The Career Maturity InventoryRevised:

A Preliminary Psychometric Investigation

Louis A. Busacca
Brian J. Taber
Kent State University
The primary purpose of this study was to obtain estimates of internal consistency
reliability, as well as to examine evidence of the construct and criterion validity of
the Career Maturity InventoryRevised (CMI-R) in a sample of male and female
high school students. Results found modest reliability for the CMI-R. Participants
scoring higher in CMI-R attitudes appear ready to make wise and congruent occupational choices. Sex and grade differences showed that females tended to manifest more career mature responses than did males across grade levels. Additional
research on item functioning and on the factor structure underlying the inventory is suggested.
Keywords: Career maturity, career guidance, career development, career
education, career assessment, adolescence

Critess major contribution to the field of vocational psychology and career

counseling was his efforts to clarify the distinction between career choice content
and career choice process. Evolving from the Career Pattern Study (Super et al.,
1957), Crites (1974b) introduced these two dimensions of vocational decision
making during adolescence. The content dimension referred to which occupation a student or client should enter and focused on interests and abilities.
Within this dimension, Crites distinguished between two subdimensions: consistency of vocational choice and realism or wisdom of vocational choice.
Consistency deals with the development of stability and coherence in an individuals occupational preferences. Wisdom deals with the development of fit
between ones occupational preferences and their interests, abilities, and experiences. The process dimension was categorized into two group factors: career
choice Attitudes and career choice Competencies. Crites defined choice
Attitudes as dispositional response tendencies that mediate both choice behaviors
and competencies. Choice Competencies were defined as comprehension and
problem-solving abilities that pertain to vocational decision making, primarily
cognitive processes. In 1973, the Career Maturity Inventory (CMI) was con-

JOURNAL OF CAREER ASSESSMENT, Vol. 10 No. 4, November 2002

DOI: 10.1177/1069072702238406
2002 Sage Publications

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structed to measure the process dimension subsumed by the Competencies and

Attitudes group factors in Critess model of vocational development.
In 1978, Crites developed and published a revision of his 1973 CMI. The
Career Maturity InventoryAttitude Scale (Crites, 1978b) was a product of
numerous research studies and refinement to Critess (1965) early model of vocational development in adolescence. It was also the first paper-and-pencil measure
of vocational development. The CMIAttitude Scale was available in two forms:
Counseling Form (B-1) and a revised Screening Form (A-2). The Counseling
Form included 25 new items to the original 50-item Attitude Scale. This allowed
for the construction of Attitude Scale subscales: Decisiveness, Involvement,
Independence, Orientation, and Compromise. These attitude variables involve a
planning orientation that was a primary dimension of the choice process in Super
et al.s (1957) Career Pattern Study. Crites recommended using the Attitude
Scale for studying career development, screening for career immaturity, evaluating career education, assessing guidance needs, and testing in career counseling
(Crites, 1978a). The CMI Counseling Form also contains five competency variables: self-appraisal, occupational information, goal selection, planning, and
problem solving. Crites recommended using the Competence Tests in the same
way as the Attitude Scale scores (Crites, 1978a).
The rationale for the construction of the CMI has been that any measure of a
developmental variable must be systematically related to time (Crites, 1961).
More specifically, it has been assumed that because development was usually
interpreted as a unidirectional irreversible process (Super & Overstreet, 1960),
the form of relationship to time should be a generally upward or downward
curve. Accordingly, items have been selected for the CMI only if they increase or
decrease with time, the most meaningful index of which has been grade in
school (Crites, 1974a). As evidence of the construct validity of the CMI, Crites
(1965, 1973) reported a monotonic increase in scores on each part of the instrument as a function of grade and age levels. Likewise, Herr and Enderlein (1976)
reported an increase in test scores as a function of age and grade levels, and differences in test scores related to sex. Alvi and Khan (1983) found moderate evidence regarding monotonic increase in career choice attitudes and significant sex
differences in the Competence Test scores in favor of females. From this line of
work, vocational theorists and researchers have increasingly directed their attention to testing in relation to the status of an individual on various dimensions of
the process of choice. However, the use of career process measures to assist adolescents with their career development has diminished since the inception of the
CMI in the early 1970s.

