Relationship between eye movement behavior and vocational interests

The career choice is an important step in life. Popular vocational interest tests aim to adopt a self-reflective and text-based approach. As a result, young adults sometimes choose professions that offer good pay and job security; but their own interests fall by the wayside. Therefore, it is important to optimally support young people in finding a suitable career path. A new approach is the analysis of vocational interests through eye movement behavior. Eyes move involuntarily and deliver results beyond subjective, verbal tests. For this study, German adolescents between the ages of 16 and 19 were shown a picture with six professions that correspond to Holland's personality types (RIASEC = Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional). The results revealed that dwell time, fixation count and an image-related evaluation are suitable for determining interests. Not all eye movement data is adequate for measuring vocational interests. Time to first fixation did not show significant correlations. In addition, the visual representation of the RIASEC types must be precise, because the Conventional and Enterprising dimensions are very similar in terms of the working environment. This study thus provides the first foundations for a gaze-based vocational interest test. • Dwell time and fixation count are parameters for determining vocational interests. • Eye movements can provide involuntarily results beyond subjective, verbal tests. • Visual tests can prevent biases due to language and lack of motivation. • Picture rating can also be used to analyze vocational interests.