Strong Interest Inventory (SII)
The Strong Interest Inventory (SII) is a widely recognized assessment tool used to measure an individual’s interests in various occupations and activities, helping them make informed career choices. Developed from extensive empirical research, the SII identifies patterns of interests that align with specific occupational groups, positing that individuals with similar interests to those in a profession are more likely to find satisfaction in that field. This inventory is suitable for individuals aged fourteen and above, requiring at least a sixth-grade reading level for administration.
The SII consists of 291 questions and can be completed in about 30 to 50 minutes. The results are analyzed using a framework known as Holland's RIASEC model, which categorizes interests into six themes: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional. The SII has been regularly revised to enhance its reliability and validity across diverse cultural backgrounds. Additionally, the Strong 244 assessment, released in 2023, offers a quicker alternative with a focus on identifying potential career strengths and job satisfaction. The findings from the SII can guide individuals in understanding their interests better, although it is recommended that results be interpreted with the help of a professional for optimal career development.
Strong Interest Inventory (SII)
- DATE: 1974 forward
- TYPE OF PSYCHOLOGY: Intelligence and intelligence testing
SIGNIFICANCE: The Strong Interest Inventory (SII) is one of the most empirically sound interest surveys. The survey is relatively easy to administer and requires at least a sixth-grade reading level and a computer for scoring. There are twenty-three basic occupational scales, and the results are mainly applicable for use by people who are oriented toward professional, semiprofessional, or managerial occupations that attract college students.
Introduction
The Strong Interest Inventory (SII), which replaced the well-known Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory in 1985, was developed based on several decades of compiling empirical data. The empirical nature of the studies developed by E. K. Strong, Jr. is grounded in his observation of the specific interest patterns of workers in the occupational groups and careers he studied. He suggested that an individual with interests similar to those of persons working in a given occupation is more likely to find satisfaction in that particular occupation than a person who does not have common interests with those workers.
The original SII contains 325 test items that measure a respondent’s interests in a wide range of occupations, occupational activities, hobbies, leisure activities, school subjects, and types of people. Most test takers can complete the interest inventory in about thirty to fifty minutes; the reading level is ninth grade. The survey is appropriate for individuals over the age of fourteen. The SII has been translated into more than twenty-five languages for administration.
The scores can also be converted to a common reporting system developed by John L. Holland relating to a general occupational grouping or a job choice. The Holland Codesystem, sometimes called Holland Occupational Themes, consists of six concepts arranged in a hexagon, indicating relative positioning. The nomenclature for the Holland system consists of Realistic (R), Investigative (I), Artistic (A), Social (S), Enterprising (E), and Conventional (C)referred to as the RIASEC sequence.
The SII has been revised and updated regularly since its inception according to new data to improve validity and reliability and reduce adverse impact. The 2004 revision of the SII consisted of 291 questions, and in 2023, the Myers-Briggs company released a version called the Strong 244 assessment. With 244 questions instead of 291, Strong 244 was a quicker test. It also included 243 occupation scores rather than 130. While Strong 244 does not replace SII, it offers consumers an easily administered testing option and an additional testing measure that may reveal further information about career strengths, an individual's potential, and the likelihood of job satisfaction in a given role.
Technical Aspects
The SII has been well-researched in relation to other inventories by Strong and others. The stability of the SII is well documented, and reliability and validity studies suggest that the SII is well suited for career development, counseling, and review. Its reliability and validity are reasonably consistent across many cultures and ethnic groups, and with each update, the SII improves. The strength of the SII is the variety of data generated on an interpretive report. This is useful in providing information usually not found on interest inventory profiles.
Interpreting the SII develops from a review of the general occupational theme scores. These provide three phases of review from the scores: first, a general overview of interest patterns; second, specific basic interest scores; and third, interests in specific occupations or jobs. The SII profiles are structured around Holland’s six occupational styles. Each of the six themes is reported and indicates whether the interest level is considered very low, low, average, high, or very high.
The basic interest scales focus on subdivisions of the six occupational themes from which career groups or clusters of occupations can be derived. Ten administrative indices are reported on the SII, including an infrequent response index, an academic comfort scale indicating the degree to which a person likes academic work, and an introversion-extroversion (IE) index indicating whether a person likes working with people or things. To make maximum use of the information on the SII profile, a systematic evaluation by a professional who can develop a complete evaluation of the responses is recommended.
Critique
Research indicates that needs and interests are closely related. The relationship between needs, occupational interests, and personality identification has been demonstrated carefully. Holland’s research has also shown that inner-directed and other-directed personalities differ in their occupational interests, as do people who are decided and undecided. The relative importance of interests in vocational decisions has also been extensively studied. Certain occupations evidently satisfy specific needs, and these needs are related to interests. Concerning career maturity, high scores on the SII correspond to other career inventory scores.
A systematic evaluation is recommended to make maximum use of the information on the SII profile. For these purposes, an SII summary evaluation is devised from the total number of responses. Several steps are outlined for evaluating SII scores, along with the available interpretations.
For individuals to enter an appropriate career, they must begin to identify specific interests and the relative importance of those interests. Some individuals will need little guidance in making career choices; others will need the guidance of a survey instrument such as the SII. Millions of people have received important information from it for decision-making. The authors of these inventories caution test takers and test result users that decisions should not be made based on the results of a single inventory. The SII is one of many interest inventories in use.
Bibliography
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Zarrin, Sohrab Abdi, Iran Baghban, and Mohammad Reza Abedi. "Reliability and Correlation of Interest Inventories: Strong Interest Inventory (SII) and Self-Directed Search (SDS)." International Journal of Psychology and Counselling, vol. 3, no. 7, 2011, pp. 111–16.