Rationale for the Revision of the CMI

In 1995, Crites and Savickas found it necessary to revise the 1978 edition of
the CMI. Their purpose for revising the CMI Attitude Scale and Competence

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443

Test was more practical than theoretical (Crites & Savickas, 1996). The 1995
CMI was designed to make it more relevant and usable in counseling, career
development programs, and the overall process of career choice. Over the years,
users of the 1978 edition of the CMI had identified five drawbacks in its application: (a) excessively long administration time, (b) restricted applicability to
postsecondary students and employed adults, (c) limited usefulness of the subscales in differential diagnosis of career choice problems, (d) circumscribed use
of item responses in counseling interventions, and (e) incompleteness in scoring
options. In addition to the aforementioned drawbacks, several reasons can be proposed for a decreased interest in application: (a) dated norm groups, (b) absence
of practitioner-oriented literature for use in career education and experiential
activities, and (c) apprehension with the negative implications of the words career
maturity and evaluative connotations of maturity (Savickas, 1997).
The CMI Revised (CMI-R) was derived from the 1978 edition of the CMI.
Item selection was based on previously unpublished longitudinal data, which
augment the original cross-sectional data (Crites & Savickas, 1996). The CMI-R
includes content appropriate for use with high school students, as well as for use
with postsecondary adults. This edition was also revised to include items that are
free of ethnic, racial, and gender bias. The subscales of the Attitude Scale and the
Competence Test from the 1978 edition have been eliminated due to lower than
desirable reliabilities. Therefore, the CMI-R provides only three scores: Attitude
Scale, Competence Test, and Career Maturity Total. The authors selected five
items from each of the 1978 subscales to comprise the CMI-R Attitude Scale. As
a result, the Attitude Scale is much shorter and consists of only 25 diverse statements. The 25-item CMI Attitude Scale creates an overall score (1-25) for career
maturity attitudes. The CMI-R also includes a substantial revision to the
Competence Test. The authors selected various items from the 1978
Competence Test to comprise the CMI-R Competence Test. This component
consists of only 25 revised and new items with each item written as a brief narrative. The 25-item Competence Test creates an overall score (1-25) for career
maturity competencies. The CMI-R also included changes in the response format. The previous edition used a true (T) and false (F) response format, whereas the revised edition uses an agree (A) and disagree (D) response format.
Because the items in the CMI-R were selected from the 1978 CMI, Crites
assumed they would have the same validity as the items in the previous edition.
However, no psychometric data on the validity and reliability of the CMI-R have
been published to date.
Measures of the process of career development have been shown to relate to
measures in content of career development. Career maturity is a prerequisite to
the ability to make wise and realistic occupational choices. Subsumed within the
content dimension of Critess model includes realism of career choice, or the
agreement of the individuals aptitudes, interests, and personality characteristics
with those required by the chosen occupation (Crites, 1989). Viewed as a developmental operationalization of Supers vocational self-concept, the process of an

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individual implementing his or her self-concept into an occupation is mediated

through the resources of career mature attitudes and competencies (Savickas,
1984). For example, adolescents who possess a clear and stable occupational selfconcept may not be career ready. These individuals may lack life experiences and
personal inclinations to make a fitting occupational choice. On the other hand,
individuals with wisdom for a career choice would anticipate their potential in
the desired occupation, feel committed toward fulfilling their occupational plan
or decision, and perceive that occupation as fitting into their desired lifestyle
(Hershenson, 1964). Crites (1989) noted that as adolescents become more realistic in their career decision making as they mature (p. 145). Therefore, it would
follow that the more career mature an individual is, the more he or she would
choose an occupation that is realistic and incorporates with his or her self-concept.
Significant correlations between Critess 1973 edition of the CMI and vocational aspirations (Bathory, 1967) and realism in career choice (Hollender, 1964)
have been found with secondary school students. Gasper and Omvig (1976)
conducted the only available investigation of this relation and found a limited
Pearson correlation between students career maturity, as measured by the 1973
CMI, and occupational plans scores of 11th-grade students as measured by the
Occupational Plans Questionnaire (OPQ) (Hershenson, 1964).
Due to the potential usefulness of the CMI-R in career guidance, preliminary
descriptive and psychometric data on the inventory are necessary to begin the
process of examining the soundness of the measure. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study was to investigate the internal consistency reliability of the
CMI-R in a sample of male and female high school students. In addition, the
study investigated the construct and criterion validity of the CMI-R scales by testing two theory-derived hypotheses: (a) that scores on measures of career maturity should increase across the high school years and (b) that measures of career
maturity attitudes and competence should relate to measures of progress in
career planning.

