Job-related Affective Well-being Scale (JAWS)

Abstract

The Job-related Affective Well-being Scale (JAWS) is a specialized psychometric instrument developed to measure the frequency with which individuals experience specific affective states directly resulting from their work environment. Unlike traditional measures of job satisfaction, JAWS focuses on discrete, momentary emotional reactions, providing a richer understanding of employee well-being. The scale is available in two primary versions, 30 items and 20 items, designed to capture both general positive and negative job-related affect, as well as specific affective quadrants defined by pleasure and arousal dimensions.

Keywords

Job-related Affective Well-being, JAWS, Work Stressors, Affective States, Occupational Health Psychology, Paul Spector, Job Attitudes, Arousal, Valence, Emotion.

Authors

P. T. Van Katwyk, S. Fox, P. E. Spector, E. K. Kelloway

Purpose

The primary purpose of the JAWS is to provide researchers and practitioners in Occupational Health Psychology with a reliable and comprehensive tool for assessing the emotional outcomes of work experiences. It was specifically designed to move beyond global satisfaction ratings to capture the complexity of affective responses, particularly in relation to organizational variables such as job demands, control, and work stressors. The scale allows for the detailed investigation of how specific negative and positive emotions mediate the relationship between work conditions and subsequent behaviors, such as organizational citizenship or counterproductive work behavior.

The instrument is intended to be administered by asking respondents how frequently their job made them feel a particular way (e.g., angry, content, energetic) over a specified period. This approach facilitates the study of daily or weekly fluctuations in job-related affective well-being.

Construct

The JAWS measures job-related affective well-being, which is defined as the emotional state or mood experienced by an individual concerning their work. The scale operationalizes affect based on the two core dimensions of the affective circumplex model: pleasure (or valence) and arousal (or activation). By utilizing discrete emotion items, the JAWS allows for the measurement of four distinct quadrants of affect, particularly in its 20-item version:

• High Pleasurable–High Arousal (e.g., excited, enthusiastic)
• High Pleasurable–Low Arousal (e.g., calm, content)
• Low Pleasurable–High Arousal (e.g., angry, anxious)
• Low Pleasurable–Low Arousal (e.g., bored, depressed)

This multidimensional approach provides a nuanced view of emotional reactions to the job, differentiating between feelings like stress (high arousal, low pleasure) and burnout (low arousal, low pleasure).

Validity

Although specific validity coefficients are not provided in the source material, the JAWS has demonstrated strong construct validity through its extensive use in academic literature, particularly in studies linking work stressors to affective outcomes and subsequent behavioral responses. The original validation work by Van Katwyk, Fox, Spector, & Kelloway (2000) established that the subscales correlate meaningfully with external criteria, such as job satisfaction, job tension, and measures of organizational commitment, supporting its discriminant and convergent validity. Furthermore, the scale’s ability to predict behaviors like Counterproductive Work Behavior (CWB) confirms its predictive validity within the domain of industrial and organizational psychology.

Reliability

The JAWS exhibits high levels of internal consistency, as measured by Cronbach’s alpha (α), across both its total score and its primary subscales. The reported reliability coefficients are robust, indicating that the items within each factor consistently measure the intended construct.

The reliability scores provided are:

• JAWS 30-item:
  • Negative emotion: .92
  • Positive emotion: .94
  • Total: .95
• JAWS 20-item:
  • Negative emotion: .88
  • Positive emotion: .90
  • High pleasurable-High arousal: .90
  • High pleasurable-Low arousal: .81
  • Low pleasurable-High arousal: .80
  • Low pleasurable-Low arousal: .80

Factor Analysis

The factor structure of the JAWS supports its theoretical foundation in the circumplex model of affect. For the 30-item version, the scale primarily yields two robust factors: overall Positive Emotion and overall Negative Emotion. These two broad factors account for the majority of variance in job-related affect.

For the shorter, multidimensional 20-item version, factor analysis reveals a more refined structure aligned with four distinct affective quadrants, based on the intersection of pleasure and arousal. These four factors provide detailed scores for specific emotional profiles associated with work:

• High pleasurable-High arousal (HPH)
• High pleasurable-Low arousal (HPL)
• Low pleasurable-High arousal (LPH)
• Low pleasurable-Low arousal (LPL)

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report questionnaire, Affective measure

Format: Likert-type frequency scale. Respondents indicate how often they felt each emotion due to their job.

Language Available: English (Primary). Adaptations may exist in other languages based on academic use.

Population Group: Working adults and employees across various industries and occupations.

