Holland Codes

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Theory of career development & vocational choice created by John L. Holland

title: "Holland Codes" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["motivational-theories", "career-development", "higher-education", "personality-typologies", "personality-tests"] description: "Theory of career development & vocational choice created by John L. Holland" topic_path: "general/motivational-theories" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland_Codes" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Theory of career development & vocational choice created by John L. Holland ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Holland_Codes_hexagon.gif" caption="[[John L. Holland]]'s RIASEC hexagon of ''The Holland Codes.''" alt=""] ::

The Holland Codes or the Holland Occupational Themes (RIASEC) are a taxonomy of interests based on a theory of careers and vocational choice that was initially developed by American psychologist John L. Holland.{{cite web |url=http://associationdatabase.com/aws/NCDA/pt/sd/news_article/6521/_PARENT/layout_details/false |title=John L. Holland, 1919–2008: A Select Bibliography added to the Tribute & Obituary |access-date=December 7, 2015 |date=November 2, 2008|publisher=NCDA

The Holland Codes serve as a component of the interests assessment, the Strong Interest Inventory. In addition, the US Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration has been using an updated and expanded version of the RIASEC model in the "Interests" section of its free online database ONET (Occupational Information Network){{cite web |url=http://www.onetonline.org/find/descriptor/browse/Interests/ |title=ONET OnLine: Interests |access-date=December 7, 2015 |publisher=Occupational Information Network |url=http://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/1999/Spring/art01.pdf |title=Replace with a database: ONET replaces the Dictionary of Occupational Titles|access-date=December 7, 2015 |last=Matthew |first=Mariana |date=1999 |publisher=Occupational Outlook Quarterly Online, Spring 1999 Vol. 43, Number 1 |url=https://www.onetcenter.org/dl_files/SecondOIP_Summary.pdf |title=Second Generation Occupational Interest Profiles for the ONET System: Summary |access-date=December 7, 2015 |last=Rounds |first=James Patrick |date=2008 |publisher=The National Center for O*NET Development, June 2008

Overview

Holland's theories of vocational choice, The Holland Occupational Themes, "now pervades career counseling research and practice". The 1959 article in particular ("A Theory of Vocational Choice", published in the Journal of Counseling Psychology) is considered the first major introduction of Holland's "theory of vocational personalities and work environments".

Holland originally labeled his six types as "motoric, intellectual, esthetic, supportive, persuasive, and conforming". He later developed and changed them to: "Realistic (Doers), Investigative (Thinkers), Artistic (Creators), Social (Helpers), Enterprising (Persuaders), and Conventional (Organizers)".{{cite web |url=http://www.nhes.nh.gov/elmi/career/documents/holland-code-sparks.pdf |title=Holland Codes |access-date=December 7, 2015 |publisher=New Hampshire Employment Security, Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau |url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/cui-bono/201306/selfless-service-part-ii-different-types-seva |title=Selfless Service, Part II: Different Types of Seva |access-date=December 7, 2015 |last=Johnson |first=John |date=June 1, 2013|publisher=Psychology Today |last=Holland |first=John |author-link= |date=1997 |title=Making Vocational Choices: A Theory of Vocational Personalities and Work Environments (Third Edition)' |url= |location=Florida |publisher=PAR |page= |isbn=0-911907-27-0

According to the Committee on Scientific Awards, Holland's "research shows that personalities seek out and flourish in career environments they fit and that jobs and career environments are classifiable by the personalities that flourish in them". Holland also wrote of his theory that "the choice of a vocation is an expression of personality". Furthermore, while Holland suggested that people can be "categorized as one of six types", he also argued that "a six-category scheme built on the assumption that there are only six kinds of people in the world is unacceptable on the strength of common sense alone. But a six category scheme that allows a simple ordering of a person's resemblance to each of the six models provides the possibility of 720 different personality patterns."

Related model

Prediger's two-dimensional model

Prediger constructed the scale of "work task" and "work relevant abilities" based on Holland's model, and carried out factor analysis and multidimensional scale analysis to clarify the basic structure. As a result, two axes of Data/Ideas and Things/People were extracted. Although Prediger's inquiry did not start from interest per se, it eventually led to the birth of models other than RIASEC, suggesting that the structure of occupational interest may provide a basic dimension.

