Influence of Personality Type on Career Aspirations of Secondary School Students in Kwara State, Nigeria

Career aspiration is a crucial component of adolescents’ developmental process as it shapes educational goals, occupational choices and future ambitions. This study examined the influence of personality type on career aspirations among secondary school students in Kwara State, Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The population comprised 116,303 secondary school students, from which 600 respondents were selected using random sampling technique. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire titled “Influence of Personality Type on Career Aspirations Questionnaire (IPTCAQ)” based on Holland’s RIASEC model. The instrument was validated by experts in Counselling Psychology and yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.87 using test-retest method. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics (mean and rank order) and inferential statistics (t-test and ANOVA) at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that personality type significantly influences students’ career aspirations across all RIASEC dimensions. Realistic personality type had the highest influence, followed by Artistic and Investigative types. The hypotheses tested showed no significant difference based on gender and religious affiliation, while a significant difference was found based on age, with older students showing higher perception levels of personality influence on career aspirations. The study concluded that personality type is a strong determinant of career aspirations among secondary school students, while demographic variables such as gender and religion have no significant influence. It was recommended that school counsellors should provide personality-based career guidance, initiate early career counselling interventions and encourage students to make career decisions based on their personality characteristics.