METHOD
Participants
A convenience sample of 157 (72 males, 85 females) 9th through 12th grade
students at five public high schools in Northeast Ohio was obtained for this study.
Of these, 29.3% were in Grade 9, 24.8% in Grade 10, 26.1% in Grade 11, and
19.7% in Grade 12. The participants ages ranged from 14 to 19 (M = 16.07, SD
= 1.18). The subject pool consisted of 87.9% Caucasians, 7.6% African
Americans, 2.5% Asian Americans, and 1.9% biracial. The educational track consisted of 95.5% academic, 3.2% vocational, and 1.3% special education.

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445

Procedure
The participants completed measures of career maturity, occupational fit, and
a brief demographic questionnaire for collecting information about grade,
school, sex, age, race/ethnicity, and educational track. Data collection took place
in the five schools during spring of the academic school year, over the course of
2 weeks. Teachers were given the opportunity to volunteer to include their students in the study. Instructions were read to all participants by the principal investigator. All measures were administered at each school by the principal investigator with the participation of school counselors and faculty staff.

Instruments
OPQ. The OPQ is a 23-item measure of fit between occupational preferences
and self-concept of the respondent, or realism of choice (Hershenson, 1964) is.
First, the individual is asked to describe, as specifically as possible, whatever
occupation or type of work he or she now thinks he or she will enter. This question is followed by a series of other questions covering (a) the individuals perception of the relevance of his or her chosen occupation to his or her hierarchies
of abilities, interest, and values; and (b) his or her conception of the place of this
occupation within his or her past, present, and future lifestyles.
Questionnaire items of the OPQ may be subcategorized with six subscales
with 22 multiple-choice questions: commitment to the stated occupational
choice (5 items); experience relevant to the occupation (5 items); consistency of
the occupation with perceived abilities, values, and interests (5 items); anticipated potential in the occupation (2 items); alternative choices (3 items); significance of the occupational role in the individuals life (2 items); and a total score
derived by summing the subscales as a general index of occupational fit.
The OPQ was tested for both internal consistency and empirical validity
(Hershenson, 1964). The internal consistency (Hoyt analysis of variance) of a
group of 54 male college undergraduates (freshman through seniors) yielded an
r of .83. To assess empirical validity, the instrument was administered to 23 male
sophomore general liberal arts and premedical students, matched on age, sex,
and academic level. The scores obtained from the latter group were significantly higher (p < .0005) than those obtained from the former (Hershenson, 1967),
indicating that students who committed themselves to a career goal (i.e., medicine) displayed better occupational fit than the average of their age peers.
CMI-R. The CMI-R is a 50-item measure assessing career choice attitudes and
competence of adolescence and young adults (Crites & Savickas, 1996). It is
composed of a 25-item Attitude Scale and a 25-item Competence Test. The
Attitude Scale assesses respondents attitudes toward decision making, such as

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decisiveness, involvement, independence, orientation, and compromise. The

