Journal of Vocational Behavior 30, 295-308 (1987) The Relationship between Vocational Interests and the Location of an Ideal Occupation in the Individual’s Perceived Occupational Structure ITAMAR GATI AND Dov WINER The Hebrew University of Jerusalem The relationship between vocational interests and the location of an ideal occupation in the perceived occupational structure of career counselees was investigated. Ninety-six career counselees completed the RAMAK vocational interest inventory. Then, the occupational constructs of each subject were elicited by the career grid procedure. Finally, each subject rated 24 occupations and his/her ideal and rejected occupations on his/her own elicited constructs. The intrasubject analyses indicated that the preferences for occupational fields as measured by the interest inventory reflect the fields’ proximity to an ideal occupation in the individual’s perceived occupational structure. The implications for career development are discussed. Q 1987 Academic RCSS, IN. Vocational interests and vocational preferences have a central role in most theories of occupational choice. Barak (1981)proposed that interests are a function of a cognitive mediatingprocess.The individual’s perception of occupations is assumedto be one of these cognitions (e.g., Gati, 1984; Gottfredson, 1981; Holland, 1985;Reeb, 1974).The present study tested this assumption directly by an analysis of the relationship between vo- cational interests and the perception of an ideal occupation in intrasubject data. Vocational preference is related to the compatibility of the perceived characteristics of various occupational alternatives to the perceived self- concept (Gottfredson, 1981). Thus, it reflects the individual’s subjective judgment regarding the congruence (i.e., the similarity) between his/her self-concept and an occupational environment as perceived by him/her. Although vocational preferences, as preferences in general,are by definition unidimensional (Coombs, 1964), occupational perceptions seem to be multidimensional (e.g., Benyamini & Gati, 1987; Bloch & Rim, 1979; Coxon, 1971; Gottfredson, 1981; Holland, 1985; Reeb, 1974). We thank Gershon Ben-Shakhar, Yael Benyamini, David Gidron, and Dov Oppenheimer for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper. Requests for reprints should be sent to ltamar Gati, School of Education, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91905, Israel. 295 OOol-8791187 $3.00 Cop-t OD 1987 by Academic Press. Inc. All ri&ts of rcpmd~ction in any form reserved.