[04/17/2024] Interest Assessment

The Comprehensive Assessment of Basic Interests—O*NET (CABIN-NET): A Hierarchical RIASEC Interest Measure with 20 Basic Interests

OSFosf.io

Abstract

Over the past half-century, Holland’s RIASEC model has dominated vocational interest research. Although the RIASEC categories effectively capture general occupational domains, their breadth obscures meaningful variability across underlying basic interests. In this research, we adapted the Comprehensive Assessment of Basic Interests (CABIN; Su et al., 2019) to be used alongside ONET for assessing interest fit, resulting in the 60-item CABIN-NET that measures 20 basic interest scales nested within RIASEC domains. To construct the CABIN-NET, we selected basic interest scales central to the broader RIASEC types, then connected each scale to an ONET knowledge variable. In Study 1, we refined items for the CABIN-NET using a nationally representative adult sample (N = 768). In Studies 2 and 3, we collected extensive reliability and validity evidence using longitudinal samples of graduates from four-year universities (N = 816) and community colleges (N = 560). Across samples, results consistently showed that basic interest fit had stronger predictive power for career outcomes compared to RIASEC interest fit, highlighting the CABIN-NET’s utility in research and applied settings. Overall, the CABINNET provides a short, reliable measure of both basic interests and RIASEC interests, offering two ways of objectively assessing person-occupation interest fit. The CABIN-NET also advances interest measurement by providing a standardized, hierarchical structure for grouping basic interests into RIASEC types, balancing bandwidth and fidelity.

Toward a dimensional model of vocational interests

NCBI - WWW Error Blocked Diagnosticpubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Abstract

Growing evidence on the predictive validity of vocational interests for job performance calls for greater consideration of interest assessment in organizations. However, a consensus on the fundamental dimensions of interests that are aligned with the contemporary world of work is still lacking. In the current research, we developed an organizing framework of vocational interests and empirically validated an 8-dimension model (SETPOINT: Health Science, Creative Expression, Technology, People, Organization, Influence, Nature, and Things). We propose that interests are structured hierarchically, with preferences for specific work activities at the lowest level (assessed using interest items), basic interests for homogeneous classes of activities at the intermediate level (assessed using basic interest scales), and broad-band interest dimensions describing general tendencies of individuals to be drawn to or motivated by broad types of work environments at the top. To derive broad-band interest dimensions, it is necessary to base it on a comprehensive range of content-specific basic interest constructs. In Study 1, we conducted an extensive review of existing basic interest scales and developed a new assessment of basic interests with 41 homogeneous scales across two samples. In Study 2, we demonstrated the structural validity of the proposed dimensional model using second-order confirmatory factor analysis and exploratory structural equation modeling with a large, diverse sample of working adults and supported its predictive validity for occupational membership in new and traditional sectors of work. We discuss implications from the current findings for building interest theory, using interest assessment for organizational research, and evaluating interest structure with appropriate methods. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).