The article deals with Soviet and foreign psychologists' views on the role of the pedagogical vocation in teacher's activity. On the basis of the investigations of 1975, which comprised 4024 pupils of the 6th-lth forms of town and village schools of the Lithuanian SSR, the characteristics of the intentions of applicants for pedagogical professions are given. These characteristics reveal the percentage of those intending to become teachers, with regard to different sexes and age. Simultaneously, changes in tendencies are shown. The article presents the characteristics of the intensity of the pedagogical vocation and those of the soundless of self-determination on the basis of the author's theoretical concepts. Practical recommendations are formulated.