Roe’s Personality Theory of Career Choice

Anne Roe’s Personality Theory of career choice grew out of a series of investigations of life study of physical and social scientists and their developmental backgrounds and personalities. She did an intensive study of personality traits of artists and scientists and tried to find out their interests, backgrounds and education. As a result of the study of these groups, she came to the conclusion that:

• Personality difference of professionals was observed in the ways people interact with other people and things. Artists were much friendlier, while scientists were much more reserved. Artists were extroverts and scientists, introverts.

• Personality differences resulted from differences in their childhood experiences. When somebody came from a warm environment, he tends to be more outgoing (extroverted) while if he came from a cold environment, he tends to be reserved (introverted). Her theory was also influenced by Gendner Murphy, who talked of psychic energy-an internally generated energy that finds expression through action in a variety of possible directions. It is like motivation and can be both intrinsic and extrinsic.

Roe’s Personality Theory of Career Choice

Roe’s Personality Theory was also influenced by Abraham Maslow’s (1954) hierarchical needs theory. Maslow postulates that lower order needs must be satisfied first before the higher order needs. The needs arranged hierarchically in ascending order are:

1. Physiological needs– the satisfaction of lower order needs such as hunger, thirst, oxygen and shelter.
2. Affiliative needs– the need for love, trusting, belongingness, and mutual respect.
3. Self-enhancement needs– the need for self-respect and self esteem
4. Self- expression– self-actualization in the type of work chosen. The need for perfection in occupational vocational choice.
5. Aesthetic needs– the need to appreciate beauty. This is not found in everybody.

Based on these three influences- vocational theory, genetic needs theory and psychic energies, Roe postulates that:

• There is innate predisposition toward expending psychic energy.
• Childhood experiences mould the general style the individual develops for his/her life.

With specific reference to Maslow it concludes that:

• Needs that are satisfied routinely do not become motivators higher order need disappear if only rarely satisfied.
• Lower order needs become dominant if they are only rarely satisfied, for example inability to satisfy the basic need for shelter, food or love, would dominate other needs.
• Needs that are satisfied after a long delay become unconscious motivators.

Ann Roe’s theory is thus classified as needs theory in that primary attention is given to the wants and desires that stimulate the individual to have an occupational preference. A life style formed as a product of heredity and early environment, is motivated by needs, and is channelled into career-seeking behaviour. In other words, career development and vocational choice are influenced by the individual abilities and interest and vocational choice is a matter of interaction between genetic and environmental factors that become part of the total life pattern.

The home atmosphere influences the type of vocational activities while the genetic structure and involuntary pattern of expenditure of psychic energy influences the occupational level achieved by the person. Other environment, may raise the occupational level due to increased motivation, however the increase can only be within the limits of the socio-economic background and the genetic influence on intelligence.

Implication Vocational Counselling

From Roe’s theoretical position, a counsellor could infer certain procedures to follow. It would be necessary for the counsellor to develop interview or inventory procedures that could measure a client’s need structure accurately and reliably.

Since the individual’s need structure acts as a guiding forces to channel energies into a specific life pattern, the counsellor could best help the client by exploring the need structure, bringing it out into the open, helping the client to recognise the limitations that infringe upon vocational aspirations, and identifying occupation that would satisfy the client’s needs.

Since according to Roe (1954), individuals choose their occupations in order to meet their individual needs, when lower level needs like security are satisfied, there is the tendency for an individual to seek for jobs which would satisfy his higher-level needs such as self-esteem and self-actualisation

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