The relationship between career anchors and personality preferences

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to explore whether individuals' career anchors are dependent on their personality types. The Career Orientation Inventory (COI) and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) were administered to a sample of honours students in the subject field of Industrial and Organisational Psychology in order to measure the relationship between the two constructs. For statistical purposes only the female participants were included in the final sample analysis (N=117) because of the underrepresentation of males. Statistically significant differences were established with regard to the security/stability career anchor and the ESFJ, ENFP, ESFP and INFP personality types. It is recommended that future studies include larger samples that are more representative of all possible sixteen (16) personality types and a broader range of occupations. The findings contribute new knowledge regarding the career anchors and personality preferences of females pursuing further studies in the field of IO-Psychology.