The effects of vocational interests on motivation, satisfaction, and academic performance: Test of a mediated model

Decades of research have supported the psychometric reliability of RIASEC interest scales and their criterion-related validity for predicting important career outcomes.

“Decades of research have supported the psychometric reliability of RIASEC interest scales, and their criterion-related validity for predicting important career outcomes (Nye et al., 2021;Rounds & Su, 2014;Su, 2020).”

Interests provide the direction and motivation through which individuals apply their intellect to accumulate knowledge, which in turn strengthens their ability to excel in specific domains.

“Interests provide the direction and motivation through which individuals apply their intellect to accumulate knowledge, which in turn strengthens their ability to excel in specific domains (Ackerman, 1996;Hyland et al., 2022;Nye et al., 2021).”

Students generally prefer educational environments that fit their interests, and they tend to persist longer and perform better in fields of study that interest them.

“Like employees working in occupations, students generally prefer educational environments that fit their interests (Le et al., 2014), and they tend to persist longer and perform better in fields of study that interest them (Allen & Robbins, 2010;Nye et al., 2021;Tracey & Robbins, 2006).”