Holland, John L. (1919-)

W. Bruce Walsh

John Holland is primarily identified as a counseling psychologist whose main theoretical and practical contributions have been focused in the field of career choice and adjustment. He has been concerned with the choice and processes involved in selecting, adapting to, and changing occupations. His theory and practical contributions apply most directly to people throughout their working years, but are also relevant to school-age persons who are choosing colleges and selecting major areas of concentration. Holland's most impressive contribution to psychology was the combining of two important theoretical traditions, namely vocational psychology and personality. In 1959, Holland published his article, “A Theory of Vocational Choice,” in which he presented a theory that gave importance to personality as well as to the reinforcement value that specific environmental events could hold for an individual. He was one of the first major theorists to emphasize the critical importance of the interaction between vocational environments ...

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