New research in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology challenges the view that vocational interests matter only early in a career. The study followed over 8,000 adults for 11 years and used a vocational interest assessment in 2011012 that captured six commonly used dimensions in vocational psychology.
The most broadly predictive category was enterprising interests, which include leadership, business and influencing others. Other interests showed more specific associations: social interests predicted relationship outcomes, and artistic interests predicted cultural participation. Over a decade later the team examined major life outcomes across work, relationships and community life and found robust links between earlier interests and later results.
- Enterprising 1 leadership and business
- Social 1 friendships and relationships
- Artistic 1 cultural and creative activities
Prediction strength varied by life stage. Relationship outcomes were best predicted by interests measured in early adulthood, while prediction of work outcomes peaked in midlife. Many other predictions were stable across adulthood, especially for outcomes less tied to life-stage norms. The researchers found that the predictive power of interests was comparable to, and sometimes exceeded, that of Big Five personality traits. Lena Roemer, the lead author and a postdoctoral researcher at Michigan State University, and coauthor Kevin Hoff, an assistant professor at MSU, said the results challenge the idea that interest tests are useful only in adolescence. The team hopes their findings will encourage researchers and practitioners to use interest assessments to help people of all ages. Additional coauthors are from Michigan State University and the University of Iowa. Source: Michigan State University.
Difficult words
- vocational — connected with jobs and career choices
- predictive — able to show or forecast future outcomes
- enterprising — willing to start projects and lead others
- assessment — a test or tool to measure somethingassessments
- robust — strong and likely to remain valid
- midlife — the middle period of an adult life
- practitioner — a professional who applies methods in practicepractitioners
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Discussion questions
- Should interest assessments be used at different life stages? Give reasons based on the study.
- How could knowing someone’s enterprising interests affect their career choices or community roles?
- What benefits or risks do you see in using interest assessments to guide major life decisions?
