Graduation Year

2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.A.

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Degree Granting Department

Psychology

Major Professor

Tammy Allen, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Brenton Wiernik, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Marina Bornovalova, Ph.D.

Keywords

ADCE variance Decomposition, Family Environment, RIASEC, self-efficacy, Twins

Abstract

Previous research has established that parents can influence the career interests of their children through both their shared genetics and the household environment they create. However, most studies look at these parental influences in isolation either focusing on the environmental influences or the genetic influences. As such, the results of these studies fail to account for potential confounding in their results do to the nature of career interests. This study used a genetically informative twin sample to address the issue of shared genetics while looking at the measured environmental influence a parent’s occupation has on their child’s career interests. A sample of responses from 335 were gathered through an archival dataset and analyzed using ADCE variance decomposition. Results did not support the hypothesis that parental occupation interest categories would predict similar levels of interests in their children. Additionally, moderation analyses suggest there may be a small negative effect of children raised in a household with high conflict on taking on similar interests as their parent’s occupations. Overall, the results found support the idea that parental occupation may not be a strong predictor of child career interests unlike what previous literature suggests. Contributions to the career interest literature as well as practical implications are discussed.

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