Person-centered methods in vocational research

• Published in: Journal of vocational behavior 2020-04, Vol.118, p.103398, Article 103398
• Main Authors: Hofmans, Joeri, Wille, Bart, Schreurs, Bert
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Configural frequency analysis; Davinson and Davenport's criterion-based method; Factor mixture analysis; Growth mixture modeling; Hierarchical clustering; K-means clustering; Latent class; Latent class analysis; Latent profile analysis; Latent transition analysis; Mixture modeling; Mixture regression analysis; Occupational psychology; Organizational behavior; Person-centered; Personal development; Research methodology
• ISSN: 0001-8791; 1095-9084
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jvb.2020.103398

The vast majority of vocational research adopts a variable-centered approach. Implicit in this approach is the assumption that the population under study is homogeneous, and that therefore we can use a set of “averaged” parameters to describe it. Person-centered methods are a family of methods that relax this assumption of population homogeneity, viewing the individual as holistic and paying more attention to how specific configurations of variables, present in different subgroups of the population, act in concert to shape behavior. Despite the potential advantages of person-centered research, the adoption of this approach by vocational researchers has been relatively slow for both conceptual (e.g., What exactly is person-centered research?) and methodological (e.g., Which methods?) reasons. In response to these issues, the goal of the present article is to showcase the role and relevance of person-centered methods for vocational research. Having discussed different conceptualizations of the term “person-centered” we present a structured overview of the most relevant person-centered techniques. This overview includes a description of the formal characteristics of each technique, as well as an overview of existing applications of these techniques in the literature. Finally, we provide a balanced discussion of both the advantages and challenges associated with the person-centered approach. •We showcase the relevance of person-centered research for vocational research.•We discuss different conceptualizations of the term “person-centered”.•We performed a review of these methods in the vocational research domain.•We provide a discussion of the advantages and challenges of person-centered research.