Structure of interest in a Caribbean sample: Application of the Personal Globe Inventory

• Examined the structural validity of the Personal Globe Inventory in a Caribbean sample.
• The RIASEC six-type model fits the data exceptionally well.
• The eight-type model also exhibited good fit to the data.
• The spherical model, which assesses level of prestige, exhibited significant but poor fit.
• No structural differences were found between gender and nationality.

The structural validity of the Personal Globe Inventory (PGI, Tracey, 2002) as applied to a Caribbean sample of university students in Jamaica (N = 103) and Trinidad (N = 118) was examined. The fit of the data to Holland's six-type RIASEC, the PGI eight-type model, and the PGI spherical structure was examined using the randomized test of hypothesized order relations. The results demonstrated that the circular structure (i.e. RIASEC and the eight-type model), unlike the spherical structure, fits the Caribbean data well. No structural differences were found between gender and nationality. Further examination of the cultural perception of prestige in a Caribbean sample is warranted. Overall, the results support the structural validity of the PGI in Caribbean applications.