Differential relations between general cognitive ability and interest-vocation fit

Authors: Charlie L. Reeve; Eric D. Heggestad

Source: Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, Volume 77, Number 3, September 2004 , pp. 385-402(18)

Publisher: British Psychological Society

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Abstract:

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the interrelationship of general cognitive ability and vocational interest in the context of person-vocation fit. Drawing on evidence of systematic differences in the average cognitive complexity of occupational domains and the tenets of the gravitational hypothesis, we propose a set of hypotheses specifying that, depending on the dominant interest type, general ability can be either positively or negatively associated with interest-vocation fit. Analysis of a large longitudinal dataset showed that general cognitive ability was significantly correlated with interest-vocation fit, and that the direction of the correlation changed in accordance with the cognitive complexity of the occupational domain.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1348/0963179041752673

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