Meta-analysis of the relationship between the five-factor model of personality and Holland's occupational types

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the nature and magnitude of the relationship between 2 widely accepted models for classifying individual differences - The 5-factor model of personality and Holland's RIASEC occupational types. Based on extensive meta-analyses, our results illustrate that there are meaningful relations between some FFM personality dimensions and some RIASEC types. The strongest relationships were obtained between the RIASEC types of enterprising and artistic with the FFM personality dimensions of Extraversion and Openness to Experience, ρ = .41 and .39, respectively. Three other RIASEC types had moderate correlations with at least 1 FFM personality trait. In contrast, the realistic type was not related to any FFM personality traits. Multiple regression analyses in which each RIASEC type is regressed on the FFM scores (based on meta-analytic estimates), revealed a multiple R of .11 for realistic, .26 for investigative, .42 for artistic, .31 for social, .47 for enterprising, and .27 for conventional types. The overall conclusion from the study is that although FFM personality traits and RIASEC types are related, they are not merely substitutes for each other.