Competence Test assesses respondents comprehension and problem-solving
abilities pertinent to career decision making in areas such as self-appraisal, goal
selection, problem solving, planning, and occupational information. Crites and
Savickas (1996) suggested that the revised instrument should have similar reliability and validity because the items were selected from the previous version. The
internal consistency coefficients (Kuder-Richardson Formula 20 [KR-20]) for the
1978 Attitude Scale Counseling Form subscales range from .50 to .72 with a
median of .64 (Crites, 1978c). This is similar to a study by Stowe (1985) who
reported a KR-20 coefficient of .71 for the entire Attitude Scale. For the Research
version of the Competence Test, Crites (1978c) reported the KR-20 coefficients
for the subtests by grade. The median coefficients are .82 for 9th grade, .86 for
10th grade, .84 for 11th grade, and .84 for 12th grade. In addition, Jepsen and
Prediger (1981) reported a convergent validity correlation of .37 with the Career
Development Inventory (Super, Thompson, Lindeman, Jordaan, & Myers,
1981), which is a measure of career maturity. Bathory (1967) reported a criterion validity correlation of .39 with the Occupational Aspiration Scale (Miller &
Haller, 1964). These studies have shown that the 1978 edition of the CMI has
demonstrated appropriate validity and reliability.

RESULTS
We first examined the internal consistency reliability of the CMI-R. The internal consistency estimate obtained from the scores on the Attitude Scale in this
sample, calculated by Cronbachs alpha, was .54. The internal consistency estimate obtained from scores on the Competence Test was .52. The internal consistency estimate from the score for the total inventory was .61.
Because previous research has found significant differences between males
and females in career maturity scores (Crites, 1978c; Herr & Enderlein, 1976;
Kornspan & Etzel, 2001), it was decided that separate analyses be conducted for
males and females. Means and standard deviations are presented for the CMI-R
and OPQ scales for males, females, and the total sample in Table 1. Females
tended to score higher than males on each of the inventory scales. To determine
if these differences were significant, a one-way ANOVA was conducted. To guard
against experiment wise error, Bonferronis correction was applied to a set alpha
value of .05. Results showed that significant sex differences existed in this sample.
Females scores were significantly higher on the CMI-R Competence Test, F(1,
156) = 7.51, p < .02, and CMI-R total score, F(1, 155) = 8.79, p < .02. However,
there were no significant differences on the CMI-R Attitude Scale F(1, 155) =
2.82, p =.07.
To examine the degree to which the CMI-R could differentiate among grade
levels, we conducted a one-way ANOVA with the CMI-R scales as the dependent variables. Although ideally examination of a measures developmental sensi-

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447

Table 1
Means and Standard Deviations of the CMI-R
and OPQ for Males, Females, and Total Group
Males
(n = 72)

CMI-R
Attitude
Competence
Total
OPQ
Commitment
Experience
Consistency
Anticipated
Alternative Choices
Significance
Total

Females
(n = 85)

Total
(N = 157)

SD

SD

SD

17.11
16.57
33.68

3.27
3.27
5.33

17.96
17.91
35.87

2.51
2.84
3.90

17.57
17.29
34.87

2.91
3.11
4.72

17.85
10.89
18.36
6.72
9.33
5.67
68.82

3.44
2.74
5.91
2.06
2.17
2.06
9.91

18.82
10.82
19.47
6.59
9.40
6.49
71.60

3.30
4.28
5.14
2.21
2.01
2.03
11.10

18.38
10.85
18.96
6.65
9.37
6.11
70.32

3.39
3.64
5.51
2.13
2.08
2.08
10.63

Note. CMI-R = Career Maturity InventoryRevised; OPQ = Occupational Plans Questionnaire.

