Anne roes theory of needs and career choice

Anne Roe (1904–1991) was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. Upon graduating from the University of Denver, she attended Columbia University, following the recommendation of Thomas Garth. At Columbia, Roe worked in the office of Edward Lee Thorndike, graduating with her Ph. D. in experimental psychology under the supervision of Robert S. Woodworm. The publication of The Psychology of Occupations would introduce Roes theory of personality development and career choice, her most enduring scientific contribution. Roe had no experience of careers or vocational guidance and counseling but was originally interested in personality theory and occupational classification (Roe, 1956, 1957). Much of her early research was focused on the possible relationship between occupational behavior and personality (Roe and Lunneborg, 1990). Ann Roe suggested a personality approach to career choice based on the premise that a job satisfies an unconscious need but Some refer to her work as the Person-environment theory which is primarily psychoanalytic, though it also draws on Maslows hierarchy of needs. THE PURPOSE OF ANNE ROE’S THEORY 1. To focus on the psychological needs that develop between the interaction of parent and child as it affects career choice. 2. To guide by attempts to understand, make meaning of, and utilize individual motives, purposes and drives to support career development. 3. To predict occupational selection based on individual differences, which are biological, sociological, and psychological. ROE’S THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Roes theory was based on Abraham Maslows hierarchy of needs in the sense that in terms of career choice, lower order needs take precedence over higher order needs (The job meets the most urgent need). According to Onyekuru (2010), Roe employed Maslow’s hierarchy of basic needs which depends on conscious or unconscious need pattern as follow: 1. Physiological needs 2. Safety or belongingness and love need 3. Need for self-esteem 4. Need for information 5. Need for understanding 6. Need for beauty, and 7. Need for self-actualization. This hierarchy of basic needs as proposed by Abraham Maslow (1954) became a useful framework, as it offered Roe the most effective way of discussing the relevance of occupational behavior to the satisfaction of basic needs. Maslow considered these needs to be innate and instinctive but (apart from physiological needs) modifiable, and proposed that the lower the potency of need in the hierarchy, the more it is suppressible (Maslow, 1954). Roe in kemjika (2008) maintained that the origin of these needs can be traced from the parental attitudes toward the child in the child’s formative experience. ANNE ROE’S PROPOSITIONS Anne Roe’s (1957, p. 213) propositions can be divided into two and they are as follows: 1. That occupation is potentially the most powerful source of individual satisfaction at all levels of need; and 2. That social and economic status depend more on the occupation of an individual than upon anything else. Roe, based on the above propositions is of the view that individual’s satisfaction and his socio-economic status in life is determined by his occupation. ANNE ROE’S CONTRIBUTIONS TO VOCATIONAL OR OCCUPATIONAL GUIDANCE AND COUNSELING Roes theory can be separated into two key areas: theoretical aspects of personality and classification of occupations. Anne Roe inspired by Maslows hierarchy of needs, incorporated the psychological needs that develop out of parent-child interactions in her conceptualization of personality. PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP PATTERNS Roe emphasized that early childhood rearing practices influence later career choices. Roe classified parent-child relationship patterns into three categories, each with two subcategories. According to Kemjika (2008) parents relate or interact with their children in one of the following ways: 1. Emotional Concentration on the child 2. Avoidance of the child, and 3. Acceptance of the child. EMOTIONAL CONCENTRATION ON THE CHILD (a). Over-protective Parents: parents who engage in this type of interaction are very warm, affectionate, caring and also tend to encourage dependence in the child and restricts curiosity and exploration. The child does not enjoy any privacy because the parents are over concerned with the child’s well-being. (b). Over-demanding Parents: this group of parents requests perfection from the child, asking for excellent performance and setting high standards of behavior. The parents’ love for the child is based on the child’s achievement and conformity. It is a conditional love. AVOIDANCE OF THE CHILD (a). Rejection Parents: parents in this category may be overly critical of the child or punish the child excessively. Every little mistake by the child attracts severe punishment from the parents. However, they only provides for the child’s physiological needs (food, shelter, clothes etc. ) and safety needs. (b). Neglect of the child: parents who adopt this parenting style Ignores the child for many reasons, such as parents concern with their own problems, other children, or work. They are cold and show no love. The physical care they provide is minimal. ACCEPTANCE OF THE CHILD (a). Causal acceptance Parents: Parents have a low-key attitude, offering minimum amount of love. The child’s needs are attended to when they are not busy. (b). Loving acceptance Parents: Here parents show a warmer attitude toward the child, while not interfering with the child’s resources by fostering dependency. Parents encourage independence rather than dependence and do not ignore or reject their child, creating a relatively tension-free environment. From the above, loving, demanding and protecting homes would produce children that are person-oriented in occupation (service). While homes that are rejecting, neglecting and casual will produce individuals that are non-person in orientation in vocational choice. These developed attitudes, interest and capacities can be modified later in life. OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION Roe,(1957) propounded eight occupational groups when she saw that occupations could be arranged along a continuum based on the intensity and nature of the interpersonal relationships involved in the occupational activities and in an order that would have contiguous groups more alike than non-contiguous ones. The eight occupational groups she posited were: 1. service 2. business contact 3. organization 4. technology 5. outdoor 6. science 7. general culture, and 8. arts and entertainment. OCCUPATIONAL LEVELS Roe considered the levels of difficulty and responsibility involved in each occupation and identified six occupational levels based on degree of responsibility, capacity and skill. The Six levels of Occupations identified by Roe (1956 1957) are: 1. Professional managerial: Independent Responsibility 2. Professional Managerial: less independence 3. Semi professional small business: Moderate responsibility for others 4. Skilled: Training is required 5. Semi skilled: On-the -job training or special schooling 6. Unskilled: Little special training is required. Individuals only need to follow basic directions. IMPLICATIONS OF ANNE ROE’S THEORY TO VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND COUNSELING Anne Roe’s theory has several implications to vocational guidance and counseling. Some of these implications are as follows: 1. The theory made it clear that the attitude of parents toward their children has great influence on the children’s choice of career later in life. 2. The environment created by parents at home can affect their children’s vocational choice and life in general. 3. Early childhood experience has great psychological effects on career choice and success in life. 4. The theory gives career guidance counselors insight into the patterns of relationship prevalent between the parents and their children at the home front. 5. It helps career counselors in assisting students from disturbed families on career choice. 6. It also helps the career counselor to make parents understand the effects of their behavior toward their children and the kind of environment they create at home on their children’s career choice and success. 7. Roe’s classification of occupation provided information on the various classes of occupation and the levels of responsibility as well as the capacity, abilities, and skills associated with each class of occupation. 8. This theory reveals that individual’s needs and interest at a particular time can be a determining factor for a career choice. 9. It shows that a person’s satisfaction and socio-economic status in the society is related to his or her occupation. 10. It facilitates career guidance and counseling relationship. CONCLUSION The relevance of Roe’s theory cannot be over-emphasized judging from the immense contributions made to vocational guidance and counseling and career development.