The Development and Validation of a Personological Measure of Work Drive

Using six studies based on 23,823 individuals in diverse settings, we developed and validated a personality measure of Work Drive—a disposition to work long hours and extend oneself for one's job. The factor structure was confirmed in four settings. Work Drive was related to job performance showing incremental validity beyond cognitive aptitude and Big Five personality traits in five validation studies. It predicted academic performance at six different grade levels, even beyond Big Five traits. Construct validity was examined via work values, job involvement, normal personality scales, satisfaction measures, and cognitive ability. Little adverse impact was found. Occupational groups differed on Work Drive. Overall validity and areas of application were discussed.     

The Development and Validation of a Measure of Generic Work Competencies

Competency management has attracted much attention, especially between business consultants and human resources professionals. Nevertheless, the lack of a unified framework of generic work competencies has been a significant obstacle for the further development of the field, both in research and in practice. This article discusses the development, validation, and psychometric properties of a measure of generic work competencies assessing three types of generic work competencies.     

Assessing Workplace Emotional Intelligence: Development and Validation of an Ability-based Measure

Existing measures of Emotional Intelligence (EI), defined as the ability to perceive, understand, and manage emotions for productive purposes, have displayed limitations in predicting workplace outcomes, likely in part because they do not target this context. Such considerations led to the development of an ability EI measure with work-related scenarios in which respondents infer the likely emotions (perception) and combinations of emotion (understanding) that would occur to protagonists while rating the effectiveness of ways of responding (management). Study 1 (n = 290 undergraduates) used item-total correlations to select scenarios from a larger pool and Study 2 (n = 578) reduced the measure—termed the NEAT—to 30 scenarios on the basis of structural equation modeling. Study 3 (n = 96) then showed that the NEAT had expected correlations with personality and cognitive ability and Study 4 (n = 85) demonstrated convergent validity with other ability EI measures. Last, study 5 (n = 91) established that the NEAT had predictive validity with respect to job satisfaction, job stress, and job performance. The findings affirm the importance of EI in the workplace in the context of a valid new instrument for assessing relevant skills.     

Happiness at Work Scale: Construction and Psychometric Validation of a Measure Using Mixed Method Approach

Using a mixed method approach we conducted three studies to construct a multidimensional measure of happiness at work. In Study 1, a qualitative content analysis using Atlas.ti 7 offered support for the proposed, a priori deductive model which also discriminated between the construct of happiness at work and happiness in personal life. Further, a principal axis factoring of the responses consisting of 539 working people (Study 2) yielded four factors reflecting the equal role of organizational and human aspects of the workplace happiness, i.e. supportive work experiences, unsupportive work experiences, flow and intrinsic motivation and work repulsive feelings. In Study 3, a Confirmatory Factor Analysis testing the reflective versus formative structure of the proposed scale supported a four-factor reflective model over a series of 13 competing models. Moreover, the scale showed statistically significant convergent and discriminant validity. Possible applications of the scale in predicting happiness styles and enhancing the experience of happiness at work has been presented at the end.     

Emotion Regulation of Others and Self (EROS): The Development and Validation of a New Individual Difference Measure

Research on affect regulation has blossomed in recent years. However, the lack of validated scales assessing individual differences in the use of strategies to achieve alternative types of affect regulation, e.g., the regulation of others’ affect and the worsening of affect, has hampered research on these important processes. This paper presents the development and validation of a brief new measure of individual differences in the use of strategies to regulate one’s own and other people’s feelings: the Emotion Regulation of Others and Self (EROS) scale. Two distinct samples (N = 551 and N = 227) confirmed a four-factor structure: intrinsic affect-improving, intrinsic affect-worsening, extrinsic affect-improving and extrinsic affect-worsening. In line with predictions, these factors were associated with existing measures of affect regulation, personality and affect. Both intrinsic factors were positively associated with emotional exhaustion, while all factors except extrinsic affect-improving were positively associated with health-related impairments. Convergence between self- and other-reported scores on the extrinsic factors in a third sample (N = 50 dyads) demonstrated further evidence of validity.     

A Measure of Selling Skill: Scale Development and Validation

Selling skills are learned proficiency at performing tasks necessary for a sales job. They are among the most important predictors of sales performance. However, the research into selling skills has been hampered by the lack of an overall scale. To address this shortcoming the present paper identifies a model of sales skills consisting of three components of interpersonal skills, salesmanship skills, and technical skills. Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, the authors report the development of a Selling Skill scale as a reliable and valid instrument. The authors suggest priorities for future research and potential uses of this instrument.     

