Vocational Interest and Personal Style Patterns: Exploring Subjective Well-Being Using the Strong Interest Inventory
Published online on December 10, 2015
Abstract
The present study examined the relationships between vocational interests, personal styles, and subjective well-being (SWB) using the Strong Interest Inventory (SII) among 4,945 working adults across eight occupational samples, including administrative assistant, realtor, elementary schoolteacher, sales manager, graphic designer, attorney, automobile mechanic, and a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics field composite. Regression analyses demonstrated that the General Occupational Themes (GOTs) and Personal Style Scales (PSSs) each explained significant and independent variance in SWB. Occupation-specific hypotheses for GOTs and PSSs were also supported for four of the eight occupations. This study enhances the understanding of the contribution of interests to life satisfaction and provides further validation for the 2005 SII, specifically the newest PSS, Team Orientation. Future research, theory, and practice implications are also discussed.