The Relationship between Interests – Occupation Congruence and Job Satisfaction

Abstract

Based on Holland's model (1997), the main aim of this research was to investigate the relationships of the congruence of expressed interests with those required by the workplace, the congruence of unexpressed interests with those that are not required by the workplace, as well as total congruence with job satisfaction. Additionally, this study aimed to explore whether the age and gender of participants influence the effects of overall congruence between workplace requirements and vocational interests on job satisfaction. The study was conducted on a convenient sample of 350 employed participants. Their mean age was 41 years, ranging from 19 to 65 years. The Croatian version of Holland’s Self-Directed Search was used to measure vocational interests (Šverko & Babarović, 2006) and the Job Satisfaction Scale from the Gregson’s short form of the Job Descriptive Index (Gregson, 1987) was used to measure job satisfaction. Job requirements for each occupation were derived from the O*NET online database. The results show a moderate overlap between vocational interests and workplace demands, particularly for realistic, social, and artistic interests. Job satisfaction can be predicted by the congruence of most interests. Hierarchical regression analyses indicate that the congruence of dominant vocational interests with job requirements is a stronger predictor of job satisfaction than the congruence of non-dominant, non-required interests. Additional analyses reveal that gender and age do not significantly moderate the effects of congruence on job satisfaction. The practical implications of the results emphasize enhancing job satisfaction by aligning employees' dominant vocational interests with job requirements.