Development and validation of the Scientist-Practitioner Inventory for psychology.

This article reports 3 studies constituting the development and validation of the ScientistPractitioner Inventory (SPI), an instrument designed to measure career specialty interests of psychology students. In the 1st study, evidence for the factorial validity of the scales, test-retest reliability, freedom from response-set biases, and construct validity are presented. The 2nd study presents cross-validation evidence of a 2nd-order factor structure, internal consistency estimates, and construct validity that is similar to that found in the first study. Also presented is evidence for the superior criterion-related concurrent validity of the SPI in comparison with Holland's (1985) Vocational Preference Inventory in predicting a selected criterion. The 3rd study presents further cross-validating evidence and indications of the SPI's ability to reflect different patterns of interests depending on the nature of the sample. Implications for use of the instruments in career counseling, psychology of science, and organizational research are discussed.