Rose C. Collins’s research while affiliated with University of Minnesota and other places

In this study the authors examined the applicability of Holland's hexagonal model of interests to Chicana(o)/Latina(o) samples using multidimensional scaling and a test of the hypothesized order relations.

Unweighted multidimensional scaling (MDS) analyses were used to investigate whether J. L. Holland’s (1985) theoretical structure of interests described the interest structures for 2 cultural groups and for genders within those groups. The intercorrelation matrices of the Strong Interest Inventory General Occupational Themes, for samples of female and male Asian-American and White-American university students were submitted separately to MDS analysis. Metric, 2-dimensional solutions for each sample demonstrated that a circumplex structure underlay the interest domain for all 4 groups. Results were mixed in support of the hexagonal structure and the Realistic–Investigative–Artistic–Social–Enterprising–conventional ordering suggested by Holland’s theory. Possible explanations and implications of these results are discussed within the context of existing research on Asian cultural thought and practice.

Multidimensional scaling (MDS) analysis was used to analyze the structure of interests of the Women- and Men-in-General samples used in the revision of the 1985 Strong Interest Inventory (Hansen & Campbell, 1985). In the present study, the intercorrelation matrices of the Strong Interest Inventory General Occupational Themes, for the 1985 Women-in-General and Men-in-General Reference Samples, were separately submitted to MDS. Results from earlier analyses that found sex differences in the structure of interests (Feldman & Meir, 1976; Rounds, Davison, & Dawis, 1979; Utz & Korben, 1976) may have been confounded because matched-interest samples were not used. Subjects for the Women-in-General and Men-in-General samples used in this study were selected with the specific intention of matching the interests of females and males by choosing participants who were matched on occupational title. The obtained two-dimensional solutions demonstrated a gender difference in the underlying structure of interests for these reference groups. Possible explanations and implications of these results are discussed.