Effects of Strong Interest Inventory Feedback on Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy and Social Cognitive Career Beliefs

Undergraduates (64 women and 35 men) enrolled in a university orientation course completed measures of career decision-making self-efficacy and career beliefs. Participants were then randomly assigned to one of three experimental groups: the Strong Interest Inventory (SII) with feedback group, the SII completion-only group, or the control group. Students who completed the SII and participated in a social cognitive-based group feedback and interpretation session exhibited higher levels of posttest career decision-making self-efficacy and differential career beliefs relative to students in the other experimental groups. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are presented, and ideas for additional research in this domain are discussed.

Use of Interest Inventories With Special Populations: Women and Minority Groups

Recently some investigators (e.g., Carter & Swanson, 1990; Fouad, 1993; Fouad, Harmon, & Hansen, 1994; Ward & Bingham, 1993) have questioned whether interest inventories may be appropriately used for all clients, or whether gender or race/ethnicity affects the use of interest inventories. This article will discuss use of interest inventories with special groups and will conclude with a discussion of the benefits and cautions of interest inventories in career counseling.

What Have Surveys Taught Us about the Teaching and Practice of Vocational Assessment?

In an effort to answer the "what have surveys taught us" question, the author reviewed survey articles about vocational assessment that have appeared from 1935 through 1991. Based on that review, nine points which summarize what surveys have told us about the teaching and practice of vocational assessment were identified. The survey studies show, among othter findings, that (a) most counseling psychology programs offer required or elective coursework in vocational assessment, but the emphasis now given to such courses far outweighs students' interests in the area, (b) about half or more doctoral-level counseling psychologists provide vocational assessment services, (c) university/college counseling centers and Veterans Administration medical centers provide comparatively more vocational assessment services than do other settings, and (d) the Strong Interest Inventory dominates the field as the most frequently used and recommended vocational assessment procedure.

Testing and Assessment in Counseling Psychology

Testing and assessment have long been and continue to be regarded as important roles of counseling psychologists. This issue of The Counseling Psychologist considers several contemporary developments and issues in the testing and assessment areas and their relevance for the counseling specialty. Our article primarily provides an introduction for what follows. We briefly introduce each of the subsequent papers, identify the topics that they examine, and conclude by identifying five additional developments or issues in the testing and assessment areas that are of importance to counseling psychologists.

Assessment in Counseling Psychology

There is some evidence that the role of psychological assessment in counseling psychology is changing. Relatively little is known about the specific aspects of current training in assessment, however. Training directors of American Psychological Association (APA) approved counseling psychology programs and APA-approved internship sites were surveyed to determine the extent of training in psychological assessment procedures. Results indicated that (a) clinical interview is the most widely used assessment procedure; (b) the role of vocational assessment is changing; (c) different assessment procedures are emphasized in academic and field training; (d) proficiency in different assessment procedures is expected at different points in training; and (e) some differences in the use of assessment procedures exist among internship settings, with counseling centers being the most divergent. Results suggest that to keep training efforts current, those involved in training counseling psychologists need to be aware of assessment skills needed in professional practice settings. Also, the basis for different emphases in academic and field training in this important area should be explored further.

The stability of vocational interests from early adolescence to middle adulthood: a quantitative review of longitudinal studies

The present meta-analysis examined the stability of vocational interests from early adolescence (age 12) to middle adulthood (age 40). Stability was represented by rank-order and profile correlations. Interest stability remained unchanged during much of adolescence and increased dramatically during the college years (age 18-21.9), where it remained for the next 2 decades. Analyses of potential moderators showed that retest time interval was negatively related to interest stability and that rank-order stability was less stable than profile stability. Although cohort standings did not moderate stability, interests of the 1940s birth cohort were less stable than those of other cohorts. Furthermore, interests reflecting hands-on physical activities and self-expressive/artistic activities were more stable than scientific, social, enterprising, and clerical interests. Vocational interests showed substantial continuity over time, as evidenced by their higher longitudinal stability when compared with rank-order stability of personality traits. The findings are discussed in the context of psychosocial development.

What have surveys taught us about the teaching and practice of psychological assessment?

In efforts to gather information about training in and the practice of psychological assessment, numerous surveys of practicing psychologists, training program directors, and internship training directors have been conducted. In this article, I briefly review all survey studies about psychological assessment that have appeared in the last 30 years (1960 through early 1990). The major findings of all the surveys are summarized in 14 points, and discussion of several of the points is provided. Of most significance, the surveys collectively attest to (a) the remarkable stability of psychologists' assessment practices over the past 3 decades; (b) the ever-consistent, ever-continuing significance of the assessment role in psychological training and practice; and (c) the resilient, enduring nature of projective techniques in psychodiagnostic assessment.