A Longitudinal Study of Holland’s Personality Types, Occupational Consistency, Congruence, And Occupational Satisfaction in Kenya
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Date
2025-06
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UoEm
Abstract
Students' career choices at the university-level allow them to search for jobs after
completion. The personality types of individuals influence the choice of a career
pathway, thus, influencing the decision of choosing of a degree program that matches
the vocational interests. In Kenya, there are rising levels of unemployed graduates and
others employed in careers that are not aligned with their degree of study at the
university level. Graduates in mismatched occupations are often dissatisfied with their
careers thus leading to low productivity. This study sought to examine the persistency
of the Hollands personality types, congruence of career choices, choice of work
environment, consistency of career choices after completing degree programs, and the
degree of occupational satisfaction. The theoretical framework was based on Holland's
theory. Persistency of personality types, consistency of career occupations,
congruence between personality and occupation, choice of work environment and
occupational satisfaction was investigated. The study employed a longitudinal cohort
research design to access participants involved in a previous study carried out in 2012,
from which 122 participants were accessed. This being a longitudinal study, the sample
was considered appropriate. Data was collected using an adapted Holland's SelfDirected
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Edition questionnaire and an interview schedule. Quantitative data
collected was analyzed using descriptives, logistic regression and correlation analysis.
The findings were presented in graphs, tables, and pie diagrams. Researcher
transcribed qualitative data from the interviews, organized the data into meaningful
groups, and finally coding was done. The researcher arranged the coded information
thematically and was presented narratively. The study’s results demonstrated that a
positive significant relationship exited between persistency of personality types and
occupational satisfaction at p<0.05; the moderating effect of choice of work
environment was statistically significant on the relationship between personality types
and occupational satisfaction at (p<0.05); congruence has a positive significant
mediating effect on the relationship between personality types and occupational at
(p<0.05) and consistency has a positive significant mediating effect on the relationship
between personality types and occupational satisfaction at (β=0.254, p<0.05).
Consequently, the study concludes that persistency of personality types influence
occupational satisfaction; choice of work environment moderates the link between
occupational satisfaction and personality types. Occupational congruence and
consistency influences occupational satisfaction positively. This results denotes that,
persistency, congruence, consistency and choice of work environment influence
employees’ satisfaction. The results of this study will inform policy decision-making
concerning job placements, career choices, and retention of employees at the
workplace. Further, the findings will go a long way in addressing the mismatch
between the degree programs selected at college levels and the available job
opportunities in the market. The study suggests further research on a similar study at
intervals of 5years to provide the trends in persistency of personality types and
consistency of career choices over a period of time. In addition, a comparable research
is recommended with a larger sample size over a period of time to determine the
reliability of the Hollands SDS instrument amongst the Kenyan population.
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