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This article celebrates the 50th anniversary of the introduction of John L. Holland’s (1959) theory of vocational personalities and work environments by describing the theory’s development and evolution, its instrumentation, and its current status. Hallmarks of Holland’s theory are its empirical testability and its user-friendliness. By constructing measures for operationalizing the theory’s constructs, Holland and his colleagues helped ensure that the theory could be implemented in practice on a widespread basis. Empirical data offer considerable support for the existence of Holland’s RIASEC types and their ordering among persons and environments. Although Holland’s congruence hypotheses have received empirical support, congruence appears to have modest predictive power. Mixed support exists for Holland’s hypotheses involving the secondary constructs of differentiation, consistency, and vocational identity. Evidence of the continued impact of Holland’s theory on the field of counseling psychology, particularly in the area of interest assessment, can be seen from its frequent implementation in practice and its use by scholars. Ideas for future research and practice using Holland’s theory are suggested.

When an article written by John L. Holland (1959) entitled, “A Theory of Vocational Choice,” was published in the Journal of Counseling Psychology 50 years ago, it is unlikely that many readers would have anticipated the theory’s eventual impact. In an editorial immediately following Holland’s theoretical statement, Bordin (1959) commented, “It remains to be seen whether or not it [Holland’s theory] will provide the basis for a big break-through” (p. 45). Half a century later it is clear that a breakthrough did occur; this theory’s contributions to counseling psychology are undeniable, as Holland’s typology now pervades career counseling research and practice. The golden anniversary of the introduction of his theory provides a fitting occasion for appraising the magnitude of Holland’s contributions to counseling psychology while also noting the field’s...