity means that the test samples appropriately

from the range of characteristics it is intended to represent In the NEO PI-R content

validity is addressed by identifying six distinct facets to sample each domain and by

selecting non-redundant items to measure each facet (Costa amp McCrae 1992a)

Criterion Validity It means that identifiable groups of individuals differ in their

mean scores in theoretically predictable ways The findings that patients in

psychotherapy score high on Neuroticism (Miller 1991) and that drug abusers score

low on Agreeableness and Conscientiousness (Brooner King Kidorf Schmidt amp

Bigelow 1997) provided some evidence of criterion validity for NEO-PI scales

83

Construct Validity The value of a scale lies in its ability to show meaningful

relations to external criteria that allow making valid inferences about scale scores while

interpreting individual cases Data on construct validity show that the scales of NEO

PI-R are generally successful in measuring the intended constructs The dimensions of

the NEO PI-R have been found to emerge over different types of factoring methods and

types of samples (Costa 1996 McCrae Zonderman Costa Bond amp Paunonen 1996)

over self-reports and observer ratings (McCrae 1994 Peidmont 1994) and even cross-

culturally (eg Spanish Korean Hebrew Chinese and German see McCrae and

Costa 1997 for a review of cross-cultural data) Several studies that demonstrated the

theoretically appropriate predictive power of NEO PI-R scales with respect to a variety

of external criteria including psychological well-being coping and defenses needs and

motivation Jungian types interpersonal traits and creativity and divergent thinking

provided evidence of construct validity for both forms

Convergent and Discriminant Validity Convergent and discriminant validity of

the facet scales have been established as well (eg Costa McCrae amp Holland 1984

Costa amp McCrae 1986 Lorr 1986) Sufficient data exists documenting the convergent

and discriminant validity of the facets themselves documenting their utility as useful

and non redundant measures of personality (Costa 1996 Costa McCrae amp Dye 1991

Peidmont amp Weinstein 1993) The clinical value of NEO PI-R has also been

documented Information from this instrument has been shown relevant to anticipating

psychotherapeutic outcome (Miller 1991) and for understanding the Axis 11

personality disorders (Trull 1992)

84

Costa and McCrae (1992b) outlined several strategies for using the NEO in a

clinical context Convergent validity is seen in the fact that NEO PI-R facet scales are

correlated with alternative measures of similar constructs For example N1 Anxiety is

related to Anxiety as measured by the State-Trait Personality Inventory (Spielberger et

al 1979) and Tension as measured by the Profile of Mood States (McNair Lorr amp

Droppleman 1971) A1 Trust is positively correlated with the Trusting scale of the

Interpersonal Style Inventory (Lorr 1986) and negatively correlated with the Suspicion

scale of the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory (Buss amp Durkee 1957) All 30 scales

show substantial correlations with appropriate criteria

Discriminant validity is seen by contrasting the correlates of different facets

particularly from different domain The Personality Research Form (PRF Jackson

1984) is considered as correlates of the E facet scales PRF Affiliation is related to E1

Warmth and E2 Gregariousness PRF Dominance is related to E3 Assertiveness PRF

harm avoidance is negatively related to E5 Excitement ndashSeeking and PRF Play is

related to E6 Positive Emotion A study examined the 300 items of the Adjective

Check List (ACL Gough amp Heilbrun 1983) and the seven largest correlates were

identified for each of the 30 NEO PI-R facets These correlates showed an appropriate

and distinctive pattern that testifies to the discriminant validity of the facet scales

Norms Normative information for Form S is based on a sample of 500 men and

500 women screened from a larger pool of 2273 individuals These 1000 individuals

were selected demographically in order to match US Census projections for 1995 Form

R norms were obtained from 143 ratings of 73 men and 134 ratings of 69 women

These ratings were obtained from both spouses and multiple peer ratings (McCrae amp

Costa 1991a)

85

Judgesrsquo Evaluation of NEO PI-R

The NEO PI-R Form S was translated in Urdu at National Institute of

Psychology Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad by Chishti (2002) The Urdu version

of NEO PI-R is used in this study The Urdu version was given to four experts (two

PhD psychologists and two were MPhil in psychology) to evaluate the possibility of

administering the inventory to grade 9th

and 10th

students It was evaluated by the

expert that the translated version is quite easy to understand however few words and

concepts may be difficult to understand by some of the students It was also suggested

that any queries raised by the students must be addressed and meaning of words may be

explained in a standardized way NEO PI-R Urdu version along with detailed

instructions is attached at Appendix Glsquo The facet scales of NEO PI-R (Urdu version)

are attached at Appendix Hlsquo The answer sheet is attached at Appendix Ilsquo

Conceptual Definitions of the Personality

The dispositional domain of Personality was measured by NEO PI-R which was

developed to operationalize the five factor model of personality The five factors

represent the most basic dimensions underlying the traits identified in both natural

language and psychological questionnaire Factors are defined by groups of inter-

correlated traits called facets Each cluster of facets determined the domain The basic

definitions (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) as well as crucial distinctions of 5 domains and

30 facets are described below

Neuroticism (N) The most pervasive domain of personality scales contrasts

adjustment or emotional stability with maladjustment or neuroticism The general

tendency to experience negative effects such as sadness embarrassment anger guilt

86

and disgust is the core of neuroticism domain People who score high on such

dimension tend to experience greater level of stress In contrast people who score low

tend to be generally calm relaxed hardy relatively unemotional self-satisfied High

scorer may be at risk for some kinds of psychiatric problems but the N scale should not

be viewed as a measure of psychopathology

Extraversion (E) The high score in this domain indicates that extraverts like

people prefer large group and gathering They are assertive active and talkative like

excitement and stimulation and tend to be cheerful in disposition They are upbeat

energetic and optimistic The introverts are reserved rather than unfriendly

independent rather than followers even paced rather than sluggish Introverts may be

shy but they do not necessarily suffer from social anxiety and are not unhappy or

pessimistic

Openness (O) Individuals who are high on Openness (O) have been described

as imaginative aesthetic sensitivity creative intellectual curiosity independent

analytical traditional artistic liberal and having broad interests Open individuals are

curious about both inner and outer worlds and their lives are experientially richer They

are willing to entertain novel ideas and experience both positive and negative emotions

more keenly than do closed individuals In contrast individuals who are low in (O)

have been described as conventional down to the earth uncreative simple not

curious non adventurous conforming non analytical traditional conservative and as

having narrow interests Alternative formulations of FFM often label this factor as

Intellect and (O) scores are modestly associated with both education and measured

intelligence

87

Agreeableness (A) Agreeableness is primarily a dimension of interpersonal

tendencies The agreeable person is fundamentally altruistic He or she is sympathetic

to others and eager to help them and believe that other will be equally helpful in return

By contrast the disagreeable or antagonistic person is egocentric impractical of otherslsquo

intensions and competitive rather than cooperative Low (A) is associated with

narcissistic antisocial and paranoid personality disorders whereas high (A) is

associated with the dependent personality disorders (Costa amp McCrae 1990)

Conscientiousness (C) Conscientious individuals are purposeful strong-willed

determined scrupulous punctual reliable consistent and is associated with academic

and occupational achievement Low scorers are not necessarily lacking in moral

principles but they are less exacting in applying them just as they are attention

seeking low assertiveness low orderliness and more lackadaisical in working toward

their goals

Neuroticism Facets

Anxiety (N1) Anxious individuals are apprehensive fearful prone to worry

nervous tense and jittery High scorers are more likely to have such fears as well as

free-floating anxiety Low scorers are calm and relaxed They do not dwell on things

that might go wrong

Angry Hostility (N2) Angry hostility represents the tendency to experience

anger and related states such as frustration and bitterness This scale measures the

individuallsquos readiness to experience anger Low scorers are easygoing and slow to

anger

88

Depression (N3) It measures normal individual differences in the tendency to

experience depressive affect High scorers are prone to feelings of guilt sadness

hopelessness and loneliness They are easily discouraged and often dejected Low

scorers rarely experience such emotions

Self-Consciousness (N4) Self conscious individuals are uncomfortable around

others sensitive to ridicule and prone to feeling of inferiority Low scorers do not

necessarily have poise or good social skills they are simply less disturbed by awkward

social situations

Impulsiveness (N5) It refers to the inability to control cravings and urges

Desires (for food cigarettes possessions etc) are perceived as being so strong that the

individual cannot resist them although he or she may later regret the behavior Low

scorers find it easier to resist such temptations having a high tolerance for frustration

Vulnerability (N6) Individuals who score high on this scale feel unable to cope

with stress becoming dependent hopeless or panicked when facing emergency

situations Low scorers perceive themselves as capable of handling themselves in

difficult situations

Extraversion Facets

Warmth (E1) Warm people are affectionate and friendly They genuinely like

people and easily form close attachments to others Low scorers are neither hostile nor

necessarily lacking in compassion but they are more formal reserved and distant in

manner than high scorers

Gregariousness (E2) Gregariousness is the preference for other peoplelsquos

company Gregarious people enjoy the company of others and the more the merrier

89

Low scorers tend to be loners who do not seek- or who even actively avoid ndash social

stimulation

Assertiveness (E3) High scorers on this scale are dominant forceful and

socially ascendant They speak without hesitation and often become group leaders Low

scorers prefer to keep in the background and let others do the talking

Activity (E4) A high Activity score is seen in rapid tempo and vigorous

movement in a sense of energy and in a need to keep busy Active people lead fast-

paced lives Low scorers are more leisurely and relaxed in tempo although they are not

necessarily sluggish or lazy

Excitement-seeking (E5) High scorers crave excitement and stimulation

They like bright colors and noisy environments Low scorers feel little need for thrills

and prefer a life that high scorers might find boring

Positive emotion (E6) It assesses the tendency to experience positive emotions

such as joy happiness love and excitement High scorers laugh easily and often They

are cheerful and optimistic Low scorers are not necessarily unhappy they are merely

less exuberant and high-spirited

Openness Facets

Fantasy (O1) Individuals who are open to fantasy have a vivid imagination

and an active fantasy life They daydream not simply as an escape but as a way of

creating for themselves an interesting inner world They elaborate and develop their

fantasies and believe that imagination contributes to a rich and creative life Low

scorers are more prosaic and prefer to keep their minds on the task at hand

Aesthetics (O2) High scorers have a deep appreciation for art and beauty

They are moved by poetry absorbed in music and intrigued by art They need not have

90

artistic talent nor even necessarily what most people would consider good taste but for

many of them their interest in the arts will lead them to develop a wider knowledge and

appreciation than that of the average individual Low scorers are relatively insensitive

to and uninterested in art and beauty

Feelings (O3) Openness to feelings implies receptivity to onelsquos own

inner feelings and emotions and the evaluation of emotion as an important part of life

High scorers experience deeper and more differentiated emotional states and feel both

happiness and unhappiness more intensely than others Low scorers have somewhat

blunted affects and do not believe that feeling states are of much importance

Actions (O4) Openness is seen behaviorally in the willingness to try different

activities go new places or eat unusual foods High scorers prefer novelty and variety

to familiarity and routine Over time they may engage in a series of different hobbies

Low scorers find change difficult and prefer to stick with the tried-and-true

Ideas (O5) This trait is seen not only in an active pursuit of intellectual

interests for their own sake but also in open-mindedness and a willingness to consider

new perhaps unconventional ideas High scorers enjoy both philosophical arguments

and brain-teasers Openness to ideas does not necessarily imply high intelligence Low

scorers on the scale have limited curiosity and if highly intelligent narrowly focus

their resources on limited topics

Values (O6) Openness to Values means the readiness to re-examine social

political and religious values Closed individuals tend to accept authority and honor

tradition and as a consequence are generally conservative regardless of political party

affiliation

91

Agreeableness Facets

Trust (A1) High scorers have a disposition to believe that others are honest

and well-intentioned Low scorers tend to be cynical and skeptical and to assume that

others may be dishonest or dangerous

Straightforwardness (A2) The individuals with high scores on this scale are

frank sincere and ingenuous Low scorers are more willing to manipulate others

through flattery craftiness or deception They view these tactics as necessary social

skills and may regard more straightforward people as naive

Altruism (A3) High scorers have an active concern for otherslsquo welfare as

shown in generosity consideration of others and a willingness to assist others in need

to help Low scorers are somewhat self-centered and are reluctant to get involved in the

problems of others

Compliance (A4) This facet concerns characteristic reactions to interpersonal

conflict The high scorer tends to defer to others to inhibit aggression and to forgive

and forget Compliant people are meek and mild The low scorer is aggressive prefers

to compete rather than cooperate and has no reluctance to express anger when

necessary

Modesty (A5) High scorers are humble and self-effacing although they are not

necessarily lacking in self-confidence or self-esteem Low scorers believe they are

superior people and may be considered conceited or arrogant by others A pathological

lack of modesty is part of the clinical conception of narcissism

Tender-Mindedness (A6) This facet scale measures attitudes of sympathy

and concern for others High scorers are moved by otherslsquo needs and emphasize the

92

human side of social policies Low scorers are more hardheaded and less moved by

appeals to pity They would consider themselves realists who make rational decisions

based on cold logic

Conscientiousness Facets

Competence (C1) Competence refers to the sense that one is capable

sensible prudent and effective High scorers feel well prepared to deal with life Low

scorers have a lower opinion of their abilities and admit that they are often unprepared

and inept

Order (C2) High scorers are neat tidy and well organized They keep

things in their proper places Low scorers are unable to get organized and describe

themselves as unmethodical Carried to an extreme high order might contribute to a

compulsive personality disorder

Dutifulness (C3) In one sense conscientious means ―governed by

conscience and that aspect of conscientiousness is assessed as dutifulness High

scorers adhere strictly to their ethical principles and scrupulously fulfill their moral

obligations Low scorers are more casual about such matters and may be somewhat

undependable or unreliable

Achievement Striving (C4) Individuals who score high on this facet have high

aspiration levels and work hard to achieve their goals They are diligent and purposeful

and have a sense of direction in life Very high scorers however may invest too much

in their careers and become workaholics Low scorers are lackadaisical and perhaps

even lazy They are not driven to succeed They lack ambition and may seem aimless

but they are often perfectly content with their low levels of achievement

93

Self-Discipline (C5) It is the ability to begin tasks and carry them through to

completion despite boredom and other distractions High scorers have the ability to

motivate themselves to get the job done Low scorers procrastinate in beginning chores

and are easily discouraged and eager to quit People low in self-discipline cannot force

them to do what they want themselves to do

Deliberation (C6) Deliberation is the tendency to think carefully before

acting High scorers are cautious and deliberate Low scorers are hasty and often speak

or act without considering the consequences At best low scorers are spontaneous and

able to make snap decisions when necessary

Step 5 Self-Directed Search (SDS)

The SDS is an outgrowth of a theory of vocational choices (Holland 1959

1966b 1973 1985a) which has undergone extensive investigation and won wide

acceptance The SDS Form R (SDS Holland 1994) is one of the most widely used

interest inventories (Spokane amp Holland 1995) and is available in multiple formats

eg paper-pencil personal computer internet mail-in scoring (Professional Report

Service) and kit (Vocational Exploration and Insight Kit) (Reardon amp Lenz 1998) The

SDS is a self-administered self-scored and self interpreted vocation counseling tool It

included two booklets an assessment booklet and an occupational classification

booklet To use the SDS a person fills out the assessment booklet and obtained three

letter occupational codes The code is then used to locate suitable occupations in the

occupational classification booklet the occupation finder Most people can complete

the SDS in 40 to 50 minutes The SDS is used in high school colleges adult centers

correctional institutions women centers and employment offices for career education

94

vocational guidance and placement The SDS is not helpful for people who are grossly

disturbed uneducated or illiterate The scale and rating in the SDS assessment booklet

include

Activities (six scales of eleven items each)

Competencies (six scales of eleven items each)

Occupations (six scales of fourteen items each)

Self estimate (two sets of six ratings each rating corresponding to a type)

Total items = 228

The SDS is clearly suitable for persons aged 15 and older but the upper and

lower limits have not been well investigated The SDS in its published form or with

minor changes has been used successfully with males and females college students

young children employee adults etc

Reliability and Validity of SDS

The SDS (Holland 1985a) is an extension of Hollands work on the study of

personality types Holland contended that each individual to some extent resembles

one of six basic personality types realistic investigative artistic social enterprising

or conventional The SDS consisted of an assessment workbook which is scored by the

client and a reusable booklet The Occupations Finder The workbook begins with a

section on Occupational Daydreams The sections that follow deal with Activities

Competencies Occupations (attitudes toward specific occupations) and Self-Estimates

(of abilities) Raw scores are converted into a three-letter summary code which

95

reflected a preferred style The order of the three letters in the summary code is

hierarchical the first letter representing the strongest preference for a particular type

Hollandlsquos six personality types are unique This is not to suggest that other

researchers have not proposed six major personality factors (Brand 1995) but none are

described in the same terminology as has been done by Holland Over the past decade

there has been a renewed interest in the topic of personality at work (Hough 1998)

There have been meta-reviews in the area (Barrick amp Mount 1991 Salgado 1997) as

well as studies looking at personality trait correlates of specific work outcomes like

absenteeism (Judge Martocchio amp Thoresen 1997) and job satisfaction tension and

propensity to leave (Van der Berg amp Feij 1993) Numerous studies have been

conducted to establish the reliability and validity of SDS The cross cultural researches

also provided evidence that SDS is a reliable and valid instrument

Reliability Internal consistency coefficient for the assessment scales range from

84 to 92 for males and 86 to 91 for females (age range 14 to 18) In general the 1985

revision is slightly more reliable than the 1977 revision 69 of the summary scales are

more reliable 17 show no difference and 14 is less reliable The standard error of

the difference score at the 5 level range from 78 to 98 for the 14 to 18 years old

sample from 78 to 94 for the 19 to 25 years old sample and from 84 to 97 for the 26

to 74 years old sample Internal consistency coefficients on the summary scale

coefficients on the paper version of the SDS ranged from 90 to 94 Test-retest

reliability correlations for the summary scales ranged from 76 to 89 (Holland et al

1994)

96

Validity In general the concurrent or predictive validity of the SDS summary

scales or occupations scales are comparable with and sometimes exceed the

concurrent or predictive validities of other interest inventories (Dolliver 1975

Gottfredson amp Holland 1975 Hanson Noeth amp Prediger 1977 Holland amp

Gottfredson 1975 Hughes 1972 OlsquoNeil Magoon amp Tracey 1978 Touchton amp

Moggon 1977 Wiggins amp Westlander 1977) Kappa (k) is an index of agreement that

takes into account the marginal in the 6 x 6 tables that were used to obtain the

percentage of hits so that it is an accurate index of agreement The value of k is 27 and

36 for females and males respectively for 14 to 18 years old The value of k is 44 and

36 for females and males respectively for 19 to 25 years old

The validity of Hollandlsquos (1973 1985b) trait characterizations of the types

generally has been supported by empirical studies relating scores on type measures

(eg SDS VPI) to a wide range of personality inventories including Cattelllsquos 16PF

(Holland 1962 Ward Cunningham amp Wakefield 1976) the Edwards Personal

Preference Schedule (Utz amp Korben 1976 Wakefield amp Cunningham 1975) the

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (Martin amp Bartol 1986) and the NEO Inventory (Costa

et al 1984) In addition Holland group membership has been related to scores on the

16PF (Bolton 1985 Peraino amp Willerman 1983) Jacksonlsquos (1967) Personality

Research Form (Beysner Bodden amp Winer 1978) the California Psychological

Inventory (Taylor amp Kelso 1973) and the Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey

(Turner amp Horn 1975) among others Various studies have looked at the cross-cultural

validity of Hollands theory such as Khan Alvi Shaukat Hussain and Baig (1990) and

Siddiqa (1999) who performed their study in Pakistan They revised many items

because of cultural differences and not being able to confirm statistics yet they

97

concluded that the model promises to be useful in a non-western culture (p 132)

Judgesrsquo Evaluation of the SDS

The SDS was translated in Urdu at National Institute of Psychology Quaid-i-

Azam University Islamabad by Naheed (1988) The procedures used in translation were

direct translation team or committee approach and back translation Field probe

techniques were used for cultural adaptation and modification After thorough

deliberation 18 items were discarded from the inventory The final version has 210

items Activities have six scales of eleven items each Competencies have six scales of

ten items each Occupations have six scales of twelve items each and Self ratings have

two sets of six ratings each rating corresponding to a type The Urdu version of SDS is

used in the present study

The Urdu version was given to four experts (two PhD and two MPhil scholars)

in the field of psychology to evaluate the possibility of administering the inventory to

grade 9th

and 10th

students It was evaluated by the expert that the translated version is

quite easy to understand however few words and concepts may be difficult to

understand by some of the students It was also suggested that any queries raised by the

students must be addressed and meaning of words may be explained in a standardized

way The Urdu version of SDS is attached at appendix Jlsquo

Conceptual Definitions of Vocational Interests

The dispositional aspects of vocational interests are conceptualized by the

Holland typology of vocational interests Vocational interests are measured by Self

98

Directed Search (Holland 1985a) The SDS measures six types of vocational interests

known as personality types The definitions are described below

Personality Types

According to Holland (1985a) most people can be described as one of six

personality types realistic investigative artistic social enterprising and conventional

The description of each type is shown below

Realistic type The realistic types are predisposed to activities that entail

working with objects perceive themselves as having mechanical and athletic abilities

and value the tangibles They prefer activities involving the systematic manipulation of

machinery tools or animals

Investigative type The investigative types prefer to engage in activities

involving observational symbolic and creative inquiry see themselves as being

scholarly and intellectual and value science They tend to be analytical curious

methodical and precise

Artistic type The artistic types like ambiguous free and unsystematic

activities perceived themselves as expressive original intuitive introspective

nonconforming and value aesthetic qualities

Social type The social type like working with others to inform train cure

and enlighten see themselves as liking to help others understanding others and having

teaching ability and value social and ethical concerns and activities

Enterprising type The enterprising types show preference for activities that

involve manipulation of others to achieve organizational goals or economic gain

perceive themselves as aggressive self-confident and sociable and value political and

economic achievement

99

Conventional type The conventional types tend to like activities that entail

ordered manipulation of data and records perceive themselves as conforming and

orderly and value business and economic achievement

Step 6 Pretesting of Research Instruments

This part of the study dealt with the pretesting of research instrumentsNEO PI-

R and SDS along with the demographic sheet were administered to the small sample of

students The results showed the reliabilityvalidity of main domains of NEO PI-R and

main scales of SDS The sample procedures and results of the study are discussed

below

Sample

In this part of the study 100 students were taken from one boy school for the

study purpose All the students were taken from a school situated near Rawalpindi

After getting their consent 100 willing students were randomly selected 50 students

were taken from 9th

class and 50 students were taken from 10th

class 50 Science and 50

Arts students were randomly selected Convenient sampling technique was used as far

as selection of school is concerned One Government school where arts and science

subjects are being taught was taken for the study Within the school the sample is

divided into two main categories 9th

class students and 10th

class students Then in each

class (9th

or 10th

class) sample is distributed into science and arts groups students In

each science or arts group 25 students were selected using the systematic random

sampling techniques Depending on the number of students available in each category

the interval k was calculated by dividing the total available students by 25 Once k is

computed then any number between 1 and computed k has been randomly selected for

100

each category Using the nominal roll of students for each category every student

falling on the selected number in the sequence was selected for the study The

distribution of sample is described below

Distribution of Students in a School

Figure 4 Sample distribution in a school

All the tests were administered to 100 students and after scrutinizing the data

and eliminating the absentees the sample was left with only 79 students The age

range is from 14 years to 19 years The mean age is 1615 years There are 43 science

students and 36 arts students 45 students were from 9th

class and 34 students were

from 10th

class

Procedure

The tests were administered to the students in the course of two days The

students were administered demographic sheet NEO PI-R and SDS as per the

convenience of school administration On the first day demographic sheet and SDS

One School

(100 Students)

50 Students

from 10th

Class

50 Students

from 9th

Class

25 Students

(Science Group)

25 Students

(Arts Group)

25 Students

(Science Group)

25 Students

(Arts Group)

101

were administered to the students On the second day NEO PI-R was administered on

the same students The testing was carried out in-groups of 50 students Detail

instructions were printed on the cover pages of inventories however students were

also briefed about the instructions verbally as well Questions and queries were also

addressed The tests were personally administered by the researcher assisted by two

well trained individuals The consent of the students and the school administration

were sought prior to test administration The students were briefed about the purpose

of the study They were also requested to inform or write down any problem they

face while completing these inventories There were no significant observations

pointed out by the sample during this phase

Results

The data was analyzed by computer using SPSS 13 Alpha reliability

coefficients of all the main scales of NEO PI-R were computed Item total

correlations of all the items with their respective subscales were also computed

Correlations of subscales of NEO PI-R and inter-correlation between the five main

domains were calculated The results showed the reliability and validity of NEO PI-R

and are shown in Table 1 to Table 8 Alpha reliability coefficients of subscales of

SDS are shown in Table 9 Item-total correlations of each item with respective

subscales and the inter-correlations matrix between the subscales and summary

scales are shown in Table 10 to 11 The result demonstrated the reliability and

validity of the SDS

102

ReliabilityValidity of NEO PI-R

The reliabilityvalidity of NEO PI-R was calculated The alpha reliability

coefficients of five main scales of NEO PI-R illustrated the internal consistency of

the instrument and are shown in Table 1

Table 1

Alpha reliability coefficients of 5 main scales of NEO PI-R

Scales No of items Alpha coefficients Alpha coefficients

(N = 79) (N = 60)

Neuroticism 48 76 77

Extraversion 48 62 80

Openness 48 34 73

Agreeableness 48 68 76

Conscientiousness 48 81 89

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

source of alpha coefficients (N =60) (Chishti 2002)

Five main scales of NEO PI-R (Neuroticism Extraversion Openness

Agreeableness Conscientiousness) showed moderate Alpha reliability coefficients

ranging from 34 (Openness) to 81 (Conscientiousness) Overall the results

demonstrated high internal consistency of the instrument as reflected by alpha

coefficients except Openness domain An alpha value of 5 or 6 or more was deemed

sufficient for the purpose of estimating the reliability of scale However subscale

