Effects of a Neutral Response Option on Occupational Interest Circumplex Fit

Abstract

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to compare the structural validity of Holland’s circular/hexagonal model in two versions of a commonly used RIASEC occupational interest measure—one that used items with a neutral response option (“unsure”) and one that used items without a neutral response option. Method: These comparisons were made using a sample of 1,025 undergraduate university business majors. A two-group Cosine Function Model (CFM) implemented in standard structural equation modeling (SEM) software was used to investigate the circumplex fit across the two versions of the assessment. Results: CFM analyses suggested a high level of equivalence across versions such that: (1) the correlation matrix of each group shows a good fit to the RIASEC circumplex, and (2) the two correlation matrices are essentially identical