Theory and research suggest that vocational interests should predict individual behavior at work, in school, and during leisure time. However, more research is needed to understand the underlying mechanisms for these relationships. In the present study, we suggest that satisfaction and motivation are direct outcomes of vocational interest fit and mediate the relationship between interest fit and behavior. We test this mediation model in a seven-week longitudinal study examining the prediction of academic performance in a sample of 372 college students. Results indicated that vocational interest fit had direct effects on performance, citizenship behavior, counterproductive behavior, and intent to leave even after controlling for cognitive ability and conscientiousness. Both motivation and satisfaction also mediated the relationships with several of these outcomes. Finally, results also showed that an objective measure of interest fit was a better predictor of performance while a perceived fit measure was a stronger predictor of satisfaction. These results suggest that vocational interest fit may be useful for identifying individuals who are likely to be successful in school and help to clarify several of the underlying mechanisms for this relationship.

理论和研究表明，职业兴趣应预测工作，学校和闲暇时间的个人行为。但是，需要更多的研究来了解这些关系的潜在机制。在本研究中，我们建议满意度和动机是职业兴趣契合的直接结果，并能调节兴趣契合与行为之间的关系。我们在为期7周的纵向研究中测试了这种中介模型，该研究考察了372名大学生样本中的学习成绩预测。结果表明，即使在控制了认知能力和尽责性之后，职业兴趣的适应对绩效，公民行为，适得其反的行为和离职意图也有直接影响。动机和满意度也介导了与其中一些结果的关系。最后，结果还表明，兴趣契合度的客观衡量指标是绩效的较好预测指标，而感知契合度衡量指标是满意度的较强预测指标。这些结果表明，职业兴趣适合度对于确定可能在学校获得成功的个人可能有用，并且有助于阐明这种关系的一些基本机制。