The geometric relationship between the personality model of Holland and the Vocational Preference Inventory

The Vocational Preference Inventory (Holland, 1970) was administered to 373 undergraduates. The inventory consisted of six scales corresponding to six personality types of Holland (1966b) and of five other scales. The eleven scales of the inventory were intercorrelated and factor analyzed. Six common factors were obtained: (a) Conventional Economic, (b) Feminine, Social, (c) Social Desirability, (d) Material World Orientation, (e) Status, and (f) Artistic. The distances between each pair of the six personality scales were computed in the six-dimensional space defined by the common factors. The distances were compared with a hexagonal model of the relationships among the six personality types (Holland, 1971). The placement of the six personality types in six-dimensional space by factor analysis was found to correspond closely to the model.