tivity should be conducted longitudinally, cross-sectional analysis can also provide useful information on the monotonic increase in scores as a function of
grade levels. Separate analyses for males and females were conducted on these
scales. Results of the omnibus F test are presented in Table 2. Results show that
there were significant differences across grade levels on the Attitude Scale, F(3,
81) = 3.48, p < .02, and for the CMI-R total score, F(3, 81) = 3.86, p < .02, for
females only. No significant differences were observed for either males or females
on the Competence Test or for males on the total score.
Independent t tests were performed on the Attitude Scale for post hoc analysis. Results indicate significant differences between 9th- and 12th-grade females
(t = 2.77, p < .01), with 12th graders (M = 18.13, SD = 2.13) scores being almost
2 points on average higher than 9th graders (M = 16.50, SD = 3.85). Significant
differences were also observed between 10th and 12th graders (t = 3.11, p < .01),
with 12th graders (M = 18.13, SD = 2.13) scoring slightly less than 2 points on
average than 10th graders (M = 16.28, SD = 3.08). No other significant differences were observed among the grades on the Attitude Scale.
Independent t tests were performed on the CMI-R total score for post hoc
analysis. Results indicate significant differences between 9th- and 12th-grade
females (t = 2.74, p < .01), with 12th graders (M = 38.06, SD = 3.60) scoring
slightly more than 3 points on average (M = 34.93, SD = 3.68). Significant differences were observed between 10th and 12th graders (t = 2.72, p < .01), with
12th graders scoring slightly more than 3 points on average than 10th graders (M

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Table 2
Omnibus F Test of the Career Maturity Inventory
Revised Scales Across 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th Graders

Attitude, males

Attitude, females

Competence, males

Competence, females

Total score, males

Total score, females

Grade

SD

df

9
10
11
12
9
10
11
12
9
10
11
12
9
10
11
12
9
10
11
12
9
10
11
12

18
21
18
15
28
18
23
16
18
21
18
15
28
18
23
16
18
21
18
15
28
18
23
16

16.50
16.28
17.83
18.13
17.61
17.28
17.74
19.69
15.94
16.33
17.61
16.40
17.32
17.06
18.96
18.38
32.44
32.62
35.44
34.53
34.93
34.33
36.70
38.06

3.85
3.08
3.50
2.13
2.57
2.42
2.41
2.06
3.17
3.47
3.31
3.09
2.97
3.52
2.16
2.22
6.22
5.02
5.80
3.41
3.68
4.30
3.33
3.60

3, 68

1.46

3, 81

3.48*

3, 68

.87

3, 81

2.22

3, 68

1.41

3, 81

3.86*

*p < .05.

= 34.33, SD = 4.30). No other significant differences were observed among the

grades on the CMI-R total score.
We further examined the criterion validity of the CMI-R by examining the
relations among the scales of the CMI-R and OPQ. These analyses were conducted separately for males and females. Results are presented in Table 3 for
males only. For males in this sample, significant correlations were generally
small. The CMI-R Attitude Scale demonstrated small relations between OPQ
Commitment (r = .23, p < .01), OPQ Consistency (r =27, p < .01), OPQ
Significance (r = .34, p < .01), and OPQ total score (r = .35, p < .01). No other
significant relations were found among the CMI-R Attitude Scale and the OPQ
scales. The CMI-R Competence Test for males generally failed to correlate with

Table 3
Pearson Correlations Between the CMI-R and OPQ Scales for Males Only

CMI-R Attitude
CMI-R Competence
OPQ1 Commitment
OPQ2 Experience
OPQ3 Consistency
OPQ4 Anticipated
OPQ5 Alternative Choices
OPQ6 Significance
OPQ total

CMI-R
Attitude

CMI-R
Competence

1.00
.33**
.23
.09
.27*
.12
.08
.34**
.35**

1.00
.14
.03
.10
.09
.12
.24*
.12

OPQ1
Commitment

1.00
.01
.18
.40**
.26*
.25*
.65**

OPQ2
Experience

OPQ3
Consistency

1.00
.01
.02
.20
.03
.34**

Note. CMI-R = Career Maturity InventoryRevised; OPQ = Occupational Plans Questionnaire.

