A behavior genetic investigation of the relationship between vocational interests and measured intelligence

Although the relationship between personality and vocational interests has received considerable attention, there has been significantly less research directed at the relationship between vocational interests and intelligence.... [ view full abstract ]

Although the relationship between personality and vocational interests has received considerable attention, there has been significantly less research directed at the relationship between vocational interests and intelligence. A recent meta-analysis by Pässler, Beinicke, and Hell (2015) suggested that there is a significant phenotypic relationship between vocational interests and intelligence – and this raises the question as to whether these domains share genetic and/or environmental variance. To this end, the relationship between measured intelligence and self-report vocational interest factors was examined in an archival sample of adult twins.  Participants completed self-report vocational interest scales which fit a six factor solution.  Although not large, the patterns of correlations between the intelligence scales and the vocational interest factors were meaningful. In particular, individuals with investigative interests tended to score higher on intelligence and these phenotypic correlations were also significant at the genetic level.  These results suggest that there is some empirical support for a common biological antecedent that predicts both vocational interests and intelligence.