9

Holland’s Theory

of Personalities in

Work Environments

Arnold R. Spokane, Erik J. Luchetta,

Matthew H. Richwine

We have come to realize that the old arguments about whether

heredity or environment—nature or nurture—is the cause of

human individuality are irrelevant. A human individual repre-

sents an interaction of unique genetic endowment with a unique

course of development. It is a complex, non-additive process.

Leona Tyler, 1995, p. 2

Most social scientists would agree that major features of the physical
and social environment affect the behavior of inhabitants. These
environmental characteristics mediate not only the behavior of indi-
viduals but the behavior of subcultures and societies over long time
periods (Diamond, 1999). That the larger physical world affects
behavior has been obvious for some time to environmental psychol-
ogists (Altman, 1975; Garling, 1998; Proshansky, Ittelson, & Rivlin,
1976), colleagues in environmental health (Moeller, 1997), geogra-
phy (Diamond, 1999), architecture (Gallagher, 1999; Hall, 1966;
Nasar, 2000; Sommer, 1969), urban planning (Duany & Plater-
Zyberk, 1992), and engineering (Zmeureanu & Marceau, 1999). The
reader would readily acknowledge that behavior in a bustling urban
neighborhood differs substantially from that on a sun-drenched beach
or in a serene mountain setting. When we study an individual, we
also study the context in which that individual lives and interacts.

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