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The purpose of this study is to examine the nature and magnitude of the relationship between 2 widely accepted models for classifying individual differences-the 5-factor model of personality and Holland's RIASEC occupational types. Based on extensive meta-analyses, our resuits illustrate that there are meaningful relations between some FFM personality dimensions and some RIASEC types. The strongest relationships were obtained between the RIASEC types of enterprising and artistic with the FFM personality dimensions of Extraversion and Openness to Experience, rho = .41 and .39, respectively. Three other RI-- ASEC types had moderate correlations with at least 1 FFM personality trait, In contrast, the realistic type was not related to any FFM personality traits. Multiple regression analyses in which each RIASEC type is regressed on the FFM scores (based on meta-analytic estimates), revealed a multiple R of .11 for realistic, .26 for investigative, .42 for artistic, .31 for social, .47 for enterprising, and .27 for conventional types. The overall conclusion from the study is that although FFM personality traits and RIASEC types are related, they are not merely substitutes for each other.
A review of the I-O psychology literature reveals that there are two widely accepted models for classifying personality and interests. For personality traits, the five-factor model (FFM) of personality has gained widespread acceptance, and for classifying vocational interests and preferences, Holland's RIASEC theory (Holland, 1978,1985,1996) has been extensively used. Both models are of substantial theoretical and practical interest to the field of personnel psychology. Each provides a useful classification scheme that facilitates the accumulation and communication of research findings. In fact, each model has been the focus of a great deal of research that has investigated how individual differences relate to outcomes at work.
Although the focus of these models is different, it is clear that personality traits and vocational interests are related to some degree. In fact, Holland (1978) has stated that vocational interests may actually be another aspect of personality. Given the central role that FFM and RIASEC models play in understanding work behaviors, it is important to understand the relationships between them. Although several studies have been conducted in the past decade that have investigated these relations (e.g., Ackerman & Heggestad, 1997; Costa, McCrae, & Holland, 1984; De Fruyt & Mervielde,...