In order to assess attitude stability or change and the conceptual framework of Kerckhoff's thesis (1976) that occupational aspirations are specifically affected by "observed structural constraints", data derived from the Southern Youth Study (a male subset from the Alabama, Texas, and Georgia panel comprised of 221 whites and 146 nonwhites, 94% of which were black, and gathered in 1966 and 1968 when the respondents were sophomores and seniors, respectively) were applied to a causal model. Variables employed were race; socioeconomic status of family of origin; residence (rural farm, rural nonfarm; small town, and small city); occupational aspiration in the sophomore year; level of perceived goal-blockage in the sophomore year; and level of occupational aspiration in the senior year. Results indicated: the hypothesized model was supported by zero-order relationships; there was little empirical validity in the path analytic results; the effects of perceived constraints were not significant for either sub-sample in a comparison of the basic model for whites and nonwhites, though the coefficients were much larger for nonwhites than for whites. (JC)