Effects of Personality Profiles on Career Development: The Case of Hong Kong Young Adults

Studies in western countries have adopted the person-centred approach to study personality (i.e., combinations of various personality traits). Among young adults, three typical profiles are found: resilients, who are self-confident, self-directed and emotionally stable; undercontrollers, who are stubborn, impulsive and disobedient; overcontrollers, who are sensitive, introverted and dependable. However, relatively few studies on young adults in contexts out of western countries were conducted using this approach. Drawing on career development theory and research on personality profiles, we develop hypotheses about the associations of resilients with some career-related outcomes among Hong Kong young adults at their career developmental stage. As resilients are flexible about external demands from their lives and career development, the profile of resilience would associate with emotional intelligence, employment status and life satisfaction. We test these hypotheses using two independent samples (n = 4955, average age of 20.08 and standard deviation of 3.62; n = 396, university freshmen at age 19 or 20) in Hong Kong. Data on these two samples were separately analysed with latent profile analysis. The results support the proposed hypotheses about resilents. Different from overcontrollers and undercontrollers found in western countries, the fragile, neurotic and conservative also emerged. The importance of contexts in studying personality profiles is discussed.