THE INTEREST-FINDER - EVIDENCE OF VALIDITY

Developed over a 4-year period by the Department of Defense, the Inter est-Finder assesses the RIASEC constructs associated with Holland's (1 985a) vocational personality theory. Analyses based on a large nationa l sample of high school students and military recruits (N = 3,608), we re conducted to assess Interest-Finder content-, construct-, and crite rion-related evidence of validity. Results showed that the Interest-Fi nder (a) is composed of six factors, with each factor representing one RIASEC domain, (b) has a hexagonal shape, (c) has substantial relatio nships with the Strong Interest Inventory (SII; Hansen & Campbell, 198 5), (d) can predict certain high school courses taken by students, and (e) can predict certain types of career choices made by high school s tudents. The Interest-Finder is an exceptionally promising instrument with very high levels of reliability and validity.