Holland's Personality Types

Holland’s personality types; How it relates to vocational choice

Many factors contribute to the vocational choice of young adults, one of which being personality. John Holland identified six different personality types, all of which can be related to vocational choice. An individual’s personality type and way of thinking will eventually lead them to choose the career that is right for them.

Berk explains that Holland divides personality into six different types; An individual who possesses an investigative type of personality, obviously enjoys gathering facts, and is likely to choose a scientific type of career. A social personality, is likely to choose an occupation related to people, such as human services. The realistic person enjoys “real-world” problems, therefore is likely to gravitate towards mechanics, construction, or engineering. Someone who has an artistic personality, will most likely choose an artistic vocation, due to their need for individual expression (Berk, 2014. p. 456). A conventional person values possessions, and enjoys structure. They will likely gravitate towards a career in business, or quality control. Someone who has an enterprising personality, usually loves an adventure, and has strong leadership skills. They usually obtain supervisory positions, or go in to politics. (Berk, 2014. P. 457)

Epistemic cognition, or reflection, also has an impact on how an individual chooses their vocation. Dualistic thinkers divide information and values into “right or wrong,” or “good or bad.” (Berk, 2014. p. 451) This objective type of thinking is often observed in younger students. Berk explains, “Younger students regarded knowledge as made up of separate units (beliefs and propositions), whose truth could be deter-mined by comparing them to objective standards—standards that exist apart from the thinking person and his or her situation” (Berk, 2014. p.451). In contrast, Relativistic thinkers don’t search for an absolute truth in...