Peterson and Nisenholz (1990) define career guidance as:
...an organized, systematic program to help the individual develop self-understanding...and knowledge of the world of work...(it)...emphasizes the process of planning, decision-making, and implementation of decisions. (p. 239)
The purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss the career guidance theory of John L. Holland and to review research applying this theory to a variety of guidance situations.
Holland's Theory of Career Guidance
Holland's (1992) theory of career guidance rests on four basic assumptions. The first assumption is that most people can be characterized as one or a combination of six measurable personality types (realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, or conventional); these types are said to be produced by the determinants of heredity, parents, social class, culture, peer interaction, and the physical environment.
Second, the theory assumes that the social environment (which encompasses the workplace environment) can be classified into the same six categories of personality in accord with the largest percentages of a given type in the environment. Third, the theory assumes that people seek out environments compatible with their personality types. And, fourth, the theory holds that particular behavioral patterns emitted in any environment are determined by personality and environmental types.
Sub-assumptions said to moderate and explain any predictions derived from the theory's four basic assumptions are:
(1) Consistency. Degree of relatedness among personality types affects vocational preference.
(2) Differentiation. Some persons and/or environments can essentially represent one personality type rather than a mixture of types; these are clearly differentiated people or environments. Mixtures of many types are said to be undifferentiated or loosely defined.
(3) Identity. To the extent that a person o...