Openness showed weak internal consistency as compared to other four scales

Whereas Alpha coefficient determined by Chishti (2002) showed high internal

consistency of five domains including (73) Openness domain This showed low

internal consistency of openness domain However item-total correlations of each

scale have been calculated to find out the construct validity of each subscale

103

Table 2

Item-total correlation of each item with respective subscales of NEO PI-R (N = 79)

Anxiety (N1)

(Items = 8)

r Warmth

(E1)

(Items = 8)

r Fantasy

(O1)

(Items = 8)

r Trust

(A1)

(Items = 8)

r Competence

(C1)

(Items = 8)

r

n1 55 n2 34 n3 03 n4 31 n5 53

n31 42 n32 53 n33 59 n34 52 n35 45

n61 53 n62 47 n63 07 n64 41 n65 35

n91 42 n92 42 n93 56 n94 34 n95 22

n121 38 n122 53 n123 25 n124 60 n125 35

n151 51 n152 40 n153 42 n154 52 n155 46

n181 44 n182 48 n183 34 n184 55 n185 37

n211 42 n212 46 n213 34 n214 44 n215 42

Hostility

(N2)

(Items = 8)

r Gregarious

(E2)

(Items = 8)

r Aesthetics

(O2)

(Items = 8)

r Straight

Forward

(A2) (Items = 8)

r Order

(C2)

(Items = 8)

r

n6 46 n7 30 n8 27 n9 38 n10 41

n36 45 n37 65 n38 44 n39 58 n40 41

n66 48 n67 43 n68 40 n69 41 n70 38

n96 30 n97 54 n98 38 n99 33 n100 35

n126 44 n127 26 n128 47 n129 58 n130 52

n156 34 n157 33 n158 45 n159 52 n160 31

n186 37 n187 53 n188 39 n189 53 n190 53

n216 66 n217 53 n218 47 n219 33 n220 30

Depression

(N3)

(Items = 8)

r Assertive-

ness

(E3)

(Items = 8)

r Feelings

(O3)

(Items = 8)

r Altruism

(A3)

(Items = 8)

r Dutifulness

(C3)

(Items = 8)

r

n11 12 n12 44 n13 34 n14 55 n15 42

n41 59 n42 17 n43 57 n44 21 n45 40

n71 25 n72 60 n73 41 n74 57 n75 40

n101 37 n102 28 n103 35 n104 50 n105 49

n131 33 n132 49 n133 55 n134 50 n135 60

n161 37 n162 22 n163 44 n164 65 n165 52

n191 32 n192 41 n193 47 n194 51 n195 47

n221 39 n222 13 n223 41 n224 38 n225 50

Continuedhellip

104

Self-

Conscious

(N4) (Items = 8)

r Activity

(E4)

(Items = 8)

r Actions

(O4)

(Items = 8)

r Compliance

(A4)

(Items = 8)

r Achievement

Striving

(C4) (Items = 8)

r

n16 44 n17 46 n18 35 n19 39 n20 55

n46 03 n47 30 n48 12 n49 53 n50 49

n76 72 n77 33 n78 46 n79 35 n80 50

n106 46 n107 56 n108 32 n109 50 n110 51

n136 42 n137 52 n138 30 n139 60 n140 51

n166 39 n167 25 n168 22 n169 38 n170 54

n196 54 n197 39 n198 36 n199 51 n200 51

n226 38 n227 40 n228 49 n229 33 n230 59

Impulsive-

ness (N5) (Items = 8)

r Excitement

seeking (E5)

(Items = 8)

r Ideas

(O5) (Items = 8)

r Modesty

(A5) (Items = 8)

r Self Discipline

(C5) (Items = 8)

r

n21 23 n22 19 n23 25 n24 39 n25 40

n51 57 n52 34 n53 26 n54 33 n55 71

n81 34 n82 46 n83 41 n84 49 n85 58

n111 35 n112 36 n113 53 n114 16 n115 63

n141 39 n142 35 n143 23 n144 50 n145 52

n171 40 n172 42 n173 52 n174 49 n175 38

n201 46 n202 45 n203 48 n204 41 n205 47

n231 39 n232 55 n233 50 n234 55 n235 53

Vulnerability

(N6)

(Items = 8)

r Positive

Emotion

(E6) (Items = 8)

r Values

(O6)

(Items = 8)

r Tender

Mindedness

(A6) (Items = 8)

r Deliberation

(C6)

(Items = 8)

r

n26 50 n27 44 n28 39 n29 39 n30 34

n56 39 n57 49 n58 45 n59 39 n60 66

n86 49 n87 46 n88 39 n89 30 n90 42

n116 53 n117 32 n118 50 n119 53 n120 65

n146 48 n147 48 n148 42 n149 41 n150 37

Continuedhellip

105

Vulnerability

(N6)

(Items = 8)

r Positive

Emotion

(E6) (Items = 8)

r Values

(O6)

(Items = 8)

r Tender

Mindedness

(A6) (Items = 8)

r Deliberation

(C6)

(Items = 8)

r

n176 61 n177 56 n178 24 n179 44 n180 19

n206 56 n207 29 n208 28 n209 48 n210 52

n236 29 n237 40 n238 32 n239 40 n240 56

Note n1 to n240 represent each item of Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R)

Neuroticism domain includes subscales N1 N2 N3 N4 N5 N6 Extraversion domain includes subscales

E1E2E3E4E5E6 Openness domain includes subscales O1O2O3O4O5O6 Agreeableness domain

includes subscalesA1A2A3A4A5A6 Conscientiousness domain includes subscales C1C2C3C4C5C6

P lt 05 P lt 01 P lt 001

The findings in Table 2 illustrated the item-total correlations of each subscale

of NEO PI-R Items of each subscale are positively correlated with the total score of

respective subscale The results showed that almost all the items significantly

correlated with the total of their respective subscale However 11 items (3 11 22

42 44 46 48 63 114 180 and 222) from subscales fantasy depression excitement

seeking assertiveness altruism self-conscious actions fantasy modesty

deliberation and assertiveness have non-significant correlations with their respective

subscales Overall the results showed the construct validity of 30 subscales of NEO

PI-R

Table 3

Correlations of subscales with main scale of Neuroticism (N=79)

Subscale r

Anxiety (N1) 76

Angry Hostility (N2) 61

Depression (N3) 55

Self-Consciousness (N4) 71

Impulsiveness (N5)

Vulnerability (N6)

67

68

p lt 001

106

In Table 3 the correlations of six subscales with the main scale of Neuroticism

domain were computed The results showed that all the six subscales i-e Anxiety

(N1) Angry hostility (N2) Depression (N3) Self-Consciousness (N4) Impulsiveness

(N5) and Vulnerability (N6) are highly significantly correlated with the main scale of

Neuroticism domain The range of magnitude of correlations is from a minimum

(r = 55 p lt 001) of subscale (N3) to a maximum (r = 76 p lt 001) of subscale (N1)

This showed the construct validity of subscales of Neuroticism domain of NEO PI-R

Table 4

Correlations of subscales with main scale of Extraversion (N=79)

Subscale r

Warmth (E1) 68

Gregariousness (E2) 58

Assertiveness (E3) 36

Activity (E4) 47

Excitement-seeking (E5)

Positive Emotion (E6)

61

63

p lt 001

The finding in Table 4 showed that all the six subscales i-e Warmth (E1)

Gregariousness (E2) Assertiveness (E3) Activity (E4) Excitement seeking (E5)

and Positive Emotion (E6) are highly significantly correlated with the main scale of

Extraversion domain The range of magnitude of correlations is from a (r = 36 p lt

107

001) of subscale (E3) to a maximum (r = 68 p lt 001) of subscale (E1) This

showed the construct validity of facet scales of Extraversion domain of NEO PI-R

Table 5

Correlations of subscales with main scale of Openness (N=79)

Subscale r

Fantasy (O1) 42

Aesthetics (O2) 55

Feelings (O3) 54

Actions (O4) 45

Ideas (O5)

Values (O6)

52

24

p lt 05 p lt 001

The correlations of six subscales with the main scale of Openness domain

shown in Table 5 revealed that all subscales are significantly correlated with the

main scale of Openness domain The range of magnitude of correlations is from a

minimum (r = 24 p lt 05) of subscale (O6) to a maximum (r = 55 p lt 001) of

subscale (O2) The subscale of Values has moderate correlation with the openness

domain scale Overall this showed the construct validity of facet scales of Openness

domain of NEO PI-R

108

Table 6

Correlations of subscales with main scale of Agreeableness (N=79)

Subscale r

Trust (A1) 46

Straight forwardness (A2) 65

Altruism (A3) 60

Compliance (A4) 67

Modesty (A5)

Tender mindedness (A6)

29

64

p lt 01 p lt 001

In Table 6 the correlations of six subscales with the main scale of

Agreeableness domain were computed All the six subscales i-e Trust (A1) Straight

forwardness (A2) Altruism (A3) Compliance (A4) Modesty (A5) and Tender

mindedness (A6) are highly significantly correlated with the main scale of

Agreeableness domain The range of magnitude of correlations is from (r = 29 p lt

01) of subscale (A5) to a maximum (r = 67 p lt 001) of subscale (A4) This showed

the construct validity of facet scales of Agreeableness domain of NEO PI-R

Table 7

Correlations of subscales with main scale of Conscientiousness (N=79)

Subscale r

Competence (C1) 51

Order (C2) 50

Dutifulness (C3) 69

Achievement striving (C4) 72

Self discipline (C5)

Deliberation (C6)

81

77

p lt 001

109

The findings in Table 7 showed that all the six facets subscales are highly

significantly correlated with the main scale of Conscientiousness domain The range

of magnitude of correlations is from a minimum (r = 50 p lt 001) of subscale (C2)

to a maximum (r = 81 p lt 001) of subscale (C5) This displayed the construct

validity of subscales of Conscientiousness domain of NEO PI-R

Table 8

Inter-correlations between five main domains of NEO PI-R (N=79)

Scale I II III IV V

I Neuroticism (N) -

II Extraversion (E) -11 -

III Openness (O) -15 26 -

IV Agreeableness (A) -13 11 05 -

V Conscientiousness (C) -43 33 27 54 -

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

p lt 05 p lt 01 p lt 001

Table 8 indicated the inter-correlations of five main domains of NEO PI-R The

result showed that the 5 main domains (Neuroticism Extraversion Openness

Agreeableness and Conscientiousness) are significantly correlated with each other

Neuroticism (N) domain is negatively correlated with all other domain however

significantly negatively correlated with Conscientiousness (r = -43 p lt 001)

Extraversion (E) is significantly correlated with Openness (r = 26 p lt 05) and

Conscientiousness (r = 33 p lt 01) Conscientiousness (C) is significantly correlated

with all other domains This inter correlation matrix showed the construct validity of

the five domains of NEO PI-R

110

ReliabilityValidity of SDS

Table 9 showed the alpha reliability coefficients of summary scales and

subscales of activities competencies occupations and self-estimates of SDS on the

basis of six personality types ie Realistic (R) Investigative (I) Artistic (A) Social

(S) Enterprising (E) and Conventional (C) Item-total correlations of each item with

their respective subscales were calculated Inter-correlation of subscales activities

competencies occupations self-estimate1 self-estimate2 and main summary scales

were also computed to establish the reliabilityvalidity of SDS

Table 9

Alpha reliability coefficients of subscales of SDS (N=79)

Scales No of items Alpha coefficients

(N = 79)

Alpha coefficients

(N = 120)

Activities

Activities (R) 11 48 57

Activities (I) 11 48 65

Activities (A) 11 57 60

Activities (S) 11 51 65

Activities (E) 11 58 60

Activities (C) 11 52 66

Continuedhellip

111

Scales No of items Alpha coefficient

(N = 79)

Alpha coefficient

(N = 120)

Competencies

Competencies (R)

10

63

57

Competencies (I) 10 69 60

Competencies (A) 10 65 59

Competencies (S) 10 61 70

Competencies (E) 10 61 61

Competencies (C)

Occupations

10

52

62

Occupations (R) 12 72 55

Occupations (I)

Occupations (A)

Occupations (S)

Occupations (E)

Occupations (C)

Summary

Realistic

Investigative

Artistic

Social

Enterprising

Conventional

12

12

12

12

12

33

33

33

33

33

33

77

70

77

77

78

76

77

75

71

75

74

56

65

63

55

50

-

-

-

-

-

-

Note SDS = Self Directed Search

Source of alpha coefficients Urdu version SDS (N = 120) (Siddiqa 1999)

112

Table 9 showed the Alpha reliability coefficients of main summary scales

ranging from 71 (Social) to 77 (Investigative) This showed very high internal

consistency of the instrument Alpha reliability coefficients of Activities subscales

range from 48 (Activities R amp Activities I) to 58 (Activities E) whereas the alpha

reliability coefficient computed by Siddiqa (1999) on working women also range

from 57 (Activities R) to 66 (Activities C) The alpha reliability coefficients of 6

subscales of Competencies range from 52 (Competencies C) to 69 (Competencies

I) while alpha coefficient computed by Siddiqa (1999) were ranging from 57

(Competencies R) to 70 (Competencies S) The Alpha reliability coefficients of 6

subscales of Occupations range from 70 (Occupations A) to 78 (Occupations C)

whereas alpha coefficient computed by Siddiqa (1999) ranging from 55

(Occupations R) to 65 (Occupation A) This showed that alpha coefficients of SDS

have same values as compared to alpha coefficients determined by Siddiqa (1999)

Overall the results revealed that all subscales of SDS have moderate to high internal

consistency

Table 10

Item-total correlation of subscales of SDS (N=79)

Activities

(R)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(R)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(R)

(Items=12)

r Self-

estimates 1

(Items =6)

r

v1 51 V67 48 V127 36 S1 59

V2 37 V68 58 V128 54 S2 37

V3 23 V69 32 V129 47 S3 50

V4 50 V70 48 V130 46 S4 52

V5 46 V71 45 V131 61 S5 63

V6 52 V72 29 V132 50 S6 61

V7 42 V73 56 V133 46

Continuedhellip

113

Activities

(R)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(R)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(R)

(Items=12)

r Self-

estimates 2

(Items =6)

r

V8 44 V74 62 V134 44 S7 65

V9 39 V75 36 V135 51 S8 58

V10 21 V76 66 V136 49 S9 58

V11 31 V137 51 S10 60

V138 59 S11 54

S12 35

Activities (I)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(I)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(I)

(Items=12)

r

V12 41 V77 41 V139 56

V13 40 V78 64 V140 46

V14 42 V79 65 V141 50

V15 32 V80 41 V142 46

v16 33 V81 52 V143 61

V17 21 V82 46 V144 62

V18 52 V83 60 V145 51

v19 43 V84 42 V146 61

V20 50 V85 41 V147 45

V21 68 V86 59 V148 47

V22 11 V149 61

V150 50

Activities

(A)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(A)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(A)

(Items=12)

r

V23 36 V87 41 V151 54

V24 25 V88 36 V152 48

V25 49 V89 45 V153 48

V26 52 V90 59 V154 55

V27 45 V91 63 V155 55

Continuedhellip

114

Activities

(A)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(A)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(A)

(Items=12)

r

V28 34 V92 41 V156 37

V29 39 V93 47 V157 48

V30 39 V94 48 V158 50

V31 64 V95 59 V159 53

V32 41 V96 51 V160 52

V33 49 V161 43

V162 37

Activities

(S)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(S)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(S)

(Items=12)

r

V34 48 V97 50 V163 41

V35 46 V98 53 V164 41

V36 44 V99 46 V165 58

V37 20 V100 36 V166 57

V38 34 V101 47 V167 63

V39 56 V102 40 V168 50

V40 12 V103 37 V169 67

V41 41 V104 61 V170 49

V42 47 V105 43 V171 34

V43 56 V106 54 V172 50

V44 33 V173 60

V174 69

Activities

(E)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(E)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(E)

(Items=12)

r

V45 56 V107 66 V175 50

V46 47 V108 41 V176 52

V47 47 V109 48 V177 53

V48 52 V110 28 V178 52

Continuedhellip

115

Activities

(E)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(E)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(E)

(Items=12)

r

V49 32 V111 63 V179 55

V50 32 V112 56 V180 66

V51 34 V113 34 V181 52

V52 50 V114 44 V182 61

V53 41 V115 51 V183 65

V54 51 V116 40 V184 47

V55 37 V185 56

V186 33

Activities

(C)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(C)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(C)

(Items=12)

r

V56 37 V117 49 V187 60

V57 40 V118 49 V188 49

V58 42 V119 44 V189 61

V59 50 V120 58 V190 56

V60 35 V121 48 V191 57

V61 33 V122 23 V192 56

V62 49 V123 20 V193 40

V63 42 V124 50 V194 59

V64 44 V125 31 V195 51

V65 39 V126 55 V196 51

V66 51 V197 58

V198 52

Note SDS = Self Directed Search V1 to V198 and S1 to S12 represent each item of Self Directed Search (SDS)

Activities Competencies and Occupations each comprising RIASEC subscales

p lt 05 p lt 01 p lt 001

Table 10 showed the item-total correlation of subscales of SDS Almost all

the items significantly correlated with the total of each subscale (activities

competencies occupations and self-estimates) except items no 10 17 22 37 40

and 123 The results showed the construct validity of each subscale of SDS

116

Table 11

Intercorrelation of SDS Scales (N=79) Activities Competencies Occupation Self Rating 1 Self Rating 2 Summary

Ra Ia Aa Sa Ea Ca Rc Ic Ac Sc Ec Cc Ro Io Ao So Eo Co R1 I1 A1 S1 E1 C1 R2 I2 A2 S2 E2 C2 Rs Is As Ss Es Cs

Ra -

Ia 23 -

Aa 31 14 -

Sa 30 27 27 -

Ea 34 14 58 32 -

Ca 24 35 36 45 47 -

Rc 51 22 48 26 40 18 -

Ic 31 39 31 24 49 37 50 -

Ac 43 16 65 32 47 22 63 42 -

Sc 34 24 42 27 49 17 47 46 62 -

Ec 40 33 47 46 59 33 57 48 60 64 -

Cc 30 29 36 19 48 38 52 56 49 50 55 -

Ro 58 16 39 23 38 10 63 31 57 54 52 47 -

Io 43 17 38 21 59 27 40 54 51 59 50 54 62 -

Ao 41 09 59 26 34 03 40 10 60 47 42 27 61 59 -

So 32 21 29 26 40 21 40 48 41 51 51 52 42 72 51 -

Eo 30 02 36 22 42 26 40 29 34 35 42 42 43 45 40 53 -

Co 33 10 30 26 36 37 36 33 30 39 43 56 46 59 44 62 78 -

R1 22 13 30 08 15 03 17 13 16 35 28 20 21 25 24 30 20 25 -

I1 18 18 31 16 48 15 33 31 32 18 40 30 25 16 21 23 22 11 19 -

A1 00 06 04 09 06 01 -02 14 08 25 23 08 05 22 -05 24 -07 04 20 -06 -

S1 -05 -04 33 -12 08 -01 -08 03 14 13 03 08 05 07 24 11 10 11 26 17 -07 -

E1 09 08 04 -02 02 02 -06 36 18 25 02 19 10 38 14 28 19 26 24 -14 32 19 -

C1 13 -11 08 04 18 -04 00 28 17 07 04 12 02 21 11 16 11 14 07 19 20 12 36 -

R2 05 05 39 13 27 10 03 12 22 22 23 22 26 34 33 34 23 21 52 17 16 27 36 12 -

I2 11 04 23 19 34 24 20 29 15 23 29 26 18 27 19 33 15 30 21 31 19 00 24 21 28 -

A2 10 -06 13 -06 27 -03 19 20 26 35 27 07 15 29 34 23 03 01 28 40 11 08 07 17 20 38 -

S2 03 -02 36 -12 19 -03 08 09 28 24 16 13 12 24 35 22 11 14 29 14 04 77 26 15 31 00 17 -

E2 26 28 23 12 15 24 14 51 26 34 33 25 20 50 18 38 11 27 31 -02 46 01 53 29 25 22 13 18 -

C2 13 -07 20 19 29 -01 21 05 16 14 10 24 15 21 26 17 23 36 01 17 05 10 19 24 04 12 -01 22 -01 -

Rs 71 23 53 30 47 19 73 41 62 58 61 52 84 62 61 53 48 49 57 34 11 12 20 09 51 28 26 23 32 17 -

Is 42 51 44 33 62 43 53 82 52 58 63 63 52 77 39 67 39 50 29 51 19 07 33 25 31 54 37 16 51 16 62 -

As 41 10 74 29 53 18 54 35 82 65 61 40 58 63 79 53 36 36 36 36 31 24 22 21 38 33 54 38 37 22 67 59 -

Ss 31 21 53 38 48 24 38 44 56 69 58 48 45 63 60 75 45 53 42 28 19 58 33 18 42 26 26 67 36 24 58 61 68 -

Es 44 24 53 35 69 41 48 64 57 64 73 60 53 72 48 66 72 70 36 31 26 13 46 28 41 37 23 27 59 26 65 75 64 68 -

Cs 37 18 41 34 55 56 42 51 42 42 48 74 42 61 38 58 64 84 20 27 11 13 33 44 23 37 06 18 35 52 49 64 44 57 75 -

Note SDS = Self Directed Search Please read Ra as Realistic Activities Ia as Investigative Activities Aa as Artistic Activities Sa as Social Activities Ea as Enterprising Activities Ca as Conventional

Activities Rc as Realistic Competencies Ic as Investigative Competencies Ac as Artistic Competencies Sc as Social Competencies Ec as Enterprising Competencies Cc as Conventional Competencies Ro as

Realistic Occupations Io as Investigative Occupations Ao as Artistic Occupations So as Social Occupations Eo as Enterprising Occupations Co as Conventional Occupations R1and R2 as Realistic self estimateI1 and I2 as Investigative self estimate A1 and A2 as Artistic self estimate S1 and S2 as Social self estimate E1 and E2 as Enterprising self estimate C1 and C2 as Conventional self estimate Rs as

Realistic Summary Is as Investigative Summary As as Artistic Summary Ss as Social Summary Es as Enterprising Summary Cs as Conventional Summary r ge 22 is significant at 05 to 001 level

117

Table 11 showed the inter-correlations of SDS scales (Activities

Competencies Occupations Self-estimates and Summary scores) on six personality

types The substantial relationship existed between the subscales of SDS The results

indicated that the inter-correlations of six subscales of Activities are significantly

correlated with each other

All Competencies scales have significant positive correlations ranging from (r

= 42 p lt 001) to (r = 64 p lt 001) with each other The inter-correlation of six

subscales of Occupations showed that all the 6 subscales are significantly correlated

ranging from (r = 40 p lt 001) to (r = 78 p lt 001) with each other All the 6

summary scales are significantly correlated with each other ranging from (r = 44 p lt

001) to (r = 75 p lt 001) This inter-correlation matrix showed the construct validity

of the six subscales of SDS

Discussion

This part of the study dealt with the pretesting of measures of personality and

vocational interests on small scale Pretesting of both the instruments (NEO PI-R and

SDS) and reliability and validity of the instruments were established in this part of the

study The pretesting of Urdu versions of the instruments was decided on a sample of

randomly selected 100 high school students from government school of Rawalpindi

district After scrutinizing the data and eliminating the absentees the analysis was

carried out on a sample of 79 students The aim in this part of the study was to find

out the reliabilityvalidity of both the instruments and get acquainted with the

practical problems which can come across during the research Overall the results

showed that both the instrument NEO PI-R and SDS have significant reliability and

118

validity The results demonstrated moderate alpha reliability coefficients of subscales

of both the instruments and were highly internally consistent The inter-correlations

between the main and subscales of both the instruments showed the construct validity

of all the scales The alpha coefficients of Urdu translated versions of NEO PI-R and

SDS were compared with alpha coefficients computed by Chishti (2002) and Siddiqa

(1999) The results revealed moderate internal consistency of the scales of NEO PI-R

and SDS except for Openness domain Burki (2009) reported alpha value of 35 for

openness domain in organizational setup Fayyaz (2008) reported alpha value of 38

for openness domain in pilot study and 58 for main study after adding synonyms for

difficult words Safdar (2002) reported alpha coefficient of 59 for openness domain

on MSc students The low internal consistency of openness scale may be due cultural

effect

Since the sample was quite less as compared to the numbers of items in the

inventories however no major decisions like discarding and changing the items

based on the statistical analysis was done The analyses provided the researcher a

confidence about the reliabilityvalidity of the instruments It was decided to conduct

the pretesting on the sample which has to be selected for the main study However

during the pretesting stage researcher faced some problems regarding the willingness

of few individuals to participate in the study on second day of testing Few minor

questions and queries were raised by the students like time of the tests meaning of

few words use of pencil or pen etc Overall the results of the study showed that Urdu

versions of both the scales (NEO PI-R and SDS) can be administered being the

reliable and valid instruments on the main sample of high school students

119

Chapter IV

PART 3 PERSONALITY AND VOCATIONAL INTERESTS

OF THE STUDENTS

This part of the study was designed to find out the relationship between

personality based on five factor model (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) and vocational

interests based on RIASEC model (Holland 1985a) of high school students NEO PI-

R is used to measure personality profiles of students and SDS is used to establish the

vocational interests During literature review the consistent pattern of relationship

between personality and vocational interests was observed (Barrick et al 2003

Larson et al 2002 Staggs et al 2007) The relevance of these two heuristic models

in Pakistani culture has been explored The psychometric properties of NEO PI-R and