*p < .05. **p < .01

1.00
.20
.22
.30*
.71**

OPQ4
Anticipated

1.00
.04
.25*
.50**

OPQ5
Alternative
Choices

OPQ6
Significance

OPQ
Total

1.00
.13
.22

1.00
.50**

1.00

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OPQ scales. The one exception was between CMI-R Competence Test and
OPQ Significance (r = .34, p < .05).
Table 4 shows results of correlational analysis for females only. The only significant correlation occurred between the CMI-R Attitude Scale and OPQ
Experience (r = .25, p < .05). There were no significant relations between CMIR Competence Test and OPQ scales.
We next examined whether the correlations among the CMI-R scales and
OPQ scales for males and females were significantly different. To accomplish
this, Fisher r to z transformations were conducted. Results indicated that there
were no significant differences between correlations obtained for males and
females. We then examined the relations among the scales for the total sample.
Table 5 shows results of correlations among the CMI-R and OPQ scales for
the total sample. CMI-R Attitude Scale demonstrated small relations between
OPQ Commitment (r = .19, p < .05), OPQ Experience (r = .18, p < .05), OPQ
Consistency (r = .22, p < .01), OPQ Significance (r = .27, p < .01) and OPQ total
score (r = .28, p < .01). There were no significant relations between the CMI-R
Competence Test and OPQ scales.
We examined the ability of the CMI-R scales to predict the respondents perceived fit in an occupation as measured by the OPQ total score using the sample. Results of the hierarchical regression analysis are presented in Table 6. In
Step 1, the Attitude Scale was entered and accounted for 8% of the variance of
OPQ total score in this sample. In Step 2, the Competence Test was added but
failed to contribute any additional variance in OPQ total score.

DISCUSSION
This study examined the evidence of construct and criterion validity of the
CMI-R, as well as to obtain estimates of internal consistency of its scales.
Construct validity was examined by investigating the monotonicity of the CMI-R
scales. Criterion validity was examined by investigating the relation of the CMIR scales to person-occupation fit or realism of career choice. Results of the present study have demonstrated modest but limited support for the revised CMI.
The CMI-R shows the tendencies of its predecessor but not in the same robust
fashion.
Consistent with previous research results, females tended to manifest more
career-mature responses than males (Crites, 1978c; Herr & Enderlein, 1976;
Kornspan & Etzel, 2001). Previous research has also found earlier versions of the
CMI to be uniformly sensitive to developmental changes as a function of grade
level (e.g., Alvi & Khan, 1983; Crites, 1971; Herr & Enderlein, 1976). However,
results of this study showed significant differences across grade levels on the
Attitude Scale and total score for females but not for males. In contrast, the
Competence Test failed to display any evidence of monotonicity. These results
are contrary to those reported by Alvi and Khan (1983) who found competencies

Table 4
Pearson Correlations Between the CMI-R and OPQ Scales for Females Only

CMI-R Attitude
CMI-R Competence
OPQ1 Commitment
OPQ2 Experience
OPQ3 Consistency
OPQ4 Anticipated
OPQ5 Alternative Choices
OPQ6 Significance
OPQ total

CMI-R
Attitude

CMI-R
Competence

1.00
.06
.10
.25*
.14
.10
.02
.15
.20

1.00
.00
.02
.06
.06
.03
.02
.05

OPQ1
Commitment

1.00
.41**
.44**
.41**
.05
.26*
.80**

OPQ2
Experience

OPQ3
Consistency

1.00
.17
.10
.08
.14
.64**

Note. CMI-R = Career Maturity InventoryRevised; OPQ = Occupational Plans Questionnaire.

*p < .05. **p < .01

1.00
.18
.09
.07
.69**

OPQ4
Anticipated

1.00
.10
.02
.46**

OPQ5
Alternative
Choices

OPQ6
Significance

OPQ
Total

1.00
.05
.22*

1.00
.36**

1.00

451

452

Table 5
Pearson Correlations Between the CMI-R and OPQ Scales for Total Sample

CMI-R Attitude
CMI-R Competence
OPQ1 Commitment
OPQ2 Experience
OPQ3 Consistency
OPQ4 Anticipated
OPQ5 Alternative Choices
OPQ6 Significance
OPQ total

CMI-R
Attitude

CMI-R
Competence

1.00
.23**
.19*
.18*
.22**
.01
.05
.27**
.28**

1.00
.10
.02
.10
.02
.04
.14
.11

OPQ1
Commitment

1.00
.26**
.31**
.39**
.16
.28**
.73**

OPQ2
Experience

OPQ3
Consistency

1.00
.09
.07
.12
.10
.53**

Note. CMI-R = Career Maturity InventoryRevised; OPQ = Occupational Plans Questionnaire.

