WHEN PERSONALITY MEETS SITUATION - EXPLORING INFLUENCES ON CHOICE OF BUSINESS MAJOR

Students who self‐select a business school education are exposed to many situational influences (teachers, courses, grades, peers, information about job market and salaries) which further affect their career choices. A model of personal specialization distinguishing individuals' affective predispositions toward persons and things in the environment provided four categories of person/thing orientation: person specialist, thing specialist, generalist and non‐specialist. The possibility that person/thing orientation interacts with situational influences to affect choice of business major was tested by examining specific correlations, using as a dependent variable the extent to which the chosen major involves dealing with persons (as opposed to things). Although most correlations were low, the findings support a positive relationship between combinations of situational factors with person/thing orientation and the person involvement of chosen field. 1979 The British Psychological Society