Structure of Interests of Asian-American College Students

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.