*p < .05. **p < .01

1.00
.16*
.15
.28**
.70**

OPQ4
Anticipated

1.00
.07
.11
.47**

OPQ5
Alternative
Choices

1.00
.03
.22**

OPQ6
Significance

OPQ
Total

1.00
.43**

1.00

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453

Table 6
Summary of Hierarchical Regression Analysis for CMI-R Attitude Scale
and Competence Test Predicting OPQ Total Score (N = 157)
Scale
Step 1
Attitude Scale
Step 2
Attitude Scale
Competence Test

SE B

1.03

.28

.28**

1.00
.15

.29
.27

.27**
.04

Note. CMI-R = Career Maturity InventoryRevised; OPQ = Occupational Plans Questionnaire.

R2 = .08 for Step 1; R2 = .00 for Step 2.
**p < .01.

to be monotonically related to age and grade level in a sample of 9th-through

12th-grade high school students. This minimal support of significant differentiation among grades creates a serious limitation for an inventory that declares to
measure a developmental variable.
Results were also modest on the relation between career maturity and fit
between occupational preferences and self-concept. Low but significant correlations were observed between the CMI-R Attitude Scale and the scales of the
OPQ. Career-mature attitudes related to commitment to occupational choice,
consistency of choice based on appraisal of ones abilities, values, interests, and
the significance of the work role in a persons life. That is, those scoring higher
in career maturity should be ready to make realistic and wise occupational
choices. The significant relations between the scales were more evident for males
than females of this sample. A possible explanation for the discrepancy between
males and females on this criterion suggests that sex-role socialization and attitudes may influence occupational preferences, despite being high in career
maturity (Fitzgerald & Crites, 1980).
Perhaps the most significant result of this study was the low internal consistency reliabilities on the scales of the CMI-R. This result is similar to findings by
Powell and Luzzo (1998) who also reported low internal consistency estimates for
the CMI-R in their study. The Attitude Scale, Competence Test, and total score
had reliabilities that were below those of the previous version of the CMI and fell
below the minimum acceptable level of .70 (Guilford, 1956). Because reliability
affects validity, this can in part explain the less than robust findings of this study.
Internal consistency can affect power, effect sizes, and statistical significance
(Henson, 2001). These lower internal consistency estimates may be in part due
to the CMI-R being a shorter version than its predecessor. The Attitude Scale was
revised from 50 items to 25 items, and the interpretation of the five attitude subscales has been removed. Likewise, the Competence Test was revised from five
separate multiple-choice subtests to a 25-item dichotomous response test.

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Therefore, it is possible that there are more dimensions to the scales of the CMIR. This may also explain the low internal consistency estimates in this study.
A primary limitation of the study involves the nature and size of the sample.
The present study employed a nonprobability-based sample, thereby increasing
random error in the data. This combined with the low estimates of internal consistency on the CMI-R scales could have a combined effect. This may have
reduced the power of the analyses.
The results of this study suggest that the CMI-R does operate in the direction
theoretically expected, though only weakly. Our results indicate that the CMI-R
does not possess comparable psychometric properties of its predecessor. Due to
the aforementioned limitations, we suggest that the measure is used cautiously in
career counseling and results be interpreted with supplementary and supporting
evidence to confirm career maturity scores.
Future research should investigate the factor structure of the inventory. This
will explain the appropriateness of item content and the dimensionality of the
scales. Results from such studies may provide a solution to the problem of low
internal consistency of the scales. In addition, analysis of items concerning their
relation to grade level is necessary to understand the developmental sensitivity of
the items. Results of such investigations will help clarify the appropriateness of
the items and scales. Such studies will assist researchers using the CMI-R to
understand what types of modifications may be necessary to make meaningful
interpretations.

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