An Investigation of Holland Types and the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire‐Fifth Edition

The authors investigated the stability of the published Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire-Fifth Edition (16PF; S. Conn & M. Rieke, 1994) predictors in predicting Holland types as measured by the Self-Directed Search (SDS; J. Holland, B. Fritzsche, & A. Powell, 1994). Because the majority of the published regression equations contained unstable predictors, the authors developed modified multiple regression equations using the more stable predictors. However, these equations, although statistically significant, shared less than 50% of the variance with the criterion variable, suggesting limited practical utility or support for the domain overlap of the 16PF and the SDS. The authors recommend that the SDS be used when a measure of SDS types is needed. The Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire-Fifth Edition (16PF; Conn & Rieke, 1994) is consistently rated as one of the most used and researched personality tests (Cattell, Eber, & Tatsuoka, 1970; Walsh & Betz, 1995). It contains 16 bipolar scales (called "primary factors") and several validity scales, with 15 of the factors measuring personality traits and 1 factor measuring cognitive ability or reasoning ability (Conn & Rieke, 1994). One reason the 16PF has been such a popular measure is that validated special scores greatly expand the utility of the 16PF for the counselor. These scores allow the instrument to assess the role of personality structure in leadership, creativity, and specific occupations. Thus, the instrument not only allows the client's interests and abilities to be examined but also allows his or her personality to be taken into consideration during occupational decision making. For example, a client may have interests that are similar to those of a surgeon but may have a score on the 16PF that indicates a great degree of impulsivity and impatience. Of course, this characteristic would need to be addressed during the career decision-making process with this client. Although certainly not all clients would benefit from such a discussion, many occupations (e.g., police officer, clergy, or airline pilot) do require that the personality of the applicant be taken into consideration. One set of special scores obtained from the 16PF, available by computer scoring, is the prediction of Holland's occupational types. The intent of these special scores is to allow the career counselor to explore the client's interests and personality structure in the career counseling process (Conn & Rieke, 1994). Using the 16PF and the Self-Directed Search (SDS; Holland, Fritzsche, & Powell, 1994) in career counseling requires understanding the overlap of personality and interests, in general, and the ability of the 16PF to predict the SDS codes, in particular. The field of career counseling continues to examine the relationship between personality and interests and to debate whether there is an overlap of personality and interests or whether these constructs are largely separate domains (Holland, Fritzsche, et al., 1994; Janda, 1998; Oliver, Lent, & Zack, 1998; Young & Chen, 1999; Zunker, 1994). Because the 16PF is one of the most commonly used personality measures that has application to career counseling, the overlap of the 16PF and interests may be of particular importance to career counselors (Oliver et al., 1998; Young & Chen, 1999; Zunker, 1994). The proposed overlap of interests may be important for several reasons, but arguably one of the more important reasons for the career counselor may be the utility of making assumptions about the personality of the client from interest inventory results or of making assumptions about interests given a client's personality structure. If empirical support for the overlap of the personality and interest domains can be demonstrated, then the career counselor may be able to discuss the client's personality characteristics that may be important for a specific career, given the results of an interest inventory. …