Age Group: Typically employed individuals (18+).

Population Details: Applicable to any population where job-related emotional responses are relevant, commonly used in organizational and psychological research settings.

Test Methodology: Respondents rate the frequency of experiencing 30 or 20 specific emotions using a 6-point scale:

1. Never
2. Rarely
3. Sometimes
4. Quite Often
5. Very Often
6. Extremely often

Keywords

Job-related Affective Well-being, Organizational Psychology, Emotion Measurement, Paul Spector, Work Stressors, Affective States, Employee Assessment, Cronbach’s Alpha, Affective Circumplex.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in source material.

Correspondence Address: Correspondence is typically directed toward the primary curator, Dr. Paul Spector, affiliated with the University of South Florida (USF).

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The JAWS scale is generally available for non-commercial academic research use without charge, provided proper citation is given. Commercial use typically requires explicit written permission from the authors, particularly Dr. Paul Spector. Detailed conditions for use are maintained on the curator’s website.

Test Year (Initial Publication): 2000 (Van Katwyk et al.)

The scale materials and conditions for use can be found here: http://paulspector.com/scales/our-assessments/ and http://paulspector.com/scales/our-assessments/conditions-for-using-these-assessments/. The original instrument can also be found at: http://shell.cas.usf.edu/~pspector/scalepage.html

Reference’s

The following references are key publications related to the development and application of the JAWS:

• Van Katwyk, P. T., Fox, S., Spector, P. E., & Kelloway, E. K. (2000). Using the Job-related Affective Well-being Scale (JAWS) to investigate affective responses to work stressors. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 5, 219-230.
• Spector, P. E., Fox, S., Goh, A. P. S., & Bruursema, K. (2003). Counterproductive work behavior and organizational citizenship behavior: Are they opposites? Paper presented at the meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Orlando, April 11-13.
• Bruk-Lee, V., & Spector, P. E. (2006). The social stressors-counterproductive work behaviors link: Are conflicts with supervisors and coworkers the same? Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 11(2), 145-156.
• A bibliography of studies using the JAWS is available here: http://shell.cas.usf.edu/~pspector/scales/jawsbibl.html

Items of the Job-related Affective Well-being Scale (JAWS)

The following lists represent the items included in the 30-item and 20-item versions of the scale:

JAWS 30 items

1. My job made me feel at ease
2. My job made me feel angry
3. My job made me feel annoyed
4. My job made me feel anxious
5. My job made me feel bored
6. My job made me feel cheerful
7. My job made me feel calm
8. My job made me feel confused
9. My job made me feel content
10. My job made me feel depressed
11. My job made me feel disgusted
12. My job made me feel discouraged
13. My job made me feel elated
14. My job made me feel energetic
15. My job made me feel excited
16. My job made me feel ecstatic
17. My job made me feel enthusiastic
18. My job made me feel frightened
19. My job made me feel frustrated
20. My job made me feel furious
21. My job made me feel gloomy
22. My job made me feel fatigued
23. My job made me feel happy
24. My job made me feel intimidated
25. My job made me feel inspired
26. My job made me feel miserable
27. My job made me feel pleased
28. My job made me feel proud
29. My job made me feel satisfied
30. My job made me feel relaxed

Subscale Item Mapping (30-Item Version):

• Negative emotions: Items 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11, 12, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 26.
• High pleasurable-High arousal: Items 14, 15, 16, 17, 25 (energetic, excited, ecstatic, enthusiastic, inspired)
• High pleasurable-Low arousal: Items 1, 7, 9, 29, 30 (at-ease, calm, content, satisfied, relaxed)
• Low pleasurable-High arousal: Items 2, 4, 11, 18, 20 (angry, anxious, disgusted, frightened, furious)
• Low pleasurable-Low arousal: Items 5, 10, 12, 21, 22 (bored, depressed, discouraged, gloomy, fatigued)

JAWS 20 items

1. My job made me feel angry.
2. My job made me feel anxious.
3. My job made me feel at ease.
4. My job made me feel bored.
5. My job made me feel calm.
6. My job made me feel content.
7. My job made me feel depressed.
8. My job made me feel discouraged.
9. My job made me feel disgusted.
10. My job made me feel ecstatic.
11. My job made me feel energetic.
12. My job made me feel enthusiastic.
13. My job made me feel excited.
14. My job made me feel fatigued.
15. My job made me feel frightened.
16. My job made me feel furious.
17. My job made me feel gloomy.
18. My job made me feel inspired.
19. My job made me feel relaxed.
20. My job made me feel satisfied.