Development and Initial Validation of an Implicit Measure of Religiousness‐Spirituality

An implicit measure of religiousness‐spirituality (RS) was constructed and used in two studies. In Study 1, undergraduates completed a Religiousness‐Spirituality Implicit Association Test (RS‐IAT) and several self‐report measures of RS and related constructs (e.g., religious fundamentalism, authoritarianism). Informants rated the participants’ RS. The RS‐IAT was internally consistent. Implicit RS correlated positively with self‐reported RS, spiritual transcendence, spiritual experiences, religious fundamentalism, and intrinsic religiousness. Informant ratings correlated positively with participants’ self‐reported religiousness but not implicit RS. In Study 2, implicit RS accounted for unique variability in self‐reported attitudes toward gay men and lesbian women when controlling for self‐reported religiousness and right‐wing authoritarianism. These findings demonstrate that an implicit measure of trait RS explains some variability in attitudes that self‐report measures do not. An implicit measure of RS could advance the scientific study of religion beyond what is known from self‐report measures.     

Organizational Justice Dimensions: Validation of an Arabic Measure

There is a continued debate regarding the dimensions of organizational justice. The present project investigated the dimensionality of organizational justice and the validity of an Arabic measure of organizational justice for a Kuwaiti samples. The first study sample consisted of 1,184 Kuwaitis (619 males and 565 females) from two groups: 728 employees and 456 teachers working in the public sector. The second study sample consisted of 373 participants (190 employees and 183 teachers). The instrument items were based on a careful review of the organizational justice literature to ensure relevance to the sample culture. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) using WLSMV estimator is used. WLSMV method is more appropriate for our data because variables are measured on an ordinal scale. WLSMV is considered a less bias estimator compared with the standard maximum likelihood in case of ordinal data. CFA analyses identified the four distinctive factors of distributive, procedural, interpersonal, and informational organizational justice. The four‐factor model fit the data significantly better than one‐, two‐ or three‐factor models. Moreover, the study revealed that these four dimensions of organizational justice were significantly correlated with the four relevant outcomes of instrumentality, organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behavior, and collective esteem. Using the Arabic version of Colquitt's ( 2001 ) instrument (Fischer et al., 2011 ), the second study presented an evidence of concurrent validity of the new Arabic scale. The present study confirmed the four‐factor dimensionality of organizational justice. Results of the current study may raise the issue of development of scales versus translation of well‐ developed ones. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.     

Development and Validation of a Brief Self-Report Measure of Agitation: The Brief Agitation Measure

Emerging evidence indicates that agitation is an ominous precursor to imminent death by suicide, yet measures of it are few, and to our knowledge, no self-report measure of agitation exists. To fill this gap, we have developed the Brief Agitation Measure (BAM), which is designed as a brief measure to assess agitation. In this article, we provide preliminary evidence from 2 studies examining the reliability and validity of the BAM in an undergraduate sample as well as a clinical sample. We close with a discussion of the limitations of the studies and implications of our findings.     

Development and Validation of an Instrument for Measuring Individual Motives for Playing Digital Games

Individual motives for playing digital games have been studied from a variety of theoretical perspectives using different measurement instruments. However, an instrument that roots the social, rule-based narrative essence of digital games in a theory on human behavior acknowledging that not all behavior is consciously motivated has hitherto been lacking. A framework based on social cognitive theory that integrates these dimensions is proposed. After comparing the advantages of this framework to existing approaches, the development of a measurement instrument is discussed. This development concerns the generation and evaluation of an item pool and also testing the instrument for reliability and validity on different samples and different populations. Results suggest psychometric as well as theoretical soundness of the instrument.     

Initial Development and Validation of a Measure of Intercultural Development Scale

Intercultural development in global employees will aid organizations to function successfully in the current global work scene. However, there is a need for a psychometrically valid and reliable measure, which can be used by practitioners and academics to assess the capabilities of individuals. This vignette based intercultural development scale was conceived on the basis of Bennett’s developmental model of intercultural sensitivity. The content was generated using interviews with international employees and subject matter experts. Psychometric properties were established with both qualitative and quantitative analysis. A sample of 461 international employees was used to test the validity of the scale. Confirmatory factor analysis, reliability analysis and construct validity was established with cosmopolitanism and openness to experience scales. The study confirms the scale’s dimensionality and established convergent, discriminant and nomological validity. The applications of this scale in building capabilities, talent management and strategic decisions in both practical and theoretical assessment are outlined.     

The Rugged Resilience Measure: Development and Preliminary Validation of a Brief Measure of Personal Resilience

Applied Research in Quality of Life - There is an increasing demand for brief measures of resilience that can distinguish different dimensions of successful adaptation and good quality of life...     

