The spherical model of vocational interests in Germany

The aim of the present investigation is to examine key aspects regarding the validity of the spherical model of vocational interests in Germany, namely, its structural validity, its convergent validity—with an instrument assessing vocational interests according to the RIASEC (R—Realistic, I—Investigative, A—Artistic, S—Social, E—Enterprising, and C—Conventional) model—and its construct validity regarding the pattern of gender differences. To this end, the Personal Globe Inventory (PGI) was translated and completed by a sample of German university students. Results of randomization tests of hypothesized order relations provided support for the structural validity of the instrument in female and male university students. Principal components analyses with target rotations identified two particular scales as outliers. RIASEC scores derived from the PGI correlated strongly with corresponding scales of another instrument, and gender differences were in line with previous findings reported in the literature. Overall, our results provide evidence for the validity of the spherical model in German university students.