A Pictorial Version of the RIASEC Scales of the Personal Globe Inventory

Abstract

Holland's theory of six work personalities has become a staple of vocational psychology, providing a robust and simple model for understanding the structure of vocational interests. Though Holland's types provide a common vocabulary for vocational psychologists working with a variety of populations, until this point there has not been a measure of Holland types that is accessible to vocational clients with reduced reading levels. In an effort to fill this gap in assessment materials, a pictorial Holland-based vocational interest inventory was created by translating the short form of the Personal Globe Inventory (PGI; Tracey, 2002) into images. Each item on the short-form PGI was translated into two line drawings representing a woman and a man engaging in each activity. The pictorial translation was used to assess 290 women and 247 men who also completed the target PGI items in English. Evidence for reliability and validity of the scale scores was assessed; scores on the pictorial translation scales were shown to be internally consistent and stable over two weeks. Scores from the pictorial PGI were also shown to correlate strongly with corresponding scale scores on the verbal PGI. Analyses using Circular Unidimensional Scaling demonstrated that the results from the pictorial instrument fit Holland's circular model of interests as well as his proposed order of scales around the circle. Implications for counseling practice and directions for future research and scale development are explored. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone [phone]. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]