SDS were established on the main sample The mean differences on personality and

vocational interests with respect to demographic variables were also computed All

theoretically derived hypotheses on the personality-interests relationship and gender

differences were also empirically verified The objectives hypotheses sample

sample characteristics procedures and results are discussed below

Objectives

1 To study the relationship between personality (five factor model) and

vocational interests (Hollandlsquos typology) among high school students

120

2 To find out the mean differences with respect to demographic variables

(gender sciencearts urbanrural 9th

10th

classes parentslsquo education) on

personality and vocational interests of the students

3 To establish psychometric properties of the research instruments

Hypotheses

Followings hypotheses were formulated to study the above mentioned

objectives

1 Extroversion will be positively correlated with the Enterprising and Social

types

2 Openness to Experience will be positively correlated with Artistic and

Investigative types

3 Agreeableness will be positively correlated with the Social type

4 Conscientiousness will be positively correlated with Conventional type

5 Female tend to score higher on Neuroticism Extraversion Agreeableness and

Conscientiousness as compared to male

6 Male tend to score higher on Realistic interests as compared to female

7 Female tend to score higher on Artistic and Social interests as compared to

male

Sample

Initially the researcher got the list of all government schools situated in

Rawalpindi Tehsil and District by the Directorate of education where Science and

121

Arts classes are being taught The schools were contacted on telephone Only seven

schools could be traced which have sufficient numbers of Science and Arts students

Thus convenient sampling technique was used as far as selection of school is

concerned The main study was conducted on the 700 students of 7 different schools

of Rawalpindi The list of boysgirls and urbanrural areas schools is attached at

Appendix Klsquo

The sample has been taken randomly within the school Among the list of

willing students 100 students from each school were selected In each school 50

students 25 science students and 25 Arts students were randomly selected from grade

10th

and similarly 50 students 25 science students and 25 Arts students from grade 9th

were randomly selected In each science or arts group 25 students were selected using

the systematic random sampling techniques Depending on the number of students

available in each category the interval k was calculated by dividing the total available

students by 25 Once k is computed then any number between 1 and computed k has

been randomly selected for each category Using the nominal roll of students for each

category every student falling on the selected number in the sequence was selected for

the study 4 boy schools and 3 girl schools were selected 2 boy schools and 2 girl

schools were selected from urban areas of Rawalpindi while 1 boy and 1 girl school

was selected from rural areas of Rawalpindi 1 boy school which was selected for the

pretesting of research instrument contained majority of the students from rural areas

The sample of the main study included the data from the study conducted in Chapter

III (pages 99 to 101) regarding pretesting of research instruments Overall 400 boys

and 300 girls were selected The distribution of schools and the students in each

school are shown in the following figures

122

Distribution of Sample in Schools

Figure 5 Sample Distribution in Schools

Distribution of Students in each School

Figure 6 Sample Distribution within Schools

4 Boys

Schools (400

Students)

3 Girls

Schools (300

Students)

2 Schools from

Rural Areas

(200 students)

2 Schools

from Urban

Areas

(200 students)

1 School from

Rural Areas

(100 students)

2 Schools

from Urban

Areas

(200 students)

(200

Seven Schools

(700 Students)

One School

(100 Students)

50 Students

from 10th

Class

50 Students

from 9th

Class

25 Students

(Science Group)

25 Students

(Arts Group)

25 Students

(Science Group)

25 Students

(Arts Group)

123

Sample Characteristics

All the tests were administered on the 700 students in a course of two days

Some of the individuals did not correctly fill the questions of the inventories

according to the instructions and few of them were absent on the second day of

testing After scrutinizing the data and eliminating the absentees the sample is left

with a total of 596 students Cases with incomplete data were excluded from further

analyses which led to a decrease in the number of valid cases by 1485 There are

319 male and 277 female students Their age range is from 14 years to 19 years with

a mean age of 1573 years The average fatherslsquo income for 494 students is Rs 7634-

approximately (102 cases are missing) ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 50000 There are

only 14 cases having father income greater than 20000 There are 382 students

belonging to urban areas and 214 students were from rural areas Among them 328

students from 9th

class and 268 students are from 10th

class There are 304 students

belonging to science group and 292 students belonging to Arts group

Instruments

Following instruments were used in the study

1 NEO PI-R

2 SDS

3 Demographic sheet

(See details about instruments in chapter III pages 78 to 99)

Procedure

The booklets were prepared for two inventories (NEO PI-R amp SDS) The

inventories were administered to the participants in group settings The consent of the

124

students and school administrations were taken before administration of tests Data

were collected during the second half of the school year (from January to March) The

measures were administered in a group in classrooms during school hours All the

participants from different schools were divided into groups of 50 Two groups one

from 9th

class including 50 students were administered tests separately and the second

group including 50 students from 10th

class were administered the same tests on the

same day The testing procedures were carried over the course of two days

The group of 50 students from each class was administered SDS and

Demographic sheet on the first day of testing and NEO PI-R was administered on the

same group on second day Two well trained invigilators assisted the researcher in

conduct of tests The timings of administering the tests were also adjusted according

to the convenience of school administration The participants were given written

instructions printed on the first page of each inventory Before the start of the

inventories some sentences were written in order to explain the response format and

specific instructions regarding the inventory Subjects were also briefed about the

approximate time required to complete the inventory The average time to complete

one inventory is 40 minutes List of some difficult words asked by students for

explanation from NEO PI-R are attached at Appendix Llsquo and that of SDS are at

Appendix Mlsquo Once the data is completed then it is subjected to statistical analysis

OperationalConceptual Definitions of the Variables

Personality (details are in chapter III pages 85 to 93)

Vocational interests (details are in chap III pages 97 to 99)

125

Science group students The science group students are those who studied

science subjects (Physics Chemistry Mathematics and Biology) along with

compulsory subjects (English Urdu Pakistan Studies Islamiat)

Arts group students (Humanities group) The arts group students are those

who studies humanities subjects which are non-scientific and non-technical subjects at

school (For instance Social studies Arabic Islamiat (elective) Home economics etc)

along with compulsory subjects (English Urdu Pakistan Studies Islamiat)

Urban students The school students who are resident of urban area and are

studying in schools which are located in the urban localities of Rawalpindi city

Rural students The school students who are resident of rural area and are

studying in schools which are located in the rural areas of Rawalpindi city

Parentsrsquo education Three groups of students were formulated based on the

education of parents Father Mother educated grouplsquo have at least matriculation

education for both father and mother father educated grouplsquo father have at least

matriculation education but mothers are not matriculates father mother uneducated

grouplsquo have none of father or mother have matriculation education

The results of the study are computed and are mentioned in the following

Psychometric Properties of the Research Instruments

The psychometric properties of research instruments (NEO PI-R and SDS)

were established on the main sample of the study The Alpha reliabilities item-total

correlations and inter-correlations between the subscales and main scales of all the

126

three research instruments were computed A hexagonal arrangement of vocational

interests for the main sample was also calculated

ReliabilityValidity of NEO PI-R

Table 12 showed the Alpha reliability coefficient of main scales and subscales

of NEO PI-R

Table 12

Alpha reliability coefficients of main scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Scales No of items Alpha coefficients

Neuroticism 48 67

Extraversion 48 65

Openness 48 36

Agreeableness 48 71

Conscientiousness 48 84

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

The results showed the Alpha reliability coefficients of 5 main scales of NEO

PI-R The 5 main scales revealed moderate Alpha reliability coefficients ranging from

36 (Openness) to 84 (Conscientiousness) The highest alpha value is of scale

Conscientiousness and lowest value is of scale Openness The same findings were

observed during the pretesting stage (see Table 1) Overall the results showed

moderate to high internal consistency of the NEO PI-R except Openness domain

127

Table 13

Item-total correlation of each item with respective subscales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Anxiety

(N1)

(Items = 8)

r Warmth

(E1)

(Items = 8)

r Fantasy

(O1)

(Items = 8)

r Trust

(A1)

(Items = 8)

r Competence

(C1)

(Items = 8)

r

n1 49 n2 44 n3 18 n4 38 n5 46

n31 51 n32 55 n33 50 n34 49 n35 47

n61 27 n62 41 n63 26 n64 38 n65 48

n91 47 n92 34 n93 57 n94 47 n95 20

n121 29 n122 51 n123 37 n124 54 n125 51

n151 50 n152 46 n153 51 n154 46 n155 46

n181 40 n182 46 n183 34 n184 49 n185 43

n211 47 n212 40 n213 32 n214 41 n215 51

Hostility

(N2)

(Items = 8)

r Gregarious-

ness

(E2)

(Items = 8)

r Aesthetic

(O2)

(Items = 8)

r Straight

Forward

(A2)

(Items = 8)

r Order

(C2)

(Items = 8)

r

n6 52 n7 52 n8 40 n9 42 n10 27

n36 30 n37 55 n38 45 n39 47 n40 40

n66 50 n67 43 n68 41 n69 39 n70 49

n96 21 n97 49 n98 35 n99 47 n100 40

n126 40 n127 38 n128 47 n129 44 n130 50

n156 30 n157 40 n158 53 n159 51 n160 38

n186 35 n187 42 n188 52 n189 56 n190 42

n216 44 n217 57 n218 49 n219 34 n220 45

Depression

(N3)

(Items = 8)

r Assertive-

ness

(E3)

(Items = 8)

r Feelings

(O3)

(Items = 8)

r Altruism

(A3)

(Items = 8)

r Dutifulness

(C3)

(Items = 8)

r

n11 35 n12 49 n13 46 n14 49 n15 41

n41 59 n42 30 n43 35 n44 32 n45 41

n71 27 n72 56 n73 36 n74 56 n75 44

n101 46 n102 26 n103 36 n104 49 n105 50

n131 42 n132 40 n133 49 n134 45 n135 53

Continuedhellip

128

Depression

(N3)

(Items = 8)

r Assertive-

ness

(E3)

(Items = 8)

r Feelings

(O3)

(Items = 8)

r Altruism

(A3)

(Items = 8)

r Dutifulness

(C3)

(Items = 8)

r

n161 48 n162 38 n163 39 n164 50 n165 50

n191 46 n192 41 n193 42 n194 47 n195 52

n221 42 n222 40 n223 41 n224 45 n225 52

Self-

Conscious

(N4)

(Items = 8)

r Activities

(E4)

(Items = 8)

r Actions

(O4)

(Items = 8)

r Compliance

(A4)

(Items = 8)

r Achievement

Striving

(C4)

(Items = 8)

r

n16 45 n17 35 n18 40 n19 34 n20 50

n46 24 n47 29 n48 21 n49 51 n50 54

n76 59 n77 18 n78 33 n79 49 n80 43

n106 45 n107 44 n108 39 n109 34 n110 57

n136 49 n137 46 n138 37 n139 50 n140 53

n166 23 n167 41 n168 34 n169 46 n170 60

n196 50 n197 50 n198 43 n199 50 n200 50

n226 35 n227 46 n228 46 n229 44 n230 53

Impulsive

(N5)

(Items = 8)

r Excitement

Seeking

(E5)

(Items = 8)

r Ideas

(O5)

(Items = 8)

r Modesty

(A5)

(Items = 8)

r Self

Discipline

(C5)

(Items = 8)

r

n21 31 n22 44 n23 38 n24 39 n25 34

n51 51 n52 34 n53 31 n54 44 n55 63

n81 38 n82 41 n83 47 n84 49 n85 51

n111 34 n112 47 n113 48 n114 21 n115 51

n141 38 n142 47 n143 43 n144 46 n145 50

n171 40 n172 44 n173 46 n174 48 n175 56

n201 40 n202 43 n203 44 n204 32 n205 53

n231 45 n232 50 n233 48 n234 50 n235 50

Vulnerability

(N6)

(Items = 8)

r Positive

emotion

(E6)

(Items = 8)

r Values

(O6)

(Items = 8)

r Tender

Minded

(A6)

(Items = 8)

r Deliberation

(C6)

(Items = 8)

r

n26 49 n27 55 n28 44 n29 38 n30 47

n56 38 n57 46 n58 36 n59 44 n60 56

Continuedhellip

129

Vulnerability

(N6)

(Items = 8)

r Positive

emotion

(E6)

(Items = 8)

r Values

(O6)

(Items = 8)

r Tender

Minded

(A6)

(Items = 8)

r Deliberation

(C6)

(Items = 8)

r

rn86 42 n87 47 n88 31 n89 45 n90 42

n116 51 n117 38 n118 30 n119 50 n120 54

n146 50 n147 55 n148 30 n149 37 n150 45

n176 45 n177 54 n178 26 n179 49 n180 37

n206 45 n207 15 n208 36 n209 50 n210 46

n236 39 n237 46 n238 38 n239 47 n240 56

Note n1 to n240 represent each item of Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R)

Neuroticism domain includes subscales N1 N2 N3 N4 N5 N6 Extraversion domain includes subscales

E1E2E3E4E5E6 Openness domain includes subscales O1O2O3O4O5O6 Agreeableness domain includes

subscalesA1A2A3A4A5A6 Conscientiousness domain includes subscales C1C2C3C4C5C6

p lt 001

The item-total correlations of each subscale of NEO PI-R are mentioned in

Table 13 All the items are significantly positively correlated with their respective

subscale Whereas during pretesting stage 11 items were not significantly correlated

with their respective subscale (see Table 2) The results displayed the construct

validity of each subscale of NEO PI-R

Table 14

Inter-correlation between subscales and main scale of Neuroticism (N = 596)

Scales I II III IV V VI VII

I Anxiety (N1) -

II Hostility (N2) 32 -

III Depression (N3) 22 21 -

IV Self Conscious (N4) 27 20 27 -

V Impulsiveness (N5) 15 26 20 11 -

VI Vulnerability (N6) 29 31 17 19 35 -

VII Neuroticism (N) 64 62 57 56 57 65 -

p lt 01 p lt 001

130

In Table 14 the inter-correlation of six subscales of Neuroticism domains of

NEO PI-R are shown The result showed that all the 6 subscales are significantly

correlated with each other The range of magnitude of correlations between subscales

and main domain scale is from a minimum (r = 56 p lt 001) of subscale Self

Conscious (N4) to a maximum (r = 65 p lt 001) of subscale Vulnerability (N6) The

similar findings for correlations between subscale and main scale of neuroticism were

found during pretesting stage (see Table 3) This inter-correlation matrix showed the

construct validity of the six subscales of Neuroticism domains of NEO PI-R

Table 15

Inter-correlation between subscales and main scale of Extraversion (N = 596)

Scales I II III IV V VI VII

I Warmth (E1) -

II Gregariousness (E2) 34 -

III Assertiveness (E3) 14 05 -

IV Activities (E4) 22 05 16 -

V Excitement Seeking(E5) 27 15 08 20 -

VI Positive Emotion (E6) 37 24 01 20 12 -

VII Extraversion (E) 70 59 40 51 56 59 -

p lt 01 p lt 001

Table 15 showed the inter-correlation of six subscales of Extraversion

domains of NEO PI-R The 6 subscales are significantly correlated with each other

and are highly significantly correlated with the main scale of Extraversion domain as

131

were observed in Table 4 The range of magnitude of correlations between subscale

and main domain scale is from a minimum (r = 40 p lt 001) of subscale (E3) to a

maximum (r = 70 p lt 001) of subscale (E1) This inter-correlation matrix showed

the construct validity of the six subscales of Extraversion domains of NEO PI-R

Table 16

Inter-correlation between subscales and main scale of Openness (N = 596)

Scales I II III IV V VI VII

I Fantasy (O1) -

II Aesthetics (O2) 03 -

III Feelings (O3) -07 25 -

IV Actions (O4) 02 02 -03 -

V Ideas (O5) -02 19 27 -01 -

VI Values (O6) 05 -10 -08 05 -04 -

VII Openness (O) 32 62 54 33 57 24 -

p lt 01 p lt 001

The findings in Table 16 showed the inter-correlation of six subscales of

Openness domains of NEO PI-R The result showed that Fantasy (O1) and Actions

(O4) have non-significant correlation with all other subscales Values (O6) is

significantly negatively correlated with Aesthetic (O2) and Feelings (O3) The results

revealed that six subscales are significantly correlated with the main scale of

Openness domain The magnitude of correlations for Fantasy Actions and Values

with main domain of Openness is fairly low as compared to other scales This may

have effect on the overall low internal consistency of the Openness domain (see Table

132

1 5 and 12) This inter-correlation matrix showed the moderate construct validity of

the six subscales of Openness domains of NEO PI-R

Table 17

Inter-correlation between subscales and main scale of Agreeableness (N = 596)

Scales I II III IV V VI VII

I Trust (A1) -

II Straight Forwardness (A2) 12 -

III Altruism (A3) 39 19 -

IV Compliance (A4) 24 15 29 -

V Modesty (A5) -05 20 -09 16 -

VI Tender mindedness (A6) 28 17 30 28 05 -

VII Agreeableness (A) 60 54 62 65 35 60 -

p lt 05 p lt 001

The result mentioned in Table 17 revealed that all the 6 subscales are

significantly correlated with each other However Altruism (A3) is significantly

negatively correlated with Modesty (A5) All the six subscales are significantly

correlated with the main scale of Agreeableness domain The range of magnitude of

correlations is from a minimum (r = 35 p lt 001) of subscale (A5) to a maximum (r

= 65 p lt 001) of subscale (A4) Similar correlations between subscales and main

scales of agreeableness were observed in Table 6 This showed the construct validity

of the six subscales of Agreeableness domains of NEO PI-R

133

Table 18

Inter-correlation between subscales and main scale of Conscientiousness (N=596)

Scales I II III IV V VI VII

I Compliance (C1) -

II Order (C2) 34 -

III Duty (C3) 40 40 -

IV Achievement striving (C4) 44 46 56 -

V Self discipline (C5) 43 41 56 50 -

VI Deliberation (C6) 40 37 47 49 50 -

VII Conscientiousness (C) 68 65 77 79 79 73 -

p lt 001

The results shown in Table 18 revealed that all the 6 subscales are

significantly correlated with each other and also with the main scale of

Conscientiousness domain (also see Table 7) The range of magnitude of correlations

is from a minimum (r = 65 p lt 001) of subscale (C2) to a maximum (r = 79 p lt

001) of subscale (C4 and C5) This inter-correlation matrix showed the construct

validity of the six subscales of Conscientiousness domains of NEO PI-R

Table 19

Inter-correlations between five main domains of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Scale I II III IV V

I Neuroticism (N) -

II Extraversion (E) -17 -

III Openness (O) -09 34 -

IV Agreeableness (A) -25 14 10 -

V Conscientiousness (C) -49 27 22 55 -

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

p lt 05 p lt 001

134

The findings in Table 19 showed that all the 5 main scales are significantly

correlated with each other Neuroticism (N) domain is significantly negatively

correlated with all other domains The inter correlation matrix provided well defined

evidence of construct validity of the five domains of NEO PI-R as compared to inter

correlations matrix during pretesting stage (see Table 8)

ReliabilityValidity of SDS

Following tables showed the alpha reliability coefficients of summary scales

and subscales of Activities Competencies and Occupations of SDS on the basis of

six personality types ie Realistic (R) Investigative (I) Artistic (A) Social (S)

Enterprising (E) and Conventional (C) Item-total correlations of each item with their

respective subscales were also calculated Inter-correlations of subscales and main

summary scales were also computed to establish the validity of SDS

Table 20

Alpha reliability coefficients of subscales of SDS (N = 596)

Scale No of items Alpha coefficients

Activities

Activities (R) 11 54

Activities (I) 11 65

Activities (A) 11 62

Activities (S) 11 53

Activities (E) 11 62

Activities (C) 11 68

Continuedhellip

135

Scale No of items Alpha coefficients

Competencies

Competencies (R)

10

63

Competencies (I) 10 66

Competencies (A) 10 63

Competencies (S) 10 55

Competencies (E) 10 58

Competencies (C)

Occupations

10

65

Occupations (R) 12 76

Occupations (I)

Occupations (A)

Occupations (S)

Occupations (E)

Occupations (C)

Summary

Realistic

Investigative

Artistic

Social

Enterprising

Conventional

12

12

12

12

12

33

33

33

33

33

33

80

77

77

81

81

78

76

80

71

77

80

Note SDS = Self Directed Search

136

The Alpha reliability coefficients of each subscale based on six personality

types of SDS are shown in Table 20 The Alpha coefficient of summary scales ranged

from 71 (Social) to 80 (Artistic and Conventional) This displayed very high

internal consistency of the SDS The alpha coefficient value of Activities subscales

ranged from 53 (Activities S) to 68 (Activities C) Competencies subscales ranged

from 55 (Competencies S) to 66 (Competencies I) and Occupations subscales

ranged from 76 (Occupations R) to 81 (Occupations E and C) This showed that

alpha coefficients of all subscales of SDS are better than the alpha coefficients

determined at pretesting stage of SDS (see Table 9) This revealed construct validity

of subscales of SDS

Table 21

Item-total correlation of each item with respective subscale of SDS (N = 596)

Activities

(R)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(R)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(R)

(Items=12)

r Self-

estimates 1

(Items =6)

r

V1 57 V67 32 V127 37 S1 56

V2 40 V68 57 V128 58 S2 53

V3 31 V69 34 V129 58 S3 40

V4 20 V70 50 V130 59 S4 49

V5 58 V71 56 V131 58 S5 57

V6 52 V72 39 V132 47 S6 60

V7 43 V73 57 V133 55 Self-

estimates 2

(Items = 6)

r

V8 45 V74 56 V134 41 S7 65

V9 45 V75 48 V135 46 S8 62

V10 24 V76 54 V136 54 S9 60

V11 44 V137 53 S10 55

V138 61 S11 52

S12 50

Continuedhellip

137

Activities

(I)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(I)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(I)

(Items=12)

r

V12 55 V77 43 V139 60

V13 45 V78 49 V140 54

V14 41 V79 38 V141 63

V15 52 V80 40 V142 60

v16 35 V81 42 V143 64

V17 30 V82 57 V144 54

V18 65 V83 50 V145 56

v19 62 V84 44 V146 55

V20 62 V85 30 V147 47

V21 44 V86 53 V148 44

V22 12 V149 56

V150 55

Activities

(A)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(A)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(A)

(Items=12)

r

V23 45 V87 51 V151 55

V24 32 V88 50 V152 49

V25 52 V89 42 V153 62

V26 49 V90 50 V154 58

V27 52 V91 54 V155 59

V28 47 V92 48 V156 50

V29 35 V93 49 V157 49

V30 37 V94 41 V158 52

V31 52 V95 43 V159 50

V32 54 V96 52 V160 52

V33 45 V161 54

V162 50

Continuedhellip

138

Activities

(S)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(S)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(S)

(Items=12)

r

V34 44 V97 40 V163 47

V35 35 V98 57 V164 50

V36 42 V99 45 V165 59

V37 45 V100 29 V166 58

V38 44 V101 42 V167 59

V39 50 V102 44 V168 48

V40 30 V103 35 V169 52

V41 37 V104 44 V170 53

V42 46 V105 49 V171 48

V43 49 V106 52 V172 52

V44 44 V173 52

V174 56

Activities

(E)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(E)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(E)

(Items=12)

r

V45 51 V107 49 V175 59

V46 42 V108 50 V176 55

V47 44 V109 45 V177 62

V48 43 V110 40 V178 53

V49 44 V111 45 V179 48

V50 45 V112 43 V180 62

V51 49 V113 43 V181 53

V52 35 V114 48 V182 58

V53 42 V115 47 V183 58

V54 58 V116 46 V184 62

V55 49 V185 54

V186 52

Continuedhellip

139

Activities

(C)

(Items=11)

r Competencies

(C)

(Items=10)

r Occupations

(C)

(Items=12)

r

V56 36 V117 55 V187 59

V57 58 V118 50 V188 61

V58 37 V119 43 V189 64

V59 57 V120 53 V190 61

V60 34 V121 49 V191 60

V61 51 V122 33 V192 55

V62 52 V123 39 V193 47

V63 50 V124 59 V194 57

V64 55 V125 49 V195 57

V65 45 V126 59 V196 44

V66 55 V197 56

V198 61

Note V1 to V198 and S1 to S12 represent each item of Self Directed Search (SDS)

p lt 01 p lt 001

The results shown in Table 21 are related to the item-total correlations of

subscales (Activities Competencies Occupations and Self-estimates) based on six

personality types (Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising and

Conventional) of SDS The results showed that all the items significantly correlated

with the total of their respective subscale whereas 6 items were non-significantly

correlated with their subscales during pretesting stage (see Table 10) The results

displayed the construct validity of each subscale of SDS

140

Table 22

Inter-correlations of SDS Scales (N = 596) Activities Competencies Occupations Self Rating 1 Self Rating 2 Summary

Ra Ia Aa Sa Ea Ca Rc Ic Ac Sc Ec Cc Ro Io Ao So Eo Co R1 I1 A1 S1 E1 C1 R2 I2 A2 S2 E2 C2 Rs Is As Ss Es Cs

Ra -

Ia 26 -

Aa 38 26 -

Sa 19 35 29 -

Ea 39 33 53 37 -

Ca 39 40 48 37 66 -

Rc 57 28 28 19 32 33 -

Ic 26 54 27 22 38 38 38 -

Ac 30 24 63 30 43 36 40 39 -

Sc 22 30 35 31 40 32 29 40 47 -

Ec 38 31 41 35 54 46 44 41 50 53 -

Cc 35 34 36 29 46 53 43 50 46 39 58 -

Ro 54 23 32 15 35 36 53 31 37 29 41 42 -

Io 38 38 35 19 36 41 35 51 39 32 40 45 61 -

Ao 33 24 55 25 42 39 26 27 56 37 40 39 55 61 -

So 31 32 32 32 42 43 28 41 37 35 43 48 48 67 57 -

Eo 38 22 39 25 49 50 36 28 38 28 48 45 57 57 62 64 -

Co 36 26 34 29 45 52 34 31 37 24 44 53 53 55 53 62 75 -

R1 21 13 11 10 16 09 22 10 12 12 21 16 23 18 15 20 20 25 -

I1 22 03 10 08 26 18 23 08 06 11 27 12 20 08 11 09 27 24 26 -

A1 -04 17 08 19 09 09 -07 17 12 15 07 09 00 15 11 22 04 11 09 -02 -

S1 03 03 38 11 19 15 02 09 33 24 20 18 07 13 32 15 18 14 09 13 04 -

E1 12 34 10 09 11 18 16 41 19 12 17 18 14 36 17 25 12 20 13 02 28 13 -

C1 27 11 05 07 17 12 28 17 11 11 20 15 27 23 12 17 22 23 26 26 01 07 29 -

R2 15 19 22 18 26 25 13 23 21 15 28 31 23 27 23 31 30 29 31 14 16 21 25 17 -

I2 18 15 21 13 21 21 22 19 19 21 29 28 20 18 19 22 22 29 25 25 15 18 24 23 40 -

A2 05 13 19 15 18 11 08 22 27 29 24 18 09 23 24 22 14 17 08 13 25 17 17 12 24 29 -

S2 -01 01 32 03 14 08 -01 07 31 20 16 11 04 12 30 13 13 11 11 13 07 69 13 11 20 16 19 -

E2 12 26 05 10 12 17 12 36 18 19 19 19 08 21 07 17 05 13 12 06 21 08 33 17 21 12 18 11 -

C2 12 19 08 14 14 14 16 15 14 13 17 12 15 17 16 16 09 17 06 19 21 03 23 18 17 18 24 06 23 -

Rs 75 33 40 23 44 43 75 39 43 33 52 50 81 56 48 48 56 54 53 30 03 11 23 37 49 35 15 09 19 20 -

