Similarity of vocational interest profiles within families: A person‐centered approach for examining associations between circumplex profiles

OBJECTIVE: Our study addressed three questions concerning the similarity of vocational interests within families: (a) How similar are vocational interests of mothers and fathers? (b) How similar are vocational interests of parents and their children? (c) Is the inference about parent–child profile similarity affected by mother–father profile similarity? METHOD: Data from N=1,624 tenth graders and their parents were used to analyze interest profile similarity by means of a pseudo‐coupling approach. Similarity was assessed on the level of observed profiles and model‐based circumplex profiles. RESULTS: Interest profiles of mother–father and parent–child dyads were more similar to each other than those of corresponding arbitrarily paired dyads. However, when the similarity between the parents’ interest profiles was accounted for, only same‐sex parent–child dyads were more similar to each other than would be expected by chance. All findings were mirrored on the level of observed profiles and model‐based circumplex profiles. CONCLUSIONS: In sum, our findings support the validity of the circumplex model of vocational interests and emphasize the benefits of explicitly considering its implications when analyzing profile similarity. Moreover, we were able to show that the statistical evaluation of profile similarities must account for normative profile components.