Work as a Means of Securing One’s Livelihood

Abstract

The Work as a means of securing one’s livelihood Scale (Arbeit als Mittel zur Existenzsicherung) is a specialized psychological scale designed to measure the extent to which an employed individual views their work primarily through the lens of money acquisition and financial security. Developed by Fischer and Kohr (1980) as part of a broader battery of instruments assessing central work perceptions of employed persons, this subscale consists of 9 items. It is intended to quantify the importance of financial reward as the central motive for work engagement and satisfaction.

Keywords

Work perception, money acquisition, safeguarding one’s livelihood, Existenzsicherung, occupational psychology, socio-political attitudes, job values.

Authors

Fischer, Kohr, Ekkehart Lippert, Roland Wakenhut, Fritz-Felix Zelinka, Ralf Zoll.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the scale is to quantify the centrality of financial remuneration and economic survival within an individual’s perception of their professional life. It specifically aims to capture the degree to which the motive of “earning well” is crucial in the assessment of one’s own work. The scale measures the instrumental view of work, where labor is seen predominantly as a tool for financial gain rather than intrinsic reward.

The instrument was developed to complement existing measures of socio-political attitudes, based on the assumption that an individual’s behavior in the socio-political context cannot be adequately described without considering the core domain of work. For the employed person, work is a critical environment where interactions, learning, and adaptation processes shape behavior, cognitions, and emotions.

Construct

The measured construct is Existenzsicherung (safeguarding one’s livelihood) through work. This construct captures a utilitarian orientation toward employment, where the primary value derived from work is its function in providing economic stability and income. The theoretical framework suggests that this financially driven attitude is expected to correlate significantly with the perception of functioning in a subordinate role, as the feelings of dependence, obligation, and external control (Weisungsgebundenheit and Fremdbestimmtheit) often associated with subordinate positions can lead a person to view their job predominantly under the aspect of financial security (Fischer & Kohr, 1980).

Validity

Specific validation evidence for the Work as a means of securing one’s livelihood Scale was not explicitly provided in the source documentation, with the authors stating that no validation instructions were given (Validierungshinweise werden nicht gegeben). The validity relies primarily on the theoretical expectations linking this financially motivated work perception to other psychological variables, particularly those related to workplace dependence and subordinate roles.

Reliability

The internal consistency of the scale has been assessed using Cronbach’s Alpha. The reliability coefficient for the 9-item scale is reported as Alpha = .75, which is considered an acceptable level of internal consistency for a psychometric subscale used in social science research.

Factor Analysis

The assumption of unidimensionality for the full scale was not formally tested. However, a simultaneous factor analysis was conducted for the collective short forms of the five central work perception subscales developed by the research team. This analysis indicated that nearly all items demonstrated loadings not only on their intended target dimension but also significantly on “foreign dimensions.” This suggests that the subscales may not be entirely distinct, implying potential issues with the scale’s structural purity.

Item analysis provided corrected item-total correlation coefficients (Trennschärfekoeffizienten) for the 9 items, which ranged from .15 to .58. While several items showed strong correlations (e.g., Item 9 at .58), others, such as Item 6 (.15), indicate a weak relationship with the overall scale score, suggesting they may not effectively measure the construct of financial motivation.

Instrument

Test Type: Psychometric subscale measuring work perception and motivation.

Format: Self-report questionnaire using a 5-point Likert scale.

Language Available: German (deutsch).

Population Group: Employed adults (Berufstätiger).

Age Group: Adult population.

Population Details: The data used for item development and testing were based on a representative survey of the adult population in the Federal Republic of Germany (BRD). The sample size was N = 2505 respondents, surveyed in March 1976.

Test Methodology: Respondents utilized a 5-point Likert scale with the following response options: zutreffend (1, Applicable), eher zutreffend (2), weder/noch (3, Neither/Nor), eher unzutreffend (4), and unzutreffend (5, Not Applicable). For scoring, the responses were reversed, assigning a value of 5 to “Zutreffend” and 1 to “Unzutreffend,” such that a higher total score reflects a stronger orientation toward work as a means of financial security. Instructions for the test administration were not present in the source documentation.

Keywords

Work attitude, financial motivation, job satisfaction, economic dependence, psychometrics, survey instrument, internal consistency.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not available.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not available.

Correspondence Address: Heinz-Ulrich Kohr, Sozialwissenschaftliches Institut der Bundeswehr (SOWI), Winzererstr. 52, 80797 München, Deutschland.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Test Year: 1980 (Year of publication of the foundational work).

Permissions and Fees: Information regarding current usage permissions or applicable fees is not provided in the source material.

Reference’s

Fischer, A. K., & Kohr, H.-U. (1980). Zentrale Arbeitsperzeptionen Berufstätiger. In G. Albrecht, H. U. Kohr, & W. Steffenhagen (Eds.), Sozio-politische Einstellungen: Skalen zur Messung des politischen Bewusstseins in der BRD (pp. 119–137). Campus Verlag.

Items of the Work as a means of securing one’s livelihood Scale

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.