The Dimensions of General Vocational Interests: A Study of Australian High School Students. Occasional Paper Number 8.

A study examined the structure of the general vocational interests of 2,709 male and female high school pupils in Australia. The study was part of the longitudinal "Youth in Transition," a national probability sample of Australian youth. Participants completed a 24-item questionnaire that reflected J.L. Holland's vocational interest typology. Multidimensional scaling was used to analyze the intercorrelation matrix, and a three-dimensional solution demonstrated only partial support for the circular ordering of interests. The theoretical consistency of the hexagonal arrangement was evaluated using a randomization test and yielded a correspondence index of only 0.24. A quasi-spherical configuration of interests emerged and the underlying dimensions of interests, namely things versus people and data versus ideas were supported. The results have implications for the classification of interests, and possible explanations of these results are discussed. document (Contains 26 references.) (Author/KC)