Is 43 68 39 31 49 51 47 76 43 43 54 55 53 78 50 59 53 55 28 40 20 17 44 31 38 49 31 15 32 27 63 -

As 34 31 77 36 51 46 31 39 80 49 50 46 45 55 82 54 52 49 17 12 38 39 26 12 31 29 51 37 18 23 48 56 -

Ss 24 32 52 51 48 43 25 39 56 62 52 47 35 50 60 69 51 48 20 17 22 68 25 17 35 29 32 64 21 16 41 54 69 -

Es 46 44 49 37 73 64 45 54 53 47 75 60 53 62 58 64 77 68 26 29 18 24 47 32 41 33 27 21 44 25 63 73 64 63 -

Cs 47 40 43 37 60 74 48 46 45 37 58 73 56 59 52 61 68 83 26 30 15 18 31 47 37 36 24 14 26 41 64 69 56 55 79 -

Note SDS = Self Directed Search Please read Ra as Realistic Activities Ia as Investigative Activities Aa as Artistic Activities Sa as Social Activities Ea as Enterprising Activities Ca

as Conventional Activities Rc as Realistic Competencies Ic as Investigative Competencies Ac as Artistic Competencies Sc as Social Competencies Ec as Enterprising Competencies

Cc as Conventional Competencies Ro as Realistic Occupations Io as Investigative Occupations Ao as Artistic Occupations So as Social Occupations Eo as Enterprising Occupations

Co as Conventional Occupations R1and R2 as Realistic self estimateI1 and I2 as Investigative self estimate A1 and A2 as Artistic self estimate S1 and S2 as Social self estimate E1

and E2 as Enterprising self estimate C1 and C2 as Conventional self estimate Rs as Realistic Summary Is as Investigative Summary As as Artistic Summary Ss as Social Summary Es

as Enterprising Summary Cs as Conventional Summary r ge 08 is significant at 05 to 001 level

141

Table 22 showed the inter correlations matrix of all the scales of Activities

Competencies Occupation Self-estimates and Summary scales of SDS All the 6

subscales of Activities are significantly correlated with each other and have moderate

internal consistency The range of magnitude of inter-correlations is from a minimum

(r = 19 p lt 001) to a maximum (r = 66 p lt 001) The range of magnitude of inter-

correlations for Competencies subscales is from a minimum (r = 29 p lt 001) to a

maximum (r = 58 p lt 001) The results also displayed the inter-correlation of six

subscales of Occupations and range of magnitude is from a minimum (r = 48 p lt

001) to a maximum (r = 75 p lt 001) which provided evidence of construct validity

of SDS subscales

The inter-correlations of six main summary scales of SDS showed that all the

6 summary scales ie Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising and

Conventional are significantly correlated with each other and have moderate internal

consistency The range of magnitude of inter-correlations is from a minimum (r = 41

p lt 001) to a maximum (r = 79 p lt 001) This inter-correlation matrix

demonstrated the construct validity of all the subscales of SDS

The inter correlation matrix was plotted to find out the correlational pattern

among the scales of the SDS The relationships among the major categories can be

ordered according to a hexagon in which distances between occupational classes are

inversely proportional to the size of the correlations between them The spatial

arrangement facilitates the interpretation of the degrees of similarity and difference

among the categories

142

Hexagonal Representation of Inter-correlations of SDS Scales

Figure 7 Hexagonal Representation of Inter-correlations of SDS Scales (N = 596)

Note SDS = Self Directed Search read R as Realistic I as Investigative A as Artistic S as Social E as

Enterprising and C as Conventional

Figure 7 presented the representation of averages of all the inter-correlations

between the subscales and summary scales of SDS Any relationship between two

types is the average of 36 correlations in 6 x 6 matrixes Data from Table 22 are

arranged in this hexagon for each of the 6x6 matrices (activities competencies

occupations self-estimates and summary scores) The evidence for the hexagonal

arrangement of vocational interests is substantial According to a hexagon the

distances between the occupational classes depend on the size of correlations Closer

the distances between occupational classes better the size of correlation The results

showed that the relationship between RI is better than RA and similarly the

relationship between RA is better than RS Similarly in almost all the cases the

relationships between occupational classes are determined according to Hollandlsquos

33 24

26

33

29

37

32

33

34

A

S E

C

24

25

30

27

20

32

25

I R 30

143

assumptions However the relationship between IE which are placed opposite on the

hexagon have stronger relationship of (r = 34) which is even better than the IS and IC

which are adjacent types In Figure 7 the magnitude of average correlations ranged

from (20 to 37) However arrangements of occupational classes on the hexagon are

supportive of Holland assumption The hexagonal representation of inter-correlations

computed by Naheed (1988) on high school students (Figure 8) showed almost the

same pattern This displayed the validity of Holland model on high school students

Hexagonal Representation of Inter-correlations of SDS Scales (Naheed 1988)

Figure 8 Hexagonal Representation of Inter-correlations of SDS Scales (N = 114)

Note SDS = Self Directed Search read R as Realistic I as Investigative A as Artistic S as Social E as

Enterprising and C as Conventional

Source Naheed (1988)

33 24

23

33

35

40

32

27

39

A

S E

C

27

29

23

33

23

33

27

I R 26

144

Relationship between Personality and Vocational Interests

The results in this section demonstrated the relationship of five main domains

of personality and six personality types of vocational interests according to the main

objective of the study The 30 facets of five domains of personality are also correlated

with the six personality types The mean differences with respect to demographic

variables (gender sciencearts group urbanrural 9th

10th

classes and parentslsquo

education) on personality and vocational interests were also computed The results are

shown below

Table 23

Inter-correlations between 5 main scales including 30 facet scales of NEO PI-R and 6

summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

Scaletypes Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

Neuroticism (N) -12 -06 -03 01 -10 -11

Anxiety (N1) -10 -05 02 -02 -10 -06

Hostility (N2) -07 02 07 08 01 -02

Depression (N3) -05 -02 -05 01 -01 01

Self Conscious (N4) 04 03 03 05 01 -02

Impulsiveness (N5) -07 -03 -05 -01 -05 -09

Vulnerability (N6) -18 -15 -10 -06 -20 -22

Extraversion (E) 08 16 27 25 22 13

Warmth (E1) 02 15 21 23 18 12

Gregariousness (E2) -01 01 02 04 05 -02

Assertiveness (E3) 08 07 19 15 12 07

Activities (E4) 08 13 17 13 14 08

Excitement (E5) 08 07 19 20 13 09

Positive Emotion (E6) 03 13 18 13 14 11

Continuedhellip

145

Scaletypes Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

Openness (O) 09 13 24 22 15 10

Fantasy (O1) -07 -11 -11 -07 -11 -11

Aesthetics (O2) 06 12 25 23 10 07

Feelings (O3) 01 12 17 16 14 07

Actions (O4) 01 -02 06 01 -04 -02

Ideas (O5) 20 21 20 18 25 22

Values (O6) -03 -07 -03 -03 -01 -04

Agreeableness (A) 05 12 10 04 14 15

Trust (A1) 11 14 13 12 19 18

Straight Forwardness (A2) 01 08 06 -01 04 05

Altruism (A3) 02 10 06 05 11 10

Compliance (A4) 03 01 04 -01 04 07

Modesty (A5) -04 -06 -15 -18 -11 -06

Tender mindedness (A6) 05 15 20 14 20 15

Conscientiousness (C) 18 21 14 13 25 27

Compliance (C1) 21 22 15 17 21 26

Order (C2) 08 06 -01 01 05 10

Duty (C3) 07 16 12 08 18 16

Achievement striving (C4) 14 25 15 12 29 27

Self discipline (C5) 15 10 08 08 16 18

Deliberation (C6) 12 13 12 13 17 21

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory SDS = Self Directed Search

p lt 05 p lt 01 p lt 001

The results shown in Table 23 are related to the correlations between five

main domains including 30 facets of NEO PI-R and six personality types of SDS The

results showed substantial relationship exists between personality and vocational

interests both at higher and lower order facet scales The Neuroticism domain is

significantly negatively correlated with Realistic Enterprising and Conventional

146

personality types The six subscales of Neuroticism domain generally have non-

significant correlation with all six personality types except Vulnerability subscale

which is significantly negatively correlated with five personality types Extraversion

domain is significantly positively correlated with all six personality types except

Realistic type Extraversion have the magnitude of relationships with Enterprising

type is (r = 22 p lt 001) with Social type is (r = 25 p lt 001) and (r = 27 p lt

001) The facets scales of Extraversion domain generally significantly correlated with

all the six personality types except Gregariousness which is non-significantly

correlated with any of the six personality types The findings supported the hypothesis

no1 of the study which stated that Extraversion is correlated to Social and

Enterprising types

Openness domain is significantly positively correlated with all the six

personality types The magnitude of relationship is (r = 09 p lt 05) with Realistic

types (r = 22 p lt 001) with Social type (r = 24 p lt 001) with Artistic type and (r

= 13 p lt 01) with Investigative type All the subscale of Openness domain generally

significantly correlated with all the six personality types except facet scale Fantasy

which is negatively significantly correlated with four personality types Facet scales

Values and Actions have non-significant correlation with all the six types The facet

scales of Fantasy Actions and Values also have non-significant correlation with

other facet scales of Openness domain (see Table 16) Overall the findings supported

the hypothesis no 2 that openness to experience will be positively correlated with

Artistic and Investigative types

Agreeableness domain is significantly positively correlated with Investigative

(r = 12 p lt 01) Artistic (r = 10 p lt 05) Enterprising (r = 14 p lt 001) and

147

Conventional types (r = 15 p lt 001) This domain is non-significantly correlated

with Social and Realistic types The subscale Trust of Agreeableness domain

significantly correlated with all the six types while facet scale Modesty is negatively

correlated with all six types The findings did not support the hypothesis no 3 which

stated that agreeableness will be positively related to social personality types

However Trust and Tender-mindedness facet scales are positively significantly related

to Social interests

Conscientiousness domain is significantly positively correlated with all six

personality types The magnitude of relationship range from (r = 13 p lt 001) with

Social type and (r = 25 p lt 001) with Enterprising type and (r = 27 p lt 001) with

Conventional type All the six facets scale of Conscientiousness domain generally

significantly correlated with all the six personality types except facet scale Order

which is non-significantly correlated with five personality types The findings that

Conscientiousness is positively correlated to Conventional interests supported the

hypothesis no 4 Overall it is obvious from the results that considerable relationship

existed between Five Factor Model and Hollandlsquos typology

In Table 24 multiple regression analysis was conducted to find out specific

contribution of various variables on six personality types (realistic investigative

artistic social enterprising and conventional) The predictor variables included

gender 9th

10 classes urbanrural scienceArts group parents education neuroticism

extraversion openness agreeableness and conscientiousness Variables were entered

simultaneously in the block Six RIASEC types were entered one by one as criterion

variable

148

Table 24

Summary of Multiple Regression Analysis for Demographic and Five Domains of

Personality on the six Personality Types

Dependent Variables

Independent

Variables

b SE β t

REALISTIC INTERESTS

R = 370 R

2 = 137

Adj R2

= 124

Constant 4291 7993

9th

10th

class -1825 622 -116 -2936

Gender

UrbanRural

-3271

1765

653

653

-228

108

-5445

2703

Conscientiousness 073 022 179 3374

INVESTIGATIVE INTERESTS

R = 401 R

2 = 161

Adj R2

= 148

Constant 8384 7666

9th

10th

class -1405 596 -092 -2356

SceinceArts

Conscientiousness

-4459

079

599

021

-297

199

-7442

3814

ARTISTIC INTERESTS

R = 460 R

2 = 212

Adj R2

= 199

Constant -21365 7708

9th

10th

class -2054 600 -130 -3423

Gender

Openness

4566

128

632

031

290

166

7230

4136

Extraversion 108 023 194 4757

Continuedhellip

149

Dependent Variables

Independent

Variables

b SE β t

SOCIAL INTERESTS

R = 391 R

2 = 153

Adj R2

= 139

Constant -10357 7133

9th

10th

class -1860 556 -132 -3347

Conscientiousness

Openness

053

101

019

029

144

147

2754

3541

Extraversion 042 021 089 1986

ENTERPRISING INTERESTS

R = 381 R

2 = 145

Adj R2

= 132

Constant -3502 7643

9th

10th

class -1817 595 -121 -3052

ScienceArts

Conscientiousness

-2294

085

598

021

-154

216

3836

4104

Extraversion 079 022 150 3532

CONVENTIONAL INTERESTS

R = 345 R

2 = 119

Adj R2

= 105

Constant -1025 8543

9th

10th

class -1800 627 -115 -2873

Gender

Conscientiousness

-1677

108

660

022

-108

264

-2541

4921 p lt 05 p lt 01 p lt 001

150

The results showed that Urbanrural (β = 108 p lt 01) and Conscientious (β

= 179 p lt 001) have some impact on Realistic interests Conscientious (β = 199 p

lt 001) have some impact on Investigative interest Gender (β = 290 p lt 001)

Openness (β = 166 p lt 001) and Extraversion (β = 194 p lt 001) have an impact

on Artistic interests Conscientiousness (β = 144 p lt 001) Openness (β = 147 p lt

001) and Extraversion (β = 191 p lt 001) have some impact on Social interests

Conscientiousness (β = 216 p lt 001) and Extraversion (β = 150 p lt 001) have

some impact on Enterprising interests Conscientiousness (β = 264 p lt 001) have

an impact on Conventional interests Gender contributed considerably to predict

Artistic interests Extraversion contributed substantially to predict the Enterprising

and Social interests Openness contributed significantly in predicting the Artistic

interests Conscientiousness contributed substantially in predicting the Conventional

interests Hence the results demonstrated support to the hypotheses no 1 2 and 4

Table 25

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of male and female students on five

main domain scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Scales Gender Total No

of cases

M SD t

Neuroticism Male 319 13714 1477

178 Female 277 13931 1498

Extraversion Male 319 14954 1211

240 Female 277 15226 1555

Openness Male 319 13537 955

186 Female 277 13685 988

Agreeableness Male 319 16169 1444

484 Female 277 16736 1403

Conscientiousness Male 319 16958 1963

104 Female 277 17121 1777

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

p lt 05 p lt 001 df = 594

151

Table 25 showed the mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of male

and female students on the five domains of NEO PI-R There are significant mean

differences between male and female scores on Extraversion and Agreeableness

domains Although there are non-significant mean differences between male and

female students on Neuroticism Openness and Conscientiousness domains yet the

female students mean scores are higher than male studentslsquo scores on all the five main

domain scales These findings supported the hypothesis no 5 of the study

Table 26

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Science and Arts group students on

five main domain scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Scale Group Total No

of cases

M SD t

Neuroticism Science 303 13949 1584

224 Arts 293 13677 1376

Extraversion Science 303 15155 1420

135 Arts 293 15001 1352

Openness Science 303 13655 977

120 Arts 293 13560 962

Agreeableness Science 303 16559 1420

218 Arts 293 16300 1478

Conscientiousness Science 303 17112 2009

103 Arts 293 16952 1736

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

p lt 05 df = 594

The finding in Table 26 displayed that there are significant mean differences

between scores of Science and Arts students on Neuroticism and Agreeableness

domains The science students mean scores are higher than Arts students score

152

Overall there are non-significant mean differences between science and Arts students

on Extraversion Openness and Conscientiousness domains This showed that science

or arts students have non-significant differences with respect to personality profiles

Table 27

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Urban and Rural group students

on five main domains of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Scale Group Total No

of cases

M SD t

Neuroticism Urban 382 13827 1453

27 Rural 214 13793 1556

Extraversion Urban 382 15221 1385

335 Rural 214 14828 1357

Openness Urban 382 13622 977

55 Rural 214 13576 962

Agreeableness Urban 382 16478 1439

102 Rural 214 16351 1476

Conscientiousness Urban 382 17087 1878

92 Rural 214 16939 1879

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

p lt 001 df = 594

The results mentioned in Table 27 showed the mean standard deviation and t-

value of scores of students belonging to Urban and Rural areas on five main domains

of NEO PI-R There are significant mean differences between scores of students of

urban and rural areas on Extraversion domain The mean scores of urban students are

higher than rural students This showed that students from urban areas are high on

Extraversion domains due to better exposure as compared to rural areas students

153

Overall there are non-significant mean differences between scores of students

belonging to urban and rural areas on other domains of NEO PI-R

Table 28

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of 9th and 10th class students on five

main domains of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Scale Class Total No

of cases

M SD t

Neuroticism 9

th 328 13824 1453

498 10

th 268 13804 1556

Extraversion 9

th 328 15022 1385

129 10

th 268 15151 1357

Openness 9

th 328 13570 977

14 10

th 268 13649 962

Agreeableness 9

th 328 16215 1439

63 10

th 268 16698 1476

Conscientiousness 9

th 328 16831 1878

96 10

th 268 17281 1879

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

p lt 05 df = 594

The results mentioned in Table 28 showed that there are non-significant mean

differences between the scores of 9th

and 10th

class students on main domains of NEO

PI-R except on Neuroticism domain

154

Table 29

Mean and standard deviation between three groups of students based on parents

education on the scores of five domain scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Domains

of personality

Father

mother

educated

(N = 150)

Father

educated

(N = 214)

Father

mother

uneducated

(N = 232)

M SD M SD M SD

Neuroticism 13922 1512 13805 1585 13754 1382

Extraversion 15391 1526 14979 1405 14971 1244

Openness 13689 919 13571 1035 13582 945

Agreeableness 16643 1378 16451 1544 16278 1397

Conscientiousness 17072 1909 17048 1860 16994 1882

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory Father mother educated

group (both the parents have at least matriculation education) father educated group (only fathers have at least

matriculation education) father and mother uneducated group (none of the parents have matriculation)

Table 29 indicated the mean and standard deviation of three groups of students

based on parent education on the five domains of NEO PI-R The group of students

having the father mother educated has the highest mean scores on all the five main

domains of personality

155

Table 30

One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) between three groups of students based on

parents education on the scores of five domains of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Domains Sum of

squares

df Mean

square

F

Neuroticism Between group 25805 2 12902

58

Within group 13178765 593 22223

Total 13204571 595

Extraversion Between group 194335 2 97167

512

Within group 11254588 593 18979

Total 11448924 595

Openness Between group 14148 2 7074

74

Within group 5611657 593 9463

Total 5625806 595

Agreeableness Between group 122115 2 61057

291

Within group 12427334 593 20956

Total 12549450 595

Conscientiousness Between group 6336 2 3168

08

Within group 20995752 593 35406

Total 21002088 595 Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

p lt 01

Table 30 showed one way analysis of variance between 3 groups of students

based on parentslsquo education The results showed that there are non-significant mean

differences between the 3 groups of students based on parentslsquo education except

Extraversion domain of NEO PI-R The results showed that group of students whose

parents are educated have highest mean (M = 153 91 SD = 1526) and F (2 593) =

512 p lt 01) Overall findings revealed that parents education have non-significant

effects on the personality patterns of students

156

Table 31

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Lower age (14 to 16 yrs) and

Upper age (17 to 19 yrs) groups on main scales of NEO PI-R (N = 596)

Scale Group Total No

of cases

M SD t

Neuroticism Lower age 460 13816 1483

75 Upper age 136 13811 1517

Extraversion Lower age 460 15101 1406

01 Upper age 136 15007 1325

Openness Lower age 460 13611 979

01 Upper age 136 13587 953

Agreeableness Lower age 460 16481 1457

03 Upper age 136 16267 1430

Conscientiousness Lower age 460 17065 1850

166 Upper age 136 16928 1977

Note NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

In Table 31 the result showed mean differences of two age groups on NEO PI-

R The sample was divided into two groups students of lower age group consisted of

ages (14 to 16 years) while students of upper age group consisted of ages (17 years to

19 years) There are non-significant mean differences between the two groups This

showed that age differences have no significant effects on the scores of NEO PI-R

Gender differences on scores of SDS

The mean differences on the scores of male and female students were

computed on main summary scales of SDS The results are shown below

157

Table 32

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Male and Female students on main

summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

Personality

Types

Gender Total No

of cases

M SD t

Realistic Male 319 2572 740

648 Female 277 2170 773

Investigative Male 319 2864 756

02 Female 277 2866 754

Artistic Male 319 2615 752

809 Female 277 3110 735

Social Male 319 2832 724

486 Female 277 3106 644

Enterprising Male 319 2863 749

46 Female 277 2835 754

Conventional Male 319 3139 756

208 Female 277 3007 794

Note SDS = Self Directed Search

p lt 05 p lt 001 df = 594

The results mentioned in Table 32 showed the mean standard deviation and t-

value of scores of male and female students on the six personality types of SDS

There are significant mean differences between the scores of male and female

students on Realistic Artistic Social and Conventional personality types Mean

scores of male is higher than scores of females on Realistic personality type This

showed that males have a preference for Realistic jobs as compared to females and

thus hypothesis no 6 is supported

There are significant mean differences on the scores of students on artistic and

social personality types The mean scores of female students are higher than scores of

male students This proved that females have a preference for Artistic and Social jobs

158

as compared to male students These findings supported the hypothesis no 7 of the

study Mean scores of males are higher than scores of females on Conventional

personality type This showed that male students have preference for Conventional

type jobs as compared to females

Table 33

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of Science and Arts group students on

main summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

Personality

Types

Gender Total No

of cases

M SD t

Realistic Science 303 2454 789

220 Arts 293 2313 769

Investigative Science 303 3091 690

784 Arts 293 2629 749

Artistic Science 303 2799 826

140 Arts 293 2891 736

Social Science 303 2959 719

06 Arts 293 2955 681

Enterprising Science 303 2978 743

431 Arts 293 2716 737

Conventional Science 303 3137 784

192 Arts 293 3015 765

Note SDS = Self Directed Search

p lt 05 p lt 001 df = 594

The findings in Table 33 showed that there are significant mean differences

between Science and Arts students on Realistic Investigative and Enterprising

personality types The scores of science students are slightly better than arts students

159

on Realistic Investigative and Enterprising types This revealed that science students

have preference for Realistic Investigative and Enterprising personality types

Table 34

Mean Standard deviation and t-value of scores of Urban and Rural group students

on main summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

Personality

Types

Group Total No

of cases

M SD t

Realistic Urban 382 2303 811

348 Rural 214 2533 702

Investigative Urban 382 2897 766

140 Rural 214 2807 732

Artistic Urban 382 2892 779

195 Rural 214 2762 787

Social Urban 382 3001 717

195 Rural 214 2885 668

Enterprising Urban 382 2884 770

148 Rural 214 2789 712

Conventional Urban 382 3101 793

97 Rural 214 3036 747

Note SDS = Self Directed Search

p lt 001 df = 594

The results in Table 34 showed that there are non-significant mean differences

between students of urban and rural areas on personality types of SDS except

Realistic type The mean scores of rural students are slightly higher than urban area

students on Realistic personality types This showed that students from rural areas

prefer more Realistic jobs

160

Table 35

Mean standard deviation and t-value of scores of 9th and 10th class students on

main summary scales of SDS (N = 596)

Personality

Types

Group Total No

of cases

M SD t

Realistic 9

th 328 2468 734

198 10

th 268 2284 825

Investigative 9

th 328 2889 713

557 10

th 268 2835 803

Artistic 9

th 328 2892 788

03 10

th 268 2788 775

Social 9

th 328 3015 705

03 10

th 268 2891 692

Enterprising 9

th 328 2900 729

116 10

th 268 2788 773

Conventional 9

th 328 3137 758

124 10

th 268 3004 794

Note SDS = Self Directed Search

p lt 05

The results mentioned in Table 35 showed that there are non-significant mean

differences between students of 9th

class and 10th

class on personality types of SDS

except on Investigative type The mean scores of 9th

class students are slightly higher

than 10th

class students on Investigative personality types

161

Table 36

Mean and standard deviation between three groups of students based on parents

education on the scores of six personality types of SDS (N = 596)

Personality

Types

Father

mother

educated

(N = 150)

Father

educated

(N = 214)

Father

mother

uneducated

(N = 232)

M SD M SD M SD

Realistic 2236 827 2403 749 2465 768

Investigative 2905 731 2921 723 2787 792

Artistic 2988 829 2873 762 2726 757

Social 3027 704 2985 685 2891 710

Enterprising 2886 740 2899 751 2781 754

Conventional 3096 724 3111 793 3034 794

Note SDS = Self Directed Search Father mother educated group (both the parents have at least matriculation

education) father educated group (only fathers have at least matriculation education) father and mother

uneducated group (none of the parents have matriculation)

Table 36 indicated the mean and standard deviation of three groups of students

based on parentslsquo education on the five domains of NEO PI-R The group having the

father mother uneducated have the highest mean scores on Realistic (M = 2465 SD =

768) The group having the father educated have the highest mean scores on

Investigative (M = 2921 SD = 723) Enterprising (M = 2899 SD = 751) and

Conventional types (M = 3111 SD = 793) The group having the father mother

educated have the highest mean scores on Artistic (M = 2988 SD = 829) and Social

(M = 3027 SD = 704)

