Relationship between Personality Traits and Vocational Choice

Abstract

The relationship between occupational preferences and personality traits was examined. A randomly chosen sample of 735 students (age range = 17 to 23 years; 50.5% male) in their last year of high school participated in this study. Participants completed Cattell's Sixteen Personality Factor–5 Questionnaire (16PF–5 Questionnaire) and the Kuder–C Professional Tendencies Questionnaire. Initial hierarchical cluster analysis categorized the participants into two groups by Kuder–C vocational factors: one showed a predilection for scientific or technological careers and the other a bias toward the humanities and social sciences. Based on these groupings, differences in 16PF–5 personality traits were analyzed and differences associated with three first-order personality traits (warmth, dominance, and sensitivity), three second-order factors (extraversion, control, and independence), and some areas of professional interest (mechanical, arithmetical, artistic, persuasive, and welfare) were identified. The data indicated that there was congruency between personality profiles and vocational interests.