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Table 1
Scale Development
The development of the diagnostic scales
was a lengthy and circuitous process. The three
scales in Table 1 were derived from two earlier
scales: the Vocational Decision-Making Difficulty scale (VDMD) and the Identity scale
(ID). The VDMD scale grew out of a questionnaire item that asked respondents to
indicate one or more reasons for their indecision
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Table 2
Rotated Factor Loadings of the VDMD and ID Subscales for Boys and Girls
Boys
Girls
Scale
VDMD subscale
Occupational Information
Barriers and Limits
Ability Information
Occupational Options
Decision-Making Difficulties
Naive Outlook
.368
.352
.438
.673
.769
.160
.551
.279
.331
.395
.272
.429
.151
.496
.617
.612
.600
.032
Identity subscale
Compatible Interactions
Stable Self
Clarity Self
Sophisticated Outlook
-.337
-.551
-.474
-.170
- 043
-.316
-.217
-.784
- 602
-.729
-.719
-.210
-.018
-.093
-.119
-.744
Percentage of variance
38.8
11.1
38.8
12.2
.774
.111
.301
.464
.522
.701
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Table 3
Scale Reliabilities (K-R 20s) for Samples of High School Students, College Students, and Workers
Males
Scale
K-R 20
Vocational Identity
Occupational Information
Barriers
.86
.39
.23
Vocational Identity
Occupational Information
Barriers
.89
.79
.45
Females
SD
16.54
2.63
3.35
5.32
1.43
.86
K-R 20
SD
.86
.44
.23
11.27
3.67
1.82
5.39
1.10
1.13
311
311
311
.88
.77
.65
14.86
2.01
3.16
5.36
1.47
1.06
301
300
300
workers
291
289
288
Note. The ns are less than the number of people surveyed due to incompletely filled out questionnaires.
CT-
Table 4
Intercorrelations Among My Vocational Situation (MVS) Scales, Ratings, Occupational Alternatives, and Age
Item
1. Age
n
MVS scale
2. Number of Occup."
n
3. Variety of Occup.b
n
4. Vocational Identity
n
5. Occupational Information
n
6. Barriers
n
Rating category
7. "Well organized"
9. "Self-confident"
n
1.
-.26**
229
-.22**
229
.28**
287
.32**
285
.19**
284
.24*
90
-.03
-.17
87
87
-.11
87
87
.12
.06
300
.15**
299
.50**
90
-.41**
90
.08
87
5.
-.01
299
.39**
88
-.33**
88
.36**
89
-.31**
89
.31**
88
.25*
89
-.08
-.04
-.14
-.15
70
72
70
71
87
.42**
-.06
87
90
-.12
115
-.23*
.07
7.
-.21**
-.04
-.11
255
255
110
-.18** -.11
-.28**
255
255
110
.51**
.43**
.26**
300
115
300
.38**
.14
300
115
.39**
.11
287
115
.31**
90
6.
70
-.05
90
.09
87
.20
-.06
72
4.
.67** -.13*
256
256
.59**
-.16**
231
256
-.16*
-.23**
231
231
-.25** -.17**
.60**
229
229
289
-.09
-.13*
.55**
230
288
230
-.16
90
3.
-.19** -.15*
255
255
90
2.
.29**
88
.37**
89
8.
-.11
115
9.
-.03
110
-.12
-.02
.06
-.12
110
85
110
-.25**
.28** -.11
115
89
115
-.20*
115
-.03
.01
-.13
115
-.05
89
115
115
.51**
-.81**
115
115
-.75**
-.45**
90
115
.54** -.51**
90
90
-.30**
.51**
-.49**
72
72
72
.63** -.48**
.56**
90
90
90
.03
89
11.
-.09
116
85
110
.23*
.23*
89
115
.07
10.
-.20*
111
-.27**
111
.32**
116
.14
116
.03
116
-.27**
.48**
89
115
-.47**
.21*
115
89
.47**
-.52**
115
89
-.34**
89
-.41**
72
Note. Correlations for females are above the diagonal; those for males are below the diagonal.
* The number of occupations or alternatives a person is considering.
The variety of occupations or alternatives a person is considering, or the number of different occupational categories according to Holland's classification,
so that scores can range from 1 to 6 (Holland, 1973).
*p <.05. **p <.01.
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and nonvocational tasks, and our clinical experience suggested that the VI scale might
also be a general adjustment scale.
The correlations between the VI scale and
amount of help desired were .23 for females
(n = 933) and -.29 for males ( = 1,410).
Both of these correlations were significant
(p < .001). In addition, each of the individual
items of concern expressed by students was
correlated with the Identity score. Individual
concerns generally had low but significant correlations with the VI scale. For females, the
three highest correlations were "feelings about
yourself" (-.17), "college selection" (-.17),
and "rules & regulations" (.15). For males,
the three highest correlations were "feelings
about yourself" (.23), "family situations &
problems" (.22), and "physical appearance"
(.21). In short, high VI scores were negatively associated with expressed need for help
in diverse areas of concern.