Development and Validation of an Instrument to Measure Attitudes Toward Sexist/Nonsexist Language

Despite documented, negative effects of sexist language, some people still strongly oppose inclusive language. Their attitudes need study, but existing measures of attitude lack comprehensiveness or validity. This paper reports construction and validation of the 42-item Inventory of Attitudes Toward Sexist/Nonsexist Language (IASNL), which is based on a conceptual framework related to beliefs about language, recognition of sexist language, and willingness to use inclusive language. Four studies tested the IASNL's content validity (9 content experts, 329 other participants), construct validity, and reliability (31 advocates of inclusive language, 298 additional respondents). Cronbach alphas were high and validity measures were strong. Two short forms of the IASNL were also created—the IASNL-General and the IASNL-Sport. The IASNL-General is in the Appendix.     

Stages of Learning Motivation: Development and Validation of a Measure1

Prochaska and colleagues’(e.g., Prochaska, DiClemente, & Norcross, 1992) stages‐of‐change theory was employed in the current study to reconceptualize the assessment of motivation to learn. We used the stages‐of‐change framework to develop and test a multidimensional measure of learning motivation using 3 independent samples. The pattern of relationships among the learning stages and learning criteria provided strong support for the appropriateness of using a stage‐based perspective to frame learning motivation. In addition, hierarchical regression analysis showed that the Stages of Learning Motivation Inventory (SOLMI) explained variance in the criteria (e.g., exam average, class satisfaction) beyond controls and a commonly used measure of learning motivation. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

Compliance Disengagement in Research: Development and Validation of a New Measure

In the world of research, compliance with research regulations is not the same as ethics, but it is closely related. One could say that compliance is how most societies with advanced research programs operationalize many ethical obligations. This paper reports on the development of the How I Think about Research (HIT-Res) questionnaire, which is an adaptation of the How I Think (HIT) questionnaire that examines the use of cognitive distortions to justify antisocial behaviors. Such an adaptation was justified based on a review of the literature on mechanisms of moral disengagement and self-serving biases, which are used by individuals with normal personalities in a variety of contexts, including research. The HIT-Res adapts all items to refer to matters of research compliance and integrity rather than antisocial behaviors. The HIT-Res was administered as part of a battery of tests to 300 researchers and trainees funded by the US National Institutes of Health. The HIT-Res demonstrated excellent reliability (Cronbach’s alpha = .92). Construct validity was established by the correlation of the HIT-Res with measures of moral disengagement (r = .75), cynicism (r = .51), and professional decision-making in research (r = ?.36). The HIT-Res will enrich the set of assessment tools available to instructors in the responsible conduct of research and to researchers who seek to understand the factors that influence research integrity.     

Withholding Effort in Organizations: Toward Development and Validation of a Measure

Field research into the topic of withholding effort and its variants (shirking, loafing, free riding, and job neglect) has been limited due to a lack of measures that are applicable to organizational settings. This study used a multi-phase process to ascertain a measure of withholding effort that can be used in organizational settings. Items were generated through literature review and discussions with practitioners; culled by the authors; and tested in a field study in multiple, diverse organizations. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses found the construct of withholding effort to be multidimensional, but not necessarily as previous theoretical work in the area would suggest. Correlations of the various dimensions of withholding effort scales with existing scales tapping a wide range of employee attitudes were consistent with a priori expectations. Implications for the use of these scales in future workplace research and their practical application in organizations are discussed.     

The Servant Leadership Survey: Development and Validation of a Multidimensional Measure

Purpose  

The purpose of this paper is to describe the development and validation of a multi-dimensional instrument to measure servant leadership.     

Development and Initial Validation of a Measure of Religious Maturity

Gordon Allport's (1 950) conceptualization of the mature religious sentiment contin- ues to have a tremendous impact on theory and research in the psychology of religion. Unfortunately, there does not appear to be a co~nprehensive and valid measure of reli- gious maturity derived explicitly from Allport's theory. To that end, two studies are reported documenting the develop~nent and initial validation of a new scale to mea- sure religious maturity based on Allport's theorking. Content validity is an often ig- nored but crucial step in the construct validation process. With this concern in mind, the content validity of the new scale was established prior to its use in Study 1. Next, Study 1 investigated the empirical validity of the new scale using a known-groups tnethodology, and subsequent analysis resulted in the develop~nent of arevised scale. Study 2 used a different population of participants as well as a different method of scale validation. The revised scale was used in Study 2, and it was found to be related to various indexes of religious maturity, as well as measures of diverse religious and personality constructs embedded within the theoretical framework of religious matu- rity. Whereas some weaknesses emerged, the evidence to date supports continued re- search with this new measure of religious maturity.