Tracking Holland interest codes : the case of South African field guides

Holland believes that specific personality types seek out matching occupational environments and his theory codes personality and environment according to a six letter interest typology. Since 1985 there have been numerous American studies that have queried the validity of Holland's coding system. Research in South Africa is scarcer, despite critical expansion and development in occupational fields such as the ecotourism industry. The present article describes the Holland interest codes of male and female student and working field guides. The results indicate that the interest code typology of both groups does not match the prescribed code for this occupation in the South African Dictionary of Occupations. Recommendations are made for further cross-cultural and cross-national research as well as for the possible revision of dictionaries of occupations in different countries. [Author abstract, ed]