162

Table 37

One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) between three groups of students based on

parents education on the scores of six personality types of SDS (N = 596)

Personality

Types

Sum of

squares

df Mean square F

Realistic

Between group

48932

2

24466

405

Within group 3581898 593 6040

Total 3630830 595

Investigative

Between group

23247

2

11623

204

Within group 3364123 593 5673

Total 3387371 595

Artistic

Between group

65136

2

32568

538

Within group 3588032 593 6050

Total 3653168 595

Social

Between group

19116

2

9558

194

Within group 2908057 593 4904

Total 2927173 595

Enterprising

Between group

18301

2

9150

162

Within group 3333998 593 5622

Total 3352299 595

Conventional

Between group

7363

2

3681

61

Within group 3579824 593 6036

Total 3587187 595 Note SDS = Self Directed Search

p lt 05 p lt 01

Table 37 showed the analysis of variance between 3 groups based on parentslsquo

education of students and their effects on the six personality types The results showed

that there are significant mean differences between the 3 groups of students based on

parentslsquo education on the scores of Realistic and Artistic personality types The group

having father mother uneducated have higher mean on Realistic type as compared to

other groups The group having father mother educated have the highest mean on

163

Artistic type as compared to other groups There are non-significant mean differences

between three groups on other personality types

Discussion

Two most widely used models to measure personality and vocational interests

from dispositional domain are Five factor model and Hollandlsquos typology respectively

Costa and McCrae (1992a) designed the NEO PI-R based on Five factor model

Numerous reliability and validity studies were conducted over the years in different

countries as well as in Pakistan (Anis-ul-Haque 2003 Chishti 2002 Safdar 2002

Shaheen 2007 Taj 2003) Hence it is expected that NEO PI-R has cross cultural

efficacy and can be confidently administered on Pakistani population

Holland has proposed a comprehensive model of vocational interests based on

dispositional domains Holland has developed a comprehensive measure of vocational

interests ie Self Directed Search (SDS) SDS was translated comprehensively by

(Naheed 1988) in Pakistan and during the adaptation process few items were

changed and modified and thus the measure is left with 210 items Numerous

reliability and validity studies were conducted over the years in different countries as

well as in Pakistan (Khan et al 1990 Naheed 1988 Siddiqa 1999) Hence it is

expected that SDS has cross cultural efficacy and can be administered on Pakistani

students

The main study was conducted to determine the relationship between

personality and vocational interests The mean differences of different demographic

variables (gender ScienceArts groups urbanrural 9th

10th

classes and parentslsquo

education) on the personality and vocational interests were also explored Despite

164

researcher best efforts random sampling could not be employed properly for the

selection of schools in the study Initially it was decided that 10 schools (5 each from

urban and rural areas) would be selected randomly However finally 7 school (both

from rural and urban areas) with ample students from science and arts groups could be

located by the researcher In each school 100 students (50 science students and 50

Arts students) were randomly selected in the study Thus total of 700 students were

administered the tests After scrutinizing the data and doing away with the absentees

the final data was left with 596 students

The results of the study showed the reliabilityvalidity of NEO PI-R and SDS

Alpha reliability coefficients (see Table 12) of main domains scores and subscales of

NEO PI-R showed the internal consistency of the instrument The range of Alpha

coefficients vary from 36 (Openness) to 84 (Conscientiousness) Openness domain

has low Alpha reliability coefficient of (36) This reflected that this domain has low

internal consistency This may be due to the cultural effect The subscale of Openness

domain consisted of facet scales including Fantasy Aesthetics Feelings Actions

Ideas and Values This low internal consistency of Openness scale was also observed

in other cultures as Laidra et al (2007) showed low internal consistency of Openness

domain (42) in Estonian school students

In a context where Islam being the most widely accepted and practiced

religion the scales Values Fantasy and Actions need to be deliberated thoroughly for

their relevance in Pakistani culture (see conceptual definitions Openness facets scales

in chap III pages 89 to 90) The applicability of Openness Domain in Pakistani

students also needs to be further explored Openness is related to experience novel

things and is generally described by characteristics like imaginative curious and

165

aesthetically sensitive (Costa amp McCrae 1992a) It required education which is based

on the principle of openness and broadness coupled with economic prosperity Some

of the statement in Openness scales are of abstract nature and Pakistani understand

behavior example more easily than the abstract (see for example Mirza 1975)

Moreover in Pakistani culture which is a collectivistic culture (Hofstede

2001) a person who fantasizes and build castle in air is not encouraged or socially

approved Whereas in western culture the word fantasy have different connotations as

compared to Pakistani context Similarly facet scales Ideas and Values of openness

domains have different connotation in Pakistan as compared to western culture In

Pakistan people follow the norms of the society and tribes hence itlsquos difficult for

them to challenge these norms In certain part of the country people feel pride to stick

to their traditions and values These cultural differences have effects on the results of

facets scales of Openness domain

Low internal consistency of Openness domain also indicated that high school

student may not be able to provide reliable information about their personality traits

John Caspi Robins Moffitt and Loeber (1994) mentioned coefficient alpha

reliabilities of four scales exceeded α = 7 except α = 53 for Openness scale The

finding that alpha was lowest for the Openness scale is consistent with the adult Big

Five literature showing that the Openness factor is the least homogeneous of the Big

Five domains (eg Goldberg 1990 Norman 1963) Parker and Stumpf (1998) stated

that Openness showed the smallest degree of convergence across the self report a

finding that confirms earlier observations on the model in general (Ostendorf 1990)

Given its relatively low reliability the usefulness of the Openness scale may be

established through demonstration of more validity studies

166

The inter correlation matrix between subscales and Openness domain (see

Table 16) showed that subscales Fantasy Actions are non-significantly correlated

with other subscales Subscale Values significantly negatively correlated with

Aesthetic and Feelings This showed that Fantasy Actions and Values of Openness

domain have not only low internal consistency but also affected the construct validity

of the Openness domain The results needed to be interpreted with caution for

Openness domain

Safdar (2002) used Urdu version of NEO PI-R on university students and

reported Alpha value of 59 for Openness domain and 41 for Agreeableness domain

Taj (2003) reported alpha coefficient of 37 for Agreeableness for a sample of

working and non working women Chishti (2002) reported low alpha coefficient of

Fantasy (51) Feelings (30) Actions (20) and Values (20) facets scales of

Openness domain on Urdu version of NEO PI-R

The Alpha reliability coefficients (see Table 20) of the subscales (Activities

Competencies Occupations and Self-ratings) of SDS showed high internal

consistency of the instrument The alpha coefficient of summary scales range from (α

= 71) for Social to (α = 80) for Artistic and Conventional All subscales of SDS have

high reliability coefficients Intercorrelations between the Activities Competencies

Occupations Self-ratings and Summary scales (see Table 22) showed the construct

validity of the SDS These correlations were plotted in the hexagon (see Figure 7) for

the three levels adjacent types alternate types and opposite types The relationship

between adjacent types was better than alternate types and similarly the relationship

between alternate types was better than opposite type The results proved the

relevance of Holland model on high school students

167

Relationship of personality and vocational interests

The main objective of the final study was to determine the relationship

between personality and vocational interests of the high school students To achieve

this objective few hypotheses on the relationship between personality and vocational

interest were formulated Inter-correlation (see Table 23) between the 5 main domains

of personality including its 30 facet scales and the six personality types were

calculated The results showed that substantial relationship existed between the two

models Extraversion domain is significantly positively correlated with all six

personality types except Realistic type The magnitude of relationship range from (r =

22 p lt 001) with Enterprising type and (r = 25 p lt 001) with Social type

The hypothesis No 1 was ―Extroversion will be positively correlated with the

Social and Enterprising types The results showed that Extraversion is positively

correlated with Social and Enterprising types This means that Extraversion domain

overlapped with the Enterprising interests and Social interests These findings are

supported in the literature (Costa et al 1984 De Fruyt amp Mervielde 1997 Holland et

al 1994 Tokar amp Swanson 1995 Tokar et al 1995) Previous studies also

supported the positive correlation of Extraversion with social interests (Carless 1999

Costa Fozard amp McCrae 1977 Costa et al 1984 Peraino amp Willerman 1983) and

with Enterprising interests (Carless 1999 Costa et al 1984 Peraino amp Willerman

1983 Waller et al 1995) The results also revealed that Extraversion is non-

significantly correlated with Realistic type The present finding of a non-significant

relationship between Extraversion and Realistic interests are supported by Peraino and

Willerman (1983)

168

The results also mentioned that the facet scales of Extraversion domain

generally significantly correlated with all the six personality types except

Gregariousness which is non-significantly correlated with any of the six personality

types Sullivan and Hansen (2004) found that associations between personality traits

and vocational interests can be accounted for by associations between lower-order

personality traits and interests

A study on 934 Flemish-speaking students by De Fruyt and Mervielde (1997)

analyzed their data in terms of the 30 facet scores as well as the total big five scores

The pattern of correlations showed clearly that few of the big five facets were related

to the realistic and investigative type while many were related to the social and

enterprising type

The findings in Table 23 displayed that strongest relationship is between

extraversion and artistic social and enterprising types The strongest correlations

between Extraversion and Enterprising and Social types of Hollands model have been

supported in the literature (Blake amp Sackett 1993 Bolton 1985 Costa et al 1984

Dillon amp Weissman 1987 Goh amp Leong 1993 Gottfredson et al 1993 Hogan

1986 Peraino amp Willerman 1983) However negative correlations between

Extraversion and Realistic and Investigative types have been reported in the literature

(Blake amp Sackett 1993 Bolton 1985 Costa et al 1984 Peraino amp Willerman

1983) Overall the results of the study supported the hypothesis that Extraversion is

positively correlated with Social and Enterprising interests

Openness domain is significantly correlated with all the six personality types

(see Table 23) The six facet scales of Openness are generally significantly correlated

with the six personality types However facet scales Actions and Values have non-

169

significant correlation with any of the personality types Fantasy is negatively

correlated with most of the personality types

The hypothesis 2 was ―Openness will be positively correlated with

Investigative and Artistic types The results showed that Openness is positively

significantly correlated with all the six personality types however Openness has

moderate strong correlation with Artistic type (r = 24 p lt 001) with Social type (r =

22 p lt 001) and with Investigative type (r = 13 p lt 01) It appeared that people

who express Investigative and Artistic interests also tend to be more open to new

experiences The curiosity and inquisitiveness of the Investigative type described by

Holland (1985a) as intellectual scholarly and curious represented that Investigative

interests overlap 20 to 60 with the Openness to Experience domain (Costa et al

1984 Gottfredson et al 1993 Holland et al 1994 Tokar amp Swanson 1995 Tokar

et al 1995) Artistic interests related moderately (r around 40 to 50) to the Openness

to Experience domain (Costa et al 1984 De Fruyt amp Mervielde 1997 Gottfredson et

al 1993 Holland et al 1994 Tokar amp Swanson 1995 Tokar et al 1995)

Individuals scoring high on Artistic and Enterprising interest scales are more

likely to demonstrate characteristics of those high in Openness and Extraversion

respectively Caldwell and Burger (1998) showed that high levels of Extraversion and

Openness (in addition to Agreeableness and Emotional Stability) are predictive of the

number of job offers received in a job search Tokar et al (1998) reported that

―greater extraversion is also linked to higher frequency and quality of job search

activities (p 144) as well as job satisfaction and change

The Big Six and the Big Five are indeed related to one another in important

ways applicable to counseling but not universally There are substantial linkages

found by (Larson et al 2002) and (Barrack et al 2003) between Artistic and

170

Openness Investigative and Openness Social and Extraversion and between

Enterprising and Extraversion Aesthetics (a facet of Openness to Experience) largely

accounted for the association between Artistic interests and Openness The results

showed that Openness was found to have moderately strong positive correlations with

the Investigative Realistic and Artistic vocational interests a finding consistent with

those reported by others (Carless 1999 Costa et al 1977 Costa et al 1984 Duffy amp

Crissy 1940 see also review by Tokar et al 1998 and meta-analysis by Staggs

2004) Overall the results supported the hypothesis that Openness is positively

correlated with Artistic and Enterprising types

Agreeableness domain is significantly correlated with all the personality types

except Realistic and Social types (see Table 23) The results showed that facets scales

of Trust and Tender mindedness significantly correlated with all the personality types

Facet scale Compliance has non-significant correlation with any of the six personality

types Modesty is negatively correlated with all the personality types Modesty has

different connotation in Pakistani culture as compared to western culture The most

people in Pakistani society are modest and show sympathies and personal interest

with respect to other people However the socio-economic situation in Pakistan

pressurized the individual to think of his improvement of economic condition and thus

has more concern about self at times instead of concern of others

The findings of previous research suggested that Social interests corresponded

modestly (r s around 20) with the Agreeableness domain (De Fruyt amp Mervielde

1997 Tokar amp Swanson 1995 Tokar et al 1995) The personality factor score of

aggression was also found to be negatively related to the social vocational interest

factor This finding is similar to the results reviewed by Tokar et al (1998) who

found a positive relationship between agreeableness (low aggressiveness) and Social

interests

171

The result of the present study showed that Agreeableness is significantly

correlated with Artistic types The Artistic types like ambiguous free and

unsystematic activities perceived themselves as expressive original intuitive

introspective nonconforming and value aesthetic qualities Some aspects of Social

types and Artistic types are related with each other in Pakistani culture This may be

the reason that Agreeableness is significantly correlated with Artistic interests This

overlap between Social interests and Agreeableness is the weakest of the five

correlations but is consistent across the interest measures (Ackerman amp Heggestad

1997) However this showed that the hypothesis Agreeableness will be positively

correlated with the Social typelsquo is not supported by the results

Conscientiousness domain is significantly correlated with all the six

personality types All the facet scales significantly correlated with the six personality

types except facet scale Order However Order scale is significantly correlated with

Conventional type The results showed moderate strong relationship between

Conscientiousness and Conventional type Conscientiousness has strong moderate

correlation with Conventional type (r = 27 p lt 001) Enterprising type (r = 25 p lt

001) and Investigative type (r = 21 p lt 001) The results of meta analysis

conducted by Larson et al (2002) showed that the correlation of Conventional

interests and the Conscientiousness domain was moderately positive when the SDS

was the measure used (r = 29) but dropped to only slightly positively related when

the SII was the measure used (r =13) On the opposite end of the dimension it is

shown that the Conventional type has been correlated with control (Gottfredson et al

1993) judging (Dillon amp Weissman 1987) and conscientiousness (Blake amp Sackett

1993) The findings in the present study showed that hypothesis ―Conscientiousness

will be positively related with Enterprising interests is supported by the results

172

The findings in the present study regarding the consistent overlap between

personality and vocational interests were also confirmed by the multiple regression

analysis (see Table 24) which supported that some of the personality variables have

considerably contributed in predicting the vocational interests

Tokar Fischer and Subich (1998) reported that in general consistent

relationships appear across many correlational studies They stated that the

personality factor of Extraversion was consistently linked to Enterprising and Social

vocational interests Openness was found to be moderately related to Artistic and

Investigative interests Conscientiousness was related to Conventional interests

Agreeableness was linked with Social vocational interests and Neuroticism was not

found to consistently correlate with vocational interests Similar results were reported

by Ackerman and Heggestad (1997) and by Carless (1999) In the relationship

between personality and vocational interests sizable independent variance is also

present Considering the overlap among certain relationships can improve the

knowledge of the connection between these individual differences and vocational

behavior Additional research is needed to strengthen the understanding of potential

implications for practitioners

Mean Differences on Demographical Variables

The mean differences with respect to demographical variables (gender

science-arts urban-rural 9th

- 10th

classes and parentslsquo education) on personality and

vocational interests were also explored Gender differences were explored on five

factor model and were also consistent with findings using other personality

inventories (eg Eysenck amp Eysenck 1975) The results showed (see Table 25) that

there are significant mean differences between male and female students on

173

Extraversion and Agreeableness of the NEO PI-R The mean scores of female are

higher as compared to male students In a male dominated Pakistani society it may be

the case that male will score higher on Extraversion domain However with changing

societal scenario where girls are also quite active and taking part in all aspects of life

the results showed that female are slightly better on extraversion domain which

consist of subscales like warmth gregariousness assertiveness activity excitement

and positive emotion On the other hand female scores are slightly better on

Agreeableness domain Although there are non-significant gender differences on

Neuroticism domain but the mean scores of female students are slightly better than

male students The findings are supported in the existing literature (eg Chapman et

al 2007 Costa et al 1984 Costa et al 2001) The hypothesis that ―female tend to

score higher on neuroticism extraversion agreeableness and conscientiousness as

compared to male students is supported by the results

The mean scores differences between science and arts students on five

domains of personality showed that there are significant differences on neuroticism

and agreeableness domain of five factor model (see Table 26) The scores of science

students are slightly higher on both the domains as compared to arts students The

mean differences between urban and rural areas students showed that there are

significant differences on extraversion domain while non-significant differences were

observed on other domains of personality (see Table 27) This may be due to the

reason that urban students have better opportunities in the urbanized localities and

they take part in different types of social activities While in rural areas there are

limited opportunities and students generally involved in routine activities

174

The mean differences between 9th

and 10th

class students were also explored

The results showed significant mean differences on neuroticism domains while non-

significant differences were observed on other domains of personality The mean

scores of groups of students based on educations of parents on personality were

explored The ANOVA was computed and the results showed that there are only

significant mean differences on extraversion domains (see Tables 29 to 30) The mean

scores of those students whose father and mother are educated are slightly better than

other two groups Overall the results showed that parentslsquo education have no effects

on personality of high school students The mean score differences between lower age

group (up to 16 years) and upper age group (17 years and above) on score of NEO PI-

R are also calculated The results showed that there are non-significant differences on

all the five personality domains This showed that age of the students has no effects

on the scores of NEO PI-R in this study (see Table 31) The use of NEO PI-R on

schools students showed that results can be replicated in adolescents reading in

schools as it is observed on adults Overall the results showed that there are no

significant effects of demographical variables on personality Hence no further

analysis has been carried out to explore the differences of demographical variables on

personality

Gender differences on vocational interest showed that there are significant

differences on Realistic Artistic Social and Conventional interests (see Table 32)

The mean scores of male students are higher as compared to female students on

Realistic and Conventional types On Social and Artistic types the mean scores of

female students are higher than male students In Pakistani culture Female have more

interests in Artistic and Social activities hence their scores are higher on both these

scales The findings are supported by the research literature (eg Betz Harmon amp

175

Borgen 1996 Betz amp Klein 1996 Costa et al 1984 Gianakos amp Subich 1988

Henry amp Bardo 1987 Murray amp Hall 2001 Smart 1989 Stonewater 1987 Varca

amp Shaffer 1982 Walsh Bingham amp Sheffey 1986 Walsh amp Huston 1988) The

results supported the hypotheses that male will score higher on Realistic interests and

female will score higher on Social and artistic interests

Mean differences of science and arts students on the scores of SDS were also

explored (see Table 33) The result showed that there are significant differences on

Realistic Investigative and Enterprising types among science and arts students The

means scores of science students were higher as compared to Arts students There

were non-significant differences on Artistic type however mean score of Arts

students were slightly higher as compared to science students In Pakistan the schools

have two groups of students one is science group and the other one is Arts group

Science students prefer occupations which are related to science subjects Hence

science students should adopt Realistic and Investigative types occupations as

compared to Arts students Whereas Arts students have keen interests in activities

related to Artistic and Social types These findings are supported by the study

conducted on Hong Kong students (Chang 1981)

The results showed that there are non-significant mean differences between

students of 9th

and 10th

classes on personality types except Investigative type The

mean scores of urban and rural areas on six personality types were also explored

There are significant mean differences between urban and rural area students on

realistic vocational interests There are significant mean differences on Realistic and

Artistic interests between groups of students based on parentslsquo education The means

176

scores of group whose parents are educated are slightly higher as compared to other

groups on Artistic vocational interests

Overall the result showed significant gender differences on personality (only

on Extraversion and Agreeableness) and vocational interests (Realistic Artistic

Social and Conventional) There were also significant differences between science

and arts students on vocational interests However urbanrural and 9th

and 10th

class

students have non-significant differences on personality and vocational interests

Parentslsquo education also has significant effects on personality (Extraversion) and

vocational interests (Realistic and Artistic) of students Overall parentslsquo education has

non-significant effects on personality and vocational interests Hence no further

analysis of demographical variables on personality has been carried out Similarly no

further analysis on urbanrural 9th

10th

classes and parentslsquo education on vocational

interests have been carried out However further analysis on gender differences and

sciencearts students on vocational interests have been carried out in the subsequent

study

177

Chapter V

PART 4 VOCATIONAL INTERESTS MEASURED BY

SDS SUMMARY CODES

This study was designed to determine the preferences of vocational interests of

the students by scoring the SDS summary codes The first three highest summary

codes (Holland 1985a) are of great significance and can be interpreted in term of

degree of consistency by employing the hexagonal model The general pattern for the

preferences for occupational types by the students was studied Differences between

male and female students as well as science and Arts students were also determined

The objectives and hypotheses of the study are mentioned below

Objectives

1 To find out the preferences of students on occupational types based on SDS

summary codes

2 To find out the preferences of male and female students on occupational types

based on SDS summary codes

3 To find out the preferences of science and arts students on occupational types

based on SDS summary codes

178

Hypotheses

1 Male students will prefer Realistic Investigative and Enterprising interests as

compared to female students

2 Female students will prefer Artistic and Social interests as compared to male

students

3 Science students will prefer occupations of Realistic and Investigative types as

compared to Arts students

4 Arts students will prefer occupations of Artistic Social and Enterprising types

as compared to Science students

5 Both Science and Arts students will prefer occupations of Conventional types

Operational Definitions of the Concepts

Summary codes The SDS measures the six personality types (Realistic

Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising and Conventional) from the subscales

Activities Competencies Occupations and Self-ratings In each subscales scores are

calculated on each six RIASEC types SDS has YesNolsquo response format In

activities subscale there are 11 items in each six RIASEC categories By adding all

the Yeslsquo scores for R type give the score for activities R Similarly scores for

activities IASEC are calculated The same scoring procedure is used for other

subscales of competencies occupations and self-ratings Summary scores are the

cumulative scores obtained by adding the scores of each subscale on six personality

types For instance the score for R types will be the cumulative scores obtained by

179

adding the R scores of subscales activities competencies occupations and self

estimates Therefore six score representing six RIASEC are obtained for each student

The first three highest scores are arranged in descending order and assigned codes

according to type which they represented Summary codes are the first three highest

codes measured by SDS The person used the summary codes (RIASEC) to locate the

suitable occupations from the occupational finder

PersonalityOccupational types The conceptual definitions of personality

types are mentioned in chapter III pages 97 to 99

Science group and Arts group The operational definitions of science and

Arts group students are mentioned above in chapter IV pages 125

Sample

The sample of the study was the same as used in chapter IV (for details see

pages 120 to 123) of the study The study was conducted on 596 high school students

There are 319 male and 277 female students Their age range is from 14 years to 19

years with a mean age of 1573 years There are 304 students belonging to Science

group and 292 students belonging to Arts group

Instruments

Demographic sheet and Self Directed Search (SDS) was used in this part of

the study (details are in chapter III for demographic sheet (see page 78) and for SDS

(see pages 93 to 99)

180

Frequencies of Highest Summary Codes of Students

The frequencies of highest summary codes achieved by students were

computed Gender differences and highest summary codes of science and arts students

have also been calculated The results are shown below

Table 38

Frequencies of highest Summary codes of students on six personality types of SDS

(N = 596)

Highest

summary

codes

SDS Summary Codes

Realistic

R

Investigati

ve

I

Artisti

c

A

Socia

l

S

Enterprisi

ng

E

Conventional

C

1st

summary

code

35 123 120 155 66 234

2nd

summary

code

58 120 124 141 151 138

3rd

summary

code

65 125 128 131 174 120

Note 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary code as second highest summary SDS code

3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

The findings in Table 38 showed the overall frequencies of highest summary

SDS codes of students Summary codes having equal scores are also included in the

scoring The results showed that C is the highest summary codes achieved by the

majority of the students followed by S and A The frequencies of 2nd

and 3rd

summary

codes depict E as the highest summary code achieved by the students followed by S

and C These results revealed that majority of the Pakistani students have preferences

for conventional vocational interests

181

Table 39

Frequencies of highest Summary codes of male (N = 319) and female (N = 277)

students on six personality types of SDS

Highest Summary

Codes

Summary Codes

Realistic

R

Investigative

I

Artistic

A

Social

S

Enterprising

E

Conventional

C

M F M F M F M F M F M F

1st summary code 31 4 66 57 31 89 57 98 40 26 152 82

2nd

summary code 46 12 66 54 41 83 65 76 85 66 82 66

3rd

summary code 50 15 61 64 63 65 78 53 93 81 44 76

Note M = Male F = Female read 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary code as second

highest summary SDS code 3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

Table 39 showed the overall summary code distribution of male and female

students on six personality types The first three highest summary codes were

computed for each student Summary codes having equal scores are also included in

the scoring The results showed the highest summary codes for both males and

females For male high school students the highest summary codes of C have the

highest frequency 152 studentslsquo highest summary code was C followed by I as 66

studentslsquo highest summary code 57 male students highest summary code was S

followed by 40 studentslsquo highest code as E and 31 students have R and A as highest

summary code Majority of the students have E and C as the 2nd

highest summary

codes for the male students E and S codes are the 3rd highest summary code

preferences for majority of the male students

Female high school studentslsquo highest summary codes of S have the highest

frequency 98 students achieved S as highest summary code followed by 89 studentslsquo

