Earlier this year, JvR Psychometrics in South Africa put out a study called, Career Values Scale Correlation Analysis; and since we do not want that heady title to throw anyone off, basically the study’s intention was to investigate the relationship between the Career Values Scale (CVS) and five other assessments. The CVS, produced by a team of psychologists at Psychometrics Canada is essentially an assessment to help identify what is important to you (namely, your values) as you plan and make life and career choices. Values have been extensively studied to determine what part they have in making decisions, such as choosing a career path, and there is no doubt that our job satisfaction, or lack of it, is linked to whether our values are being met or not. If career values are a critical factor in our job satisfaction, then an assessment like the CVS is beneficial in clarifying what our values actually are. The CVS is divided into three factors: Working with Others, Self-Expression, and Extrinsic Values. Under these three headings, there are further divisions which signify what we value (see figure 1.1): How we respond to the CVS statements in order of their importance to us determines the strength of that value in our lives. There are no right or wrong answers! In the JvR study, the CVS was used alongside five different assessments: 1) Basic Traits Inventory (BTI), which is a measure of the Big Five personality traits developed for the South African context. The five traits are Extraversion, Neuroticism, Conscientiousness, Openness to Experience, and Agreeableness. 2) Exam Preparation Inventory (EPI) is a measure of examination preparation behaviors, consisting of nine scales with eight of those scales relating to the eight MBTI preferences. 3) Locus of Control Inventory (LCI) is a measure of Rotter’s concept of locus of control developed for the South Africa context. 4) Numeratum is a measure of numerical ability developed in the South Africa context. 5) Verbatim is a measure of verbal ability developed in the South African context. The investigation into whether the CVS correlates to any of the above-mentioned assessments discovered there is close correlation to values and personality traits. The relationship between CVS and BTI, and CVS and EPI were the most significant, probably because of the emphasis on traits in the BTI and EPI. As referenced in the CVS Manual & User’s Guide found in Psychometrics’ online Knowledge Centre, “Traits are ways (styles) of acting to meet a need … Values are objectives that one seeks to attain to satisfy a need.” The use of CVS in this study reminds us of the importance of values in job and life satisfaction; recognizing personality traits and the differences thereof can be beneficial, but our motivation (the why we do things), which is linked to our values, should also be considered. To find out more about using the Career Values Scale to help your clients discover careers they love, contact us at 1-800-661-5158 or info@psychometrics.com or visit www.psychometrics.com.
