The incremental validity of vocational self-efficacy: An examination of interest, self-efficacy and occupation

The authors examined the incremental validity, beyond vocational interest, of the General Confidence Themes of the Skills Confidence Inventory (N. E. Betz, F. H. Borgen, & L. W. Harmon, 1996a) as measures of vocational self-e fficacy in identifying tenured and satisfied membership in 21 occupational groups far 1,105 employed women and men. The General Occupational Themes of the Strong Interest Inventory (L. W. Harmon, J. C. Hansen, E H. Borgen, & A. L. Hammer, 1994) were used to measure interest. The results replicated T . J. G. Tracey's (1997) finding that self-efficacy and interest form simila r structures. Results also demonstrated the explanatory power of self-effic acy and interest and the incremental validity of self-efficacy. The authors suggest that the Skills Confidence Inventory is (a) a valid measure of ten ured and satisfied occupational membership, (b) a distinct measure from int erest but similar in structure, and (c) a potentially useful career assessm ent measure.