Appraising Birth Order in Career Assessment: Linkages to Holland's and Super's Models

Abstract

Adlerian vocational theory proposes that birth order, or psychological position in the family of origin, significantly influences vocational behavior. If so, appraising birth order position may be useful in a career assessment context to enrich an understanding of an individual's occupational interests, values, and vocational personality style. Two exploratory studies examined this potentiality. In Study 1, analysis of variance results indicated significant differences in vocational personality type, occupational interests, and values among three birth-order groups derived from a medical student sample (N = 159). Significant differences in occupational interests among birth-order groups also emerged in Study 2 which used a college student sample (N = 119). Combined, results of the present research lend support to the Adlerian theoretical assertion that birth order determines vocational personality, occupational interest, and values patterns. Birth order represents a salient and viable variable to consider in career assessment and counseling contexts as well as to examine in future research.