Correspondence of interests and abilities with occupational choice

The correspondence of interests and self-estimates of ability with occupational choice was examined in a nationally representative sample of high school seniors (N = 4,679). Correspondence was examined with D. J. Prediger's (1982) things-people and data-ideas dimensions on interests, ability self-estimates, and occupational choice by means of canonical correlation analyses. Interests and abilities were found to have a high level of correspondence with occupational choice and to overlap in their correspondence with occupational choice. Interests were found to have a higher correspondence to occupational choice than ability self-estimates. Career certainty, gender, and ethnicity were examined as moderating effects, resulting in support only for ethnicity being a moderator.