Using Self-Directed Search with Blind Adults

Abstract

Blind adult members (N = 43; 25 female, 18 male) of a cassette tape-sharing group were administered Holland's Self-Directed Search (SDS) either by cassette tape or with the help of a reader. In both cases, an assistant marked the answers on the SDS form and computed the scale scores. Mean scores and standard deviations were calculated for each of the six Holland personality types for both male and female participants. Results showed that the Social (S) type had the highest means for both men and women. A majority of the women obtained S as the first letter of their Holland code. S was also the most common first letter code for the men. Means were computed for agreement between SDS codes and first occupational daydream codes, using both the Zener-Schnuelle Index and the hexagonal model. A comparison between these means and normative data revealed that blind male agreement scores on the Zener-Schnuelle Index were lower than those for the normative data. Participants’ Holland codes were also compared to codes considered common and rare.