38 CAREER CHOICE AND DEVELOPMENT
A major development in this tradition was the work of Sewell
and Hauser (1976; Hauser, 1971). They added achievement-related
social psychological variables to the model of attainment (Duncan,
Featherman, & Duncan, 1972; Gordon, 1972; Kerckhoff, 1974;
Turner, 1962). Their revised model included academic ability and
performance, as well as encouragement of educational goals by sig-
nificant others, including parents, teachers, and friends. Adoles-
cents’ aspirations and plans, with respect to future educational and
occupational attainment, came to assume central importance (see
Mortimer, 1996, for a review). Early on, however, it was also recog-
nized that aspirations may have limited consequences in situations
of constrained opportunity. One sociologist questioned the pre-
sumed causal process through which aspirations influence achieve-
ments. In view of strong constraints on attainment, he concluded
that work ambitions are “products of occupations that individuals
are entering rather than determinants of patterns that careers take”
(Roberts, 1968, p. 176).
Sociological studies have thus focused during the past several
decades almost exclusively on the vertical (prestige) dimension of
occupational choice, as this is linked most closely to subsequent
placement in the socioeconomic hierarchy. Insofar as the individ-
ual’s motivations and goals are considered, these tend to be restricted
to aspirations for educational attainment and the prestige levels of
occupational aspirations.
In contrast, psychologically oriented studies of career choice give
primary emphasis to the personality characteristics that predispose
an individual to seek a career of a given type. Historically, psychol-
ogists have exhibited greater interest than sociologists in a person’s
interests, values, personality type, and orientations, as well as self-
concept, as determinants of particular occupational choices (Strong,
1955; Holland, 1964; Super, Starishevsky, Matlin, & Jordaan, 1963;
Ginzberg, Ginsburg, Axelrad, & Herma, 1951). Vocational psy-
chologists have been primarily concerned with the degree of “fit”
between person and job. If there is a closer fit, in terms of the inter-
ests, needs, and personalities of the person and the experiences,