The data for the OI and B scales were also
analyzed according to level of education, occupational status, and type of vocational interest
or work. Table 5 presents the means and
standard deviations for these scales for high
school and college students, full-time workers,
and graduate students and faculty in engineering and social science.
Table 5
Normative Data for My Vocational Situation Scale
Males
SD
185
185
185
11.27
3.67
1.82
5.39
1.10
1.13
311
311
311
5.20
1.52
.83
132
132
132
14.34
1.77
3.22
5.34
1.42
.94
135
134
134
17.03
2.87
3.37
5.51
1.35
.90
140
138
138
15.34
2.24
3.10
5.26
1.51
1.18
143
143
143
19.13
2.80
3.36
2.42
1.21
.93
15
15
14
17.71
2.36
3.57
2.76
14
14
14
SD
11.20
3.65
2.03
5.46
1.17
1.21
College students
Vocational Identity
Occupational Information
Barriers
15.86
2.39
3.35
Full-time workers
Vocational Identity
Occupational Information
Barriers
Graduate students and faculty
Vocational Identity
Occupational Information
Barriers
Group/scale
Females
1.28
.85
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1199
More important, the PRS was validated by Bordin, E. S. Diagnosis in counseling and psychotherapy. Educational and Psychological Measurement,
using the Placement Success scale to rate the
1946, 6, 169-184.
quality of a placement and the time that it Byrne, R. H. Proposed revisions of the Bordin-Pepinsky
took. Using conventional personality invendiagnostic constructs. Journal of Counseling Psytories, high (as opposed to low) placement
chology, 1958, 5, 184-187.
readiness was moderately and significantly re- Crites, J. O. Vocational psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1969.
lated to dominance, toughmindedness, and
Crites,
J. O. Theory and research handbook for the
nonneuroticism.
Career Maturity Inventory. Monterey, Calif.: CaliThe Occupational Information and Barriers
fornia Test Bureau/McGraw-Hill, 1973.
scales should be regarded as useful checklists Erikson, E. H. Identity and the life cycle. Psychological
or borderline scales. They do not always funcIssues, 1959, /, 1-171.
tion as homogeneous scales, but our clinical Galinsky, M. D., & Fast, I. Vocational choice as a
focus of the identity search. Journal of Counseling
experience indicates that these lists are helpful
Psychology, 1966,13, 89-92.
for identifying specific needs and problems Greenberger, E., Josselson, R., Knerr, C., & Knerr, B.
that are often neglected or go unrecognized.
The measurement and structure of psychosocial
The Identity, Information, and Barriers
maturity. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 1975, 4,
127-143.
scales have multiple applications in career development and personality research. The Iden- Greenberger, E., & Sorensen, A. B. Toward a concept
of psychosocial maturity. Journal of Youth and Adotity scale provides a simple operational definilescence, 1974, 3, 229-258.
tion for facilitating the examination of Erik- Harman, H. H. Modern factor analysis (2nd ed.).
son's formulations at different ages: the relaChicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967.
tion of identity to other well-validated per- Holland, J. L. Making vocational choices. Englewood
Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1973.
sonality variables, the origins of identity as
assessed by case histories, and so on. In related Holland, J. L. Professional manual for the Self-Directed
Search. Palo Alto, California: Consulting Psyresearch, we would expect identity scores to be
chologists Press, 1979.
positively associated with career stability in Holland, J. L., &, Baird, L. L. An interpersonal comthe same way that a small number of vocapetency scale. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 1968, 28, 503-510.
tional aspirations were related to a clear sense
of identity in the present study. Finally, iden- Holland, J. L., Daiger, D. C., & Power, P. G. My vocational situation. Palo Alto, Calif.: Consulting Psytity appears to be an unusually apt construct
chologists Press, 1980.
for increasing the linkage between vocational Holland, J. L., Gottfredson, G. D,, & Nafziger, D. H.
psychology and personality.
Testing the validity of some theoretical signs of
Reference Notes
1. DeVries, D. L., & Wu, S. C. An evaluation of an
interpersonal competency scale. Unpublished manuscript, 1971. (Available from the Center for Creative
Leadership, P.O. Box P-l, Greensboro, North
Carolina 27402.)
2. Holland, J. L. National Merit Student Survey (196Z).
Chicago: National Merit Scholarship Corp., 1962.
3. Holland, J. L. A descriptive study of two-year college
students. Unpublished manuscript, 1969. (Available
from the author, Department of Social Relations,
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
21218.)
References
Berezin, A. G. The development and the use of a system
of diagnostic categories in counseling. (Doctoral
dissertation, University of Missouri, 1957). Dissertation Abstracts, 1957, 17, 3087. (University Microfilms, 1957, No. 24-213).
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