Tracey and Rounds's octagonal model

In the United States, the energetic trial is being made with the aim of the new model which surpasses Holland hexagon model in 1990's. Tracey & Rounds's octagonal model is one such example. Based on the empirical data, they argue that occupational interests can be placed circularly in a two-dimensional plane consisting of People/Things and Data/ldeas axes, and the number of regions can be arbitrarily determined. According to their model, only Holland's hexagonal model does not adequately represent the structure of occupational interest, and it is possible to retain validity as an octagonal or 16 square model if necessary.

Tracey, Watanabe, & Schneider conducted an international comparative study of job interests among Japanese and U.S. university students, and the results suggest that the Tracey & Rounds's octagonal model is more fitted to Japanese students than Holland's hexagonal model.

Tracey and Rounds's spherical model

Tracey & Rounds criticizes that the conventional models of occupational interest structure do not correctly depict the positional relationship of occupations because they neglect occupational prestige, i.e., "social prestige" or "high socioeconomic status" and proposes a spherical model that assigns occupations to a 3-dimensional space incorporating occupational prestige. In this model, 18 regions of interest are displayed on a spherical space. The left hemisphere has a high status area, with Health Sciences at the top. The right hemisphere has a low status area, with Service Provision as the lowest ground.

Though this model is excellent in the point of more accurately describing the relation between various occupations, it makes the occupation interest structure more complicated, and there is a weak point that it is difficult to be adapted to the data except for the U.S.

List of types

::quote Holland]] made a career out of studying the world of work, pioneering the theory that if people were aware of their personality type or combination of types—realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising or conventional—then they would be happier workers. ::

R: Realistic (Doers)

Holland defines the "Realistic Type" as a person who has “a preference for activities that entail the explicit, ordered, or systematic manipulation of objects, tools, machines, and animals…these behavioral tendencies lead in turn to the acquisition of manual, mechanical, agricultural, electrical, and technical competencies.”{{cite book |last=Holland |first=John |author-link= |date=1997 |title=Making Vocational Choices: A Theory of Vocational Personalities and Work Environments (Third Edition)' |url= |location=Florida |publisher=PAR |page= 21 |isbn=0-911907-27-0

  • Agriculture{{cite web |url=https://lmi.delaware.gov/Publications/delaware-career-compass |title=Delaware Department of Labor@Delaware Career Compass |access-date=January 17, 2021 |publisher=State of Delaware}}
  • Architect (with Artistic and Enterprising)
  • Athletics
  • Carpenter (with Conventional and Investigative)
  • Culinary arts/Chef (with Artistic and Enterprising)
  • Chemistry/Chemist (with Investigative and Conventional)
  • Computer engineering/Computer science/Information technology/Computer programmer (with Investigative and Conventional){{cite web |url=https://georgetown.app.box.com/s/ckqw7fdbptyjbjxz3ylh |title=Career/Major Interests Game |access-date=December 7, 2015 |publisher=Georgetown University
  • Dentist (with Investigative and Social)
  • Engineer (with Investigative and Conventional)
  • Fashion design (with Artistic and Enterprising)
  • Firefighter (with Social and Enterprising)
  • Graphic designer (with Artistic and Enterprising)
  • Model (people) (with Artistic and Enterprising)
  • Musician (with Artistic and Enterprising)
  • Nurse (with Social, Conventional, and Investigative)
  • Outdoor recreation
  • Park Naturalist (with Social and Artistic)
  • Personal trainer (with Enterprising and Social)
  • Photographer (with Artistic and Enterprising)
  • Physical therapy (with Social and Investigative)
  • Driver
  • Sports medicine/Wilderness medicine (with Social and Investigative){{cite web |url=https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/29-1069.11 |title=Sports Medicine Physicians |access-date=June 25, 2020 |publisher=ONET
  • Surgeon (with Investigative and Social)
  • Veterinarian (with Investigative and Social)
  • Web developer (with Conventional, Artistic, and Investigative)
  • Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists (with Investigative)

I: Investigative (Thinkers)

Holland defines the "Investigative Type" as a person who has "a preference for activities that entail the observational, symbolic, systematic and creative investigation of physical, biological, and cultural phenomena (in order to understand and control such phenomena)... these behavioral tendencies lead in turn to an acquisition of scientific and mathematical competencies."{{cite book |last=Holland |first=John |author-link= |date=1997 |title=Making Vocational Choices: A Theory of Vocational Personalities and Work Environments (Third Edition)' |url= |location=Florida |publisher=PAR |page= 22 |isbn=0-911907-27-0

A: Artistic (Creators)

