Patterns of Short-Term Changes in Individuals' Work Values: P-Technique Factor Analyses of Intraindividual Variability

To examine the magnitude and nature of short-term fluctuations in work values, seven college students (five females, two males) completed the Work Values Inventory (Super, 1970) daily for approximately 100 days. Each individual's scale scores were factor analyzed separately to identify the number and nature of factors that accounted for the day-to-day variability manifested in that person's scores. Results indicated that intra-individual variability on self-reported work values is coherently structured, although not in highly consistent ways across individuals. Factors identified as "Stimulation," "Esthetics/Management," and "Work Conditions" manifested various amounts of similarity across participants' responses. The findings call into question the overarching assumption in the vocational literature that work values behave exclusively as trait-like dimensions, and suggest making better use of idiographic approaches in developing nomothetic relationships.