182

highest summary code of A 82 highest summary codes are C and 57 highest

summary codes are I A and S codes are the 2nd

highest summary codes achieved by

the majority of the female students followed by E and C as 2nd

highest summary

codes E and C codes are the 3rd

highest summary codes achieved by the female

students

Overall the results showed that male students have strong preferences for

Conventional interests followed by Investigative interests while females have

preferences for Social and Artistic interests Males preferred more Realistic

Investigative Enterprising and Conventional interests as compared to females

Realistic is the least preferred choice for females These findings supported the

hypothesis no 1 On the other hand female students have strong preferences for

artistic and social interest as compared to male students These findings are supportive

of hypothesis no 2

Table 40

Frequencies of highest Summary codes of Science (N = 304) and Arts (N = 292)

students on six personality types of SDS

Highest Summary

Codes

Summary Codes

Realistic

R

Investigative

I

Artistic

A

Social

S

Enterprising

E

Conventional

C

S A S A S A S A S A S A

1st summary code 16 19 92 28 52 63 50 95 38 26 112 113

2nd

summary code 30 23 72 49 39 83 63 71 81 58 78 69

3rd

summary code 37 28 53 63 60 60 80 55 81 82 49 58

Note S = Science students A = Arts students 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary

code as second highest summary SDS code 3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

183

Table 40 showed the overall summary code distribution of Science and Arts

students on six personality types The first three highest summary codes were

computed for each student Summary codes having equal scores are also included in

the scoring The results showed the highest summary codes for both Science and Arts

students For Science studentslsquo highest summary codes of C have the highest

frequency 112 studentslsquo highest summary code was C followed by I as 92 studentslsquo

highest summary code 52 Science students highest summary code was A followed by

50 studentslsquo highest code as S 38 students have E and 16 students have R as highest

summary codes E and C are the 2nd

highest summary codes for the majority of

Science students E and S codes are the 3rd

highest summary code preferences of

majority of Science students

Arts studentslsquo highest summary codes of C have the highest frequency 113

students achieved C as highest summary code followed by 95 studentslsquo highest

summary code of S 63 highest summary codes are A and 28 highest summary codes

are I A and S are the 2nd

highest summary codes achieved by the majority of Arts

students followed by C and E E and I are the 3rd

highest summary codes achieved by

the majority of Arts students Overall the results showed that Science students have

preferences for Conventional and Investigative type occupations These findings have

partially supported the hypothesis no 3 Arts studentslsquo preferences are for

Conventional Social and Artistic type occupations as compared to science students

Thus findings supported the hypothesis no 4 The results also displayed that both

Science and Arts students have preference for Conventional type occupations Hence

the results supported hypothesis no 5

184

Discussion

The highest summary codes of students were demonstrated to find out the

general trends of students In Pakistani culture which is a collectivist culture there

are many factors which are influencing the choices of the students In a diverse

culture of Pakistan where there are many educational system imparting knowledge to

the students it is very difficult to pinpoint the common factors for all students

However in government school belonging to Punjab province (the biggest populous

province of Pakistan) the general trends showed that majority of the students

preferred Conventional type occupations followed by Social types The Conventional

types tend to like activities that entail ordered manipulation of data and records

perceive themselves as conforming and orderly and value business and economic

achievement They have clerical and arithmetic abilities but often lack artistic ability

Since there are limited career opportunities in Pakistan for students of government

school there are chances that system may be producing certain types of interests and

abilities in students However the trend is slightly different when gender differences

are accounted for the present study Male students have preference for Conventional

type occupations followed by Investigative types while female have preferences for

Social and Artistic type occupations

Since Pakistan is still a male dominated society females are preferably

allowed to adopt the profession like teacher doctor and nursing etc these profession

entail social interests Male students outnumbered their female counterparts in hard

sciences (eg mathematics physics and engineering) Kirkcaldy (1988) reported

women to have significantly lower interests level than men for technical and scientific

jobs While male have low interests for design and socio-educational jobs In addition

185

women preferred less structured more creative less task-oriented and more

permissive types of jobs a description that fits well with artistically or emotionally

involving jobs (Furnham 2005) This suggested that vocational interests may be the

cause of gender differences in educational and occupational choices One cannot be

sure whether gender differences in vocational interests are influenced by culture

personality or ability factors eg whether women prefer certain jobs because they

suit their abilities their personalities or simply conform to social expectations

(Gottfredson 2005)

Gender differences in Holland personality types have been widely researched

using a variety of measurement criteria including academic majors (Gianakos amp

Subich 1988) occupational choices (Smart 1989) and leisure activities (Varca amp

Shaffer 1982) as well as scores on vocational self-efficacy questionnaires (Betz et

al 1996 Betz amp Klein 1996) and interest inventories (Costa et al 1984 Henry amp

Bardo 1987 Stonewater 1987 Walsh et al 1986 Walsh amp Huston 1988)

In general researchers have found greater manifestations of Realistic

Investigative and Enterprising traits among men than among women In contrast

Social and Artistic qualities have generally been found to be more prevalent among

women (Betz et al 1996 Betz amp Klein 1996 Costa et al 1984 Gianakos amp Subich

1988 Henry amp Bardo 1987 Smart 1989 Stonewater 1987 Varca amp Shaffer 1982

Walsh et al 1986 Walsh amp Huston 1988) Results have been mixed in regard to the

Conventional personality type with some researchers finding stronger propensities in

men (Betz et al 1996 Betz amp Klein 1996 Gianakos amp Subich 1988) and others in

women (Costa et al 1984 Stonewater 1987) A detailed study need to be conducted

to look into the reason of preferring Conventional interests in male students in the

present study Overall the results partially supported the hypothesis that male prefer

186

Realistic Investigative and Enterprising interests while female prefer Social and

Artistic interests

In Pakistan two main types of subjects are being taught at high school level in

government schools The science group consists of science subjects while in Arts

group the subjects are from humanities group After passing the middle classes the

students were allotted science and arts group to carry on study in 9th

class The criteria

of allotting science and arts groups to students differ from school to school Some of

the schools allot science group to those students who scored better in middle class

examination and arts group to those who have less mark In some school the allotment

depends on the number of seats and capacity in the class Still some schools have

limited faculty to teach science or arts subject therefore the allotment is according to

their convenience However it was observed that in some school the student interest

and his preferences for the choice is taken as the criterion for allotment Overall there

is no set criterion of allotment of science and Arts subjects to the students of high

schools

The result showed (see Table 40) that the summary codes choices of Science

and Arts group students also differ from each other The science and Arts group

students have Conventional as the most preferred summary code The second highest

score of science students is of Investigative type This showed that science students

have some preferences for Investigative type occupations which entail scientific

abilities The Investigative type likes investigative jobs and has mathematical and

scientific ability The students of Arts group have Social and Artistic type preferences

This also showed that Arts students have some preferences for Social and Artistic

type occupations The summary scores of 2nd

summary code and 3rd

summary code

showed the scattered pattern for the science students Overall science students have a

187

well defined vocational pattern to some extent in accordance with the Holland

typology The Arts students study arts or humanities subject in their curriculum The

first summary code score of Arts students showed that 113 students highest code is

Conventional followed by 95 students have Social and 63 students have Artistic

codes as their highest scores The results showed that Arts students also have well

defined summary code scores to some extent according to Holland typology

The findings partially supported the hypothesis that Science students preferred

Realistic and Investigative types as compared to Arts group The findings also

partially supported the hypothesis that Arts students preferred Artistic Social and

Enterprising types as compared to science students The results also supported the

hypothesis that both science and arts students preferred Conventional types and is

supported by the existing literature (Leung amp Hua 2005 Staggs et al 2007) The

findings of the study about Science and Arts students are also supported by the

research conducted in Hong Kong by Chang (1981) and supplemented the existing

body of literature about differences between gender and science and Arts students

However the findings also drew attention to the ever changing nature of phenomena

and suggested ongoing research pertaining to this important topic

Vocational interests are associated with behaviors that reflect an individuals

choice to engage in tasks and activities they like Congruency is the primary concept

in which realistic personality in a realistic environment would prove to be highly

consistent to fulfill the interests and skills of the person The relation between the

vocational aspirations and vocational interests is very significant Hence there is a

requirement to investigate the level of congruence between vocational interests and

vocational aspirations of students

188

Chapter VI

Part 5 VOCATIONAL ASPIRATIONS OF THE STUDENTS

This part of the research was designed to explore in detail the vocational

aspirations of the students Vocational aspirations are measured as part of SDS and

are considered as the validity check on the SDS summary codes In Pakistan there is

no concept of employing career counselors in the school The students are left on the

mercy of different moderators which influence them to choose certain occupations as

their future choices The job opportunities available in the market where students

have easy access and are open to all students on merit and job security are some of

the main reasons of selecting particular occupations as future choices Therefore the

present study explored in detail the vocational aspirations of the students Majority of

the students mentioned doctor army teacher lawyer and engineer as their vocational

aspirations The gender differences were also studied in this part of the research The

degree of agreement between vocational aspirations and vocational interests of the

students were also determined The objectives of the study are

Objectives

1 To compare gender differences on vocational aspirations of the students

2 To find out the differences on personality and vocational interests with respect

to vocational aspirations

3 To determine the degree of agreement between vocational aspirations and

vocational interests of the students

189

Hypotheses

1 Female students are likely to aspire more Social Artistic and Conventional

codes as compared to male students

2 Male students are likely to aspire more Investigative Realistic and

Enterprising codes as compared to female students

3 Doctor as a vocational aspiration of students is likely to have high degree of

agreement with their Investigative SDS summary code

4 Army as a vocational aspiration of students is likely to have high degree of

agreement with their Realistic SDS summary code

5 Teacher as a vocational aspiration of students is likely to have high degree of

agreement with their Social SDS summary code

6 Lawyer as a vocational aspiration of students is likely to have high degree of

agreement with their Enterprising SDS summary code

7 Engineer as a vocational aspiration of students is likely to have high degree of

agreement with their Realistic and Investigative SDS summary codes

OperationalConceptual Definitions

Vocational aspirations Vocational aspirations of the students are the

prospective vocational choices of the student which they intended to adopt in future

Vocational aspirations and matching occupational codes According to Hollandlsquos

(1997) coding system as RIASEC using the Dictionary of Holland Occupational

Codes (Gottfredson amp Holland 1996) the profession Doctor should have the

Investigative (I) as highest occupational code the profession Army should have the

Realistic (R) as highest occupational code the profession Teacher should have the

190

Social (S) as highest occupational code the profession Lawyer should have the

Enterprising (E) as highest occupational code and the profession Engineer should

have the Realistic (R) and Investigative (I) as highest occupational code

Degree of agreement The relationship between the code of the current

vocational aspiration and the SDS summary code represent degree of agreement

When the first letter code of the current aspiration and the SDS are the same the

likelihood of a person maintaining that aspiration is very high A simpler index of

agreement between any two codes can also be obtained by employing the hexagonal

model The scoring procedure entailed comparing the first letter codes for the current

vocational aspiration and the highest summary SDS codes The higher the score the

closer the agreement Detailed scoring procedure is attached at Appendix Alsquo

Personality The conceptual definitions of personality and main domains of

personality are mentioned above in chapter III pages 85 to 93

Vocational interests The conceptual definitions of vocational interests

including personality types are mentioned above in chapter III pages 97 to 99

Summary codes The operational definition of summary codes is mentioned

above in chapter V pages 178 to 179

Instruments

Following instruments were used in the study

4 NEO PI-R

5 SDS

6 Demographic Sheet

7 Future Possibilities Questionnaire

(See details about instruments in chap III pages 78 to 99)

191

Sample

The sample of the study consisted of 482 students selected from the main

sample of the study (see chapter IV pages 120 to 123) The sample has been taken

randomly within the school The sample was selected based on the five most preferred

vocational aspirations of the students (doctor army teacher lawyer and engineer)

There are 4 boys and 3 girlslsquo schools 2 boy schools and 2 girl schools were selected

from urban areas of Rawalpindi while 2 boys and 1 girl school were selected from

rural area of Rawalpindi There are 243 male students and 239 female students 271

are in 9th

class and 211 in 10th

class students 254 are Science students and 228 are

Arts students Urban students are 321 and rural students are 161 Their age range is

from 14 years to 19 years with a mean age of 1566 years The average fatherslsquo

income is Rs 7669- approximately

Procedure

(Details are given in chapter IV pages 123 to 124)

Results

In this study gender differences on vocational aspirations of the students were

computed Highest summary codes of students based on vocational aspirations were

determined The degree of agreement between vocational aspiration and SDS

summary codes were also explored The results are shown below

192

Table 41

Vocational aspirations of students (N = 482)

Vocational aspirations

Gender

Doctor Army Teacher lawyer Engineer

Male students

(N = 243)

75 124 7 10 27

Female students

(N = 239)

118 15 51 45 10

Total 193 139 58 55 37

The finding in Table 41 showed the frequencies of vocational aspirations of

both male and female students Doctor seems to be favorite career for both boys and

girls Male preferred Army predominantly while very few female opted for this

choice Teaching is the profession which the girls liked most Very few boys opted for

the teaching profession Lawyer as a profession is the favorite for the female as

compared to the male Engineering is more liked by boys as compared to girls The

results showed gender differences between the vocational aspirations of the students

Table 42

The frequencies of highest summary codes of male (N = 243) and female (N = 239)

students on six personality types measured by SDS

Gender

SDS Summary Codes

Realistic

R

Investigative

I

Artistic

A

Social

S

Enterprising

E

Conventional

C

Male students 21 50 24 43 32 114

Female students 4 49 63 83 20 60

Note SDS = Self Directed Search

The findings in Table 42 indicated the gender differences between male and

female students on the highest summary codes on six personality types Summary

codes having equal scores are also included in the scoring Highest summary codes of

193

243 male students who aspired about different vocations were calculated on six

personality types The results showed that male students have preference for

Conventional type followed by Investigative and Social types Highest summary

codes of 239 female students were computed on six personality types The results

showed that female students have preference for Social code followed by Artistic and

Conventional codes Overall the results proved that male students aspired more

Realistic Enterprising and Conventional codes as compared to female students

While female students aspired more Social Artistic codes as compared to male

students The results supported hypotheses no 1 and 2

Table 43

Mean and standard deviation between five groups based on vocational aspirations of

students on their scores on five domains of NEO PI-R (N = 482)

Domains of

personality

Vocational Aspirations

Doctor

(N = 193)

Army

(N = 139)

Teacher

(N = 58)

Lawyer

(N = 55)

Engineer

(N = 37)

M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD

Neuroticism 13815 1392 13565 1667 13905 1426 14131 11 1426 13946 1248

Extraversion 15057 1400 15084 1269 14879 1353 15534 11 1410 15008 1343

Openness 13693 987 13507 930 13455 888 13736 11 1033 13435 968

Agreeable-

ness

16484 1543 16485 1412 16490 1404 16536 11 1407 16832 1180

Conscientiou

sness

17034 1792 17296 1978 16740 1489 17278 11 1619 17251 2072

Note M = means scores SD = standard deviation NEO PI-R = Revised Neuroticism Openness Extraversion

Personality Inventory

Table 43 indicated the mean and standard deviation of five groups of students

on the five domain of NEO PI-R The group having the vocational aspiration of

194

lawyers have the highest mean scores on Neuroticism (M = 14131) followed by

engineers (M = 13946) and teachers (M = 13904) The group of students whose

vocational aspirations are lawyer have the highest mean on Extraversion (M =

15534) and Openness (M = 13736) The group of students having the vocational

aspiration of engineer have the highest mean scores (M = 16832) on Agreeableness

The group of students having the vocational aspiration of Army have the highest

mean scores (M = 17296) on Conscientiousness

Repeated measure ANOVA

Repeated measure ANOVA is a technique used to test the quality of means

The repeated measures test is more powerful because it separates between-subject

variability from within-subject variability

Table 44

Repeated Measure Analysis of variance (ANOVA) for five groups based on vocational

aspirations of students on their scores on five main domains of personality (N = 482)

Effects MS df F Greenhouse-Geisser

Personality 46927511 4 23910 p lt 001

Personality x

Vocational Aspirations

212801 16 1084 p lt 371

Personality x Gender 371554 4 1893 p lt 137

Personality x

Vocational Aspirations x

Gender

124512 16 634 p lt 792

Error 196270 1888

p lt 001 Male = 243 Female = 239 Personality means five main domains of personality (neuroticism

extraversion openness agreeableness and conscientiousness) Vocational aspirations means five groups of

students based on five vocational aspiration (Doctor Army Teacher Lawyer and Engineer)

Mauchly‟s Test W = 40 χ 2 (9) = 42794 p lt 001 Wilks‟ Lambda = 096 F (4 16) =0 97 p gt 05

195

In order to test sphericity Mauchlylsquos Test was inspected which tests for the

equivalence of the hypothesized and the observed variancecovariance patterns The

test was highly significant W = 40 χ 2 (9) = 42794 p lt 001 suggesting that the

assumption of sphericity had been violated A one-way within subjects (or repeated

measures) ANOVA was conducted to compare the effect of five group based on

vocational aspirations on five main domains of personality However results in Table

44 suggested that only personality has significant differences within subjects however

there is no significant effects of personality vocational aspirations and gender There

is no significant effect of the vocational aspirations Wilkslsquo Lambda = 96 F (4 16) =

97 p gt 05 These results suggested that vocational aspirations really do not have an

effect on five domains of personality

Table 45

Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose vocational aspiration is

Doctor (N = 193)

Summary codes

Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

1stsummary code 5 48 24 47 15 54

2nd

summary code 7 38 32 40 30 46

3rd

summary code 13 25 35 33 58 29

Note SDS = Self Directed Search 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary code as second

highest summary SDS code 3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

Table 45 showed the frequencies of first three SDS summary codes for

students whose prospective vocational choice is doctor The three highest SDS

summary codes for each student were computed The dominant summary code is

Conventional as 54 studentslsquo highest code followed by Investigative as 48 studentslsquo

196

highest summary code 47 students highest summary code is Social while 24 studentslsquo

highest summary code is Artistic According to Holland an Investigative type likes

Investigative jobs has mathematical and scientific ability but often lacks leadership

ability They are described as analytical curious intellectual reserved and precise

According to Holland classification the vocational choice doctor should have an

Investigative type as their first summary code However 48 students scored

Investigative type as their highest summary code This showed that those opted for

doctor has some parity with the prospective vocational choice and thus partially

supported the hypothesis no 3

Table 46

Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose vocational aspiration is Army

(N = 139)

Summary codes

Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

1st summary code 7 27 14 24 20 47

2nd

summary code 12 24 15 21 31 36

3rd

summary code 19 19 10 38 32 21

Note SDS = Self Directed Search 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary code as second

highest summary SDS code 3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

Table 46 showed the frequencies of first three SDS summary codes for

students whose prospective vocational choice is Army The three highest SDS

summary codes for each student were computed The dominant summary code is

Conventional as 47 studentslsquo highest code followed by Investigative as 27 studentslsquo

first choice 24 students highest summary code is Social while 20 studentslsquo highest

summary code is Enterprising According to Holland Conventional types has clerical

and arithmetic ability They are conforming conscientious orderly persistent and

197

practical For Army the Realistic should be predominant choice while only 7 studentslsquo

highest summary score is Realistic This showed the degree of incongruence between

vocational aspiration of Army and SDS summary code Thus hypothesis no 4 is not

supported by the results

Table 47

Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose prospective vocational choice

is Teacher (N = 58)

Summary codes

Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

1st summary code 0 4 16 21 3 16

2nd

summary code 4 5 14 15 9 11

3rd

summary code 3 15 11 8 11 11

Note SDS = Self Directed Search 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary code as second

highest summary SDS code 3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

The results in Table 47 displayed the overall frequencies of first three

summary codes computed from SDS for the students whose prospective vocational

choice is teacher The dominant summary code is Social as 21 studentslsquo highest code

followed by each Artistic and Conventional as 16 studentslsquo highest summary code

According to Holland classification the vocational choice of teacher should have

Social as their first summary code Social type like social jobs has social skills and

talents but often lacks mechanical and scientific ability They are described as

cooperative friendly kind persuasive tactful and warm However 21 students

attained social as their highest summary code This showed that those opted for

teachers have some degree of congruence between the vocational aspirations of

198

teacher and original summary codes Hence hypothesis no 5 is partially supported by

the results

Table 48

Frequencies of SDS Summary codes of students whose prospective vocational choice

is Lawyer (N = 55)

Summary codes

Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

1st summary code 2 5 10 24 2 11

2nd

summary code 2 15 18 9 3 8

3rd

summary code 1 8 11 4 17 15

Note SDS = Self Directed Search 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary code as second

highest summary SDS code 3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

Table 48 showed the frequencies of first three SDS summary codes for

students whose prospective vocational choice is lawyer The dominant summary code

is Social as 24 studentslsquo highest code followed by Conventional and Artistic as 11 and

10 studentslsquo highest summary code respectively 2 students highest summary code is

Enterprising According to Holland classification the vocational choice of lawyer

should have Enterprising as their first summary code The Enterprising types show

preference for activities that involve manipulation of others to achieve organizational

goals or economic gain perceive themselves as aggressive self-confident and

sociable and value political and economic achievement They liked enterprising jobs

and have leadership and speaking abilities but often lacks scientific ability However

24 students attained social as their highest summary code which is adjacent to

enterprising type This showed that those opted for lawyers have degree of

199

incongruence between the vocational aspirations and their vocational interests Thus

hypothesis no 6 is not supported by the results

Table 49

Frequencies of SDS Summary scales of students whose prospective choice is Engineer

(N = 37)

Summary codes

Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

1st summary code 4 5 9 5 3 13

2nd

summary code 2 6 3 5 11 11

3rd

summary code 7 8 2 9 7 5

Note SDS = Self Directed Search 1st summary code as highest summary SDS code 2nd summary code as second

highest summary SDS code 3rd summary code as third highest summary SDS code

The results indicated in Table 49 displayed the overall frequencies of first

three summary codes computed from SDS for students whose prospective vocational

choice is engineer The dominant summary code is Conventional as 13 studentslsquo

highest code followed by Artistic as 9 studentslsquo highest summary code 5 students

highest summary code is Investigative and the same number ie 5 studentslsquo highest

summary code is Social According to Holland classification most of the engineering

discipline has Investigative as their highest code and some have Realistic also

However 5 students attained investigative type as their highest summary code This

shows that those opted for engineering have high degree of incongruence between the

vocational aspiration of engineer and original summary codes Thus hypothesis no 7

is not supported by the results

200

Table 50

Frequencies of scores obtained from highest Summary code of students (Males and

females) based on five groups of vocational aspirations of students via hexagonal

model (N = 482)

Vocational

aspirations of

students

Highest

summary code

from

classification

booklet

Frequencies of scores obtained from highest summary

codes based on hexagonal model

1 2 3 4

M F M F M F M F

Doctor

(N = 193

I 6 6 44 53 8 28 17 31

Army

(N = 139)

R 15 3 23 4 79 7 6 1

Teacher

(N = 58)

S 0 0 4 16 3 14 0 21

Lawyer

(N = 55)

E 0 3 4 9 6 31 0 2

Engineer

(N = 37)

IR 3 0 14 1 7 7 3 2

Note M = Male F = Female I = Investigative R = Realistic S = Social E = Enterprising 4 score means that

highest summary code and Holland classification code correspond with each other 3 means that highest summary

codes and Holland classification codes are adjacent on the hexagon 2 means that the highest summary codes and

Holland classification codes are on alternate on the hexagon and 1 means that the highest summary codes and

Holland classification codes are on the opposite side on the hexagon

Table 50 showed the relationship between vocational aspirations of the

students and highest summary scale based on hexagonal model 193 students opted

doctor as their vocational aspirations and their highest summary code from

classification booklet is Investigative Highest summary code of 17 male students

matched with their highest prospective code while 8 studentslsquo score were adjacent and

44 studentslsquo score were on the alternate position on hexagon Similarly 31 female

studentslsquo highest summary code matched with their highest vocational aspirations

201

code 28 studentslsquo score are on adjacent types while 53 studentslsquo scores are on the

alternate types on hexagon These results also partially supported hypothesis no 3

139 students opted for army as their vocational aspiration their choices and

highest summary scale on SDS were compared based on hexagonal model The

results showed that only 6 male students vocational aspirations matched with their

highest summary code ie Realistic 79 studentslsquo summary scales were adjacent to

Realistic type 23 male students have alternate matching with the summary scale

while 15 students have opposite summary scale Similarly 1 female student vocational

aspiration and highest summary code matched with each other while 7 students

summary code are adjacent to their prospective choice highest code The results

obtained from hexagonal model did not support hypothesis no 4

58 students opted for teacher as their vocational aspiration and the highest

summary code for teacher is Social 7 male students were on the adjacent or alternate

type 21 female student highest summary codes matched with their highest

prospective vocational choice code 14 students summary code were on adjacent types

while 16 students were on alternate type Thus the results supported hypothesis no 5

for female students

55 students opted for lawyer as their vocational aspiration while the code for

the choice lawyer is Enterprising 6 male students highest summary codes were on

adjacent types and 4 students codes were on alternate types 2 female students highest

code matched with highest vocational aspirations code while 31 female studentslsquo

highest summary codes were on adjacent types The results also did not support

hypothesis no 6

37 students opted engineer as their vocational aspirations whereas the highest

summary code for the engineer choice is Investigative 3 male students highest

202

summary code matched with their highest prospective choice code7 students highest

summary codes were on adjacent types while 7 studentslsquo summary codes were on

alternate types 2 female students highest summary code matched with their

vocational aspiration highest code while 7 female students summary scale were on the

adjacent types on the hexagon This also not supported the hypothesis no 7 Overall

the results provided partial support for doctor and teacher vocational aspirations while

there is a state of incongruence between the vocational aspirations of army lawyer

and engineer and their SDS summary codes

Discussion

The study was designed to explore the vocational aspirations of the students

and determine their differences on personality and vocational interests Miller et al

(2004) studied the relationship of expressed occupational daydreams and scores on

the Self-Directed Search (SDS) and found results consistent with Hollands theory of

careers It has long been recognized that personal daydreams about ourselves have

relevance for career planning and are a relatively good predictor of vocational choice

(Brown amp Brooks 1991 Touchton amp Magoon 1977 Yanico 1981)

