Are you interested? A meta-analysis of relations between vocational interests and employee performance and turnover.

Abstract

A common belief among researchers is that vocational interests have limited value for personnel selection. However, no comprehensive quantitative summaries of interests validity research have been conducted to substantiate claims for or against the use of interests. To help address this gap, we conducted a meta-analysis of relations between interests and employee performance and turnover using data from 74 studies and 141 independent samples. Overall validity estimates (corrected for measurement error in the criterion but not for range restriction) for single interest scales were .14 for job performance, .26 for training performance, -.19 for turnover intentions, and -.15 for actual turnover. Several factors appeared to moderate interest-criterion relations. For example, validity estimates were larger when interests were theoretically relevant to the work performed in the target job. The type of interest scale also moderated validity, such that corrected validities were larger for scales designed to assess interests relevant to a particular job or vocation (e.g., .23 for job performance) than for scales designed to assess a single, job-relevant realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, or conventional (i.e., RIASEC) interest (.10) or a basic interest (.11). Finally, validity estimates were largest when studies used multiple interests for prediction, either by using a single job or vocation focused scale (which tend to tap multiple interests) or by using a regression-weighted composite of several RIASEC or basic interest scales. Overall, the results suggest that vocational interests may hold more promise for predicting employee performance and turnover than researchers may have thought.

Étude sur les caractéristiques de la personnalité reliées à la performance académique en sciences administratives /

“…Grâce à ces recherches, de récentes méta-analyses (Van Iddekinge, 2011;Morris, 2011;Bowling, 2010;et Chiaburu, 2011) ont pu être réalisées et ont contribué à la synthèse de la littérature. Ainsi, peut-on espérer une meilleure définition d'une « conjugaison » complexe de la personnalité, afin de pouvoir l'évaluer.…”

Assessing the reliability and validity of a shorter version of RIASEC in Turkish

“…Hence, congruence of person's interests and the workplace will affect organizational commitment, turnover, as well as behaviours such as absenteeism. This in turn creates positive job attitudes, job satisfaction, and likelihood to stay compared to those who have less positive attitudes, [26]. Lastly, Schneider's, [20] attraction-selection-attrition (ASA) theory states that as the employees and workplaces seek for congruence of interests, organization may eventually offer a more homogeneous environment in terms of personalities, competencies and interests, [21].…”

“…Individuals whose career interests are matching with the work environment will be motivated to obtain appropriate knowledge and skills, which will help them to build intelligence in their area of interest and perform better than others who do not have matching interests. Moreover, interests may also drive the productivity of training, and better training outcomes, during learning of necessary knowledge and skills, [18], [26]. Similar to job performance, job turnover is also driven by interests.…”

“…According to social cognitive career theory, [16] interests drive goals related to career, the actions taken to achieve them, and the performance in achieving those goals, [26]. Interests mainly drive people to gain job-related knowledge and skills, which brings superior job performance, [1], [3], [16], [22], [26]. Individuals whose career interests are matching with the work environment will be motivated to obtain appropriate knowledge and skills, which will help them to build intelligence in their area of interest and perform better than others who do not have matching interests.…”

Validity and Reliability Evidence for Assessing Holland's Career Types

“…Van Iddekinge, Roth, Putka and Lanivich (2011), showed, based on a meta-analytical study, that RIASEC types are efficient to predict performance at work (d = .14), performance in training (d = .26), and intentions and volumes of businesses (d ranging from -.15 to -.19). Pässler, Beinicke, and Hell (2015) demonstrated in a meta-analysis study a consistent and significant relationship between professional interests and cognitive abilities, with coefficients ranging from -.29 to .47 for different professional types.…”