concept in the study of human behavior (Stokols, 1995; Tinsley,
2000; Tyler, 1995; Walsh, Craik, & Price, 2000). As the quote from
Leona Tyler’s insightful and perhaps final writing effort (Tyler,
1995) reflects, then, person-environment interaction involves the
interplay of a diverse but limited set of stable personalities with the
nature and demands of the environments they inhabit.
The principal proponent of the person-environment interaction
position in vocational psychology has been, and continues to be,
John L. Holland. Holland’s unflagging devotion to creativity, integ-
rity, empirical evidence, and practical application in revising his the-
ory accounts for its unprecedented influence. Holland was awarded
the American Psychological Association’s prestigious Award for Dis-
tinguished Contributions to Professional Knowledge in 1995 in rec-
ognition of his sustained work in vocational psychology.
Background of Holland’s Theory
Since its emergence more than forty years ago, Holland’s theory has
become a major force in applied psychology. The first presentation
of the theory in 1959 emphasized the “searching” aspects of person-
environment fit: “The person making a vocational choice in a sense
searches for situations which satisfy his hierarchy of adjustive ori-
entations” (Holland, 1959, p. 35). In this early version, the impor-
tance of resemblance to all six of the types was evident. There was
also an emphasis on the acquisition and processing of environmen-
tal information. “Persons with more information about occupa-
tional environments make more adequate choices than do persons
with less information” (pp. 40–41). And there was strong focus as
well on development through external influences such as parents
and teachers. A precursor article on the Vocational Preference
Inventory (VPI) in 1958 (Holland, 1958) describes the core of the
theory—the projection of one’s personality onto the world of work:
The choice of an occupation is an expressive act which
reflects the person’s motivation, knowledge, personality, and
ability. Occupations represent a way of life, an environmentHOLLAND’S THEORY 375