In the existing theoretical and empirical literature vocational interests and

career goalsaspirations are frequently referred to as measured versus expressed

interests (Spokane amp Decker 1999) The first referred to interests as they are assessed

with standardized interest inventories representing a central part of a personlsquos

personality (Holland 1999) The latter referred to stated vocational aspirations which

are considered an expression of a personlsquos self-concept (Super 1990)

203

Literature supported the facilitative role of the use of occupational daydreams

within the context of career counseling (Crabbs 1979 Sarnoff amp Remer 1982)

Holland et al (1994) indicated that current vocational daydreams are a moderate to

good predictor of later career behaviors The evidence for relying on a personlsquos

occupational aspirations for the prediction of occupational field are presented by

Holland and Lutz (1968) Holland and Whitney (1968) Dolliver (1969) Whitney

(1969) Holland Gottfredson amp Nafziger (1973) Holland (1985b) Holland and

Gottfredson (1975) McLaughlin and Tiedeman (1974) Touchton and magoon

(1977) OlsquoNeil and Magoon (1977) Borgen and Seling (1978) and Gottfredson and

Holland (1975) These studies indicated that the category of peoplelsquos current

vocational aspirations or the history of their aspirations is a moderate to efficient

predictor of the category of their current aspiration major field vocational plan or

current occupation over one three four and eleven-year intervals People whose

aspirations belong to the same category are more predictable than people whose

aspirations belong to different categories Holland (1968) showed that a personlsquos

history of occupational preferences and especially the most recent preferences are

good estimates of what will choose or do next The same findings are also supportive

of studies (Ansari 1981 Aziz 2001 Riaz 1995 Zaidi 1979) conducted on

occupational aspirations in Pakistani context

In the present study the five most reported or preferred career of students of

government schools were doctor army teacher advocate and engineer 482 students

opted for the five types of vocational aspirations 118 female students and 75 male

students opted doctorlsquo as their first choice Doctor is considered as the most favorite

career in Pakistan Only those students can get admission in professional medical

colleges who achieved very good marks in science subjects In Pakistan doctor is

204

considered as the best job for female students 124 male students opted Army as their

favorite choice while only 15 female opted Armylsquo as their daydream choice This

showed that male have preference to join Army In Pakistan where there are limited

job opportunities getting jobs in government department on merit is considered as

very difficult therefore armed forces provide sufficient opportunities to the youth to

join on merit Moreover due to job security armed forces are still the best option

available for male students

51 female students wanted to be teacher while only 7 male opted teacher as

their favorite career Again the profession of teacher is considered as one of the best

for females There are some moderating factors which start influencing the students

from very early age These effects needed to be studied in depth for better

understanding about the vocational aspirations of the students 45 female wanted to be

advocate in their life while only 10 male studentslsquo favorite career was advocate This

showed that female are coming out and adopting different occupations which were not

considered suitable earlier During the past few decades the government has provided

lot of job opportunities to female in different department Hence they are competing

neck to neck with their male counterparts 27 male students and 10 female students

opted engineerlsquo as their favorite career This showed that there are gender differences

between the vocational aspirations of students Therefore different career

opportunities for male and female should be planned and provided to the students by

the government

Gender differences were also calculated on the highest summary codes The

results showed that the male students aspired more Realistic Enterprising and

Conventional codes as compared to female students On the other hand female

students aspired more Artistic and Social codes as compared to male students

205

Previous researches also supported these conclusions (Betz et al 1996 Betz amp Klein

1996 Murray amp Hall 2001 Proyer amp Hausler 2007) These findings partially

supported the hypotheses no 1 and 2

The effects of prospective vocational choices of students on personality were

determined by comparing the mean differences between the five groups based on

vocational aspirations There were non-significant mean differences between

vocational aspirations of the students and personality The differences of five groups

of vocational aspirations on the vocational interests were computed by counting the

first second and third highest summary codes of each group The vocational

aspirations and the highest summary code should correspond with each other The

consistency in score may help the individual to choose the career of his choice and

has highest level of person-environment congruency or fit On the other hand

disparity between the prospective vocational choice and the highest summary code

may develop into incongruent situation

The findings reflected (see Table 45) the summary scale of students whose

prospective vocational choice is doctor have conventional (score of 54 students) as the

highest summary code Almost the same pattern is observed for 2nd

highest summary

code and 3rd

highest summary codes Since Conventional type is the choice of

majority of the students therefore it has the maximum score According to Holland

occupational classification (HOC) Investigative should be the highest summary code

for doctors In Pakistan there are occupations which depend on the classification of

science and arts group subjects For a doctor science subjects are compulsory Hence

investigative type has been the right choice as it entails scientific abilities This

showed the degree of agreement to some extent between the vocational aspiration of

doctor and their vocational interests

206

The highest summary code of students whose prospective vocational choice

was Army have conventional as the highest summary code of majority of the students

followed by Investigative Social and Enterprising Generally the same pattern is

observed for the 2nd

and 3rd

highest summary codes According to Holland

classification booklet the Realistic code represented the occupation of Army The

results showed the disparity between the vocational aspirations of the students and

their highest summary codes determined by SDS This indicated that their vocational

interests (activities competencies etc) did not correspond with the vocational

aspirations This incongruence need to be addressed as early as possible for the better

future of students

There are some occupations which do not depend on the classification of

science and arts subject Like occupation of army both science and arts students can

apply for enrolment in regular Army however in PAF and Navy the candidates

should have science subjects Even in Army specialized courses require science as

their major subjects The results showed index of incongruence between the

vocational aspiration and vocational interests of students whose choice is Army The

summary scales of students whose vocational aspiration was teacher showed that 21

students have social as their highest code while 16 students have Artistic as their

highest summary code Same pattern was observed for the 2nd

and 3rd

highest

summary code According to HOC booklet teachers should have Social as their

highest summary code This showed the moderate index of agreement between the

vocational aspirations of teacher and highest summary code

The summary scales of students whose prospective vocational choice was

Lawyer showed that 24 students highest summary code was Social while 10 students

highest code was Artistic According to classification booklet the ESA is the summary

207

code for a lawyer Only 2 students highest summary code was Enterprising whereas

majority of the students have S and A as their highest summary code This showed

incongruence for the highest code but showed congruence for the 2nd

and 3rd

highest

codes The summary scale of students whose prospective vocational choice was

engineer showed that Conventional was the highest summary code of 13 students

followed by Artistic of 9 students According to HOC booklet the first highest code

of engineer is Investigative while mechanical engineering has Realistic as the first

summary code The results showed that 5 studentslsquo highest summary code is

investigative This showed the incongruence between the vocational aspiration as

engineer and their vocational interests

Gender differences were computed for the five groups of students based on

vocational aspirations and their scores on vocational interests by employing

hexagonal model According to hexagon model if the first choice of a vocational

aspiration occupational code and first choice of SDS summary scale match then the

individual gets 4 marks If the vocational aspiration occupational code and SDS

summary code are adjacent to each other the individual get 3 marks If they are on

alternate position on the hexagon then it will get 2 marks and If on opposite to each

other then it will get 1 mark The frequencies of scores of five group of vocational

aspirations based on hexagon model were plotted (see Table 50)

The frequencies of scores for doctors showed that only 17 male and 31 female

studentslsquo highest summary code and occupational code match with each other The

frequencies of scores for the army group showed that only 6 male and 1 female

student highest summary code and occupational code match with each other For

teacher none of the male students and 21 female studentslsquo highest summary code and

occupational code matched with each other For lawyer none of male and 2 female

208

studentslsquo highest summary code and occupational code matched with each other For

engineer only 3 male students and 2 female studentslsquo highest summary code and

occupational code matched This showed the degree of agreement between their

prospective vocational choices and highest SDS codes

Overall the results got partial support for the hypotheses no 3 to 7 that

vocational aspirations of students is likely to have high degree of agreement between

their vocational interests There were reasonably good degree of agreement between

vocational aspirations of doctors and teachers with their vocational interests among

students There was a moderate degree of agreement between vocational aspiration of

lawyer and their vocational interests However there was a state of incongruence

between the vocational aspirations of army and engineer with their vocational

interests among students

In government high school there is no mechanism where career guidance is

provided to the students Some teachers tried to guide the students according to their

knowledge but there is no institutional support to the students in this regard The

choices of vocational interest by students generally depend on the wishes and whims

of students Students either interact with their role model or they listen about it from

their parents teachers and peer The other problem is the availability of limited job

opportunities in Pakistan therefore the students aspiration are also limited In

government schools majority of the students are not able to achieve their vocational

aspiration because there is lot of competition for limited vacancies in a particular job

More over there is no proper guidance available to students at schools or

governmental level therefore their vocational aspirations of different occupations at

times did not correspond with their interest and competencies

209

Present results of the study may be of value to those career counselors who

assist students in the process of making career choices Based on the five most

preferred vocational aspirations of the students a study was designed to seek expert

opinion about personality and vocational interests The results attained based on

studentslsquo scores were validated with the opinion of experts of selected occupations to

add cultural relevance for the concepts used in the study

210

Chapter VII

Part 6 EXPERT OPINIONS ABOUT PERSONALITY AND

VOCATIONAL INTERESTS

This part of the study was designed to enhance the cultural relevance of

concepts used in the previous part of the research It was carried out to evaluate the

results about personality and vocational interests in view of expertslsquo opinion The

study endeavored to explore the personality patterns related to different occupations

by the experts It also investigated the identification of personality types defined by

Holland RIASEC model in Pakistani context which meaningfully correspond with

their respective profession by the experts An evaluation sheet was designed (see

Appendix Flsquo) to measure the personality profile related to different occupations by

the experts and find out the relevance of personality types with respective occupations

of experts Followings are the objectives of the study

Objectives

1 To determine the psychometric properties of the evaluation sheet

2 To evaluate the personality profiles about different occupations by the

professionals

3 To find out the relevance of personality types with the different occupations

by the professionals

No formal hypotheses were formulated in this part of the research The study

has been conducted in two phases

211

Phase 1

In this part of the study 5 most preferred vocations described by the students

were selected based on the information gathered from the previous part of the study

The selected preferred vocations sample and procedure are explained below

Selection of Preferred Vocations

During the administration of future possibilities questionnaire the students

were asked to write the vocational aspirations which they are going to adopt or select

in future Frequencies of the prospective vocational choices were calculated and the

first 5 most preferred vocational aspirations mentioned by the students were selected

for the study purposes The selected preferred occupations are listed below

a Doctor

b Army

c Teacher

d Advocate

e Engineer

Sample

Five professionals from each preferred career were selected There are 25

professionals from five different occupations (doctor army teacher lawyer and

engineer) A convenient sampling technique was used Experts having at least 20

212

years of service in particular fields were selected They were taken from both genders

where possible

Procedure

Prior appointments were made by the professionals Rapport was established

and the purpose of the study was explained to them The experts were given following

instructions

ldquoAs a student of National Institute of Psychology Quaid-i-Azam University

Islamabad I am conducting a research on the topic of ldquoPersonality and

Vocational interestsrdquo You being the expert in your field are requested to

describe the personality traits which in your own personal view should be

possessed by a professional _________________ on the following 30 traits of

personality Definitions of each trait of personality are also given below You

are requested to complete the evaluation sheet by rating the personality of

professional _______________ on a seven point rating scale (1 to 7) ranging

from bdquoleast required‟ to bdquomost required‟ You are also requested to choose one

of the six personality types which meaningfully correspond with your

profession The detailed definitions of each personality types are also printed

at the end of evaluation sheet Your cooperation in this regard will be highly

appreciatedrdquo

For the respondent who has to write the attributes of the doctors the word

doctor was written in the blank space Similarly for each expert of hisher field the

name of profession of that particular field was written in the instructions A total of 25

213

professionals (from both gender) were administered evaluation sheet A demographic

sheet was also attached with the evaluation sheet

Phase II

The statistical analysis was carried out to establish reliability and validity of

evaluation sheet Further analysis was carried out to evaluate the personality profiles

deliberated by the experts Personality types mentioned by experts for each vocation

were also noted down Mean differences were also computed between the experts of

five vocations

Results

The results related to reliability and validity of evaluation sheet evaluation of

personality traits and personality types by the experts are computed in the following

tables

ReliabilityValidity of Evaluation Sheet

The Alpha reliability coefficients of five main domains scales of personality in

Evaluation sheet were computed The item-total correlation between each item and

respective main scales were also computed The results are shown below

214

Table 51

Alpha reliability coefficient of five domains of Personality of Evaluation sheet (N=25)

Scales Number of items Alpha coefficients

Neuroticism 6 66

Extraversion 6 64

Openness 6 31

Agreeableness 6 58

Conscientiousness 6 78

Table 51 showed the Alpha reliability coefficients of 5 scales of Evaluation

sheet The 5 main scales showed moderate Alpha reliability coefficients ranging from

31 (Openness) to 78 (Conscientiousness) The low alpha reliability coefficients

were due to less number of items in each scale Low internal consistency of Openness

domain was also observed on the sample of students as well (see Table 12) The

results showed moderate internal consistency of the instrument

Table 52

Item-total correlation of five domains of Evaluation sheet (N=25) Neuroticism

(Items = 6)

r Extraversion

(Items = 6)

r Openness

(Items = 6)

r Agreeable

ness

(Items = 6)

r Conscientious

ness

(Items = 6)

r

q1 76 q7 44 q13 22 q19 19 q25 78

q2 33 q8 56 q14 76 q20 61 q26 78

q3 73 q9 66 q15 47 q21 47 q27 13

q4 49 q10 75 q16 30 q22 66 q28 61

q5 64 q11 66 q17 40 q23 44 q29 88

q6 73 q12 53 q18 69 q24 63 q30 79

Note q1 to q30 represent each item of Evaluation sheet

p lt 05 p lt 01 p lt 001

215

The findings in Table 52 showed the item-total correlations of each subscale

of Evaluation sheet The results displayed that almost all the items significantly

positively correlated with the total of their respective subscale except q2

(Neuroticism) q13 and q16 (Openness) q19 (Agreeableness) and q27

(Conscientiousness) This shows the construct validity of each subscale of Evaluation

sheet

Table 53

Inter-correlation of main scales of Evaluation sheet (N = 25)

Scale I II III IV V

I Neuroticism (N) -

II Extraversion (E) -41 -

III Openness (O) -07 60 -

IV Agreeableness (A) -24 23 19 -

V Conscientiousness (C) -49 48 31 57 -

p lt 05 P lt 01

Table 53 showed the inter-correlation of five main domains of Evaluation

sheet The results revealed that the 5 main scales are significantly correlated with each

other except Openness (O) and Agreeableness (A) domains Neuroticism (N) domain

is negatively correlated with all other domains The same pattern of inter-correlation

of five domains was observed on the sample of students (see Table 8 and 19) This

inter correlations matrix showed the construct validity of the five domains of

Evaluation sheet

216

In this part of the study repeated measure one way analysis of variance was

computed on five groups of expert on five domains of evaluation sheet The

frequencies of experts mentioning the personality types corresponding to their careers

were also calculated The results are shown below

Table 54

Mean and standard deviation between five groups of experts based on their scores on

five domains of Evaluation sheet (N = 25)

Domains of

personality

Experts of Selected Careers

Doctor

(N = 5)

Army

(N = 5)

Teacher

(N = 5)

Lawyer

(N = 5)

Engineer

(N = 5)

M SD M SD M SD M SD M S SD

Neuroticism 980 466 1060 207 1500 367 1620 11 521 1500 158

Extraversion 3160 385 3660 56 3600 200 3220 11 327 2920 327

Openness 2860 297 2980 249 3140 219 2940 11 573 2820 549

Agreeable-

ness

3500 283 3520 217 3320 487 3140 11 321 3140 288

Conscientiou

sness

3620 402 4040 140 3580 587 3440 11 541 3460 152

Note M = Mean scores SD = Standard deviation

Table 54 indicated the mean and standard deviation of five groups of experts

of five different careers on the five domain of evaluation sheet The lawyers group has

the highest mean scores on Neuroticism followed by teacher and engineers Army

group has the highest mean on Extraversion followed by teacher Teachers group has

the highest mean scores on Openness followed by Army and lawyers group Army

217

and doctors group have the highest mean on Agreeableness domain Army group have

the highest mean on Conscientiousness followed by the doctors

Repeated measure ANOVA

Repeated measure ANOVA is used to separates between-subject variability

from within-subject variability

Table 55

Repeated Measure Analysis of variance (ANOVA) between five groups of experts

based on their scores on five domains of Evaluation sheet (N = 25)

Effects MS df F Greenhouse-Geisser

Five domains of Evaluation

sheet

208753 4 17765 p lt 001

Five domains of Evaluation

sheet x Vocations of Experts

2644 16 225 p lt 024

Error 1175 80

p lt 001 p lt 05 Male = 243 Female = 239 Five main domains of Evaluation sheet (neuroticism

extraversion openness agreeableness and conscientiousness) Five groups of experts based on five vocations

(Doctor Army Teacher Lawyer and Engineer)Mauchly‟s Test W = 37 χ 2 (9) = 1816 p lt 05

Wilks‟ Lambda = 027 F (4 16) =1 75 p gt 05

In order to test sphericity Mauchlylsquos Test was inspected which was

significant W = 37 χ 2 (9) = 1816 p lt 05 suggesting that the assumption of

sphericity had been violated A one-way within subjects (or repeated measures)

ANOVA was conducted to compare the effect of five group of vocations on five main

domains of evaluation sheet However results in Table 55 suggested that five domains

of evaluation sheet have significant differences within subjects however there are

non-significant effects of five groups of expert on five domains of evaluation sheet

218

(Wilkslsquo Lambda = 027 F (4 16) =1 75 p gt 050 These results suggested that

different vocations do not have an effect on five domains of evaluation sheet

Table 56

Frequencies of expert opinions about personality types corresponding with their

careers (N = 25)

Career

expert

N Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional

Doctor 5 - 4 - 1 - -

Army 5 - - - - 5 -

Teacher 5 - - - 5 - -

Lawyer 5 - - - 1 4 -

Engineer 5 1 4 - - - -

The frequencies mentioned in Table 56 showed the expert opinion about the

personality types which correspond with their profession The results demonstrated

that doctors picked Investigative type which corresponds with their profession

According to Holland occupational title classification (HOC) doctors have the

investigative as their highest summary code This showed the degree of agreement

between expert opinion and Holland summary codes The experts belonging to Army

group selected Enterprising personality type which corresponds with their profession

According to HOC army occupation has the Realistic as their highest summary code

This showed disparity between expert opinion and highest summary code for army

occupation The experts from teachers group preferred Social personality type as the

most suitable type which corresponds with their profession According to HOC

219

teachers should have Social as their highest summary code This showed degree of

agreement between expert opinion of group of teacher and corresponding Holland

summary code

The lawyers group of experts picked Enterprising as their suitable type which

also corresponds with Holland summary code The engineer group selected

Investigative as the most suitable personality type which also corresponds with the

Holland summary code Overall the results showed that there is a correspondence

between expert opinion and Holland classification of occupation except the

occupation of Army which is one of the most preferred careers of students in

Pakistan

Discussion

The study was conducted on the five groups of experts which were selected on

the basis of five favorite vocational aspirations of students In total 25 experts were

selected to determine the expert opinion about personality and vocational interests in

Pakistani context The Alpha reliabilities coefficients of five domains measured by

evaluation sheet also show moderate Alpha value except Openness domain (α = 31)

This also showed that the relevance of Openness domain to the Pakistani culture need

to be deliberated with more validity studies on different samples

One way repeated measure analysis of variance was calculated for the five

groups of experts on five domains of evaluation sheets The results showed that mean

differences between the five groups of experts Lawyer have the highest mean on

220

Neuroticism (M = 1620 SD = 521) as compared to other groups Similar finding

were observed when one way repeated measure analysis of variance was conducted

on five groups of students based on vocational aspirations on five domains of NEO

PI-R (see Table 44) There were non-significant differences on five domains however

lawyer have the highest mean on Neuroticism as compared to other groups On

Extraversion domain significant mean differences were also observed on five groups

of experts The mean scores of army and teacher groups have the highest mean value

as compared to other groups

The five groups of experts were also given the conceptual definitions of six

personality types of vocational interests They were requested to choose the one

personality type out of six which correspond with your profession The result showed

that 4 doctors picked investigative type while 1 picked social type According to

Holland occupational classification (HOC) physicians have investigative as their first

summary code The results corresponded for the group of doctors

All five experts from regular Army picked enterprising as their most

corresponding personality type According to HOC Army has Realistic type as their

highest summary code This showed a disparity between the HOC classification and

expert opinion The Enterprising types show preference for activities that involve

manipulation of others to achieve organizational goals or economic gain perceive

themselves as aggressive self-confident and sociable and value political and

economic achievement The enterprising type like enterprising jobs and has leadership

and speaking abilities but often lacks scientific ability They are energetic extraverted

adventurous and domineering etc While Realistic types are predisposed to activities

221

that entail working with objects perceive themselves as having mechanical and

athletic abilities and value the tangibles They prefer activities involving the

systematic manipulation of machinery tools or animals The Realistic type like

realistic jobs and has mechanical abilities but may lack social skills They are asocial

practical conforming uninsightful uninvolved and hardheaded

For teachers all the expert rated Social type as their most suitable type The

HOC classification also reported Social as their highest summary code for teacher

For Lawyer and Engineer the expert opinion and HOC classification are almost the

same

Overall the findings of the this part of the study are supportive of the

conclusions drawn from the previous parts of present study except for the relevance of

occupation of army when compared with the Holland occupational classification The

results revealed that cultural relevance of some of the occupations mentioned in the

HOC classification need to be established in Pakistan

222

Chapter VIII

GENERAL DISCUSSION

The study was designed to find out the personality and vocational interests

among students from government high schools in Pakistan It also explored the

vocational aspirations of the students Based on the vocational aspirations of the

students five most favorite career choices were selected The differences between

Personality profiles for these careers deliberated by the experts belonging to these five

selected vocations were also investigated The personality types corresponding to

different careers in the opinion of experts of selected career were also determined

The differences with respect to demographic variables (gender sciencearts

urbanrural 9th

10th

class and parentslsquo education) on personality and vocational

interests were also explored

In Pakistan there are different types of schools Some of the schools are from

public sector and other belongs to private sector In private sector there are different

categories of schools Some of the schools systems are well established and their

branches are situated all over Pakistan Whereas some private schools are established

with different names and are present in every nook and corner of the urbanized

localities of Pakistan In government schools again there are different categories

Some of the schools are public schools some are cadet colleges and some are under

the administrative control of provinces The government schools are present in urban

223

areas as well as in rural areas of Pakistan In rural areas of Pakistan there are very

few private schools available for students whereas the bulk of the students belonging

to rural areas are bound to study in government schools The government schools

have nominal fee structure as compared to private schools Moreover people from low

socio-economic status can only afford to send their children in government schools

The government schools in a province generally have a common syllabus In

Punjab these schools are also called as Urdu medium schools In Pakistan about 70

of the population lives in rural areas Therefore these schools cater for the students

belonging to large segment of society The results of focus groups and interviews

showed that there are no school psychologistslsquo or career counselorslsquo posted to these

schools After passing middle standard examinations the students are to choose

between two main categories of science subjects and Arts subjects (humanities

group) The science and arts groups of students have not only different subjects to

study but there are many careers which depend on these categories Hence the present

study focused students in their schools years to understand the dynamics of

personality and vocational interests

Two most widely used models to measure personality and vocational interests

are FFM and Hollandlsquos typology respectively Costa and McCrae (1992a) developed

the measure NEO PI-R based on five factor model Holland has proposed a

comprehensive model of vocational interests which is another expression of

personality Holland (1994) has developed a comprehensive measure of vocational

interests ie Self Directed Search (SDS) Vocational aspirations of the participants

are also explored which is considered as the part of SDS Keeping in view the sample

224

characteristics it was decided that Urdu translated version of NEO PI-R and SDS

would be used to measure personality and vocational interests The sample of the

study consisted of students from Urdu medium government schools from Rawalpindi

Urdu being the national language is being taught and spoken customarily in these

schools On the other hand in English medium schools the focus is more in written as

well as spoken English Urdu is being neglected in these categories of schools

During interviews and focus groups from principal and teachers of Urdu

medium government schools (see chapter II for details) it was revealed that Urdu as a

language can be easily read and comprehended by the students of Urdu medium

schools The test contents of Urdu version of NEO PI-R and SDS were discussed in

detail with the experts and even with the principal of schools It was decided that

comprehensive Urdu translated versions are available and can be used to determine

the relevance of these two widely used model of personality and vocational interests

on the high school students

The relationship between personality and vocational interests of the high

school students proved that substantial relationship existed between the two models

(for details see chapter IV pages 144 to 150) Extraversion is significantly correlated

with Social and Enterprising interests Openness domain is significantly correlated

with all the six personality types (see Table 23) The findings are supported by the

other studies like Nauta (2004) and Rottinghaus Lindley Green amp Borgen (2002)

Hartman and Betz (2007) also found that Conscientiousness is related to Investigative

Social Enterprising and Conventional confidence Neuroticism is negatively related

225

to all but artistic interests and Extraversion related to Artistic Social and

Enterprising domains

Agreeableness domain is significantly correlated with all the personality types

except Realistic and Social types Conscientiousness domain is significantly

positively correlated with all the six personality types The results showed moderate

strong relationship between Conscientiousness and Conventional type (see Table 23)

The meta-analytic results of Larson et al (2002) study were especially helpful in

identifying modest but positive relationships between the big dimensions of interests

and personality Thus three correlations range from 22 to 28 investigative is

correlated with openness correlated conventional is correlated with

conscientiousness and enterprising is correlated with conscientiousness The

implications of these meta-analytic results suggested new conceptualizations of

understanding of both personality and interest

Personality and vocational interests are strongly related starting with the early

study by Costa et al (1984) and to the most recent studies (Barrett 2009 Barrick et

al 2003 Bullock amp Reardon 2008 Ehrhart amp Makransky 2007 Hartman amp Betz

2007 Harris et al 2006 Larson et al 2002 Logue et al 2007 Staggs et al 2007

Zhang 2008)

