Anne Roe (1904–1991) was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. Upon graduating from the University of Denver, she attended Columbia University, following the recommendation of Thomas Garth. At Columbia, Roe worked in the office of Edward Lee Thorndike, graduating with her Ph.D. in experimental psychology under the supervision of Robert S. Woodworm. The publication of The Psychology of Occupations would introduce Roe's theory of personality development and career choice, her most enduring scientific contribution. Roe had no experience of careers or vocational guidance and counseling but was originally interested in personality theory and occupational classification (Roe, 1956, 1957). Much of her early research was focused on the possible relationship between occupational behavior and personality (Roe and Lunneborg, 1990). Ann Roe suggested a personality approach to career choice based on the premise that a job satisfies an unconscious need but Some refer to her work as the Person-environment theory which is primarily psychoanalytic, though it also draws on Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
THE PURPOSE OF ANNE ROE’S THEORY
1. To focus on the psychological needs that develop between the interaction of parent and child as it affects career choice.
2. To guide by attempts to understand, make meaning of, and utilize individual motives, purposes and drives to support career development.
3. To predict occupational selection based on individual differences, which are biological, sociological, and psychological.
ROE’S THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Roe's theory was based on Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs in the sense that in terms of career choice, lower order needs take precedence over higher order needs (The job meets the most urgent need). According to Onyekuru (2010), Roe employed Maslow’s hierarchy of basic needs which depends on conscious or unconscious need pattern as follow:
1. Physiological needs
2. Safety or belongingness
References: Kemjika, O. G. (2008) Theories and practice of careers development in Nigerian education. Fabson printing & publishing co. Ltd., Onitsha. Onyekuru, B. U. (2010) Principles of counseling and psychotherapy. Adyudo press, Owerri. Maslow, A.H. (1954) Motivation and Personality, New York, Harper and Row. Roe, A. (1956) The Psychology of Occupations, New York, Wiley. Roe, A. (1957) ‘Early determinants of vocational choice’, Journal of Counseling Psychology, Vol.4, No.3. pp212-217. Roe, A. & Lunneborg, P.W. (1990) ‘Personality, development and career choice’, in Brown, D., Brooks, L. & Associates, (Eds) Career Choice and Development, (2nd Edn), San Francisco, California, Jossey-Bass, pp68-101. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412963978|Print ISBN:9781412909280|Online ISBN:9781412963978| Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc