Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
TOKER GÜLTAŞ Y. (Yürütücü), ÇIKAN F.
Yükseköğretim Kurumları Destekli Proje, BAP Diğer, 2025 - Devam Ediyor
Traditional vocational interest
assessments often fail to capture the motivational mechanisms underlying career
outcomes. To address this gap, this project integrated Holland’s theory,
Self-Determination Theory (SDT), and interest complexity to propose a
comprehensive person-environment fit model. Building upon the STEM Environment
Complexity Scales developed and validated in the earlier phases of the
dissertation studies, the current study utilized Latent Profile Analysis (LPA)
to identify motivational profiles towards career domains based on autonomous
and controlled motivational regulations. The study was conducted with STEM
employees and students. Results revealed distinct patterns: while employees
exhibited a clear polarization between "autonomous" and "poorly
motivated" groups, students additionally displayed a third
"mixed" profile, characterized by moderate levels of autonomous and
controlled motivational regulations. Members of this profile exhibited high
grades but low satisfaction. Crucially, the interaction between environment and
interest complexity, along with perceived occupational fit, significantly
predicted membership in autonomous profiles. Furthermore, autonomous profiles
were associated with higher academic/job satisfaction, affective occupational
commitment, career persistence intentions, and performance. These findings
suggest that adaptive vocational outcomes in STEM depend not only on interest
codes but also on fit perceptions and a match between the individual’s interest
complexity and the environment’s complexity level. Consequently, the results
indicate that vocational interest assessments should extend beyond the sole
measurement of intrinsic enjoyment to incorporate the full spectrum of
motivational regulations.