Holland defines the "Artistic Type" as a person who has "a preference for ambiguous, free, unsystematized activities that entail the manipulation of physical, verbal, or human materials to create art forms or products...these behavioral tendencies lead in turn to the acquisition of artistic competencies."{{cite book |last=Holland |first=John |author-link= |date=1997 |title=Making Vocational Choices: A Theory of Vocational Personalities and Work Environments (Third Edition)' |url= |location=Florida |publisher=PAR |page= 23 |isbn=0-911907-27-0

S: Social (Helpers)

Holland defines the "Social Type" as a person who has "a preference for activities that entail the manipulation of others to inform, train, develop, cure, or enlighten...these behavioral tendencies lead in turn to an acquisition of human relations competencies."{{cite book |last=Holland |first=John |author-link= |date=1997 |title=Making Vocational Choices: A Theory of Vocational Personalities and Work Environments (Third Edition)' |url= |location=Florida |publisher=PAR |page= 24 |isbn=0-911907-27-0

E: Enterprising (Persuaders)

Holland defines the "Enterprising Type" as a person who has "a preference for actives that entail the manipulation of others to attain organization goals or economic gain...these behavioral tendencies lead in turn to an acquisition of leadership, interpersonal, and persuasive competences."{{cite book |last=Holland |first=John |author-link= |date=1997 |title=Making Vocational Choices: A Theory of Vocational Personalities and Work Environments (Third Edition)' |url= |location=Florida |publisher=PAR |page= 25 |isbn=0-911907-27-0

C: Conventional (Organizers)

Holland defines the "Conventional Type" as a person who has "a preference for actives that entail the explicit, ordered, systematic manipulation of data (keeping records, filing materials, reproducing materials, organizing business machines and data processing equipment to attain organizational or economic goals)...these behavioral tendencies lead in turn to an acquisition of clerical, computational, and business system competencies."{{cite book |last=Holland |first=John |author-link= |date=1997 |title=Making Vocational Choices: A Theory of Vocational Personalities and Work Environments (Third Edition)' |url= |location=Florida |publisher=PAR |page= 26-7 |isbn=0-911907-27-0

Notes

References

  1. "Teste vocacional Fce".
  2. (1999-08-01). "Holland's Theory and the Development of Interest Inventories". Journal of Vocational Behavior.
  3. "[http://www.counseling.org/docs/david-kaplan's-files/nauta.pdf?sfvrsn=2 The Development, Evolution, and Status of Holland's Theory of Vocational Personalities: Reflections and Future Directions for Counseling Psychology]." ''Journal of Counseling Psychology'', Vol 57(1), 2010, 11–22.
  4. Its origins "can be traced to an article in the ''[[Journal of Applied Psychology]]'' in 1958 and a subsequent article in 1959 that set out his theory of vocational choices. ... The basic premise was that one's occupational preferences were in a sense a veiled expression of underlying character."Athanasou, James. "[http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Obituary%3A+John+L.+Holland+1919-2008.-a0203231318 Obituary: John L. Holland 1919–2008]" ''Australian Journal of Career Development'', September 22, 2009.
  5. L., Holland, John. (1997). "Making vocational choices: a theory of vocational personalities and work environments". Psychological Assessment Resources.
  6. "Award for distinguished scientific applications of psychology: John L. Holland". ''American Psychologist'', Vol 63(8), Nov 2008, 672–674.
  7. Holland, John. ''Making Vocational Choices: A Theory of Careers''. (Prentice-Hall, 1973).
  8. Prediger, Dale J. (December 1982). "Dimensions underlying Holland's hexagon: Missing link between interests and occupations?". Journal of Vocational Behavior.
  9. Prediger, Dale. (February 1996). "Alternative Dimensions for the Tracey–Rounds Interest Sphere". Journal of Vocational Behavior.
  10. Prediger, Dale J.. (1999). "Basic structure of work-relevant abilities.". Journal of Counseling Psychology.
  11. (1995). "The arbitrary nature of Holland's RIASEC types: A concentric-circles structure.". Journal of Counseling Psychology.
  12. (February 1996). "The Spherical Representation of Vocational Interests". Journal of Vocational Behavior.
  13. "11-9041.00 - Architectural and Engineering Managers".
  14. "Example Career: Natural Sciences Managers".
  15. [https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/21-1012.00 Educational, Guidance, School, and Vocational Counselors]
  16. [https://elmhurstcounseling.com/downloads/HollandCodeDescriptions.pdf Holland Theme Codes]

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