Building Evidence of Validity: The Relation Between Work Values, Interests, Personality, and Personal Values

The current study used work values components (WVC) to examine the relationship between work values, vocational interests, personality, and personal values. Most intercorrelations between work values and other constructs were in the small effect range. Overall correlations between scale scores provided evidence of convergent and discriminant validity for values scales. Results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses suggested personal values were the most significant predictor of WVC. Interests and personality also contributed a small amount of additional variance in predicting work values. Overall, results suggested that other variables (e.g., personal values, vocational interests, and personality) accounted for 22% (Autonomy) to 48% (Status) in WVC. Results supported growing evidence of construct validity for work values, given study findings. Implications for the study of values and career counseling interventions are discussed.