Occupational choice - the relationship of self-concept and occupational stereotype to job satisfaction: self-esteem and conservatism studied as meta-dimensions

Abstract

This study aimed to test the aspect of Super's theory which states that the process of vocational development and choice involves the implementation of the self-concept in an occupation, and that the degree of satisfaction attained in a job is proportional to the degree to which the self-concept has been implemented. Self-esteem was studied as a moderating variable in the above relationship, and the hypothesis that this relationship is higher in high self-esteem subjects than in low self-esteem subjects was tested. The relationship between self-esteem and conservatism was examined, and an attempt made to assess the influence of socialization on the relationship between self-concept and occupational stereotype. The study was carried out on 147 Police Cadet trainees forming three groups: first year cadets without field experience (N=39), first year cadets with field experience (N=40), and second year cadets (N=68). Measures of self-concept, occupational stereotype and ideal self-concept were obtained using the 25 Occupationally Relevant Traits developed by Healy. Two measures of satisfaction, the Kunin Faces Scale and the modified Brayfield and Rothe Index of Job Satisfaction, and the Wilson and Patterson Conservatism Scale were included in the questionnaire. Cronbach and Gleser's D2 -statistic and a Difference Score were used to obtain measures of incorporation (self-concept versus occupational stereotype), self-esteem (self-concept versus ideal self-concept) and the difference between ideal self-concept and occupational stereotype. Intercorrelation matrices for the three groups and the whole sample were calculated on the following elements: age, educational level, satisfaction scores, conservatism scores, and the D2 -statistic and Difference measures for self-concept versus occupational stereotype, self-concept versus ideal self-concept and ideal self-concept versus occupational stereotype. Analyses of variance were used to compare the three groups on both measures of satisfaction, conservatism scores and incorporation scores. High self-esteem and low self-esteem groups were formed by taking subjects in the top and bottom 30% of self-esteem scores respectively. A factor analysis of the conservatism scale was carried out. The following results were obtained: (i) Intercorrelations failed to support the hypothesis that more satisfied cadets have a closer match between their self-concept and their occupational stereotype. (ii) The study failed to support the notion that self-esteem acts as a moderating variable,as the above relationship was no more significant in high than in low self-esteem subjects. (iii) High self-esteem subjects did have a significantly closer match between their self-concept and occupational stereotype than did low self-esteem subjects. Low self-esteem subjects tended to rate their ideal self-concepts as similar to a typical policeman. (iv) There was no significant relationship between self-esteem and conservatism. (v) Comparison of the incorporation scores across the three groups showed that more field experience and/or longer training did not result in a closer match between self-concept and occupational stereotype. (vi) First year cadets without field experience were significantly less satisfied and significantly less conservative than other groups. There was, however, no significant correlation between conservatism and satisfaction. The lack of support for most of the hypotheses was explained in terms of the high level of satisfaction among the cadets and the measures of satisfaction. A small group of cadets, who gave negative reasons for joining the Police Department, showed significantly less incorporation for a typical policeman than did the group as a whole, suggesting that the lack of support for the main hypotheses was in fact due to the lack of spread on satisfaction scores. The discussion covered the problem of reliability of the measures, pointed to response sets operating, discussed the factor analysis of the conservatism scale and evaluated the relevance of the research to the practice of counselling.