Gottfredson (1999) suggested that future genetic analysis will help to identify

the common causal factors between interests and personality Costa et al (1995) have

introduced a vocational-like measure intended to mimic the Big Five labeled the

NEO Job Profiler a tool that quantify the match between the person and a specific

226

position Therefore the integration of personality and vocational interest will provide a

more holistic and accurate picture of the person

Thus the conclusion from two meta-analyses (Barrick et al 2003 Larson et

al 2002) is that there is modest relationship between personality and vocational

interest types and in some cases the correlations are very nominal The same is the

case with the present study One of the limitations was that the openness dimension

showed low reliability coefficient among the study participants However the

meaningful significant and consistent results regarding the relation of openness to

interests supported the measurelsquos validity within this sample However the facet

scales Fantasy Actions and Values of Openness domain need to be deliberated

thoroughly for their relevance in Pakistani culture

The existing theoretical reviews provided the information for counseling

applications in the areas of vocational and educational outcomes For instance the

extraversion and enterprising overlap can provide information which can be helpful

for the vocational counselor (Staggs et al 2007) The client who is extraverted and

has enterprising interests is likely to be successful at jobs which are related to

extraverted and enterprising characteristics as compared to the individual who does

not possess extraverted and enterprising personality disposition This information is

useful for general direction but more specific input is required for more complex

career counseling Many psychologists have moved forward from this general

information toward more precise and complex Personality-Interest convergence

(Blake amp Sackett 1999 Waller et al 1995)

227

It has been observed in the literature review that Conscientiousness and

Emotional Stability are consistently related to job performance (Barrick et al 2001

Hurtz amp Donovan 2000 Salgado 1997) Judge and Ilies (2002) were of the opinion

that conscientiousness and emotional stability are related to motivation coupled with

performance orientation These two traits are also related with goal setting and self-

efficacy Conscientiousness is coupled with limited problem in work behaviors and is

associated with suitable behaviors in the job in hand (Barrick et al 2001 Salgado

1997) Conscientiousness individual are generally easily fit into the jobs which

require conventional interests They generally prefer organizational cultures that are

outcome and detail oriented (Hofstee et al 1992 Judge amp Cable 1997)

Agreeableness traits are associated with motivation only when cooperative

demands and teamwork are required in the jobs Agreeableness was non-significantly

correlated with Hollandlsquos social interests and other interpersonal variables (Betz amp

Borgen 2010) This finding has been supported in the present research as there is

non-significant relationship between agreeableness personality domain and Hollandlsquos

social interests

On the other hand Extraversion traits are related to motivation only when

competitive environment and systematic advancement in the job are required Those

individuals will be more motivated who are in a state of congruence with the job

When personality and interests are related to the job then higher job performance can

be achieved Extraversion has characteristics like assertiveness and ambitious and are

generally found fit with jobs that are enterprising as well as social types (Hofstee et

al 1992 Tokar amp Swanson 1995)

228

Many researches and meta-analyses of the relationships of the Big Five to job

performance have consistently supported the strength of Conscientiousness as a

positive predictor of job performance across performance criteria in occupations

(Barrick amp Mount 1991 Barrick et al 2001 Dunn Mount Barrick amp Ones 1995

Tokar et al 1998) Extraversion has often been shown to be a strong predictor for

those jobs involving social interaction such as management and sales (Barrick amp

Mount 1991 Tokar et al 1998) Openness and Extraversion were found to predict

success in job training programs (Barrick amp Mount 1991) Mount et al (1998) found

that Conscientiousness and Emotional Stability (the inverse of Neuroticism) were

related to performance in jobs involving working with others whether those are

colleagues customers or patients In the prediction of overall job satisfaction

Neuroticism (negatively) Conscientiousness and Extraversion were the strongest

predictors across occupations (Judge amp Ilies 2002) A meta-analysis by Judge

Thoresen Bono and Patton (2001) concluded that people tend to be high performers

when they like their jobs They would be more satisfied with the job performance

There is ongoing debate that Big Five are predictive of vocational interests or

facet traits also add to the prediction (Paunonen 1998 Paunonen amp Jackson 2000

Schneider Hough amp Dunnette 1996) Addition of facet traits of personality along

with five big traits support Sullivan and Hansenlsquos (2004) finding that Aesthetics facet

is associated with the Artistic interests Similar findings were reported by Waller et al

(1995) who found that Assertiveness was related to the enterprising interests In the

present study the relationship between facets traits and vocational interests provided

insight into the study for more precise prediction of future careers

229

Costa et al (2001) suggested that gender differences on personality replicated

across cultures both on college and adult samples Women are generally found higher

in neuroticism agreeableness warmth and openness to feelings whereas men were

higher in assertiveness and openness to ideas (McCrae et al 2002a)

Openness to Experience in Pakistani Context

It was found that among the five widely examined personality factors of the

FFM Openness to Experience is the most controversial (McCrae amp John 1992)

McCrae and Costa (1997) acknowledged that ―the concept of Openness appears to be

unusually difficult to grasp (p 826) The relatively weak psychometric properties of

the Openness factor in non-Western cultures was another area of concern as compared

to the other four domains of the FFM (Cheung et al 2008) Individuals high on

openness to experience generally found best fit when the jobs are related to artistic

and social types Previous researches have also found that such individuals are

attracted to environment in organization that are innovative creative and detail

oriented (Hofstee et al 1992 Judge amp Cable 1997) However openness has been

replicated across cultures along with other four personality factors of FFM (McCrae

amp Costa 1997 McCrae amp John 1992)

During the process of translation of NEO PI-R the items of openness domain

were difficult to translate into Urdu (Chishti 2002) Each item was analyzed

extensively and some items were rephrased and modified according to the Pakistani

culture During the process of Urdu translation efforts were made to translate the

feeling connotation of the statement rather than literal meanings of the original words

230

The alpha reliability of openness domain of Urdu version were 57 74 17 13 67

15 and English version were 47 57 21 12 43 and 22 for six facet scales

fantasy Aesthetics feelings actions ideas and values respectively After dropping 8

items for the final analysis the openness facets has Urdu version alpha reliability are

51 72 30 20 72 and 20 for respective facets which is still not at the desirable

level

Five factors have been found similar to that of the American norms in cross-

cultural comparisons in 36 cultures (McCrae amp Allik 2002 McCrae Costa Del-

Pilar Rolland amp Parker 1998) However normative structure was not replicated in

Malaysia Nigeria and Zimbabwe These discrepancies have been pointed out by

McCrae and Terracciano (2005) and reason is probably the low internal consistency

of the Openness factor

McCrae Costa and Yik (1996) reported the alpha coefficient of the Values

facet was only 32 in Hong Kong university students The alpha coefficient of the

Openness factor was 53 in Chinese university students (Cheung et al 2001) The

facet scales Actions and Values have alpha coefficients of 10 and 29 which show

low internal consistency of Openness domain in Chinese culture Yang et al (1999)

also reported low internal consistency of facets scale of openness ranging from 28 to

73

In other Asian cultures Openness factor have been found problematic in many

studies Katigbak Church and Guanzon-Lapena (2002) found the low alpha

coefficients for Values (22) and Feelings (44) facet scales for Filipino students

Lodhi Deo and Belhekar (2002) noted the alphas coefficients of Actions (43) and

231

Values (10) were fairly low among Indian postgraduate students Mastor Jin and

Cooper (2000) found low alpha coefficients for Actions (28) and Values (48) for

Malay students in Malaysia

In contrast openness factor have much higher alpha reliability coefficients in

Europe determined by many studies ranging from 81 to 90 (Allik Laidra Realo amp

Pullmann 2004 Aluja Garcia amp Garcia 2003 Berings et al 2004) McCrae (2002)

suggested less individual differences on Openness to Experience in traditional

cultures due to limited life options Pakistan being the developing country and having

collectivistic culture the low internal consistency of openness scale could be due to

the reasons as explained by McCrae (2002)

There may be several reasons for the weak psychometric properties of the

Openness factor in Pakistani samples One of the reasons of low internal consistencies

may be due to sampling error as suggested by McCrae et al (1996) However Caruso

(2000) in a meta-analysis found that the low internal consistency of Openness in some

studies is not caused by sampling error The other reason may be due to the problems

in distortion of concepts in the Urdu translation like in Chinese translation of NEO PI-

R (Leung Cheung Zhang Song amp Xie 1997)

In discussing the low reliability (32) of the Values facet in their study

McCrae et al (1996) suggested the concept of ―characteristic adaptation the culture-

specific manifestation of a universal underlying trait If this is the reason then it is

essential to adopt an indigenous approach The construct of openness need to be

operationalize in local context The adaptation of the manifestation of the construct

also needs to be taken up in accordance to cultural context Emic and etic approaches

232

could also be consciously initiated to see the relevance of Openness construct in

indigenously derived instruments The facets scales of Fantasy and Values of

openness domain did not emerge in the cultural concept of openness in China

(Cheung et al 2008) so this may be the case when exploring openness factor in

Pakistani context

Vocational Interests

In Pakistan having a collectivist culture there are many factors which are

influencing the vocational interests of the students It is very difficult to pinpoint the

common factors for all students However in the present study the general trends

showed that majority of the students preferred Conventional type occupations

followed by Social types The Conventional types are interested in activities that

require ordered manipulation of data and records Since there are limited career

opportunities in Pakistan for students of government school there are chances that

students are inclined towards those occupations which can be easily achieved

However the trend is slightly different when gender differences are accounted for

Male students have preference for Conventional type occupations while female have

preferences for Social and Artistic type occupations

In order to prepare the youth for changeable economic conditions the concept

career development should be practiced vigorously for this period As a result of

economic social and political changes and progress in Pakistan there is a requirement

to introduce quality of career education programs in schools The focus should be on

the enhancement of career management skills of the students Efficient career training

233

programs should be implemented for the Pakistani human resource and need to be

prepared in harmony with the studentslsquo skills and development levels

In Pakistan two main types of subjects are being taught at high school level in

government schools The science group consists of science subjects while in Arts

group the subjects are from humanities group Still some schools have limited faculty

to teach science or arts subjects therefore the allotment of subjects to students is

according to their convenience Vocational aspirations of the students are of great

significance at this very junction of student life They have to decide which career

they are intended to adopt This decision making by the students have very long

lasting effects on their future careers

The results in the present study revealed that doctor is considered as the most

favorite career choice in Pakistan Only those students can get admission in

professional medical colleges who achieved very good marks in science subjects In

Pakistan doctor is considered as the best job for female students However very few

students who achieved outstanding results in academic career can get admission in

medical colleges

Another favorite career for male students is Army In Pakistan there are

limited job opportunities getting jobs in government department on merit is

considered as very difficult However Armed forces provided sufficient opportunity to

the youth to join on merit In Armed forces recruiting process continues throughout

the year Moreover due to job security armed forces are still the best option available

for male students But unfortunately the students who aspired army as vocational

aspiration have high degree of incongruence with their vocational interests The same

234

is the case with vocational aspiration of lawyer and engineer A timely intervention

can help the students for pursuing more realistic and suitable career for them

Moreover the results obtained on students were generally the same when opinions of

expert were obtained on personality and vocational interests Therefore the relevance

of Hollandlsquos themes needs further deliberations in Pakistani context

The profession of teacher is considered as one of the best for females Female

students also wanted to be advocate in their life This showed that female are coming

out and adopting different occupations which were earlier considered nontraditional

for them

There are also many factors which started influencing the students from very

early age These factors including parents siblings peer socio economic area

schools etc need to be studied in depth for better understanding about the vocational

aspirations of the students The government has provided lot of job opportunities to

female in different departments Hence they are competing with their male

counterparts in every field Since there are gender differences between the vocational

interests of students therefore different career opportunities for male and female

should be planned and provided to the students by the government

In Pakistan majority of the students of government schools are not able to

achieve their vocational aspiration because there is lot of competition for limited

vacancies in a particular job More over there is no proper guidance available to

students at schools or governmental level therefore their vocational aspirations of

different occupations at times did not correspond with their interest and competencies

235

There is a vital requirement to employ career counselor in schools for the proper

guidance of students

Congruency refers to the compatibility of the personality and the environment

Holland suggested that congruency between personality and environment in jobs lead

to occupational satisfaction stability and achievement (Holland 1973) However in

the present study there was a state of moderate congruence between vocational

aspirations of doctor and teacher and their vocational interests On the other hand

there was a state of incongruence for the vocational aspirations of Army Advocate

and Engineer and their vocational interests These findings are also food for thought

for the policy makers and to those career counselor and human resource person who

are working in these fields

Reardon and Lenz (1998) and Holland Gottfredson and Nafziger (1975)

indicated that persons with poor diagnostic signs on the Self-Directed Search were

likely candidates for more intensive interventions They suggested that these

interventions may be provided by highly trained professional Lack of congruence

between vocational aspirations and vocational summary codes low coherence among

aspirations and a high point code in the Realistic or Conventional area are the

problematic areas which require immediate attention The findings of the present

study revealed that there is an immediate requirement for timely intervention at the

high school level to guide and counsel the Pakistani youth for the future productive

workforce

The mismatch between policy and practice is similar to that of many other

countries In Pakistan there are limited published researches (Ansari 1981 Aziz

236

2001 Riaz 1995 Zaidi 1979) on occupational aspirations and expectations of

Pakistani adolescents Therefore understanding the dynamics of vocational aspirations

can play an important role in attainment of educational and career choices The

information about vocational aspirations can also provide important clues about career

development

This research attempted to address some of the gaps in the broader literature

about adolescent as it is also identified by Rojewski (2005) While it is acknowledged

that vocational interests and goals emerge in childhood (Hartung Porfeli amp

Vondracek 2005) adolescence seems to be a crucial period for the study of their

development Research showed that during adolescence interests crystallize and

stabilize and career goals and aspirations become more realistic in terms of

adaptation to personal and environmental characteristics (Larson Wei Wu Borgen

amp Bailey 2007 Low amp Rounds 2007 Walls 2000)

Cultural Perspective

The wide use of NEO PI-R in several cross cultural investigations attested its

broad based applicability and practical validity which has resultantly earned a status

of cross cultural instrument (Yung 1999) Allik and McCrae (2004) conducted

secondary analyses with FFM data from 36 cultures and found differences between

European and American cultures with Asian and African cultures It was found that

European and American cultures were higher in Extraversion and Openness to

Experience and lower in Agreeableness

237

Costa et al (2001) reported smallest gender differences in personality among

Asian and African cultures and largest gender differences were found in Europe

These studies demonstrated comparison between mean levels of personality across

cultures This is a useful approach for understanding the important links between

culture and personality (Schmitt Allik McCrae amp Benet-Martinez 2007)

Emmerik et al (2010) suggested that there is a sort of ―national character (see

Allik amp McCrae 2004 Schmitt et al 2007) that may interact with culture to shape

the manifestation of acquired needs in work settings Furthermore many studies

provided controversial and inconsistent findings on Hollandlsquos vocational structure

across different cultures (Rounds 1995 Rounds amp Tracey 1996 Ryan et al 1996)

In traditional Asian cultures an individuallsquos occupation is equally important to his

significant others

Economic development and radical changes in the society as well as in the

labor market in Pakistan for the last two decades provided both challenges and

opportunities for career counseling Unemployment has increased manifold and

graduates are no longer guaranteed a job Students have to hunt for jobs for successful

living Consequently importance of vocational guidance has recently become

critically important However vocational guidance in Pakistan is still a dream and

lacks institutional support in government schools

In the present study some of the high school students could not understand

some of the concepts used in the SDS (see Appendix Mlsquo) So there is a requirement

when career counselors apply the SDS to Pakistani clients they should be very careful

to make sure that their clients fully understand the entire concepts One of the

238

common limitations is the application of Western career instruments to other cultures

without proper adaptation Thus there is a requirement of developing instruments in

the local language and for the local culture Furthermore there is a requirement of

updating the list the indigenous vocations according to cultural relevance

Gender Differences

The findings of the present study regarding the vocational interests of the

students have been supported by the studies on other cultures Tak (2004) examined

the Hollandlsquos vocational structure of Korean college students and found male students

had significantly higher scores in realistic enterprising and conventional interests

Female students had found to be significantly higher in artistic and social interests

These results were supported from other researches on Americans (Hansen amp

Campbell 1985) and the Chinese cultures (Tang 2001) Swanson (1992) reported that

the conventional scores were significantly higher for male students as compared to

female African American college students These results were also reported by Tang

(2001) in Chinese male college students

The findings in the present study regarding gender differences on vocational

interests were partially supported the trend found by Costa et al (1984) Gottfredson

et al (1993) and Holland et al (1994) Kirkcaldy (1988) also found higher interest in

technical-scientific professions for men Women preferred design-related and social-

educational occupations interests

Holland et al (1997) found that Realistic and Social types on SDS are related

to gender in high school student Females have lesser interests on realistic and

239

investigative types than the other personality types (Holland et al 1997 Jones amp

Ward 2002 Spokane Luchetta amp Richwine 2002) Women are found to be more

related to high Social and low Realistic The same results were also supported by

Fouad and Mohlerlsquos (2004) They reported higher mean scores for women than men

on Social and Artistic types

In Pakistan the rural youth has to face many important challenges about their

vocational aspirations and career achievement Rural youth have to experience narrow

school curriculum especially in government schools a shortage of highly qualified

teachers and limited access to career counseling They are also not provided adequate

employment opportunities in their local communities

240

Implications of the study

The present research on the relationship between personality and vocational

interests of students and congruence between vocational aspirations and vocational

interests is important for number of reasons This is the first study exploring different

aspects of relationship between personality and vocational interests among high

school students in Pakistan The present research has many theoretical implications

for the research on personality and vocational interests The research also underlined

that there are individual differences on personality and vocational interests and also

clarified the degree of agreement between vocational aspirations and vocational

interests of the students

The research may contribute to a better understanding of different dimensions

related to students of government schools representing large segment of society in

Pakistan The findings may be valuable in the field of career counseling as well as for

policy makers in the field of education

A growing body of literature provided evidence that constructs and techniques

are being validated cross-culturally This study contributed to cross-cultural evidence

that most of the western constructs and techniques used in study have similar meaning

in our context The findings of the study suggested that five factor model of

personality and Holland typology are generally found to be relevant to our culture

The study replicated the results of relationship between higher order

dimensions (five main domains) of five factor model and Holland six personality

types in Pakistan The study also attempted to determine the relationship between

241

lower order dimensions (30 facets scales) of five factor model and its relationship

with Holland six personality types The results of the current study also indicated that

Five main domains of personality and 30 facet traits have a definite role to play in

theorizing and practice regarding career satisfaction Nevertheless counselors would

have something helpful to say to students who scored low on these traits such as

considering a suitable career or trying to change their trait levels which is still

possible for individuals in their teens (Heatherton amp Weinberger 1994)

The study also contributed in the sense that some aspects of main constructs

used in the study have not been replicated in our culture To be more specific

Openness domain and its facet scales of five factor model showed low internal

consistency and in turn have low cross cultural applicability

The findings regarding the expert opinions can be used as a strategy to

reevaluate the Holland occupational classification according to Pakistani context The

personality characteristics which describe Holland personality types may be cross

culturally validated for Pakistani occupations

The most salient feature of Hollandlsquos model as applied to high school students

is that vocational aspirations are predictive of vocational interests was not supported

in the study This aspect of the current findings raised an important question mark for

the wide ranging applicability of the Holland model to high school students The

practice implication could also be derived from the findings of this study Vocational

interests could be measured and interpreted according to social and cultural context

instead of using career structures which are derived from other culture

242

Students have to make an early decision to circumscribe their career choices

during middle schools SDS can be applied which could generate information for

students and schools so they could make informed decisions The high scores on the

Realistic and Investigative interests could be helpful for students to pursue science

track careers Whereas high scores on Artistic and Social personality types could be

used to make decisions on the assignment of Arts tracks Overall the findings of the

study have partial support for the relevance of FFM and Hollandlsquos model to Pakistani

context

Limitations of the Study

The present research has certain limitations like any other research in social

sciences One of the limitations is the use of inventories as a measure Inventories are

of course widely used instruments in social sciences but definitely with certain

limitations The element of social desirability is one of the major factors affecting the

validity of the instrument Inventories are developed keeping in view these hazards

but still the element of social desirability cannot be completely eliminated There are

few other factors like faking good or bad which can also affect the proper use of

inventories

The second limitation is the random sampling of the sample Despite of all

efforts proper random sampling could not be applied Out of willing participants

majority completed the inventories properly according to the requirements but still

243

there are lot many absentees as well as incomplete data records This disturbed the

proportion set out initially for the study (see chapter IV pages 120 to 123)

Both the instruments used in the study are Urdu translations The translated

version may not be the true substitute of original version One of the limitations may

be the length of the inventories Two inventories were used with considerable large

number of items Although the inventories were administered to the students in a

course of two days still there are chances that students may lose interests in proper

filling of inventories The sample reduced in the number of valid cases by 1485

Another important limitation of the present study is the indifferent attitude of

the participants In Pakistan research culture is not yet developed Generally people

consider it as wastage of time as no positive change is implemented based on these

researches Hence their responses lack originality and often lack seriousness In the

present study this limitation reduced the total sample because it was tried to keep

those individuals whose questionnaires were completed properly according to the

instructions

The students of 9th

and 10th

classes have minimal differences in term of age

and class hence differences are non-significant being homogenous groups The

language of NEO-PI-R may be difficult for some students to comprehend the meaning

in true sense (see Appendix Llsquo)

The sample is only restricted to Rawalpindi district it should have been from

all over the country Hence result cannot be properly generalized

244

Future Research

The results of the present study have implications for both theory and practice

The major conclusion from the present study is that personality traits and vocational

interests are only modestly related even in the best of cases Although FFM traits and

vocational interests are related clearly they are not identical constructs and are not

mere substitutes for each other The theoretical implication pertains to higher order

structures that explain relationships among FFM traits and RIASEC interests The

lower order structures also explain relationship between FFM traits and RIASEC

interests which need further deliberation The practice perspective explores the

processes of how normal personality traits and interest types are jointly related to

work outcomes

The second area for future research is how congruence between personality

traits and vocational interests is related to motivational processes and to job

performance The concept of congruence is well established and is traditionally

defined as the similarity between vocational interests and job environments The

findings of the present study showed that personality traits and vocational interests

measure largely different constructs

The moderate relationship between personality and vocational interests are the

evidence for the role of moderators Future research can also analyze in detail the role

of some demographic variables (like parents socio economic siblings peers area

schools curriculum teachers psycho-socio environment etc) on personality and

vocational interests The instruments used (NEO PI-R and SDS) are the translated

versions which are adapted culturally More validity studies may be conducted using

245

these instruments on different samples The Holland occupational classifications for

different occupations need to be evaluated in Pakistan according to the requirements

Conclusion

Notwithstanding the limitations of the current study it represented an initial

investigation into an area that is under researched in Pakistan It needs further

investigation to update theoretical development in this area and to guide student

advising and career counseling Based on the results of the current study it is believed

that the Holland vocational theory could be extended and revitalized in terms of new

research directions by incorporating Big Five personality factors and lower order 30

facet traits into the model and looking for best possible combinations of personality

traits and vocational interests to enhance validity relationshipsmdashnot only for career

counselors but also students in their career development

The study tried to establish relationship between personality and vocational

interests according to the theoretical framework The findings of the research are also

consistent with the literature in the field of personality and vocational interests The

findings of the study attempted to make both a theoretical and practical contribution

to the existing literature and also suggested some implications for future research It

enhances our understanding about the relationship between personality and vocational

interests in Pakistani students The study also explored in detail the congruence

between vocational aspirations and vocational interests of the students The findings

of the study may be helpful in better understanding for students and career counselors

and also provide a practical guide for the educational policy makers

246

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Ackerman P L amp Heggestad E D (1997) Intelligence personality and interests

Evidence for overlapping traits Psychological Bulletin 121 219ndash245

Ali S R amp Saunders J L (2009) The career aspirations of rural Appalachian high

school students Journal of Career Assessment 17(2) 172ndash188

Allik J Laidra K Realo A amp Pullmann H (2004) Personality development

from 12 to 18 years of age Changes in mean levels and structure of traits

European Journal of Personality 18 445ndash462

Allik J amp McCrae R R (2004) Towards geography of personality traits Patterns

of profiles across 36 cultures Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 35

13ndash28

Allport G W (1937) Personality A psychological interpretation New York Holt

Rinehart amp Winston

Allport G W amp Odbert H S (1936) Traits-name A psycho-lexical study

Princeton N J Psychological Review

Aluja F A Garcia O amp Garcia L F (2003) Relationships among extraversion

openness to experience and sensation seeking Personality and Individual

Differences 35 671ndash680

Alves Ferreira J A amp Hood A B (1995) The development and validation of a

Holland-type Portuguese Vocational Interest Inventory Journal of Vocational

Behavior 46 119ndash130

247

Alves M Joaquim A amp Hood A (1995) The development of validation of

Hollandndashtyped vocational interest inventory Journal of Vocational Behavior

46 119ndash130

Aly J H (2006) Education in Pakistan A White Paper National Education Policy

Review Team Islamabad Ministry of Education Government of Pakistan

Anis-ul-Haque M (2003) Personal Attributes and Conflict Management Styles

Unpublished PhD Dissertation University of Peshawar Pakistan

Ansari Z A (1981) Occupational Aspirations of High School Students in Peshawar

Pakistan Journal of Psychology 12 3ndash9

Argyle M Furnham A amp Graham J (1981) Social situations Cambridge

Cambridge University Press

Assouline M amp Meir E I (1987) Meta-analysis of the relationship between

congruence and vocational interests Journal of Vocational Behavior 21

288ndash298

Auger W R Blackhurst A E amp Wahl K H (2005) ―The Development Of

Elementary-Aged Childrenlsquos Career Aspirations and Expectations

Professional School Counseling retrieved 25th

April 2008 From

httpwwwfindarticlescom

Avallone V L (1974) A comparative study of the effects of two vocational guidance

systems The Self-Directed Search and a traditional vocational guidance

model (Doctoral dissertation University of Northern Colorado) Dissertation

Abstracts International 35 2670ndash2671